All sorts of excitement surrounded the Hamilton girls basketball team as it squared off Tuesday with New York Mills in their first encounter since last year’s Section III Class D final.
Now, as then, the Emerald Knights prevailed – but it had to sweat until the final seconds before beating the Marauders 44-43.
It didn’t take long for some history to occur, as a basket in the first quarter sent Jordan Peterson past the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Eventually, Peterson would earn 16 points, but Hamilton (5-1) could not get away as, throughout the night, Mills kept right up, the lead switching hands several times.
And the Marauders were up, 43-41, as regulation wound down. With Mills ganging up on Peterson, Katie Weeks flashed open – and with 20 seconds left, Weeks hit a 3-pointer that put Hamilton ahead by one.
Still, the Marauders had the last possession and got two shots to win it, but neither of them would fall, allowing the Emerald Knights to escape. For the game, Katie and Lauren Weeks each had nine points and Sara Whyatt got six points in support of Peterson. Mills, who fell to 5-3 on the season, saw Erica Pendrak pour in 20 points.
As this went on, Canastota its own close encounter against Cooperstown, but lost to the Redskins by that same 44-43 margin.
Trailing 21-20 at halftime, the Raiders used a solid third quarter to move ahead 34-29, but could not maintain that lead, despite Shea Foster’s big effort that included 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Down by one, Canastota had possession in the waning seconds. Foster had an open look to win it, but the shot went halfway through the basket before bouncing out. Danielle Carlone and Lindsay McGinley each finished with eight points as Holli Erkson paced Cooperstown with 13 points.
Morrisville-Eaton began its week by dismantling Stockbridge Valley 69-28. Up 37-13 by halftime, the Warriors dominated all the way through as Kim Horton earned 20 points, with Shelby Widger and Leigha Morris each earning 11 points. Sarah Crowell and Amber Smalley had seven points apiece.
