English
EspañolPLATTSBURGH — Both the Moriah and Northern Adirondack girls’ basketball teams had reasons to be pleased Saturday.
The top-seeded Vikings defended their Section VII Class C title with a 55-45 win at Clinton Community College.
The second-seeded Bobcats, meanwhile, gave a good account of themselves, playing a very competitive game after losing to Moriah 54-21 and 56-30 during the CVAC regular season.
Four Moriah players hit in double figures — Emma Harrington with 13 points, Lexi Mascarenas and Maggie Speshock with 12 apiece, and Lexi Cheney with 11.
“I’m ecstatic,” Cheney said. “It’s really nice to get the third one in a row while being on the team and everything. and we got to win it with the three seniors on the team (herself, Mascarenas and Harrington).”
“Determination to win, I mean, it’s everything because this is not just given talent. There’s not one person on this team that doesn’t play a role in anything we do,” Mascarenas said.
Speshock scored 11 of her points in the first quarter when the Vikings took a 22-17 lead in a high-scoring stanza that saw both teams shoot extremely well.
NAC, however, held Moriah to four second-quarter points to rally into the lead at the half.
Moriah’s defense then slowed NAC down after intermission.
The Vikings outscored the Bobcats 29-15 over the final two stanzas, including a 15-4 margin in the fourth to pull away. Harrington tallied 10 points and Mascarenas nine in the second half.
Ava Moore poured in 19 points for NAC, including 15 in the first half, and she went seven-for-seven from the foul line in the contest. The Vikings, however, held her to four second-half points.
Rielyn Nutt added eight points and Livia Parsons seven for NAC.
“We have that confidence, but we also knew on the inside that NAC is not going to give up,” Mascarenas said. “We needed to keep our effort up.”
The Vikings will play Class D winner Schroon Lake/Newcomb in Wednesday’s Champions Challenge at CCC at 6 p.m.
Moriah has a regional semifinal set for March 11 at 5 p.m. at CCC against the Section X winner.
“We definitely have to keep pushing ourselves harder, pushing each other and just working with each other at practice,” Cheney said. “We have to work ourselves to the best of our abilities to get there.”
“I don’t think it sat right for any of us last year (in the regionals), so we’re ready to work. We’re ready to work for these next two weeks to get ready,,” Mascarenas said.
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MCS 55, NAC 45
NAC (45)
Parsons 3-0-7, Peryea 2-1-5, Moore 5-7-19, Nutt 3-0-8, L. LaBombard 1-0-2, Myers 0-0-0, B. LaBombard 1-2-4, Cook 0-0-0. Totals- 15-10-45.
MCS (55)
Mascarenas 4-0-12, Cheney 4-3-11, Nephew 2-1-5, Harrington 4-4-13, Speshock 5-1-12, Gaddor 1-0-2. Totals- 20-9-55.
Halftime- NAC, 30-26.
3 point goals- NAC (5) Moore 2, Nutt 2, Parsons. MCS (6) Mascarenas 4, Harrington, Speshock.