ROCK-EM SOCK-EM GIRLS HOOPS-NEW YORK MILLS 40 HAMILTON 36
Hamilton’s Jessica Welch (3) sends a pass to teammate Kendall Busch (22), as more than half of the NY Mills team adjusts.
Jeff Pexton-MHTS/PGI Photo
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1/15
The New York Mills Lady Marauders basketball team put their New York State #9 ranking on the Beekman Gym floor tonight against the visiting Hamilton Lady Emerald Knights and “The Mills” came out on top by a score of 40-36.
When these two clubs meet its usually a very physical affair and tonight’s contest was no exception. By the time the dust settled, the two teams combined for 76 points, along with 32 total personal fouls.
The first period of this game featured four different lead changes, with the two teams battling to a 10-10 knot on the scoreboard.
Domenique Talerico (44) finds herself in a familiar position, in heavy traffic and surrounded by green jerseys.
Megan Crist, Cassidy Albright, Domenique Talerico and Carly Dziekan combined for all of NY Mills’ scoring in the first eight minutes.
Hamilton got its first quarter input from Lauren Weeks, who knocked down two long three pointers and Sarah Foster who had two baskets from short-range.
Dominique Talerico entered tonight’s game leading New York Mills in scoring with 169 points in the first 12 games, good for a 15.4 points per game average.
Lauren Weeks had been averaging 12 points per game for the Lady Emerald Knights before tonight’s match up.
The second quarter saw New York Mills go on a 9 to 1 run in the first five minutes to make it 19-11 with 2:57 to go before the intermission.
Every basket was earned by the Marauders in that time frame, with 4 of those 9 points coming from the free throw line.
The last couple of minutes of the second quarter saw Hamilton go on a 6-0 run of their own, led by 4 points in the paint from Lauren Weeks.
The home team took a 19-17 lead to the intermission.
At the half, My Hometown Sports – ESPN 99.1 FM caught up with New York Mills head coach Andrea Dziekan, who said that the tempo nor the physicality of the first 16 minutes of the game were not a surprise to her or to her girls.
Dziekan said that she needed to remind her girls at the half that a let down in the second would be costly and that anything less than 100% wouldn’t cut it against Hamilton.
First year Hamilton head coach Gary Weeks told MHTS – ESPN 99.1 FM’s listeners that he was happy to see his team close the gap to just 2 points at the half, but that he told his kids in the locker room that they would need to step it up and get after New York Mills in the second half to get a win tonight.
New York Mills senior Carly Dziekan (32) drives to the basket with heavy resistance from Hamilton’s Kendall Busch (22).
If the first half resembled a boxing match, the second half would have to equated to a mixed martial arts match.
Foul, whistle, free throw, repeat was the rule of the last 16 minutes of this game, which actually took 44 minutes to complete. Unfortunately for both teams, the free throws weren’t falling in, or either team could have won this game handily.
The third quarter saw Hamilton gain the lead, 26-25 on a put back by Sarah Foster with 3:11 to play.
Moments later a basket from Domenique Talerico made it 27-26 and on the ensuing inbound a collision between Lauren Weeks and New York Mills’ Megan Crist resulted in a foul on Weeks and Crist to the free throw line, which saw her drain both of her free throws to make it 29-26 Marauders with 2:41 remaining in the third period.
Basketball’s version of “ground and pound” saw the Lady Marauders take a 34-28 lead to the fourth quarter.
New York Mills suffered a blow down low in the middle of the fourth quarter when freshman forward Cassidy Albright was whistled for two quick fouls on the defensive boards, sending the Lady Marauders third leading scorer and terrific defensive player to the bench for the rest of contest.
Monster Energy Drink Player of the Game – Domenique Talerico – New York Mills.
Hamilton got within striking distance at 36-32 with 1:56 remaining in the game when Hayleigh Hanson made 1 of 2 from the charity stripe.
That’s as close as the Lady Emerald Knights would get as the Marauders closed this one out by a score of 40-36.
Senior guard Carly Dziekan poured in 13 points and teammate Dominique Talerico chipped in 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead New York Mills to their 11th win of the season.
The Marauders improved to (11-3) overall and remained (7-1) in the CSC IV.
Following the game, Monster Energy Drink Player of The Game Domenique Talerico of New York Mills praised her teammates for the group effort tonight and that any win over Hamilton is a good one because the two teams have played so many great games over the years.
Lauren Weeks finished with 10 points to lead Hamilton, which dropped to (5-6) overall with the defeat.
New York Mills 40 Hamilton 36
Box Score
1 2 3 4 Total
Hamilton 10 7 11 8 36
NY Mills 10 9 15 6 40
Mills guard Carly Dziekan (32) heads for the basket on a rare breakaway in the second half.
