Malone, Brushton-Moira lose in states

POTSDAM — Speed proved to be the difference as two Franklin County basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end in the state playoffs Friday night at SUNY Potsdam's Maxcy Hall.

Section 2's Averill Park used its speed to stifle Malone on defense, resulting in a comfortable 53-35 win in a girls Class A quarterfinal game.

In the second game, Section 2's Maple Hill overcame a rough start and eventually outran Brushton-Moira in a 79-58 victory in a boys Class C first-round game.

Averill Park will advance to next week's state semifinals at Hudson Valley Community College while the Maple Hill boys stayed overnight in the area to face Section 7's Ticonderoga in a quarterfinal at 4 p.m. today at Potsdam High School.

MAPLE HILL 79, BRUSHTON-MOIRA 58

Just two minutes into the game, it appeared as if the Panthers (12-10 overall) might run Maple Hill right out of the gym.

Brushton-Moira raced out to a 9-1 lead before Maple Hill (22-1) settled down and started relying on its inside game to eventually tie the game 19-19 by the end of the first quarter.

"They came out flying tonight," said Wildcats coach Scott Hanrahan of Brushton-Moira. "They were ready to go and wanted to jump right on us and get going early."

Brushton-Moira built another lead early in the second quarter after two 3-point baskets by Josh Sevey put the Panthers up 27-22, a lead that eventually stretched to 31-26.

But Maple Hill responded with a 12-0 run to take control of the game for good.

"We just couldn't keep up with their pace," said Sevey, who finished with 20 points. "We turned the ball over a lot, too. I think we all gave 100 percent, we just didn't have enough to get it done. At first I thought we had it, but we just got tired, I think."

Maple Hill went to halftime with a 38-35 lead, then opened the third quarter with a 12-3 burst to build a 50-38 lead.

"It was huge with us getting off to a big run," Hanrahan said. "It's the kind of run I wanted to have at the beginning of the game."

One key for the Wildcats once they began to take control was limiting Sevey's touches. He had eight points in the second half, and when he finally left the game for good, every Maple Hill player on the court joined the Brushton-Moira fans in applauding him as he headed to the bench.

"We started realizing we had to keep the ball out of Sevey's hands as much as possible," Hanrahan said. "He's an excellent player. If he wasn't shooting it, he was giving it up to somebody else to get a layup."

John Green added 11 points for the Panthers. Christopher Despart led Maple Hill with 29 points. David Briggs scored 17 and Sean Danaher added 13.

"We had some letdowns on defense," said Panthers coach Randy Todd. "Their quickness just overpowered us. Their ability to drive, we just couldn't stop it."

AVERILL PARK 53, MALONE 35

It did not take long for the Section 2 champions to show Malone (19-2) just how difficult it was going to be to generate any offense.

The Warriors (22-1) began pressing Malone almost immediately and forced the Huskies into 10 turnovers in the first quarter as they built a 15-7 lead.

"They are bigger than we were, long-armed, very quick," said Huskies coach Shelley Skelly. "We also had a hard time just entering the ball on offense. Our guards were stopping just after midcourt and completely stopping the dribble. That made a big difference. We had to pull our wings much further up."

Averill Park also neutralized Malone's leading scorer, Kelsey Johnson, holding her to seven points. Johnson didn't score her first point until 13 minutes, 26 seconds into the game.

"We build our program around defense and we know we need our defense to win games," said Averill Park's Katie Duma, who finished with eight points. "We played so hard today and it all paid off."

Averill Park's aggression caused the team to get in foul trouble by the second quarter, and the Huskies used several trips to the free-throw line to cut the deficit to 32-20 by halftime.

But Averill Park opened the second half with a 12-2 run to build an insurmountable 22-point lead midway through the third quarter.

"We still had to play hard," said Averill Park's Michela Ottati, who finished with 17 points. "We knew they were a good team with a lot of girls who could shoot. We just had to play our game."

Brittany Marshall led the Huskies with 13 points.