HCS Section III Class D Champs!

RFH 2010, Cover Stories, HCS Girls Basketball

Mon, Mar 07, 2011

The HCS girls basketball team repeated at Section III Class D champs, beating Sackets Harbor 48-45 in overtime. They play South Kortright Saturday at SUNY Oneonta.

UTICA -- Hamilton's girls basketball team beat fourth-seeded Sackets Harbor 48-45 in overtime to win their second Section III Class D title in a row this afternoon at the Utica Aud.

HCS now plays South Kortright Saturday at SUNY Oneonta for the regional title at a time to be announced. Top seed South Kortright beat Schenevus to advance to the regionals.

HCS trailed much of the game but Katie Weeks hit three free throws with just nine seconds left to tie the game, sending it into overtime. Weeks and Jordan Peterson came up big from the free throw line in the late going and HCS neutralized Sackets Harbors three-point shooters in the extra frame for the win.

"That's what happens when you never give up," said HCS Jessica Poole, whose teams have played in the last three sectional finals, winning two in a row. "It all comes down to guts."

Peterson ended the game with 24 and Weeks had 15. Both were named to the all-tournament team and Weeks was the section's MVP.

Early On: Semi-Rocky

Hamilton did not get off to the strongest of starts against the team the lost in the finals to two years ago. The Patriots' Amber Butcher, a 4' 11" guard with a penchant for shooting the ball from wherever she is on the court, kept the Lady Knights on their toes. HCS trailed Sackets Harbor early on, and occasionally tied the score, never letting the Patriots get out of striking distance.

The first period ended with Sackets up 13-9, and by midway through the second period, Sackets was up 18-12.

Hamilton kept inching back. Then with 3:45 to go, Peterson stole the ball and fed Katie Weeks who scored to make it 18-16. About a minute and a half later, she was found and made two free throws to tie it at 18.

Sackets made one free throw with 40 seconds to go and Amber Butcher chucked up a three to make it 22-18 at the half.

Second Half: More of The Same ... For a While

The start of the second half gave Hamilton fans more to worry about than the hideous weather that had blown into Utica during the game. The diminutive Butcher tossed up a couple more threes and Sackets suddenly was up 28-18 at the 5:40 mark.

With just 38 seconds left in the third period, HCS' Kendall Rusch picked up her fourth foul, and the period ended with Sacets up by seven, 35-28.

Then HCS Coach Jessica Poole moved her girls into a three-quarters press as the final quarter started, and that is when the Lady Emerald Knights showed why they went 18-3 this year. Aside from slowing Sackets' scoring to a crawl, it also seemed to energize the Lady Knights.

Peterson drove the lane consistently, either scoring a bucket or getting fouled and converting from the free throw line. At the 2:20 mark, the steady senior hit a turn around jumper in the paint and made it a two-point game, 37-35.

Then:

Butcher got a rebound and drove the lane to make it 39-35;
Weeks was fouled and made the first free throw but missed the second to make it 39-36;
Hamilton's Sara Whyatt fouled Butcher, who made a pair of free throws and it was 41-36 with just 25 seconds to go.
Peterson scored to make it 41-38.
Hamilton's Katherine Keever fouled Ashley Butcher with 14.3 seconds to go. She missed her free throw, Peterson got the rebound, and passed to Weeks who was fouled as she was attempting a three-point shot.
Weeks went to the line, and with the same cool calm she displayed when her late-game free throws helped Hamilton beat New York Mills in the semis, she sank all three to tie it at 41.
And, the HCS student cheering section started chanting, "Katie Weeks! Katie Weeks! Katie Weeks!" as the buzzer sounded to end regulation.

Overtime: "It all comes down to guts"

Despite the increasingly bad weather, no one was leaving this game to get home early.

Thirty seconds into the four-minute overtime, Weeks scored to give Hamilton its first lead since the first period. But, Sackets tied it about a minute later: 43-43.

With 2:17 left, Peterson made a pair of free throws to give Hamilton a 45-43 edge and made two more at 1:03 to make it 47-43.

Kendall Rusch, playing the most aggressive game of her year, fouled out with 57 second left in OT. Ashley Butcher went to the line for Sackets; she missed the first but made the second free throw and it was 47-44. The Patriots made in 47-45 on another free throw, but with 12.9 seconds left, Hamilton's Katherine Keever pulled down the biggest rebound of the year, drawing a foul.

While Keever missed her free throw, Peterson got the rebound and was fouled. She made the first shot to move Hamilton to 48-45 and that's how it ended.

Afterward: Celebration & Awards

In the end, Sackets Harbor won the three-point shooting portion of the game. Amber Butcher had three, Nicole Menapace had three and Ashley Butcher had one. Hamilton had none.

But, Hamilton won the free throw shooting contest. Weeks hit seven of nine and Peterson was 10 of 12. As a team, HCS shot 72 percent from the charity stripe.

Weeks and Peterson were named to the all-tournament team, as was the Patriots' Amber Butcher. Weeks was named the Class D sectionals MVP.

Afterwards, between interviews and accepting congratulations, Poole praised not just the play, but the mental toughness of her team. She said every player who stepped on the floor for her had a hand in the win, and said none thought they were ever out of the game.

"It all comes down to guts," said Poole.

S Harbor 13-9-13-6-4 – 45

Hamilton 9-9-10-13-7 – 48

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