Girls' basketball: Schalmont holds on, defeats town rival Mohonasen 48-45

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Schalmont's Karissa Antoine takes a shot between Mohonasen's Isabella Petrocci and Caitlyn Richmond Tuesday in a girls' basketball game.

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ROTTERDAM — Schalmont freshman Arianna Brandon began the fourth-quarter scoring and ended it, too, with her free throw in the final seconds capping a 48-45 Colonial Council girls’ basketball victory over Mohonasen Tuesday night.

Brandon’s three-point play had given the Sabres their only double-digit lead at the outset of the last quarter 39-28 before the Mighty Warriors put together an outstanding rally in an attempt to top their Rotterdam rival for the first time since December of 2018.

“That’s one of the best Mohonasen teams I’ve seen in years,” Schalmont coach Jeff Van Hoesen said after his Sabres held on for their fifth straight win. “[First-year Mohonasen coach] Josh [Whipple] had done an outstanding job with that group. They’ve grown so much in the last year.”

Mohonasen outscored Schalmont 17-8 in the fourth quarter after Brandon’s three-point play, and pulled within 47-45 on two free throws by Ava Quenneville with 22.3 seconds left.

“We were down 13 to Holy Names and didn’t blink an eye,” Whipple said of a two-point setback earlier in the season. “There’s no quit in this group. When we were down [Tuesday], we were okay with that.”

Brandon missed two free throws with 17.2 seconds left but Schalmont got the ball right back on a steal by Mikaela Frank. Brandon was fouled again and made one of two from the stripe with 5.6 seconds remaining, and the contest ended when Caitlyn Richmond hit the front of the rim on a 3-point shot from the top of the circle.

“My mind was all over the place,” Brandon, a reserve on last season’s state Class B championship team, said of her late free throws. “I talked to Karissa [Antoine] and she calmed me down. I needed that.”

Brandon scored eight of her 16 points in the last quarter, and Antoine scored four of her 15 in the final stanza while Mohonasen was steadily chipping away.

“The whole fourth quarter I was trying to get everyone to relax and stay calm,” Antoine said. “That’s what your veterans are supposed to do.”

Brandon made an impact from the start when she turned two steals into layups to help Schalmont (5-4, 6-4) grab a quick 7-0 lead in a game it never trailed.

“She is growing into her role,” Van Hoesen said of Brandon, who had eight rebounds and four steals. “She had to battle Haley [Burchhardt] and Payton [Graber] every day last year, and now it’s her turn. She is playing a big part for us. She has had some great moments for us already.”

Schalmont played some great defense against a Mohonasen team that has thrived this season with the 3-point shot, limiting the Mighty Warriors to a pair of 3s in the first three quarters and four in all.

“They have so many good shooters,” Van Hoesen said of Mohonasen. “You have to get a hand in their face.”

“It was a combination of things,” Whipple said of his team’s lack of 3s. “They played tough defense on us, and we didn’t move the ball enough. I think a lot of it was because they felt the pressure of the game.”

Payton Whipple and Richmond nailed Mohonasen’s fourth-quarter 3s back-to-back to begin its 17-8 push. Richmond had six of her 13 points in that late run, Whipple had five of her eight in the key stretch, and Isabella Clute had four of her 10 down the stretch.

“We had momentum,” Josh Whipple said. “We hit some big shots and made some key defensive stops.”

Though Mohonasen never was able to grab a lead, it did tie the game at 15, 17 and 21 in the second quarter. Gianna Cirilla sank a 3 and Antoine scored down low to end the half with the Sabres on top 26-21, and they extended their advantage to 36-28 after three.

Cirilla ended the third with one of her three 3s, and finished with 11 points. Antoine added 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Quenneville snared 10 rebounds to lead Mohonasen, and Bella Petrocci had 10 points nd nine boards..

Schalmont 15 11 10 12 — 48
Mohonasen 11 10 7 17 — 45
Schalmont scoring: Frank 2-0-6, Cirilla 4-0-11, Antoine 7-0-15, Brandon 6-4-16. Mohonasen scoring: Clute 5-0-10, Petrocci 4-2-10, Quenneville 1-2-4, Richmond 4-3-13, Whipple 3-0-8. Team totals: Schalmont 19-4-48; Mohonasen 17-7-45.