TROY - It was a packed house last Thursday as Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) housed area basketball fans seeking the state title in the final four.
Stamford/Jefferson (S/J) girls fell 73-57 in the Class D Semifinal game against Batavia Notre-Dame last Thursday. Notre-Dame went on to clinch the state title.
S/J senior Tierney Turner played tough, scoring 26 points in the contest, while teammate Emily Eklund dropped 15 points, with 12 of those points coming in the second half. McKenna Hoyt had eight points and 12 boards.
S/J came out of the gate shaky, making critical errors on turnovers and defense.
Batavia’s Sofia Falleti responded with a bucket of her own every time S/J made a dent in scoring. The standout finished the win with 30 points, while teammate Quinn Boardman contributed 19 points.
The Irish played aggressively and executed a successful outlet game and made smooth cuts to the basket. Turner played well under the basket off of great passes and put-backs.
At halftime, Batavia led 43-19. For S/J, Turner got help offensively in the second half - Lillian Eklund dropped six points while her cousin Emily, got a hot hand with a handful of three-point buckets.
With just under three minutes left in the third quarter, Emily nailed a three-pointer, which cut the score down to 64-56 - the squad had finally gathered momentum. S/J was out rebounded except perhaps when senior Aubrey Merwin pulled down boards at critical moments.
The gain was fleeting and the Irish stormed ahead, with the third quarter closing out at 55-36.
Emily tallied another three-pointer at just over the seven minute mark (58-39) and and another at 5:47.
Hoyt, who was double-teamed and locked down for much of the game, took the ball up, scored and got fouled. She followed up, making one of two foul shots (60-42).
However, just as she had for the entirety of the game, Falleti responded with a soft shot.
Turner, with five minutes left in the game, cut the score to a 15 point game, while Merwin dropped a shot with 4:30 left in the fourth and assisted in Turner’s following shot. Turner then netted a turnaround jumper with 3:40 left in the game and S/J trailed by 11 points (64-53).
“Tierney Turner was really solid all season and as soon as sectional play started, she took it to a whole new level,” said S/J Coach George Nebesnik. “When the games got bigger and more important, she got even better. We always talk about how great players play great in big games and moments and she proved that she is a great player.”
Then S/J girls began to improve on defense and Emily once again, sunk a three-pointer with just under three minutes left in the game (64-56). Nebesnik credited Emily with leading the comebacks in the second half.
A bad call on Hoyt seemed to whisk the momentum away for the S/J girls and the squad began to foul to slow the clock down until the buzzer sounded.
“I am disappointed in how our season ended and I was hoping we could have played a little better in the state semi-finals,” said Nebesnik. “But, I am proud of how great these girls are and how far they were able to take it. It’s something we can all look back on forever.”
Nebesnik, who expressed his love of the game and coaching, said the goal going up to HVCC was to win the state title.
“That is always the goal every season,” he said. “I felt like we had the team that could do it, but there are a lot of great teams out there. Only one team gets to say they won their last game of the season. Overall, I am pleased with how far we made it, but I expect a lot out of them. I expected us to be here.”
S/J finished the season 22-3 and as the Central Regional Champions. They won the Delaware League Championship game this year and took home the Section IV title.
