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Haldane Off its Mark in Tourney Loss to Ossining
Blue Devils to challenge Put Valley for PCN&R Cup
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Junior forward Brittany Shields goes up strong for two of her 25 points against Ossining last Sat. night in 52-51 loss at Croton tourney. |
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Ossining’s formula is tried, tested and true when it comes to girl’s basketball. Ossining gets after every loose ball, they wear out their knee pads and the results are often fruitful. Such was the case last Saturday night at Croton-Harmon High School when Ossining defeated Haldane, 52-51, for the Robert E Mayclim Memorial Tournament title. Haldane advanced to the finals after manhandling host Croton in a 79-41 opening-round win.
Despite 25 points and 15 rebounds from All-NYS forward Brittany Shields, 14-time defending Section 1 champion Haldane suffered its first loss of the season in the finale. The Class C Blue Devils were up against one of the premier Class AA programs in Section 1, and they were able to see a level of toughness they don’t ordinarily see against small schools. So the loss, though upsetting, was an eye-opening experience, which should pay dividends down the road.
“We take no solace in the fact that a C school like ourselves “played with” a AA school like Ossining,” Haldane boss Rich Desiderio said. “We went into the game expecting to win. So there were no “moral victory” or “at least you didn’t quit” speeches in the locker room. We did not play well and that’s why we lost. It is up to me and my players to figure out where we went wrong.”
The Blue Devils can start by taking better care of the basketball. Haldane committed 32 turnovers, many of which were a result of panic.
“We need to fix that,” the coach insisted. “We missed shots near the basket and we must fix that. Our defense was not good especially in transition and we must fix that. We did defend screens well, either on the ball or off and we must fix that.”
For all its faults, Haldane was still in the game until the finals seconds, as Ossining left the door open by missing a slew of foul shots down the stretch, six in double bonus. Haldane closed with a fury, using an 11-4 run in the waning moments. Brittany Fleming’s trey cut the deficit to four and Shields hit a pair from the line to provide the final margin, but the mistakes made for a hole too big to crawl out of. Kelsey Vallach had 13 points and seven assists at the point to lead Ossining while Brittany Garret hit for 15 points and pulled down six rebounds. Rebekah Rupp hit for a dozen. Haldane’s Kylie McConville (11 boards) and Brittany Fleming each scored seven in a losing effort.
McConville, a senior captain, took a positive approach afterward.
“I’d prefer to lose by one point to a team like that than pummel another team by 40,” she said. “I think we learned a lot about what we need to work on as a team, and I think that’s crucial this early in the season. We’re able to take a step back and say ‘okay, we do this well and this not so well’. I’m just glad we’re making these mistakes now. It shows we’ve got a lot of room left to grow.”
Against Croton, Shields paced the Blue Devils with 20 points and nine rebounds. Liz Skrelja added 10 points and 14 rebounds while Scotti King dropped 14 points, including four 3-bombs. Fleming and McConville (7 boards, 5 assists) had nine points apiece.
“We did not play our ‘A’ game and maybe we would have won if we did,” Coach Desiderio said. “We are a team that has some things that we must work on and we will. I believe that we will fix our shortcomings. Whether we came back and won by a point or lost by a point does not change the fact that we must fix what is wrong. The Ossining kids are not more talented than mine, but they are more fundamentally sound than we are right now and when teams are equal that is the difference between winning and losing. We will move on and get better.”
The Blue Devils will hope to do so in a hurry as they’ll take on a challenge from a talented Putnam Valley team this week in the first annual Putnam County News & Recorder Cup game, which will establish small-school hoops supremacy in Putnam County. The Recorder Cup will be inscribed and passed on to the winning school each season.
It is our hope at the PC News & Recorder to establish a healthy, lasting rivalry between the two school districts that are separated by the 14,000 acres of woods in Fahnestock State Park.
“We think it’ll be the start of something good between the two school districts… they’re a great basketball program and we feel like we’re coming along on schedule here,” said PV Coach Kelly Thompson. Her Tigers (2-3), which made a 2004 Class B Final 4 appearance, will host the event this year at 6:15pm this Thursday. In their most recent win, a 60-57 decision over Nanuet, senior Kim Kastuk nailed 19 points and hauled in 10 boards. Senior Christine Kemp drilled 18 points, dished seven assists and grabbed seven caroms. Freshman Nicole Scott added 13 points and 10 rebounds. It’ll be interesting to see Kastuk, an All-NYS field hockey player, and Shields battle along the low blocks.
For more Haldane girl’s basketball photos taken by Ray Gallagher, visit his websites at www.printroom.com/pro/yourdirectrays or www.yourdirectrays.com.
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