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TROY — There was never a doubt about it. The Duanesburg girls’ basketball team has plans that extend through the middle of March.
On Monday afternoon at Hudson Valley Community College, the top-seeded Eagles defended their Section II Class C championship with a 60-28 victory over Whitehall, the two seed in the tournament.
“It’s a big win, but we have higher goals,” said Duanesburg junior Allison O’Hanlon. “We’re not going to overlook anyone, but we want to win a state championship.”
Duanesburg began their day earlier than expected, but adjusted just fine, shutting out the Railroaders 11-0 in the first quarter. That run extended to 19-0 before Madison Gould was able to put Whitehall on the board in the second.
On Sunday, Section II announced that the Class C championship would be moved up from 7:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., due to impending weather.
“These are girls that have been playing in AAU and everything else for some time,” said Duanesburg coach Chris Herron. “You have to be up early in the morning and they’re always up to play. They know what to expect. Basketball is basketball to them. It doesn’t really matter the venue and it doesn’t really matter the time or what is at stake. They are always up to play.”
“It was our goal to bring the energy,” O’Hanlon added. “We know nobody’s going to be here since it’s 3 p.m. and the boys team plays basically the same time as us. We knew that for us to win and have some energy, we were going to have to do it.”
The Eagles went on another 9-0 run in the second quarter before Whitehall got on the scoreboard again. They allowed just two shots from the field in the first half, while going off for 27 points in the second quarter to take a commanding 38-5 lead at the half.
“We don’t usually look at the scoreboard. We just go, go, go,” said Duanesburg junior Alex Moses. “After the first quarter it was nice to look up there and see the zero. That didn’t change our ambition or anything. We kept on going and I’m really happy to come out with the W.”
O’Hanlon, who is committed to playing basketball at Siena College, led the way with 18 points. Moses and Hannah Mulhern each contributed 16 points as well, with Moses draining a trio of three-pointers, and O’Hanlon and Mulhern hitting two apiece.
“They’re big-time players, they just are for us,” Herron said of his Big 3 tandem of juniors, O’Hanlon, Moses and Mulhern. “For a small community to have three players like that is extremely rare. They’re all going to be 1,000-point scorers, Alex [Moses] in the next game possibly; it’s coming up.”
Kate O’Hanlon contributed six points in the dominating win, while Estealla Hyde and Marisa James each tacked on two.
For Hyde, her two points in the fourth quarter were the first of her career, after the freshman received the call-up from the junior varsity team.
“My little sister, Mia, got called up from JV, with Stella [Hyde] and Harlee [Manus], who are freshman,” said Alex Moses. “It was really exciting today because we got to see Stella score her first varsity points. We got really hyped on the bench and I’m really happy for her.”
Duanesburg is now 19-6 overall; Whitehall ends its season at 18-5.
With the Class C championship clinched, Duanesburg moves on to the Section II C/CC playoff game at 4:30 p.m. on March 3 at Hudson Valley Community College, where they’ll compete for another state tournament berth. The Eagles will face either Greenwich or Corinth, who are scheduled to play on Tuesday for the Class CC championship.
“Last year we wanted to make it all the way and win the last game,” Moses said of Duanesburg’s 2022 run to the NYSPHSAA Class C Final Four. “We lost in the semifinals, but that only made us want it more. We worked so hard to get to that point, but fell a little short. Now we want it even more.”
Whitehall 0-5-10-13 — 28
Duanesburg scoring: Hyde 1-0-2; K. O’Hanlon 3-0-6; James 1-0-2; A. O’Hanlon 7-2-18; Mulhern 6-1-16; A. Moses 6-2-16
Whitehall scoring: Arquette 1-0-2; Gould 4-1-11; Pratt 1-0-2; Ruby 1-0-2; Howland 2-1-5; Bird 1-0-2; Eddy 2-0-4
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports
