Girls' basketball: Averill Park, Albany Academy fall in NYSPHSAA semifinals

A basketball coach speaks to his team — PHOTOGRAPHER: Kyle Adams

Averill Park head coach Sean Organ goes over things during a practice on March 9as the Warriors prepared for the Class A regional championship game against Section 3's Indian River.

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Defending Class A state champion Averill Park saw its title defense come to an end Friday afternoon as the Warriors fell 47-42 to Section I’s Walter Panas in the semifinals of the NYSPHSAA tournament on Friday at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.

Cadence Nicholas scored 17 points to lead the way for Walter Panas, which also got 10 points from Sofia Taverez and eight from Julia Galliger.

Taylor Holoan led the way for Averill Park, finishing with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting and grabbing nine rebounds.

Also for the Warriors, Kayleigh Ahern scored nine points and Tatiana Tune grabbed 15 rebounds.

In the Class B semifinals, Section II champion Albany Academy fell 70-50 to Section I champion Putnam Valley.

Naieliz Torres and Eva Dechent scored 26 points apiece to lead Putnam Valley, which forced Albany Academy into 24 turnovers. Putnam Valley led 17-9 after the first quarter, 34-14 at halftime and stayed comfortably ahead throughout the second half.

Stylianna Mantzouris scored 13 points, Saige Randolph finished with nine points and nine rebounds and Bella Vincent also scored nine points for Albany Academy, as the Bears finished the best season in program history with a 24-2 record.