The Scotia-Glenville Lady Tartans dealt a 56-46 loss to the Amsterdam Lady Rams Varsity basketball team on Monday night at Scotia-Glenville High School. Scotia-Glenville’s Mary Kate Palleschi and Mikayla Mitchell teamed up to score 33 points, and the team did a better job of rebounding, both of which factored into the victory which ended the Lady Rams three-game win streak.
“We couldn’t control the boards and we couldn’t run,” Amsterdam coach Eric Duemler said. “We got beat up on boards and that was the story of the game.”
Amsterdam had it’s hands full with a very formidable Lady Tartans team that did a better job rebounding the ball particularly on the offensive end. Scotia-Glenville benefited from getting second chance points, the Lady Rams did not.
Trailing 49-41 in the early moments of the fourth quarter, Amsterdam attempted to stage a rally and finally managed to get inside the Scotia-Glenville zone defense with a pair of baskets by Elena Fedullo cutting the Lady Tartans lead to 49-45. It marked the first time during the game when Amsterdam put together back-to-back scores close to the rim. Fedullo’s four points were her only points of the game as she and three of her teammates battled through foul trouble for much of the contest. Amsterdam attempted to narrow the gap to two on it’s next drive into Scotia-Glenville territory, but Palleschi out- jumped everyone and with her long reach easily secured the rebound. Amsterdam hustled back on defense as Palleschi’s outlet pass went to Mitchell. The Lady Rams focused on stopping Mitchell’s drive to the basket and didn’t account for Asia Winney waiting beyond the three point arc. Winney’s long distance shot put the Lady Tartans up 52-45 with less than three minutes to play, and Amsterdam wasn’t able to recover.
“We need to remember what this feels like so that we don’t let this happen again,” Amsterdam senior Giuliana Pritchard said. “Scotia had more intensity, more energy tonight. We didn’t play like us.”
Pritchard made a strong move through the Lady Tartans defense on the ensuing AHS possession and attempted a lay up among three defenders but was denied. The Lady Rams were drawing contact, but were not getting to the line. Meanwhile, four AHS players including three starters played much of the second half with three or four fouls. Only Pritchard and Lucia Liverio managed to stay out of foul trouble as AHS starters. Scotia- Glenville made 17 of 23 free throw attempts, while Amsterdam was 16 of 26 from the line. But, even a better performance from the charity stripe couldn’t negate the advantage Scotia- Glenville held on rebounds. Mitchell and Porter both scored in the closing minutes of the game as a result of a one and done possession by the Lady Rams.
“I’m disappointed we got beat on boards,” Coach Duemler said. “Defensively we weren’t there.”
The game didn’t start out on a negative note, in fact it looked like the beginning of another good night for the Lady Rams after they built an 18-9 lead after one quarter. AHS freshman Antonia May connected for a pair of three point goals as Amsterdam attempted to spread out the Scotia-Glenville defense. May scored nine points in the quarter and Pritchard scored six. Overall, Pritchard led Amsterdam with 18 points, and May finished with a career high 13 points. The two teamed up to carry Amsterdam in the third quarter as well scoring 12 of the Lady Rams 13 points in the period. A steal by May made it a one point game at 39-38 in the later part of the quarter, and Pritchard netted three free throws to cut it to 45-41 heading into the fourth, but neither player scored in the final eight minutes. Scotia-Glenville outscored the Lady Rams 47-28 over the last three quarters. The Lady Tartans “two-three” zone defense was effective in causing Amsterdam to take low percentage shots. The Lady Rams also missed several lay ups that could have made it a tighter game and that combined with getting beat on offensive rebounds led to the Lady Rams second loss of the season.
“We took bad shots and turned it over,” Coach Duemler said. “Scotia-Glenville played with more energy than we did and took control of the boards.”
Amsterdam also had trouble getting out in transition and running the floor. Mitchell and Kelsey Brown prevented Amsterdam fast break opportunities in the second quarter taking the ball away from Lady Rams guards. Amsterdam held a slim 28-25 lead at the half, one that the Lady Tartans quickly overcame with a 12- 5 run to open the third quarter. Mitchell’s second three point basket of the game put Scotia- Glenville in front for good at 35-33. Free throws by Palleschi and Porter kept the Lady Tartans in front by four. Amsterdam sliced in to one twice on a free throw by Liverio and May’s steal, but Mitchell, Winney, and Juliana Geniti all made good on their foul shots to keep the Lady Tartans in front going into the fourth quarter.
“We missed a lot of lay ups,” said Pritchard, whose 18 point effort left her only 13 points shy of 1,000 for her career. “We let them take this from us and we don’t want to let it happen again.”
Palleschi led the Lady Tartans with 17 points and nine rebounds. Mitchell was next with 16 points and eight boards. Winney and Porter added nine points each for Scotia-Glenville (10-2 Foothills Council). Porter contributed seven rebounds, and Winney had five.
Jackie Stanavich scored six points and took down nine rebounds for the Lady Rams. Fedullo added four points, Liverio scored three, and Taylor Flint had two points for Amsterdam (10-2, 9-2 Foothills Council). Pritchard collected 11 rebounds to go along with her 18 points.
The loss to Scotia-Glenville marked the first time the Lady Rams have lost to more than one league foe during the Foothills Council regular season. Amsterdam’s last loss to the Lady Tartans came in the Section 2 Class A quarter-finals in 2015. Also as a result of the loss, Amsterdam is now a game back of Scotia-Glenville in the Foothills Council standings.
Amsterdam returns to action when they travel to South Glens Falls on Thursday to take on the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Rams earned a 68-55 victory over South High at AHS on December 11, 2017, and a win could help them in a tie breaker since the Lady Bulldogs own a 46- 40 win over Scotia- Glenville from earlier this month. The Lady Rams and Lady Tartans will meet again, at AHS on February 5th.
“We still control our own destiny,” Coach Duemler said. “We lost a little advantage, but at midnight we turn the page and move on to the next game.”
