TROY – A first half where seemingly everything went wrong doomed Stamford/Jefferson’s chances at a state title during a 73-57 loss to Notre Dame in the Class D girls basketball semifinals Thursday, March 19, at Hudson Valley Community College.
The Irish from Batavia led after one quarter, 20-10, and at halftime, 43-19. Notre Dame’s box-and-one defense caused S/J to shoot 29% from the field in the first half. At the same time, the Irish shot 60% from the field in the half.
“That was the story of the game,” S/J Coach George Nebesnik said. “We couldn’t get a stop at all in the first half. We changed defenses three times. We tried to throw at them everything we could. Nothing was working. We had hands in the face. Everything they were throwing up was going in.”
The teams were tied at six, midway through the first quarter, but the Irish went on a 12-1 run, keyed by an aggressive zone defense and strong inside play on offense.
The trend continued in the second half, as Notre Dame kept a player on S/J standout McKenna Hoyt and constantly double teamed whoever had the ball. Then the Irish began pressuring from half court or at three quarters, causing turnovers and fast break points as well.
If that wasn’t enough, Notre Dame was 5-for-10 on three-point shots in the first half, compared to 1-for-7 for S/J.
“We talked at halftime and said, ‘we’ve just got to stay with them possession by possession, and hopefully they don’t shoot 60% in the second half,’” Nebesnik said.
S/J outscored the Irish by four points in both the third and fourth quarters.
With Hoyt facing constant double teams, Emily Eklund got on a hot streak from the outside, and then Tierney Turner did the same inside, and on the fast break, leading to a good second-half run for S/J.
Trailing by 20 points at the end of the third quarter, 56-36, S/J outscored the Irish 20-8 to begin the fourth quarter.
Eklund’s three-point basket from the right wing with 2:57 left in the game cut the lead to eight, 64-56. However, Gianna Falleti answered with a three from the left wing off a pass from Quinn Boardman about 20 seconds later to make it 67-56.
Hoyt fouled out with 1:43 left in the game, and Eklund fouled out a minute later.
Notre Dame held S/J without a field goal after Eklund’s big three and then scored the final six points of the game from the foul line to end the comeback bid and advance to Friday’s state championship game.
“The heart that these girls had, to come back and make it a game, I am really proud of them,” Nebesnik said.
Sofia Falleti scored a game-high 30 points and Boardman had 19 points for Notre Dame (20-5), the Section V and Western Region champs, which will play Friday, March 20, in the Class D championship against Chateaugay.
Chateaugay beat Smithtown Christian on Thursday in the other semifinal, 62-37.
Turner led S/J with 26 points, 19 in the second half. Eklund finished with 15 points, all on three pointers, with 12 points in the second half. Hoyt finished with eight points and 12 rebounds. Lillian Eklund scored six points.
Stamford/Jefferson, the Section IV and Central Region champion, ended its season at 22-3. S/J stopped South Kortright/Andes 15-year run atop the Delaware League and won the first section title in the sport in Jefferson Central School history, and the first at Stamford Central School since 2000.
However, nine players will graduate in June, including all three of the leading scorers, with Hoyt going to Division I Longwood University to play basketball, and Turner having just committed this week to play at Herkimer County Community College.
“I am really proud of them,” Nebesnik said. “They are such a great group. They are going to go on and continue to do great things.”