JOHNSTOWN – It was a grand afternoon for basketball. The always-tough Mohawk Valley Lady Hawks were in town to play the conference-leading Lady Raiders. A good crowd was on hand, with plenty of fans from both schools cheering on both the Hawks and the Raiders.
The Lady Raiders have been playing particularly well of late, but no one expected them to outscore the visitors the way they did for the first 12 minutes. The Hawks fought back and shaved FM's lead to just six points in the second half, but the home team pulled away again and earned the 63-49 victory.
Photo: Monae Abrams scoring the first points of the game after taking a pass from Kassandra Flowers (left)
An Astounding Start
Play began with Kassandra Flowers sending a long pass down court to Monae Abrams. The Raiders' go-to forward laid the ball in carefully, and FM had the first points. Then the Lady Raiders scored again. And again. And again.
Kendra Jordan sank a three-pointer from the center of the arc. Flowers scored on a take-charge baseline drive. Abrams added a free throw. FM led 8-0, against a good and very athletic team.
Abrams added another from the stripe. Mohawk Valley got on the board with two free throws. Flowers sank a three and Stephanie Rice followed suit with a three from the left of center. FM led 15-2.
Photo: Stephanie Rice sank two threes in the first half
The Raiders were shooting well from the floor and were rebounding well at both ends of the court. Jessica Woney and Sherice Gayle scored from the charity stripe. Woney fed Gayle for a field goal. Rice hit another three – this one from the left corner – and FM had the amazing lead of 22-2 after just 8:22 of play.
FM's offense cooled just a tad, but with 8:57 left in the half, FM led 25-5. They had played 11 minutes of great basketball. Only their 7-for-11 foul shooting kept the team from getting an "A+" grade for those 11 minutes, and that foul shooting was almost up to the team's season average of 70.1%. Truly, they had played a quarter of a game to remember.
The rest of the game
Mohawk Valley is a good team that has plenty of character. They fought back. And FM was unable to keep up their uber-sterling play. MV closed the gap to 15 points, at 31-16. Both squads played hard, and the half ended with FM still ahead by 15, at 35-20.
The second half saw MV stage a commendable comeback. They cut the lead to 42-32. Then, with 12:25 to play, it was 42-34. Shortly after the 10-minute mark, FM's lead was just 44-38, but that was as close as the visitors would get.
Rice and Flowers went a combined 4-for-4 from the line. Abrams was grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring. A two-pointer by Rice, a Woney drive for two more, and five points from the line by Gayle and Erica Redwood put FM ahead 60-45. The Hawks never gave up, but the FM Five managed their end game well. The final score was 63-49.
Photo: Sherice Gayle
The win assures FM of at least a share of the Mountain Valley Conference title. Schenectady has three conference games remaining, and FM has two. One more win by FM or one more loss by Schenectady will clinch the conference crown for the Lady Raiders. But the team is aiming beyond the conference competition. The top eight of the 15 women's D-III teams in Region 3 will meet in the regional championship tournament, February 28-March 2.
Head Coach Kevin Jones was pleased with the squad's performance. After the game he stated, "Tonight's win was great for our program and shows how well the team has been working together. Now we have to continue building toward the regional tourney."
Seniors Honored
Sunday's game with MV was the Lady Raiders' last home game of the season. The men's game followed the women's contest, and the seven Lady Raider seniors were honored during halftime of the men's game. (See photo at the bottom of this page.)
The crowd was told of several contributions by each player, and each player was presented with a framed team photo.
C.J. Bonny, website writer
Scoring:
FM: Jordan 3, Chea 6, Flowers 8, Rice 14, Ev. Redwood 2, Woney 4, Abrams 17, Er. Redwood 2, Gayle 7; Total 63
MV: Fauvelle 8, Berry 12, Kralik 10, Harewood 2, Way 4, Young 2, Hafeez 11; Total 49
Halftime: 35-20, FM
Mountain Valley Conference Standings
Fulton-Montgomery 11-1
Schenectady 8-3
Hudson Valley 7-4
Mohawk Valley 6-4
Herkimer 5-6
North Country 3-6
Adirondack 3-9
Delhi 0-10
Photo: The Lady Raider seniors were honored at halftime of the men's game. From left, Assistant Coach Clyde Clymer, Kassandra Flowers, Monae Abrams, Sherice Gayle, Kendra Jordan, Sarah Wyzomirski, Erica Ward, Manager Daquan Atkins, Head Coach Kevin Jones
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