Humbled in its first attempt to reach the state Class AA final four, the West Genesee girls basketball team had a very different outcome the second time around.
The Wildcats ventured to Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College Saturday and overcame a rough start by playing a superb second half on both ends to defeat Section II champion Colonie 72-63 in the AA regional final.
“We didn’t want the season to end,” said senior guard Mackenzie Smith. “Our team and the school has not been this far so we wanted to reach a new milestone, and that’s what we did.”
It was far removed from the 48-31 defeat the Wildcats took to Shenendehowa in this same round in 2017. Led by Mackenzie Smith’s 29 points, WG absorbed the best shot of the Garnet Raiders early and then asserted itself with some of its best sustained play of the entire season.
Just like in the Section III final win over Cicero-North Syracuse at the Carrier Dome March 4, WG faced a morning tip-off (10 a.m. in this instance) and here it may have hurt the Wildcats because Colonie controlled the boards in the early going and made a 10-0 run that bridged the first and second quarters.
Yet once it settled down, WG began to take over. On the defensive end, the Wildcats forced the Garnet Raiders into a series of turnovers as the second period wore on.
As that went on, WG started to convert on a consistent basis. A 7-0 run near the end of the half erased most of Colonie’s lead, so even though the Wildcats trailed 23-21 at the break, the momentum had shifted in its favor.
“I’m proud of how they responded because their heads could have gone the wrong way, and we could have gone the wrong way, but they stayed the course and they persevered through that difficult time,” said head coach Stafford Spreter.
Late in the third quarter, still trailing 32-29, WG took the lead for good with 10 unanswered points, bridged by a pair of 3-pointers from Mackenzie Smith, who seemed to get more confident as the game wore on.
Going to the fourth quarter with a 42-37 lead, the Wildcats scored the first six points of the final period to stretch the margin to double digits. Then it erased any doubt by going on another 7-0 run midway through the period, capped by yet another Mackenzie Smith 3-pointer.
WG’s lead got as large as 61-44, and though Colonie charged late, the Wildcats stayed in front, having outscored the Garnet Raiders 54-25 over a stretch that spanned the second and fourth quarters.
Not kept quiet, Madison Smith complemented Mackenzie’s hot hand by earning 15 points. Haley Collins had a big day, too, earning 11 points as Catie Cunningham put up seven points. Mya Case made six free throws in the final minute to clinch it.
That has been our story all year,” said Spreter, specifically noting the big effort from Collins, who hit all four of her field-goal attempts.”Someone always steps up.”
Colonie, in defeat, got 23 points from Erin Fouracre and 15 points from Aliyah Wright. Kyara Triblett had nine points and Alivia Paeglow got eight points.
This means that WG gets to go to Troy again to pursue a state championship. This Saturday at 9 a.m at HVCC., the Wildcats face Section I powerhouse Ossining in the state semifinals. The Pride won four consecutive state titles from 2013 to 2016. Whoever wins this game meets Bishop Kearney (Section V) or Baldwin (Section VIII) in Sunday’s state final at 10 a.m.
Jim Franco contributed to the writing of this story.
