By Steve Franklin
Sports Correspondent
TROY – The Lady Trojans’ bid for their first state crown came to an end on Saturday afternoon as Greene ran into a sharp-shooting Nazareth squad in the semifinals of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C Girls’ State Basketball Championships.
The top-ranked Lasers connected on 10 of their 13 first-quarter shots to race out to an early lead, and never looked back as Nazareth cruised to an impressive 62-40 win over Greene in the semifinal contest held at Hudson Valley Community College’s McDonough Sports Complex in Troy.
“(Nazareth) moved the ball really well and didn’t miss,” Greene coach David Gorton said. “They hit inside, they hit outside. They screened and rolled and rebounded ... they did everything exceptionally well.”
Nazareth, making its sixth Final Four appearance since 2001 (the other five coming at the Class B level), shot 51 percent (23-of-45) from the field, while Greene converted just 23 percent (11-of-47) of its shots.
“They’ve been here before and we haven’t, and that was the big difference today,” said Greene senior Barb Borst, who surpassed the 1,000 point mark for her career with a three-point shot in the opening minute of the game. “They came out hot and we were a little rattled. We just didn’t play well enough early.”
Nazareth’s Harley Cleary, Megan Morrell, and Janine Swanson sparked the Lasers early as the trio combined for 19 first-quarter points to help build a 22-14 lead after one quarter.
In the second stanza, Nazareth stepped up its defensive intensity to pull away from Greene. The Lasers’ zone defense stymied the Lady Trojans offense as Greene managed to convert just one field goal attempt and score just four points in the quarter. Meanwhile, the Lasers continued to shoot at a good clip helping them take a 35-18 lead into intermission.
After falling behind by as many as 24 points in the third, the Trojans strung together a brief rally cutting the deficit to 16 points late in the quarter. But in the end, the balanced Lasers were just too much as they continued their torrid shooting and scrappy defense in the fourth to keep the Lady Trojans at bay.
“We just didn’t finish the way we are capable of finishing,” Gorton said. “We talked all week about battling the nerves, but because of their phenomenal start, I think some panic set in and then a little bit of doubt set in.”
Swanson finished with a game-best 18 points, Cleary added 15, and Morrell chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds, and three assists as Nazareth advanced to Sunday’s state title tilt where it defeated Hoosic Valley, 43-31
