Queensbury Holds Off Amsterdam Push

January 6, 2020


Queensbury 54, Amsterdam 48

I've seen this somewhere before.

New year, same story as the last one. Queensbury & Amsterdam are the top two teams in the Foothills Council and two of the top teams in Section 2 Class A basketball. Like last year, they went through most of their league schedule before bumping into each other. Like their last matchup in the sectional semifinals at HVCC, Queensbury jumped out to a big lead before holding off an Amsterdam furious rally to secure a win.

Early on, it looked like there wouldn't be any 2nd half drama to speak of. Amsterdam held a lead once - for 20 seconds after a Jackie Stanavich (Amsterdam 2021) bucket to put them up 6-5 - but after Meghan O'Connor (Queensbury 2020; Vermont lacrosse signee) hit a pair of free throws at the 4:51 mark, it was off to the races for the hosts. O'Connor then canned two consecutive threes, Abby Doin (Queensbury 2020) added a three-point play, and another O'Connor bucket capped a 10 point quarter for her and put the Spartans up 18-6 after one. Their run extended into the 2nd, and a Cassidy Ray (Queensbury 2022) bucket pushed the run to 17-0 with a 22-6 lead before Amsterdam finally stopped the bleeding with a Sydney Hoefs (Amsterdam 2022) drive & bucket. The Rams went scoreless for just under 8 minutes of game time. Queensbury didn't stop though, continuing to push forward. Six straight Hailey Ballard (Queensbury 2020) points ran their lead to 20, which was the margin before Andie Gannon (Amsterdam 2021) scored & added a free throw late in the half to make the score 30-13 in favor of Queensbury at intermission.

Hope Sullivan turned it up in the 2nd half, where she scored 15 of her game high 20 points for Queensbury.

Amsterdam came out better to start the 2nd half, but they were unable to cut into the deficit for a while. An Antonia May (Amsterdam 2021) three - seconds after Ballard picked up her 4th foul for Queensbury - cut the deficit to 34-21 early in the 3rd, but Queensbury had the answer in Hope Sullivan (Queensbury 2020; SUNY Plattsburgh commit). After sitting much of the 1st half with two fouls, she contributed 10 points in the 3rd, and a three late in the 3rd pushed their cushion to 20 again at 46-26. The Rams wouldn't go away though, and their last push was more than enough to make Queensbury sweat. Stanavich, who scored 6 points in the first 3 quarters, pumped in 8 over the first 3+ minutes of the 4th, and a Hoefs bucket in transition forced a Queensbury timeout as their lead shrank to 49-39. However, the timeout didn't shake the trend. Amsterdam's frantic pressure that Queensbury burnt early took effect during this stretch, and turnovers turned into transition opportunities for Amsterdam. A pair of May buckets brought Amsterdam within 5 at 50-45 with 2:01 left and after trading stops a couple times, Ballard was whistled for her 5th foul defending a Stanavich drive. However, Amsterdam couldn't take advantage and got no closer than 5. A couple more Queensbury stops turned into free throws at the other end, and Sullivan & Doin each hit a pair at the line to ice a win that many had probably thought they had in the bag a bit earlier.

Hope Sullivan finished with a game high 20 points, 15 coming in the 2nd half & 10 coming in a 3rd quarter that saw her score twice late in the shot clock to deflate Amsterdam momentum. Abby Doin added 12, Meghan O'Connor scored all 10 of her points in the 1st quarter, and Hailey Ballard chipped in with 9. For Amsterdam, Jackie Stanavich scored 8 of her team high 14 points in a quick blast in the 4th quarter. Antonia May added 11, all of them coming in the 2nd half, and Sydney Hoefs & Andie Gannon chipped in with 10 points apiece.

Antonia May was one of four in double digits for Amsterdam, and she scored all 11 of her points in the 2nd half.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

Queensbury is balanced and they have a team-first approach, which has helped them run to many wins and a lot of success over the last couple years with this crew. However, they also have something else that is often missed on balanced teams - someone in particular that can go get a bucket when they're in need. Enter Hope Sullivan. She's been at it for a while - her & Hailey Ballard are four-year starters, and I still remember watching them at Holy Names early in their freshman seasons & realizing Queensbury had something on their hands going forward. Hope scored 10 in the 3rd, and Amsterdam looked a lot better coming out of the locker room as a group. There's a top of the key trey off an iso that comes to mind, but a couple buckets came late in the shot clock after Amsterdam played good half-court defense for a possession - right when it felt like Amsterdam had something going, Hope was able to momentarily take the wind out of their sails. Might not seem like much to many that were watching, but at least in my eyes, that Amsterdam run probably happens a lot sooner if Hope doesn't hit big shots. If that run happens sooner, who knows how the game ends up. Credit to the standout senior, who has the potential to be a star in the SUNYAC in years to come, for stepping up in those moments.

Someone asked me what my thoughts were about Amsterdam's performance while I was there. I guess I'll put my answer on here too. Two distinct thoughts:

- First, a lot of credit goes to them for the feverish comeback. They were down 20, and that 20 could've easily turned to 35 if they laid down & gave up like so many teams do when they're in that kind of a hole. They didn't. They tried to battle back in the 3rd quarter, and Queensbury countered each blow. They still battled, and they finally broke through in the 4th. They always try to create chaos with how they play defensively, and Queensbury either got too chaotic or perhaps too controlled, looking more concerned with winding the clock down than looking to create scoring opportunities, depending on the possession. At the end of the day, the run came too late, but it came - more than what most teams would be able to say in that situation.

- Amsterdam's biggest strength can occasionally be their biggest weakness, and I thought that came through in the 1st half. Yes, they're long, athletic, relentless, but I think their biggest team strength is energy. Always amped, always energetic, always swarming. Generally speaking, the kids on the court for them are kids whose motors don't turn off. I thought they were in trouble watching the two teams warm up Monday. Why?.. Too amped. They looked like they were ready to run through a brick wall. Queensbury was going hard in warmups, but looked calm. Any experience I have with this game tends to lean toward that being a bad sign for the more visibly pumped up team. Of course, this is a game that both teams circle on the calendar - throw that 'just another game' stuff in the trash - but in the 1st half, 'we need to win this game' looked more like 'I need to win this game' for Amsterdam. Lot of forced drives & shots, rushed decisions, downhill penetration early in a possession with help already in position. Amsterdam looked chaotic early; Queensbury's chaos was controlled. Wild energy can sometimes manifest itself in that way, and the length of time that it did in this game was more than enough for Queensbury to seize control.

Cassidy Ray (2022) played a lot of minutes off Queensbury's bench and gave them positive contributions.

It wasn't necessarily in the scorebook, but Queensbury's general depth was on display Monday. 51 of their 54 points came from usual suspects - Sullivan, Ballard, O'Connor, Doin - but other kids had to log some serious minutes as well. Ballard & Brigid Duffy, who also starts in the backcourt, both had 4 fouls by the 5:30 mark in the 3rd quarter. Kids like Cassidy Ray (a 2022 that I like) and Ali Wallace logged minutes & made positive contributions. Plus, they're still not at full strength - haven't been all year. The fact that they can go to their bench a bit without any liabilities is something that a lot of high school teams can't say they can do, and it certainly helps Queensbury's cause as they battle through the regular season & go for the elusive Class A championship.


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