SOUTH KORTRIGHT 47 ORISKANY 38-REDSKINS RUN TO STATES ENDS AT HCCC
MHTS UPDATE: The road to the New York State Girls Class D Final Four came up empty as Oriskany fell to the South Kortright Rams 47-38 in a Class D Regional Round game played at Herkimer County Community College. Congratulations to Redskins on a great season and Section III Class D crown. Way to to!
Oriskany gave the two time defending Section IV champs all they wanted and then some. South Kortright is now 22-0 and headed to the Final Four. Oriskany trailed by just 4 at the half, 22-18. The Rams led, by just 3 34-31 entering the final quarter of play before they pulled away for the win.
Meghan Carlo led Oriskany with 16 points, Shannon VanShufflin and Alyssa Balfe added 7 to pace the Redskins. Oriskany finishes the season with a mark of 17-5.
ORISKANY GIRLS CLASS D SECTION III CHAMPS-BEAT HAMILTON 35-33
JUST ONE GETS “ER” DONE-SHANNON VANSHUFFLIN HITS GAME WINNER
Megan Carlo Tourney MVP
Fred Miller-MHTS
Photos-Jeff Pexton-MHTS-PGI
Miss the game? Hit the link for a MHTS/ESPN instant replay!
Who says hard work doesn’t pay off? It paid off in spades tonight for the Oriskany Redskins girls basketball team, as their workmen like effort paid big dividends when one of the hardest working players on the court, junior guard Shannon VanShufflin, spotted up for a 12 foot jump shot that found nothing but net and started a celebration, by the Redskins nation, that will last for quite some time!
When and where does the parade start? Talk about reason to celebrate. Oriskany fought for every inch of real estate, on Jim Boeheim Court, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, the site of tonight’s, memory making, Section III Championship clinching, 35-33 win over the defending Class D Champs from Hamilton.
The reference to “just one gets ‘er done” refers to the kind of night Oriskany’s new “Hometown Hero”, Shannon VanShufflin, had in the closely contested and closely guarded final.
The “one” we refer to was the shot Shannon made with just 8.7 seconds to go in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 33-33.
Oriskany's Christina Graziadei (11) ranges high for two with Hamilton's Kendall Rusch (22) matching vertical leap.
A shot that sent the Oriskany Central School faithful into a state of delirium, as they have waited since 2000 to see their hoops heroes reach the Class D Finals, let alone win a championship.
It was fitting that Shannon was rewarded for all of her hard work. Despite being held scoreless until her memory making shot hit the bottom of the net, VanShufflin did a great job running the Redskins offense and working the boards as hard as she could.
Shannon and her fellow Lady Redskins had seen an eight point lead turn into vapor, as Hamilton rallied to tie things up with just 39.8 seconds left, as senior Katie Weeks hit one of two from the charity stripe.
Oriskany was held scoreless, by Hamilton, for just over four minutes as the game wound down.
Weeks has been through the wars and has seen just about everything an opponent could throw at her and her teammates and was clutch down the stretch.
After all, Hamilton entered action as the defending Section III Champs and was playing in its fourth straight Class D Final.
Knowing that, Weeks took over down the stretch and helped set up the late Dome drama. Weeks scored eight of her team high 12 points in the fourth quarter,when big games are won or lost.
Oriskany's Meghan Carlo (12) pulls up to allow Hamilton's Katie Weeks (11) to fly by before a first quarter basket.
In fact, Weeks scored five of her team’s eight points in the 8-0 run that started with 4:20 left to go, in this exciting back and forth affair.
The other three points came when sister Lauren found the range from deep, to start the late Hamilton rally, with 3:30 left to go in regulation.
As fate would have it, Weeks ended up with the ball and the season in her hands as the clock raced to zero.
A last-second shot came up short as the horn sounded, ending the Emerald Knights reign as Class D Champs and beginning Oriskany’s journey toward states.
What more could you ask for? Both teams came out, on to the shiny Dome court, with identical 16-4 records. Hamilton was the tourney’s #1 seed and Oriskany was seeded #2.
Oriskany was ranked 6th in the latest New York State polls and Hamilton #13. Hamilton had won 9 of their last 10 and Oriskany 9 in a row.
Both teams beat each other in the regular season on their opponents home courts.
Oriskany finished first in the CSC IV standings and Hamilton tied for first, with Cooperstown, in the CSC III standings. Can’t ask for a better matchup right? Right!
The storyline, bantered about, all week long was about the fact that for Oriskany to win they would have to stop the outside three point shooters wearing white and green. That the Redskins did, as Hamilton would bang down just one three ball all night long.
Redskins guard Emily McDonald (15) works hard for rebound against Hamilton's Kendall Rusch(22).
The Emerald Knights were just 1 of 2 from behind the line, which tells us that coach Angela Meiss got her message across to her defensive minded quintet. That message, take away the three.
After all, the Weeks had been deadly from downtown all season long, knocking down 94 between the two. Mission accomplished.
Mission accomplished because of the tough, in your face defense the Skins played all game long.
That defensive effort was spearheaded by the tourney’s Most Valuable Player, senior guard Meghan Carlo, who helped keep the Weeks sisters and the rest of the Knights checkmated all night long and also chipped in 9 big points.
Speaking of valuable players, let’s not forget the great defensive and rebounding effort put forth by senior Alyssa Balfe, who scored five points of her own and played an important role in the win.
The other big talking point had to do with shutting down Oriskany’s, offensive stalwart 6′ 1” junior forward, Christina Graziadei, who averages just over 13 points a game and more importantly pulls down 7.5 rebounds per outing.
The mission to slow down Christina worked well as Graziadei picked up her third personal foul with with 7:38 to play in the third quarter.
Despite the foul trouble, Graziadei had another big night, netting a team high 10 points.
Redskins dressed to impress at the Dome tonight.
Speaking of big nights, freshman forward, Jordan Sahl kept her team in it early, scoring five of her team’s 9 first quarter points and ending up with 6 points on the night.
Oriskany jumped out to a 5-2 lead and then saw their counterparts heat up, as Katherine Keever hit two buckets as the opening eight minutes ended with things knotted up at 9-9.
Speaking of ties, Hamilton tied the game three separate times, 9-9, 18-18, and finally at 33-33, before Shannon VanShufflin gave her team the lead for good, but never led.
Lauren Weeks hit a buzzer beater as the first half came to close with Oriskany up 18-16.
Oriskany led by six, 24-18, when Megan Carlo scored with 2:32 left in the third quarter and the Redskins headed down the stretch up 27-24 after twenty four minutes of action.
The rest, as they say, is history, as we have already detailed the dramatic ending, as Oriskany held on for the 35-33 win.
The season ends early for coach Jessica Poole and her Emerald Knights, who put the balls away with a 16-5 record.
The season continues for the Redskins next Saturday in a Regional round game against Section IV’s Champ.
Oriskany 35 Hamilton 33
1 2 3 4 Total
Hamilton 9 7 7 10 33
Oriskany 9 9 9 8 35
MHTS Scoring Summary:
Oriskany:
Christina Graziadei-10
Megan Carlo-9
Jordan Sahl-6
Alyssa Balfe-5
Brandi Zizzi-3
Shannon VanShufflin-2
Hamilton:
Katie Weeks-12
Kendall Rusch-6
Katherine Keever-5
Hayleigh Hanson-2
Jessie Welch-1
