Game of Note #1
Whitesboro 34,
Adirondack 27
The middle of five Sunday night games was the one that
looked to be the marquee matchup, and although both teams weren’t at full
strength, it still was the game of the night. Whitesboro, playing without standout
PG Hannah Scott, struggled
offensively to start, but they were able to pick it up on the defensive end and
limit a bigger Adirondack team from the jump. What Adirondack did get in the
first half came from standout 2020 Belle
Kranbuhl. The 6’3” forward, who received another Division I offer from La Salle and also visited Temple and Bucknell over the weekend, dominated in the post while also
stepping out and facilitating the offense at times. Unfortunately for her and
Adirondack, after scoring 9 of their 12 points to that stage, an awkward fall
on a drive late in the half turned into an ankle injury that she would be
unable to return from.
 |
| Belle Kranbuhl (Adirondack 2020) had a strong showing before going down with an injury before halftime. |
Whitesboro kept its defensive edge coming off the back
end of Kranbuhl’s injury, and also received major contributions from 2020 Kiley Snow and 2019 Kelsey Wands as they stretched their 2nd
half lead to as much as 14. Snow provided a major scoring punch that the
Warriors desperately needed, converting in different ways en route to a game
high 19 points. Wands added 10 points for the Warriors while making an impact
on the glass with her trademark high motor, and she looked more comfortable
than ever as she looks to now be completely behind a serious knee injury suffered
in 2017. Adirondack made one last late push, as 2020 Camille Roberts got it going in the final moments knocking down a
pair of threes, but it came up short as Whitesboro ended the league with a victory.
 |
| Kelsey Wands (Whitesboro 2019) will be a major key to the Warriors' success on the court this winter. |
Game of Note #2
Utica Notre Dame
45, Brookfield 38
The opener of the evening’s five games became more
interesting than I had perhaps anticipated. In a game of major runs, Notre Dame
was the beneficiary of the last one and was able to deliver the knockout blow
to last year’s Section 3 Class D finalist in the final moments.
Notre Dame was able to quickly jump out to an 11-0 lead,
pressuring the Beavers and turning them over several times. The tide turned
when Brookfield 2021 Jaelyn
Vleer-Elliott arrived, though. The 5’11” standout forward, upon arrival,
jumped in and played a different role than usual. With Vleer-Elliott essentially
playing the role of point forward, Brookfield was able to settle down on the
offensive end while gaining their main rebounding & shot blocking presence
defensively. The Beavers were able to cut their deficit to 2 by halftime, and
with Vleer-Elliott using good court vision up top to create for others, they
forged a 2nd half lead. A three from Jaelyn gave them their largest
lead of 5 with just over 7 minutes left.
That was when Notre Dame buckled down
and made their push. 2020 PG Caitlin
Snyder was able to put pressure on Brookfield’s zone defense, finding the
gaps & getting into the lane. She attacked the rim, got to the line, and
converted. She then was able to get to the basket again, this time finishing
while getting fouled & adding the free throw. On another late possession,
she got into the lane, drew extra defenders, and kicked to the wing for an open
three to effectively put the game on ice. A 16-1 Notre Dame run gave the Jugglers
a 10 point lead with under a minute remaining, and they were able to coast in for
the victory.
Final Scores (alternate
scoring format – all shooting fouls 1 point, 1 FT attempt instead of 2 FTAs)
(two 20-minute running time halves)
Utica Notre Dame
45, Brookfield 38
Poland 32, Westmoreland
16Whitesboro 34, Adirondack 27
Clinton 43, South Lewis 16
Mt. Markham 30, Oriskany 16
Evaluator Notes
– Individual Standouts
Belle Kranbuhl (6’3”
F; Adirondack 2020) – I know I wasn’t alone in feeling that seeing
Kranbuhl go down in obvious pain – on the same day that she picked up her first
Atlantic 10 offer and the day before the start of basketball season – made my
heart sink. Certainly hoping for the best for Belle in the upcoming recovery
process – a fantastic person with an extremely bright future. Before the injury, she
was a force at both ends, effectively keeping the Wildcats competitive. She did
some of everything – back-to-basket scoring, mid-post face-up drives to either
score or draw extra defenders & kick, and even was called upon to bring it
up & facilitate the offense a few times. Kranbuhl has become one of upstate
NY’s most actively recruited players in the 2020 class, with her number of Division
I offers quickly approaching double digits, and she made it very apparent why
that’s so in limited action.
Kiley Snow (5’11”
Wing; Whitesboro 2020) – With longtime starting point guard Hannah
Scott & fellow guard Alana Batson both out of the lineup for this one, it
threw some players into different spots on the court. This meant that Snow, a
natural wing, had to move on the ball for some of the game. Not a problem in
this contest, as Kiley looked more comfortable on the ball than I’ve ever
previously seen. Defensively, she effectively got up and pressured the ball
both by using her length and showing the ability to slide her feet & stay
in front. Offensively, she scored at all three levels en route to a game high
19 points in their win. She knocked down 3 threes from different spots on the
court, attacked off the dribble and finished at the rim – twice through contact
– and perhaps her biggest basket of the game was a pull-up 15 footer in
transition to give them a double digit lead late in the contest. A strong last
few months has put Kiley on the radar of a few NE-10 schools, as coaches are
starting to see the upside that she possesses.
 |
| Kiley Snow (Whitesboro 2020) |
Hayleigh Gates (5’5”
G; Mt. Markham 2021) – The Mustangs had an undesirable 8:30
nightcap game on Sunday night, but Gates was able to show a little bit of
everything she has to offer. The athletic combo guard didn’t do a bunch of any
particular thing, but had her prints on many aspects of the game. On a night
that didn’t provide her best shooting game, she responded by putting it on the
floor in the half-court, getting paint touches against their opponent’s zone
defense and making the right read to either attack the rim or make the defense collapse and find the right open teammate. She was also able to turn
defense into offense, getting out in transition and converting. Gates has
pretty solid feel for the game and as a sophomore, she looked comfortable
assuming a bit of a leadership role for her team. Looking forward to seeing how
she develops over time.
 |
| Hayleigh Gates (Mt. Markham 2021) |
Jaelyn
Vleer-Elliott (5’11” F; Brookfield 2021) – It was an unfamiliar
role for JVE, but after seeing Brookfield play in this game, it may be one that
she’ll be getting used to this winter. The skilled forward had to run the point
for most of the game, and they experienced the most success as a team with her
on the ball. Although it’s not her natural skill set, she handled the ball well
enough to get to where she wanted on the court, and she showed good court
vision and surprisingly good precision passing ability to hit teammates on time
& on target in areas that they could score. She didn’t look to score too
much, but was efficient when she did, shooting at a high percentage and doing
so off post-ups, drives from the perimeter, and a top of the key three.
 |
| Jaelyn Vleer-Elliott (Brookfield 2021) |
Other Notes
As a Mohawk Valley native, I’m very aware that Poland is as
big of a soccer town as you’ll find. In a small school system such as that
(Class D) with another sport being so dominant, half the battle is getting
players in the gym. The Tornadoes have went up & down in talent over the
last decade, as all small schools do, but the two things that have remained
constant are that they’ll get a full roster to all basketball events and they’ll
play hard. This was also true In this fall league, fielding a full roster and
wearing out host Westmoreland over the course of the game. A lot of credit goes
to Coach Potempa for that, who has shown active interest in keeping his girls
going in offseason basketball throughout his tenure. This isn’t as easy of a
feat in a small school, and it was good to see those kind of numbers at this
league.
For a struggling program, the rebuild has to start
somewhere. Two schools in this league are going about that process now, and
they’re neighboring districts. Westmoreland, the host school, has never been
known for its girls basketball program. The fact that a 10 team fall league and
a summer league at approximately the same size were both hosted in Westmoreland
this year is encouraging. It’s a new regime for the Bulldogs – it seems like
the new varsity coach is trying to keep basketball fresh in the minds of the
upcoming athletes. A few miles up Route 233, Clinton is making their return
after having to drop their varsity program due to lack of numbers. Right now,
they have those numbers back, and they also have youth. The school seems to
always have athletes – hopefully they’ll start to experience some success on
the court sooner rather than later to reinvigorate interest in basketball among
the local youth. The rebuilding process can take several years, but I’m
optimistic that these two schools are getting on the right path.
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