Stanavich Makes Plays Late, Amsterdam Hits Free Throws to Hold Off South High

December 10, 2018

Amsterdam 47, South Glens Falls 40

A Foothills Monday in South Glens Falls turned into a war of attrition, as a 4th quarter that featured a combined 28 free throw attempts saw Amsterdam shake off two players fouling out to walk away with a league victory.

Jackie Stanavich put Amsterdam up 5 in the final minute with this putback. She led all scorers with 19, 11 coming in the 4th.

Amsterdam threatened to run away with it early. A back-and-forth early start gave way to an extended run from the visitors stretching into the 2nd quarter. It started with a three from Andi Gannon (Amsterdam 2021), who had a strong start to spring her squad early. They were able to bother SGF early with their press, forcing a pair of 10-second violations, a few other near misses, and several turnovers & rushed low percentage shots. They got a couple baskets from Jackie Stanavich (Amsterdam 2021) to end the quarter, and then she scored again to start the 2nd and Gannon canned another trey to extend their run to 12-0 and lead to 22-9. From there, the host Bulldogs started to settle down as some foul trouble forced Amsterdam to drop back from their press for stretches. They only mustered two more field goals in the 2nd - a tough Antonia May (Amsterdam 2021) transition finish and an Elena Fedullo (Amsterdam 2019) putback - and South High was able to cut their deficit to single digits off the right hand of Hannah Breen (SGF 2021). She got lost once in transition and knocked down a right wing three to initially stop their bleeding, and then she made the defense pay twice more in the quarter for losing her, as she produced all 9 of her team's points in the quarter. Her 4th three of the half cut their deficit to 7 in the final minute of the quarter.

South High came out of the locker room with a more inspired defensive effort, and although they were having their own troubles on the offensive end, they were able to claw back into it. Sydney Hart (SGF 2023) knocked down a three and then found Breen for her 5th trey of the night. A Bulldog three with 3:17 left in the 3rd cut their deficit to two, and it took 6 minutes & 33 seconds for Amsterdam to crack the scoring column in the 2nd half. The hosts gave Amsterdam a different look by successfully trapping out of odd-guard zones and were also able to control pace, not allowing them to get out in transition. Charli Beekman (Amsterdam 2021) split a pair at the line, and Fedullo grabbed the offensive rebound and finished, finally giving the Rams a bit of momentum as they ended the 3rd quarter up 30-26.

Hannah Breen led SGF with 17 points and made the D pay for giving her looks like this, as she hit 5 threes.

South High scored the first four of the 4th quarter, with Hart leaking out for a layup and Zoe Lanfear (SGF 2020) hit a pair of free throws to tie it up for the first time since the game's opening minutes. Those were the first of many free throws attempted in the final eight minutes, as SGF committed their 5th team foul with 5:23 left and Amsterdam followed suit at the 3:50 mark. Beekman triggered a 6-0 spurt for Amsterdam, stripping a ballhandler and converting at the other end & then following with a pair of free throws to give them a 36-30 edge. The free throw parade continued, as 12 were attempted between made field goals in the middle of the 4th. After Stanavich converted a pair, Hart broke the game's field goal drought for SGF, scoring while drawing Beekman's 5th foul & finishing off the 3 point play to cut their deficit to 41-40 with 2:04 left. From then, it was Stanavich's time as she made several plays at both ends to clinch it for Amsterdam. A pair of free throws made it 43-40 with 1:43 left, and after they got a stop, she grabbed an offensive rebound off a blocked shot & put it back to stretch their lead to 5 with :41.5 remaining. She then grabbed the rebound off a Breen missed three, and although she missed a pair of free throws after that, she made up for it by going back on the defensive end & getting a hand on another Breen three point attempt. Stanavich completed the scoring with a pair of free throws with :04.5 left.

Stanavich led all scorers with 19 points, including 11 in the 4th quarter - her team's last 9 and the game's last 6. Gannon added 10 points before fouling out with 6 minutes remaining. For South High, Hannah Breen led them in the scoring column with 17 points, including 14 of their 18 in the 1st half. Sydney Hart played a solid game at the PG spot and added 12 points in defeat.

Charli Beekman gave Amsterdam a big spark in the 2nd half, turning defense into offense on multiple occasions.

#JeffsNotes

- Jackie Stanavich made a ton of plays in the final few minutes to help Amsterdam come away with a win. She scored 19 points, was constantly on the glass, tipped numerous passes, and was the top athlete on the court. That's all great, but having watched her plenty of times over the last year, that wasn't what I was most impressed with. That answer is simple - the jumper is coming along... she knocked down a smooth looking midrange J when given room, and she rimmed out on another that looked good. The free throw stroke is looking noticeably better, which is big for someone like her that finds the free throw line to be a second home. The 5'9" guard who can comfortably be classified as a freak athlete is now turning into someone that you can't just play the drive against. If that continues to come along... oh boy.

- This was my first time watching South Glens Falls' Sydney Hart. The 2023 point guard has torn up defenses early the season, hitting up Foothills opponents Johnstown & Broadalbin-Perth for 25 & 26 points. Although her scoring output didn't reach that level against Amsterdam - she had 12, with 10 coming after halftime - I left the gym thinking 'yeah, this kid is good'. After SGF was flustered early by Amsterdam's pressure, she was able to settle in and the team followed. She has decent height for the position (5'8"), but better strength. She's able to be physical if needed and doesn't have to be a 'blow by' guard, as she gets defenders on her hip and lets them come along for the ride. She seems to have high basketball IQ and showed good court vision, making several very good passes that either were or should've been assists. She hit cutting forwards on a handful of occasions by starting to turn the corner from the wing, using a couple retreat dribbles to drag the defender out as the help showed, and then dropping it down to a cutter. Sydney also made a handful of plays in the 4th quarter when the Bulldogs needed it against a quality opponent, showing that she has moxie beyond her age. There's plenty left to see and I'll never make a judgment off viewing a player one time, but I like what I see so far and definitely will be checking out South High again. Between Sydney & 2021 teammate Hannah Breen - who's shown legitimate improvement over the last year and has become a potent scoring threat at the varsity level - there's a pretty bright future in place at SGF.

If ya don't know, now ya know: I'll be keeping a keen eye on SGF 2023 Sydney Hart's development going forward.

- I would be interested in seeing how many free throws are attempted in the Foothills Council compared to other Section 2 leagues. There are exceptions to the rule, but I feel like most of the time I'm at a Foothills game, the amount of free throws attempted are noticeably higher than other Section 2 games. For the game as a whole, this one was actually a little tame compared to normal - Amsterdam was 19/25, SGF 13/23 - but both teams lived at the line in the final 8 minutes. To anyone thinking I'm pointing fingers, far from - it's not something that can easily be explained by one factor. The Foothills is a massive league by area that stretches across two different referee boards that generally call games differently. These officials also do games in other leagues in which I don't feel the games are as free throw heavy when I'm there. The league tends to be a zone/zone press heavy league equipped with some teams that want to gamble, jump passing lanes, and bother ballhandlers. However, it's not like the brand of play is more physical than in other leagues. In reality, I think it's a combination of a few different factors. Hell, maybe it's just the games I go to. I'm not even complaining about it and I'm not going to take the time to look at it myself, but it's certainly something that interests me.