By Rob Potter
GRAHAMSVILLE — March 5, 2010 — Approximately 48 hours after winning the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V basketball title with a victory over Tuxedo, the Tri-Valley Lady Bears took a step closer to capturing the Section IX Class C championship.
On Wednesday night, top-seeded and homestanding T-V defeated the No. 4 Rhinebeck Lady Hawks, 46-28, in a Class C semifinal game.
With the win, T-V (16-3) earned a berth in tomorrow’s Class C title game. The Lady Bears will face the second-seeded Tuxedo Lady Tornadoes, whom they beat 49-39 on Monday night in Grahamsville to claim the OCIAA Div. V crown, at 1 p.m. at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh.
Rhinebeck’s Candace Bernitt scored the first basket of Wednesday evening’s game on a 3-point shot with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter.
But Skylar Musa answered for the Lady Bears by twice stealing the ball from a Lady Hawk and then driving to the basket for a layup. Her second layup gave T-V a 4-3 advantage with 5:14 to go in the stanza.
T-V quickly pushed its lead to 11-3 during the next two minutes. Jakki Pugh swished a 3-pointer from the corner and made a baseline jumper and Amanda Martin put back her own missed shot.
Heather Knox scored a basket inside the lane on an assist from Kaitlyn Torres with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter to give the Lady Bears their first double-digit lead at 21-10.
Kelly Vanderlieth converted a pair of free throws and scored after grabbing an offensive rebound to bring Rhinebeck (5-14) within six points at 21-15 with 5:12 left in the third period. But the Lady Bears responded with a 9-4 run to take a 30-19 lead into the fourth quarter.
Kelly McNamara scored two baskets and Pugh swished another 3-pointer as T-V opened the final period with a 10-3 run.
Pugh finished one rebound shy of recording a triple-double as she had a game-high 14 points, 10 steals and nine rebounds. She also forced six turnovers, made five deflections and dished out four assists.
Kathryn Schneyer had seven points and Martin added five points for the Lady Bears.
Martin also recorded nine forced turnovers, five assists, five steals and three deflections, while Torres grabbed 10 rebounds.
“Our defense is what makes us tick,” T-V Coach Andy Taggart said. “We caused a lot of turnovers tonight. Skylar Musa had those two steals early in the first quarter and scored layups off of them to get us going after Rhinebeck had that 3-pointer to start the game.”
Taggart noted that all of the Lady Bears contributed to the win.
“Jakki Pugh played well,” he said. “She played great defense.
“Kelly McNamara, Amanda Martin and Kaitlyn Torres did a great job rebounding on both ends of the court,” Taggart continued. “Those three players were huge on the boards tonight.
“Kathryn Schneyer is able to play every position, 1 through 5, out on the court and she did that tonight,” Taggart added.
Vanderlieth paced the Lady Hawks with 12 points. Teammates Heather Hanaburgh and Bernitt each added five points.
“Their [defensive] pressure was very good,” Rhinebeck Coach Marc Burg said of the Lady Bears. “We had 22 turnovers in the first half. We knew coming into the game that Tri-Valley was a very good defensive team.”