By JOHN ANDERSON
On Friday night, the Dansville girls’ basketball team showed why they are better than the team that lost to Hornell, 69-38 on January 13th.
But one month later on Friday the 13th, the Hornell girls showed why they are poised to make another run at a Section V title and beyond — you don’t know who to stop down the stretch.
Selena Maldonado was the latest.
With Hornell down, Maldonado made a layup and was fouled, completing a 3-point play as the clock was ticking down. Dansville made things interesting by scoring to get within one, but Maldonado controlled the ball, didn’t turn it over and made a free throw to seal the 44-42 victory.
“We gutted out a very tough win tonight,” said Hornell coach Jim Dagon. “Credit goes to Dansville they executed a great game plan and made big plays throughout the entire game. They made everything difficult for us for 32 minutes, and that speaks to how well they competed and how prepared they were.
It wasn’t a night where we found much rhythm offensively, but I was proud of our toughness and composure down the stretch. In tight games like that, it comes down to making winning plays, and Raegan Evingham and Selena Maldonado stepped up in big moments,” Dagon continued. “They came up with key steals, finished tough layups, and knocked down important free throws to help us pull it out. This was one of those games where you have to grind, stay connected, and trust each other. Our girls did that, and it was a hard-earned win against a very good opponent, and I’m very proud of them.”
Hornell 76, Keshequa 65
There have been some huge games lately in Section V, Cuba-Rushford and Fillmore boys, Fairport and Penfield boys, but basketball fans know the biggest one of interest was the girls game with Hornell and Keshequa.
This is not a game that had to be played, but the coaches knew they had to schedule it.
But on this night, Hornell was firing on all cylinders during a 76-65 win. Hornell is 14-5 and Keshequa is 17-1.
“It was a great game between two very strong teams playing at a high level. Keshequa plays a tremendous brand of basketball and they are very well coached, so a lot of credit goes to them. They compete, they execute, and they make you work for everything,” Hornell coach Jim Dagon said. “I was really proud of our girls. We played with physicality, togetherness, and discipline for four quarters. Defensively, we committed to the plan and trusted one another. We also rebounded the basketball exceptionally well, which was a huge factor in the outcome.”
Dagon added, “Down the stretch, we took care of the ball and stepped up at the free throw line, making big shots when they mattered most. It was an all-around great win and one that showed our growth and maturity as a team.”
Offensively, Raegan Evingham led the way with 22 points for Hornell while Selena Maldonado added 18, Mia Nasca finished with 15, and Jordyn Dyring contributed 10. Teegan Eveland scored 6, A’Jonay Hawkins had 3, and Alexis Smith chipped in 2.
Keshequa was led by Alicia Wood who had a team-high 21 points and seven rebounds. Ryley Benner had 19 points and four assists, Braelyn Isaman had a strong game with a double-double, 18 points, 9 assists, 12 rebounds and 2 steals.
Also for Keshequa, Riley Nageldinger had 5 rebounds and 2 assists, Bree Benner had 4 points and 2 assists, and Belle Rigney scored 2 points with a steal.
BOYS BASKETBALL
(See a gallery below and visit AW Sports Photos on Facebook! Click HERE)
Andover 75, Hinsdale 39
Andover-Whitesville capped off an amazing regular season with a win over Hinsdale to finish 18-2 and a clear #1 seed in Section V Class D heading into sectionals.
The Panthers have #2 Elba (13-4) behind them with J-T at 12-6, a solid Mount Morris team at 10-9, the always dangerous Avoca-Prattsburgh and another sleeper is #8 Hammondsport.
The season ended with a win on Senior Night for coach Jimmy Joyce’s squad.
“Tonight was senior night so first and foremost, congratulations to our four seniors Trey Kent, James Miller-Young, Colton Calladine and Skyler Orpet,” Coach Joyce said “They are a great group of young men both on and off the court. I’m certainly going to miss them after this season is over which I hope isn’t for a while. We played decent tonight, not great but not horrible. Got to work on a few things and we at least know what we need to get better at over the next few weeks. We have a long layoff which doesn’t thrill me but we will work hard at practice and get better and be ready for sectionals. “
For A-W: Brody Vance :30 points; James Miller-Young: 22 Points, 10 rebounds ; Colton Calladine: 13 Points; Vincent Joyce: 8 Points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots
For Hinsdale: Hunter Olver: 10 Points, Dustyn See: 9 Points, Robert Childs: 9 points
Andover-Whitesville 86, Houghton 50
“I thought we started too slow, so we as coaches were not happy with the first 5 minutes. Too many forced shots, too many missed easy buckets and not enough defense. Gotta be better for 32 minutes if we want to get where we want to be,” Coach Joyce said. “After we woke I was much more pleased with our overall effort. Have to give credit to Jeff Prentice, every year his squads are much better the second time around and this season was no different. He’s a very good coach and a class act.”
Andover-Whitesville: Brody Vance: 32 points and 7 steals ; Colton Calladine: 18 points and 5 rebounds; Vincent Joyce: 14 Points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists ; James Miller-Young: 10 points and 6 rebounds
Houghton; Josh Davidson: 31 Points
Swipe for the Senior night gallery and game photos plus cheerleaders:
