The Border Country Sports Blog-January 29th
Good Morning! With the Border Country Sports Blog, I'm Keith Harrington.
McFarren Surpasses 1,000 Point Mark, but Whitehall Prevails
Gabrielle McFarren joined the Hartford 1,000 point club on her Senior Night, but Whitehall spoiled the party. A pair of late 3-pointers by Ashlyn Groesbeck and a free throw by Liv Whiting with 4.9 seconds remaining led the Railroaders to a 47-46 win at the Ella Colvin Gym.
McFarren joins Karlee Nims in surpassing the 1,000 point mark this season for Hartford. McFarren becomes the 10th Tanager all time and the sixth girl to reach the mark.
"I've had it as a goal actually just this year because this is when I figured out I was going to get it," McFarren said after the game. "Our first goal was to get Karlee's. Second goal was to get ours. Now Jason (Coach Johnson) has a goal to make it far in sectionals."
Whitehall came out determined, taking a 13-3 first quarter lead. The Railroaders led by as much as 10 in the second quarter, before an 11-2 run brought Hartford within two. Whitehall clung to a 21-19 lead at the half.
The Railroaders held a 32-26 lead at the end of three, but the intensity picked up in the fourth. Hartford appeared to have weathered the storm despite trailing all night. A trey by McFarren gave them their first lead of the evening and a bucket by Nims made it 41-38 Tanagers.
Groesbeck then nailed a big trey to tie the game at 41-41. Another 3-pointer by Groesbeck gave Whitehall a 44-43 lead after a pair of Izzy French free throws for Hartford.
Whitehall led 46-43 with 10.1 second to play, but a McFarren 3-pointer tied the game. McFarren was fouled on the play but the free throw rolled out. 18 points
On the following Whitehall possession Whiting was fouled. After missing the first shot Whiting calmly converted the second and the Railroaders defense stopped the Tanagers on their final attempt.
"Our defense held up pretty well. We executed when it came down to it," Whitehall coach Boyd Hunt said. They're starting to believe a little bit and we're playing tough."
Samantha Howland led Whitehall with 15 points. Groesbeck added 11.
Nims netted 18 points for the Tanagers. McFarren finished with 17.
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Hartford Boys Rally on Senior Night
It sure didn't look good for the Hartford boys basketball team early in their Senior Night game with Whitehall Friday night. The Railroaders came out red hot and fashioned a 19 point lead. The Tanagers whittled away at it all night and rallied for a 52-51 win in overtime at the Ella Colvin Gymnasium.
Led by the outside shooting of Latrell Evans Whitehall opened up a 26-7 lead. A 3-pointer by Ray Harrington cut the deficit to 26-10 after one.
"They came out hot. They're a good shooting team. We were in a zone. and we had to switch to man to man," Hartford coach Jason Harrington said. "They're going to be tough for someone come sectionals. He (Whitehall coach Keith Redmond) has a team that just flat out hustles."
Harrington did his best to rally the Tanagers in the second, scoring nine points in the frame. Whitehall however still managed to lead 37-25 at the break.
In the third Hartford was able to pull closer as the Railroader offense began to sputter. Jimmy Lavin pulled the the Tanagers within 37-33 to cap off an 8-0 run with 5:15 to go in the period. Whitehall still led 43-38 heading to the fourth.
Hartford finally took their first lead of the night 46-45 on a pair oh Harrington free throws with 4:07 to play. Lavin gave the Tanagers a 49-46 lead, but a three-point play by Evans tied the game to force overtime.
In the extra session a Harrington trey gave the Tanagers a 52-49 lead. Cash Burgey scored to pull Whitehall to within 52-51, but after a pair of missed free throws by Hartford the Railroaders could not hit a winning shot.
After scoring 26 points in the first Whitehall scored only 25 the rest of the night.
"That's not us. When you score as many points as we do, but attribute it to them. They locked down on us defensively," Whitehall coach Redmond said. "They played well. Those kids had motivation on senior night and they played super."
Harrington finished with 21 points for Hartford. Lavin added 12. Nate Fiske gave the Tanagers a spark off the bench with five points.
Evans, led Whitehall with 22 points. Burgey chipped in 12.
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Poultney Girls Tame Mountain Lions
The Poultney girls basketball team returned to the win column after a three game losing skid, topping Long Trail 49-33 at Capman Court. It was the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game for the Blue Devils.
Poultney was able to take a 27-17 lead at the half and pulled away over the final 16 minutes.
Emily Handley led Poultney with 12 points. Molly Hier chipped in eight and Kait DeBonis six. DeBonis also collected nine rebounds.
Molly Luikart led Long Trail with 10.
Poultney is now 4-7.
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Fair Haven Stifles Mount Anthony
Fair Haven used a solid defensive effort to stifle Mount Anthony 43-14 in SVL girls basketball.
Lilly Briggs led the Slaters with 16 points. Brittney Love added eight points and five assists.
Alana Williams chipped in six points for the Slaters. Lexi Murray had five assists and Tegan Hoard had 10 rebounds.
Fair Haven is now 10-4 on the season.
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Granville Girls Win at Lake George
The Granville girls basketball team won their second game of the Ben Hover era, edging Lake George 38-34. The win gives the Golden Horde the season sweep of the Warriors.
"I liked the way our girls stayed composed," Granville coach Ben Hover said. "Anytime you go to Lake George you know they are going to have a large crowd and make some noise."
Granville led 9-8 after a quarter. The Warriors tied the game 18-18 at the half.
The Golden Horde outscored the Warriors 9-7 in the third to take a 27-26 lead. An 11-9 fourth quarter handed Granville the victory.
Lauren Bascom led Granville with 13 points. Melissa Beaver added 8 and Lilly Strout seven.
Apen Williams and Strout had 11 rebounds each.
Lake George was paced by 11 points from Mykah Collier-Fisher.
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High School Wrestling
Granville-Fort Ann 51 Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George 18.
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For more scores go to the Border Country Sports Scorestream Scoreboard: https://www.bordercountrysports.com/scores
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With the Border Country Sports Blog, I'm Keith Harrington.
