By PAUL GOTHAM
TROY, N.Y. — An early 14-point deficit proved to be too much as the Hilton girls’ basketball team lost to Albertus Magnus, 67-50 in the NYS Class AA championship game, Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College.
One night after a dramatic win in overtime, the Cadets found themselves on the wrong side of a 23-9 score after eight minutes of play.
“We didn’t have the start that I was hoping for,” said Hilton head coach Dave Heise. “Obviously, last night took a big chunk out of us. If we could have kept that first quarter to the 6-to-8 point range, maybe the result could have been different. You use a lot of energy to try to chip away at that.”
With Hilton focusing on sophomore center Julia Scott, Allie Falesto connected four times from long range and scored 14 of her game-high 21 points to pace Albertus Magnus to the early lead.
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“We keyed on [Scott],” Heise said. “I think we did a pretty good job on her. She’s very talented. But then you’re always going to give up something else when you key in like that and [Falesto] got loose. Falesto hurt us.”
Scott set up Kate O’Leary for a basket to give the Falcons (24-4) their largest lead of the first half at 30-14 with 4:06 remaining in the second quarter.
Hilton kept the game at 13 heading into halftime.
Sophia Malpeli opens the third-quarter scoring. Ella Clark answers at the other end. pic.twitter.com/g4jYA9abq9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 17, 2024
Mallory Heise hits back-to-back jumpers to force an Albertus Magnus timeout. @HiltonCadets trail 39-29 midway through the third. pic.twitter.com/OsKgpIdErx
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 17, 2024
Mallory Heise hit back-to-back jumpers early in the third to make it a 10-point game at 39-29. The Cadets had three straight possessions with a chance to make it a single-digit game but could not take advantage.
“What got us back in it was their courage that they had all year long,” Heise said. “They were never going away from any opponent. They never shied away from any moment.
“When we stepped up our defensive intensity, one of our hallmarks, that helped us get some stops.”
Hilton (22-5) did cut the margin to nine briefly in the fourth quarter when Heise grabbed her own miss and converted with contact. After a free throw, the Cadets trailed 54-45 with 4:04 remaining in the game.
“Heise is tremendous,” said Albertus Magnus head coach Pat Buckley. “I thought the game she played the last night was elite. She’s tough.
“I give them a lot of credit. The game they won last night was one of the best games I’ve seen. It was unbelievable. We’ve been in those shoes. I feel for them. They had a gigantic win, and then they had a team like us standing there also. There were a couple times where threes almost went down to get it under 10 for them. They got it to nine. There was a three that could have made it interesting. We rebounded it and settled down.”
Scott, a 6-foot-2 forward, finished with 13 and 12 rebounds. The Falcons finished with a 32-25 advantage on the boards and blocked five shots in the game.
“We do a pretty good job of protecting the rim because we got size,” Buckley said. “At the start of the game, I thought that impacted it. They weren’t ready for us walling-up and changing shots.”
Hilton senior forward Leah Thompson was tasked with having to contain Scott.
“We’re asking a lot of Leah Thompson to play 32 minutes and to be leaning on big bodies nonstop,” Heise said. “Ideally, if I had a little bit more size, we could play Leah 24-25 minutes. Her production in those games when she plays 24-25 minutes, is off the charts.”
Ella Clark accounted for 18 points and seven rebounds.
“They catapulted us to another level,” Heise said of the two seniors – Clark and Thompson. “It’s very rare that you have kids at all five spots, and we had kids at all five spots.”
The state title game appearance was the first in program history for the Cadets.
“I know this will temporarily sting, but they’ll get some music going on the bus,” Heise said. “They just love each other and continue to support each other.”
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