A Monday In The Mohawk Valley: WCV Holds Off Little Falls, Herkimer Runs Past Dolgeville

March 29, 2021

A two-for-one! While the vast majority of New York (and the entire country) has moved onto AAU season, a couple pockets of the state are still getting some high school games in. That includes Herkimer County. The last ones to remain seated after "high-risk" indoor sports got the state go-ahead have now become the last ones standing with contests stretching into early April. Mix that with a friendly schedule change allowing me to catch two games Monday, and it was an easy destination choice to start the week. In the opener, West Canada Valley made plays in the final minutes to hold off host Little Falls, and in the nightcap, Herkimer used a big 3rd quarter run to separate themselves and earn a win over visiting Dolgeville. First, from Mountie country:

West Canada Valley 54, Little Falls 50

An evenly matched start set the stage for what became a nip & tuck competitive game. After Hanna Burdick (WCV 2024) hit a three on the opening possession, Little Falls scored 10 of the next 12 - six from Alexis Kress (LF 2025) - to take a 10-5 lead with 3:28 left in the 1st. WCV would keep them off the board for the rest of the frame though, and Reese Fellows' (WCV 2023) first points cut the margin to one at 10-9 through the first eight minutes. The 2nd quarter was a tug-of-war, especially the first few minutes as the first seven scoring plays resulted in a tie or lead change. The Mounties' last lead came when Olivia Lindsay (LF 2022) scored to put them up 15-13 at the 4:51 mark. A Fellows bucket tied it & Olivia Morreale (WCV 2022) knocked down a three to put WCV up 18-15 a minute later, and although Little Falls would square it up twice after, they'd never get the lead back. Another Fellows basket & two free throws were answered by a Kress bucket to end the half, and WCV held a 22-20 lead.

Liv Morreale finished with 16 points, all in the final 3 quarters, in WCV's victory.

A more uptempo 3rd quarter resulted in a relative offensive outburst, and the evenness continued as the margin remained within two possessions most of the way. Little Falls cut the deficit to one twice in the frame, first on a Lindsay bucket to make it 29-28 & then on a Kylie Kress (LF 2022) trey to make it 33-32 at the 2:22 mark, but WCV would end the quarter on a 9-2 run to grab their largest lead. Ball movement led to another Hanna Burdick triple with 17 seconds left, then after getting a stop, Morreale leaked ahead and was able to bank home a last-second trey to push their lead to 42-34.

Little Falls had another push in the system though, as it didn't take long for them to make up the deficit. Much of it came thanks to their prowess on the offensive glass. They reeled off eight straight in a stretch of 1:58, started & finished with Shayna Straney (LF 2022) baskets, to tie it at 42 with 5:25 left. However, that would be all for the Mounties as WCV answered the bell with some timely shotmaking. Maggie Burdick (WCV 2021) got loose and canned a three on their next possession, then Morreale knocked down her 3rd trey of the half to push their lead back to 48-42. Alexis Kress would hit two threes of her own in rapid succession, with the latter cutting LF's deficit to 50-48 with 2:15 left. After Lydia Reimer (WCV 2022) hit two free throws to push the lead to four at the 1:26 mark, the teams traded stops a couple times before Kylie Kress converted a steal off a WCV sideline out-of-bounds play into a layup to make it a one possession game at 52-50 with :16.7 remaining. They were forced to foul to extend the game from there, and Hanna Burdick sank two free throws to extend it back to two possessions with :14.7 left. It stayed there the rest of the way, as Little Falls' final two offensive possessions came up empty.

Reese Fellows and Olivia Morreale pumped in 16 points apiece to lead WCV; Reese had 8 of hers in the 2nd quarter, and Liv contributed 8 in the 3rd. Hanna Burdick started strong, with 7 of her 12 points coming in the 1st quarter. Alexis Kress contributed a game high 17 points in defeat for Little Falls, and Olivia Lindsay chipped in with 11.

Alexis Kress led all scorers with 17 points in Little Falls' narrow defeat.

Herkimer 52, Dolgeville 41

Monday's nightcap mirrored the even affair a few miles to the east - at least for a while. There were five ties & four lead changes in the first 5:30 as both teams got it going from the outset. After Taylor Smith (Herkimer 2021) scored to give them a 10-8 lead at the 3:52 mark of the 1st quarter, Blue Devil teammates Kerisa Van Olst (Dolgeville 2023) and Alyson Congdon (Dolgeville 2022) teamed up for a 9-2 run to give them their largest lead. The last five, a Congdon bucket at the rim and a Van Olst trey, stretched their lead to 17-12. It was 17-13 through the first stanza after Madisen Marusic (Herkimer 2025) split a pair at the line. Both teams struggled to score in the 2nd, but Herkimer's decision to match up defensively noticeably slowed up Dolgeville, who got shut out in the quarter. The Magicians were also held scoreless for the last 4:06 of the half, but a Smith bucket & Ava Lanaux (Herkimer 2021) triple before that were enough to put them up 18-17 at intermission.

Marion Leskovar hit a pair of threes & finished with 8 points for Herkimer.

The basket opened up for both teams out of the halftime huddle, but it stayed open for Herkimer and in particular, Taylor Smith. A Van Olst bucket ended a scoreless stretch of 9:42 and started a quick back & forth with Smith, as the two traded baskets twice in the first 1:40 of the 2nd half with teams exchanging the lead each time. Smith's bucket at the 6:20 mark gave Herkimer a 23-22 lead, and they'd hold onto it from there as it started a game-changing run. Charity Dygert (Herkimer 2023) converted a three-point play, and then Smith ripped off another seven points in just over a minute, completing a 12-0 run and putting Herkimer up 33-22 at the 3:19 mark. The teams would get back to trading buckets from there, and Smith continued to go off to the tune of 16 3rd quarter points as Herkimer led 39-28 going into the final eight minutes. The margin would remain a double digit one the rest of the way, with the Magicians stretching it to as much as 16 on their last field goal of the night, a Marion Leskovar (Herkimer 2021) three to make it 51-35 with 3:21 left. Dolgeville would attempt to chip away from there, but got no closer than 10 on a Van Olst bucket in the final minute.

Where balance ruled the roost in Monday's opener, the nightcap was highlighted by strong individual scoring performances. Taylor Smith dropped 23 points to lead Herkimer, 16 of those coming in a 3rd quarter that the Magicians won 21-11. Kerisa Van Olst dropped 24 points to lead Dolgeville, half of them coming from beyond the arc & 16 coming in the 2nd half.

Kerisa Van Olst dropped a game high 24 points for Dolgeville in Monday's loss.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

- I'll start with the victors of the first game in WCV. I watched them over the last couple weeks in a narrow home loss to Mount Markham. In that game, they were down double digits, came all the way back & took a late lead, but then had a defensive breakdown on the final possession of regulation that resulted in a layup to force OT, then came out flat in the extra session and quickly fell into an insurmountable hole. I said something about that being a "learn & grow" moment back then. Looks like they learned & grew. Up 8 and feeling good after 3, but Little Falls quickly responded - basketball is a game of runs, right? Instead of allowing it to take the wind out of their sails, they responded with a couple good offensive possessions that resulted in made shots & a couple stops. Regroup, dig in, make positive plays. They did that with important box score & non-box score positive contributions coming from a handful in purple. Despite having a less than 100% Reese Fellows in the 4th quarter after coming up lame on a play late in the 3rd, they earned a nice W on the road.

- There's nothing too detailed to say here, but shoutout to Taylor Smith for turning up in the 3rd quarter. 16 points in rapid succession and got it different ways; she's known as a perimeter shooter & can knock down the three, but she didn't fall in love with it in the 3rd and took advantage of opportunities to get to the rim in the half-court & in transition. She still shot the three when in rhythm and knocked a couple down in the 3rd, but a lot of it was probing with the dribble and getting into the lane too. That stretch made the difference as Herkimer started to pull away.

Taylor Smith turned it up in the 3rd quarter, where she had 16 of her 23 points in Herkimer's win.

- It looks like some youngsters are set to make some waves on these teams. Kerisa Van Olst, a sophomore, is noticeably Dolgeville's primary offensive option - deep range and willingness to play off the shot & try to get to the rim. Most of the WCV crew is coming back. Reese Fellows, a sophomore, arguably has the most basketball-specific athleticism out of anyone that I saw Monday. Hanna Burdick, a freshman, was a pretty steady presence in the backcourt for WCV & showed the perimeter shooting ability. Little Falls' roster will basically be intact next year too, and Alexis Kress was probably my main takeaway of the day's games. As an 8th grader, she has a solid natural frame at the guard spot, capable perimeter shooter, showed some midrange game, and played within herself. She made some big shots late to keep Little Falls close and scored her 17 points efficiently. Madisen Marusic, also an 8th grader, started and got good minutes for Herkimer. Her 5 point output may not have matched the recent 16 point night that caught my attention, but she showed that she had a bit of an understanding of how to play the game off the ball, which is important. She also has a good natural frame for her age that can/I'm sure will be built on as she matures. How much meaningful work they put in in months/years to come will certainly play a large role in how good they (and area basketball) will be going forward, but 'the future' is starting to take shape in the Mohawk Valley.

Reese Fellows got slowed up by a late 3rd quarter injury, but still finished with 16 points in WCV's win.

- Many of you know that this is the old homeland for me. I don't get back here to watch basketball too often, especially my hometown of Herkimer - saw them on the road last year but haven't been in the high school gym in a few years & this was my first time in the elementary school gym (where the nightcap was played due to HS gym construction) since I was coaching there close to a decade ago. It was nice to get a day in, see some familiar faces, and catch some CSC hoops. A little reminder of where it all started. Thank you to Little Falls AD Bart Tooley and Herkimer AD Cristi Paragi for allowing me in your gyms to cover Monday's games!