Two down, one to go. The New York Mills girls basketball team took another giant step toward returning to the top of the heap in Section III Class D hoops. The heap of teams with no chance to beat the Mills grew by one, as Sackets Harbor was heaped on to the growing pile of disgruntled quintets that have ran out of gas trying to figure out how to put up points against the stingy Lady Marauders.
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If you can only muster 5 points in the first and 5 points in the fourth, you don't stand a very good chance of mustering up a win against New York Mills.
Speaking of wins, New York Mills, the state's #9 ranked team, now has 18, and needs just one more to be crowned king of Class D. The 19th and most important W could come Saturday at the Aud in Utica, as the Marauders look to make the third time a charm by making it three in a row against the Hamilton Emerald Knights.
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(Mills point guard Erica Pendrak (10) handles the ball over the time line during second half action.)
If New York Mills can make it three straight over Hamilton, it would be the fifth Section III Championship for the tradition rich program and the first since 2006.
Back on December 1st, when this journey started, New York Mills beat Hamilton by 3, 50-47. On January 12th the Mills were rude guests in Hamilton, rolling to an impressive 42-26 victory.
Monday night the proud Patriots from the Frontier League got a bitter taste of the in your face defensive pressure that helped propel Coach Andrea Dziekan and company past the Pats.
This victory was especially sweet because the defense bailed out the offense that had a tough time dealing with their opponents defensive efforts. The Mills turned the ball over 19 times and still won big.
(Sackett's Harbor forward Olivia Kolb (15) looks to drive the lane but NY Mills' Kaila Wilkinson (34) has other plans.)
Speaking of turnovers, the Marauders “Tenacious D”, forced 18 Pats miscues and the Mills 2-3 zone made it impossible for the Pats to get in rhythm.
Both teams appeared to be caught up in the moment as they stumbled out of the gates, scoring just four points in two minutes of action.
Ashley Butcher, one of the Butcher sisters, hit from in close to break the ice and make it 2-0 with 6:40 left in the first. Butcher scored 8 points on the night, but struggled to get there.
Ashley's sister Amber, who averaged almost 18 points per game this season for coach Sean Haley's Pats, was held in check, scoring just 11 of her own.
(NY Mills' Allie Jennings (30) was big in this game right from the opening tip.)
Guard Erica Pendrak hit for two of her team high 12 with 5:40 left in the first to put the Mills up 4-2.
Olivia Kolb, solid all night for the maroon and white, made it 5-4 Mills and then tied it at 5-5 to complete a three point play the old fashioned way, on her way to an 11 point effort.
Unfortunately for the Frontier League D Champs, the tide would turn for good as New York Mills went on a 7-0 run, as the Marauders turned up the defensive pressure even more to take control.
The micro burst made it 12-5 after one quarter.
The lead grew to an even dozen as Kelly Pettigrew hit one of the 5 free throws she banged home in the first half to help the lead and her teams confidence grow. One of those five freebies made it 20-12 Marauders with 4:10 to go in the opening half.
(Marauder Maniacs were out in full force tonight at CNS!)
Erica Pendrak was also a key contributor in the first half, scoring 7 of her 12 points on the night, to keep the pressure on. It was one of those nights where different Marauders took turns getting hot and keeping the Pats in their place.
Alexandria Jennings took up the slack in half number two, scoring 8 of her 11 points. As important as those points were, it was the senior forward's efforts in the rebounding department that really stuck out.
Jennings fought hard for every loose ball that came her way, grabbing 8 boards, and her energy and hustle helped spark her teammates whenever Sackets Harbor dared to try and make it a game.
Speaking of rebounds, how about the job Kaila Wilkinson did hauling down 11?
(NY Mills Head Coach Andrea Dziekan directs first half action.)
The ever growing lead hit 14 when Adriana Suprenant hit a free throw with just under two minutes to go until the half. At the break, New York Mills lead 27-16.
New York Mills stayed in control for most of the third until a 6-0 spurt by the Patriots ended when Amber Butcher nailed a long three to cut the lead to 6 at 35-29 . That's the way the third would end.
Ally Jennings let the large throng of orange and blue clad Mills fans breath a sigh of relief, pushing the lead back out to 10, pushing her way to the rim from about 12 feet out. The 39-29 lead was just what the doctor ordered.
The Pats got no closer than nine and Katie Critelli put the final nail in the coffin, draining a long three to push the lead to 14, as New York Mills won 48-34.
The time for Saturday's Class D title game will be announced by Section III officials tomorrow. The season ends at (13-7) for Sackets Harbor. New York Mills now (18-2) continues its quest for another ring on Saturday. We'll see you there.
New York Mills 48 Sackets Harbor 34
1 2 3 4 Total
Sackets Harbor 5 11 13 5 34
New York Mills 12 15 8 13 48
Leading Scorers:
Sackets Harbor
Olivia Kolb 11
Amber Butcher 11
Ashley Butcher 8
New York Mills
Erica Pendrak 12
Ally Jennings 11
Kelly Pettigrew 7
Katie Critelli 5
Kaila Wilkinson 4
Becky Vivacqua 4
Adriana Suprenant 3
Carly Dziekan 2
