Broadalbin-Perth girls' basketball outscores Johnstown

Broadalbin-Perth's Mairead Marsden (22) battles for control of the ball against Johnstown's Isabella Bermas and Parker Klingbeil (21) during Foothills Council South action Thursday night at Broadalbin-Perth High School.

BROADALBIN — The Broadalbin-Perth Patriots clinched a share of the Foothills Council South Division crown with a 76-17 victory over winless Johnstown in girls’ basketball action Thursday night in the Robert C Munn Gymnasium at Broadalbin-Perth High School.

Broadalbin-Perth is tied atop the South standings with a 7-0 record, while Amsterdam is 6-1 in the South with its only loss coming against the Patriots. The teams are set to square off Monday night at Amsterdam High School.

“It is an accomplishment for these girls.,” Broadalbin-Perth coach Casey Russom said. “We set our goals at the beginning of the year and some of them are still within reach.”

Both the Patriots (15-4 overall, 10-2 Foothills) and Rams (10-7 overall, 8-3 Foothills) have losses against North Division contenders South Glens Falls and Queensbury this season.

“We plan to work hard these next couple of days and hopefully give our best performance against Amsterdam and see what happens,” Russom said. “They are going to give us their best game. That is all we can ask for. That is what is great about our league; there are a lot of good teams. Being the smallest school in this league has prepared us for that.”

Neither team could put points on the board in the opening two-and-a-half minutes of Thursday’s game. Molly Russom broke the scoring drought with the first of her 16 points on the night. Claire Anderson connected for the Lady Bills’ lone points of the quarter as Broadalbin-Perth took a commanding 17-2 lead.

Macie Perry connected for eight second-quarter points for the Patriots to help extend the lead to 39-5 at the break.

Broadalbin-Perth kept rolling in the second half with coach Russom working the eight players suited up for the game into the contest to gain experience and close out the 76-17 victory.

For the Lady Bills, Thursday’s game was their second in two days and fourth game since Saturday.

“We have had four games in the last six days. At the end of the game we were running on fumes,” Johnstown coach Brandon Hillier said. “I was looking at my bench trying to find some spark. I thought we played great defensively, but we give up points off turnovers and that is what has hurt us all year. We will practice Friday before going to Stillwater on Saturday.”

Julieanna Hisert led Johnstown with six points on a pair of 3-pointers, while Isabella Bermas had five and Anderson finished with four to go with two points from Parker Klingbeil.

“Wins and losses aside, the success is going to be making it through the season and improving,” Hillier said. “We are playing these teams tough the second time around. Everybody is getting better in the Foothills and we can see where we are getting better every game.”

Molly Russom and Macie Perry led Broadalbin-Perth with 16 points apiece, while Shea Holloway finished with nine points and Summer Perry chipped in with eight points. All eight Patriots suited up for the game scored.

“That is how we like it, sharing the ball and putting the ball in the basket,” Casey Russom said. “We worked on being patient and getting the shot we wanted and we got a lot of those tonight.”

Johnstown 2 3 6 6 — 17

Broadalbin-Perth 17 22 17 20 — 76

Johnstown scoring: Anderson 1-2-4, Hisert 2-0-6, Klingbeil 1-0-2, Bermas 2-1-5. Broadalbin-Perth scoring: Russom 6-3-16, Marsden 3-2-7, Barboza 4-0-8, S. Perry 3-1-8, Holloway 4-0-9, M. Perry 6-3-16, Calderone 3-0-6, Hotaling 3-0-6. Team totals: Johnstown: 6-3-17; Broadalbin-Perth: 32-9-76.