by Steve Bradley
Heading into the semifinals Wednesday the Panthers Ladies knew they were going to have their hands full with the number one seeded Glens Falls Indians. [private]The number one seeded Indians have several talented players, including Sophie Tougas, who is so talented she is a Channel 13 top five All Star as a sophomore.
The Indians defense caused problems for the Panthers right from the start and by the end of the game the Panthers had 26 turnovers. The Panthers had trouble scoring on offense, only scoring 4 points from the field in the first half. Free throws kept the Panthers in the game in the first quarter when the Ladies made six of seven to stay in the game at the end of the first quarter, 12-8.
The game was decided in the second quarter. The Indians scored 25 points to the Panthers six. Tougas scored 11 of her own. The Indians sank four 3s, the Panthers made four foul shots and one 2 point basket. Countering 3s with foul shots will never work out.
By the time halftime came around, the Panthers were in a deep 37-14 hole.
The second half was evenly played. Each team scored 20 points. The Ladies never gave up, giving it everything they had until the final buzzer sounded, but the damage done in the second quarter was just too much to overcome.
Later in the fourth quarter, Coach Eamonn DeGraaf brought his senior starters out of the game. Always dependable Kelly Pine has been a five year varsity player and the applause for her showed the Panther fans appreciated all her efforts. The program has been very successful during her years and she will be very difficult to replace. The rest of the senior starters, Liz Ryan, Ally Burdick, Sydney Miller all received nice hands as they exited the game.
Pine and Ally Burdick each scored 11 points. Tougas had 21 for the Indians.
The Panthers ended the season at a very respectable 18-5.
Glens Falls went on to defeat Tamarac, 50-38, in the Section II, Class B championship game on Saturday. They played a regional game against Canton (16-6) of Section 10 on Tuesday. The winner of that game plays Beekmantown at SUNY Plattsburgh on March 11 at noon. The Class B games then move to the Hudson Valley Community College gym with the semifinals on March 17 at 10 am. The finals will be at HVCC on March 18 at 4 pm. Class C and D finals are March 19, Class C at 11:45 am with the Class D beginning at 10 am.
On the boys side, Class C Lake George plays March 11 at HVCC (4:45 pm). The semifinals and finals games have been moved to the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghampton (these games were previously played in the Glens Falls Civic Center) on Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18.[/private]