JOHNSTOWN – The Lady Raiders have ended their regular season and are now preparing for the Region 3 championship tournament this coming weekend. FM, which competes as a Division III school, played a non-conference and non-regional game against Monroe College in New Rochelle on Sunday. The Lady Mustangs are a strong Division II team. They edged FM 86-83 in what Head Coach Kevin Jones termed "a very good warm-up" for the upcoming regional tourney.

The FM Five finished the season with an outstanding 19-4 overall record. They were 19-2 in Division III competition and 13-1 in the Mountain Valley Conference. They won the conference championship, finishing well ahead of runner-up Schenectady (10-4).

Photo, clockwise from upper left:  Monae Abrams, Kassandra Flowers, Head Coach Kevin Jones, Stephanie Rice

Conference Honors

Four Raiders received major Mountain Valley Conference honors, which were announced on Monday morning. Monae Abrams and Kassandra Flowers were named First Team All-Conference. Abrams was also named Conference Player of the Year.

Stephanie Rice was named Second Team All-Conference. Head Coach Kevin Jones was named Conference Coach of the Year.

Abrams is a sophomore forward who has a lot of savvy and power in the paint. She can also drop back and score from beyond the arc. Abrams averaged 16.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. That is, her normal game produced a double-double.

Flowers's talent was recognized by the coaches who voted on the honors. Despite missing some games and minutes due to illness, sophomore guard Flowers averaged 13.5 points per game. Quite often, those points came at critical times.

Rice is a freshman guard/forward.  Her presence was felt in nearly every game. Her 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game only reflect part of her value to the team.

Coach Jones was voted Coach of the Year by his peers. He coached both the current FM squad and the 2011-12 FM team to conference crowns.

Region 3 Championship

The regional championship tournament will be played this Friday through Sunday, Feb. 28-Mar. 2, at Onondaga CC's Allyn Hall Gymnasium.  The seedings for the tournament were also announced on Monday morning. The Lady Raiders were awarded the #2 seed. The complete seedings are:

#1 – Onondaga (22-0)
#2 – Fulton-Montgomery (19-2)
#3 - Jefferson (18-6)
#4 - Schenectady (15-7)
#5 - Hudson Valley (14-7)
#6 - Mohawk Valley (14-8)
#7 - Finger Lakes (11-11)
#8 - North Country (10-11)

All eight teams will play on Friday. The four winners will play in the semifinals on Saturday, and the final two teams will meet for the regional crown at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. The regional champion will go on to the national final-eight tourney in Rochester, Minnesota.

The Friday matchups are: 

1:00 p.m.   #3 Jefferson vs. #6 Mohawk Valley

3:00 p.m.   #2 FMCC vs. #7 FLCC

5:00 p.m.   #1 OCC vs. #8 North Country

7:00 p.m.   #4 Schenectady vs. #5 Hudson Valley 

The winners of the 1:00 and 3:00 games on Friday will play at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, and the winners of Friday's 5:00 and 7:00 games will play at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

This website will provide complete coverage of the Lady Raiders in action at Onondaga.

                            C.J. Bonny, website writer

Final Mountain Valley Conference Standings

Fulton-Montgomery  13-1

Schenectady  10-4

Hudson Valley  9-5

Mohawk Valley  8-6

Herkimer  5-9

North Country  6-8

Adirondack  5-9

Delhi  0-14

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