Greenville Withstands Brantley Surge, Holds Off Catskill

November 28, 2018

Greenville 42, Catskill 35

The Patroon Conference is one that I admittedly tend to neglect in Section 2 as the rigors of trying to cover all of upstate NY & western New England wear on in the winter. Last winter, I believe I only got to one of the Patroon Conference Coaches vs. Cancer days at Columbia-Greene, along with one other league game. With that in mind, Wednesday night was dedicated to getting an early look at a couple teams gearing up to contend in the league. Thankfully for me, it was a good night to be there, as the game didn't lack any flare for the dramatic.

In the first half, the game didn't look like it'd be much of one. The first 12 minutes were a nightmare for visiting Catskill, who couldn't get anything going offensively. An early Janay Brantley (Catskill 2023) basket was all the Cats mustered until deep in the 2nd quarter, whereas Greenville saw balanced early scoring, producing both in transition and in the half-court. A Natalie Krasney basket started Greenville's run, and a Gabrielle Gardner three gave them an 11-2 cushion after 1 quarter. The run reached 13-0 on a Bella Trostle basket, and another two from her gave Greenville their largest lead in the middle of the 2nd quarter at 20-3. The well dried up for the hosts after that, though, being held scoreless for the rest of the half as Catskill went into the locker room down 20-8.

Bella Trostle (Greenville 2021)

Coming out of the locker room, it was Brantley's time to shine. She started off the 2nd half scoring with a corner three. After Greenville responded with a 7-0 run - the last 5 from Trostle - Brantley knocked down a pair of free throws, then shook a defender at the top & hit a midrange pull-up in a highlight moment. A short floater off the glass from Brantley cut their deficit to single digits momentarily in the 3rd, and she ended up with 11 in the stanza as she helped keep the Cats afloat. Greenville expanded the lead again to start the 4th, bumping it to 35-22 on a Tess Fitzmaurice basket, but Catskill quickly reeled off 6 straight, cutting their deficit to 7 on a Hannah Konsul layup. Both teams went on an extended drought in the later stages of the 4th quarter, with a pair of Brantley free throws breaking the scoreless stretch and cutting Catskill's deficit to 37-30 with 56.3 seconds remaining. Trostle answered with a pair of free throws with 51.7 ticks left, and after a Catskill turnover, Meghan Misuraca split a pair to extend Greenville's lead back to 40-30. The Cats' deficit was cut to 6 in the final seconds off a last-ditch Brantley three, which was the closest margin since late in the 1st quarter, but it was too little, too late.

Bella Trostle, a sophomore and notable returner from Greenville's Section 2 Class C semifinalist squad last winter, paced them with 12 points in the win. Krasney, also a returner, chipped in with 8. Brantley, an 8th grader already with a year of varsity experience under her belt, dropped 16 of her game high 18 points in the 2nd half. Konsul was next in line for Catskill, finishing with 6.


Jeff's Notes

- I think you can tell where I'm going with this one. Catskill may have lost, but I think the main topic of discussion leaving the gym was Janay Brantley. She had a quiet, more passive 1st half, but showed why she should currently be regarded as one of the 518's brightest talents in the 2023 class coming right out of the locker room. She canned a corner three off the catch to start the half, then hit a pair of free throws after getting into the lane & drawing contact. After that, it was a quick behind-the-back change of direction to leave a Greenville defender skidding and right into a midrange pull-up jumper. Then it was a short floater over an outstretched defender that she kissed off the glass. Then it was a finish with the left hand after a steal. In an eight minute magnum opus of sorts, she showed the ability to score at all three levels and in a variety of ways, doing so efficiently. It wasn't just about buckets, though. Several times, it was a quick move to get a paint touch or a baseline drive to draw the help defense, and she'd make the right read and hit a teammate on time & on target. She looks to be around 5'6", but with noticeably above-average length, she plays taller than her height. It will be interesting to see Janay's development over time - plenty of work to be done, as is the case for anyone that young - but one thing I know is that I'll be paying attention.

Janay Brantley (Catskill 2023) showed why there's excitement about her future in the 2nd half of Wednesday's game.

- Greenville is a group that naturally is trying to figure out its way now - for the first time since I started doing this in the 2014-15 season, they don't have Ava Fitzmaurice donning a jersey, who was such a focal point in their offense the last three seasons. That will certainly come with time - it's still November. One thing that jumps off the map at you, though, is how hard they play. It's a smaller, ultra-scrappy group whose edge & physicality seemingly was something Catskill wasn't prepared for early. They had success getting up & making life uncomfortable for their opponents, all five on the court ran and tried to push tempo, and it was often a Greenville jersey that was first on the floor. It'll likely be a winter that sees Bella Trostle expand her role quite a bit - she finished with 12 at the PG spot while often setting teammates up and seemed to score when Greenville was in most need of offense - but almost certainly a team that has a more balanced attack offensively. It'll be interesting to see how things shape up for them in a Patroon Conference that seems to not have a clear-cut favorite.