Duanesburg girls' basketball at home on HVCC floor in state semis

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stan Hudy

Duanesburg's Madison Meyer (10), holds up the Regional Class C championship plaque with Cassidy Miakisz (13) and Alison Bates (32) after beating Northern Adirondack 79-54 at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy Sunday, March 13, 2022.

DUANESBURG — For the Duanesburg girls’ basketball team, the Hudson Valley Community College gymnasium has become a home away from home.

The Eagles knocked off Greenwich 64-47 at the Troy venue to capture their first-ever Section II title two weeks ago. Then, last weekend, back at the college, Duanesburg ran past Section VII champion Northern Adirondack 79-54 on the same floor.

On Saturday, the Eagles will face Section IV champion Newark Valley in the NYSPHSAA Class C semifinal at 10:45 a.m. once again at HVCC. Duaensburg hopes it can continue to make history — and earn one more game this season on the HVCC floor, which would be Sunday for the state championship.

“The first game [at HVCC], we definitely struggled looking down at the [multiple 3-point] lines, and then the second game we just kind of let the ball do its thing,” Duanesburg senior standout Madison Meyer said. “We figured out the rim is a little shaky, but we definitely have an advantage with knowing the 3-point line and the hoop a little bit better because the first game was a little tough.”

Head coach Chris Herron’s Eagles hit only three 3-pointers against Greenwich, then followed up with 14 against Northern Adirondack from four different players, with Meyer hitting four.

Duanesburg’s lone senior starter, Meyer is averaging 17 points per game. With plans to play for Skidmore next season, Meyer has amassed 1,560 points in her career with the Eagles. The rest of the Duanesburg starters are all sophomores: Alex Moses, Allison O’Hanlon, Hannah Mulhern and Lauren Capron.

The Eagles have become comfortable with the gym and the road trip to Troy the past two weekends.

“It’s only like 45 minutes away for us, so the whole town is coming,” Moses said. “We’ve got a bunch of community support, got all the school support, a bunch of pep rallies. It really does feel like it’s our own gym.”

After capturing the first-ever girls Section II title followed by the first-ever regional championship for the program, Duanesburg’s players have enjoyed the support they’ve received in their hometown.

“We feel like celebrities,” Moses said. “People in the town who I don’t even know are like ‘Great game today.’ . . . People want pictures and stuff like that, it’s really nice.”

The big wins have arrived for the Eagles in recent weeks, but the work has been going on for years.

“You’ve got a group of kids and parents who have bought in since these kids were very, very young,” Herron said. “You’re going back to second grade with DYB [Duanesburg Youth Basketball], you could see that this was a special group.”