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‘Special Group’ Of Cards Falls To Millbrook In Girls Championship Game

Despite being closely guarded by a Millbrook defender, Randolph’s Kyra Pence drives down the lane during Sunday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championship game at Hudson Valley Community College. Photo by Mike Frame

TROY — It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Not for the Randolph girls.

Not after the Cardinals won a boys state championship Saturday night.

Section IX Millbrook shot 50% from the field and a blistering 8 of 13 from 3-point range to win its second straight New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championship 59-45 over Randolph on Sunday afternoon at Hudson Valley Community College.

For the Cardinals, the loss capped an emotional roller-coaster of a weekend that included watching the boys win a semifinal Friday night, themselves win a semifinal Saturday morning and experiencing the boys capture the school’s first basketball state championship Saturday night before Sunday’s disappointing finish.

Skylar Herington (23) passes out of a double team during Sunday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championship game against Millbrook at Hudson Valley Community College. Photo by Mike Frame

“There was this feeling all year that this was a special group. The boys always played before us. Sectionals, they played the day before. Regionals, they played the morning before. … They were kind of like leading us. We were following their way,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “We were thinking this would be fantastic if we could both get it. It’s still fantastic. This season was amazing.”

While the Blazers feature a pair collegiate prospects in senior Emily Grasseler and junior Natalie Fox, it was senior Ella Wilson who carried them offensively on their way to the title Sunday.

Wilson finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, knocking down 5-of-6 3-point attempts, including her first five of the game.

“Their bigs are really tough. That’s why they’ve won back-to-back state championships. Our focus today was to limit their bigs. We did that,” Pihlblad said. “(Wilson) hit a bunch of 3s. We didn’t … expect that. She pretty much won them a state championship today.”

Randolph was led by sophomore Payton Morrison with 18 points while senior Kyra Pence had 9 points. The Cardinals appeared to have a good game plan to attack Millbrook’s size, but 15-of-45 shooting, including just 9 of 29 from 3-point range, was their undoing.

“We were getting open looks for a good chunk of that first half. They were in and out, weren’t falling. We said ‘Just keep shooting.’ We have good shooters on this team,” Pihlblad said. “Quinn (Pence) hit a couple. Payton hit a couple. We had some momentum there in the third quarter. A couple of things didn’t go our way and I think we ran out of gas at the end.”

The Blazers jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but Randolph answered with a 7-0 run of its own that included Kyra Pence knocking down a 3-pointer to open the scoring. Eighth-grader Skylar Herington buried a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the period to pull the Cardinals within four after eight minutes.

Millbrook got hot again to start the second quarter on another 7-0 run, but Quinn Pence made a 3-pointer with 5:34 remaining to make it 24-15. The Blazers eventually went ahead 31-19, but Quinn Pence’s 3-pointer with 1:16 left made it 31-22 at halftime

“The crowd was into it. The girls were into it,” Pihlblad said. “We hit a couple of big shots.”

Herington’s 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the third quarter started a 10-0 Randolph run that made it 34-32 with 4:15 left in the frame, but Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Millbrook advantage back up to eight.

“The film we watched, she hits a couple. We were OK with the shots she was getting. That was something we were going to give up by us pinching and taking away the high post,” Pihlblad said. ” … If she hits them, she hits them. … She hit some shots in the big moments.”

The Blazers started the final quarter with a 44-37 lead that went to just five on Cardinals senior Katelyn Storer’s only bucket of the game, but Randolph would get no closer the rest of the way, turning the ball over four straight times as Millbrook went on another 7-0 run.

“This was a tough weekend for us traveling back and forth to the boys games. I was worried coming in, were we going to have enough in the tank in the second half?,” Pihlblad said. “It’s not that the girls didn’t work hard. They beat us up inside toward the end, got some offensive boards. They beat us. They are back-to-back state champs. They are a fantastic team.”

While Kyra Pence, Storer and Harper Smith will be lost to graduation, the Cardinals will return an impressive nucleus as they look for their first state title in three trips to the final four.

“These girls have worked for a long time at this. They’ve played together since they were little,” Pihlblad said. ” … We want to come back. We want this not to be just a one-time thing, this should be the expectation going forward for the next several years. … We want to get over that hurdle of winning a state championship.”

NOTES: Randolph turned the ball over 11 times. Kyra Pence had six steals and three assists; Quinn Pence and Storer each had five rebounds. … Millbrook turned the ball over 17 times. Grasseler had 14 points and nine rebounds; Fox had 7 points and 10 rebounds; and Beth Bosan had 9 points and four assists. … Section I’s Walter Panas beat Section V’s Canandaigua 61-51 in the Class AA final; Section V’s Webster Schroeder beat Section I’s White Plains 49-41 in Class A; Section V’s Waterloo beat Section I’s Putnam Valley 58-48 Class B; and Section X’s Hammond beat Section IV’s Oxford 61-37 in Class D.

RANDOLPH (45)

SSmith 0 0 0, KPence 4 0 9, QPence 2 2 8, Storer 1 0 2, Morrison 5 4 18, Herington 2 0 6, Dickerson 0 0 0, Steward 1 0 2, Bowles 0 0 0, HSmith 0 0 0. Totals 15 6 45.

MILLBROOK (59)

Heitmann 3 0 7, Bosan 3 2 9, Fox 3 1 7, Wilson 6 2 19, Grasseler 4 6 14, Moore 1 0 3. Totals 20 11 59.

3-point goals-KPence, QPence 2, Morrison 4, Herington 2, Heitmann, Bosan, Wilson 5, Moore.

Randolph 10 12 15 8 – 45

Millbrook 14 17 13 15 – 59

SATURDAY

RANDOLPH

ADVANCES TO FINAL

TROY — Randolph can play offense with the best of teams.

On Saturday, the Cardinals clinched a spot in the state title game with their defense.

The Section VI champions turned Section IV’s Union Springs over 22 times and held the Wolves to 16-of-40 shooting from the field en route to a 45-40 victory in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C semifinal at Hudson Valley Community College’s McDonough Sports Complex.

“Our defense has been our staple for three years since I took over the program,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “That was probably the best defensive game we’ve had all three years.”

The win sent Randolph into Sunday’s title game against Section IX’s Millbrook, which beat Section II’s Greenwich 70-52 in Saturday’s second semifinal.

“Millbrook is the defending state champion. They have some size. They have good guards,” Pihlblad said. ” … We’re going to watch film … probably not going to sleep at all … put together a game plan and be ready to go in the morning.”

The Cardinals led by a point midway through the fourth quarter when eighth-grader Skylar Herington drove along the baseline and made a turnaround shot to give her team a 37-34 lead.

“She’s an eighth-grader. It’s unbelievable,” Pihlblad said. “There were a couple of times … the spin move and that little floater … eighth-graders don’t do that stuff, and they don’t that stuff in the state championship semifinal game. She’s special.”

After Herington made a free throw on each of Randolph’s next two possessions, Payton Gilbert pulled Union Springs within three on a bucket in the lane.

Cardinals senior Kyra Pence then hit the biggest shot of her career. With the shot clock winding down, Pence lined up a 3-pointer from the top of the arc that found nothing but net and gave Randolph a 42-36 advantage.

Randolph’s Quinn Pence (1) and Zoelle Dickerson (24) fight a Union Springs player for a rebound during their NYSPHSAA Class C semifinal Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College’s McDonough Sports Complex. Photo by Mike Frame

“She’s incredible,” Pihlblad said. “This playoff stretch, it seems like end of quarters, end of games, she’s hitting that big shot.”

“I was missing so many layups. I got in my head. I knew I needed to step up,” Pence added. “I looked up at the shot clock and it was at 6 seconds. I thought ‘Maybe this is my time. I have to do something on offense.’ It went in. That was totally a momentum changer. I’m glad I shot it.”

A bucket from Union Springs senior point guard Kailey Kalet — who has a full scholarship at NCAA Division I Loyola (Md.) waiting for her in the fall — pulled the Wolves within three with 1:04 left, but Pence deflected a ball to Morrison for a steal on Union Springs’ next trip down the floor before Pence made it a four-point game with a free throw.

“I love defense. It’s my passion. I get deflections all the time,” Pence said. “Up top, Payton (Morrison) and I work phenomenally together. We always push them to that side. When they went to pass it back, I got the deflection and Payton was right there.”

A missed 3-pointer on the Wolves’ final possession ended up in Pence’s arms before she capped the victory with one final free throw.

“We got our stops on defense,” Pence said. “We preach defense every day.”

The Cardinals took a 5-4 lead early in the first quarter and maintained a 26-19 halftime advantage, thanks in part to Morrison’s 15 first-half points.

“You could tell this morning she was ready to go. … She wanted it bad,” Pihlblad said of Morrison. ” … The last three weeks, she’s played like we’ve expected her to play.”

Randolph led for most of the third quarter before Kalet converted a three-point play with 49 seconds left in the period to give the Wolves a 32-31 lead.

“She’s built, she can drive,” Pence said of Kalet. “She’s a phenomenal point guard. She can shoot, pull up, get to the rim. … She’s a great player, but we played better on defense and got the stops.”

Herington made a pair of free throws 11 seconds later as the Cardinals took a one-point lead into the final eight minutes.

“I’m so confident in these girls. They are gamers. They stay level-headed. They stay composed,” Pihlblad said. “I have the utmost confidence in all of them. Somebody is going to be open and somebody is going to hit that shot in crunch time. They’ve been true to it so far this year.”

Gilbert gave the lead back to Union Springs on the first possession of the fourth quarter before Herington gave it back to the Cardinals with 4:58 remaining.

They would never trail again.

“It’s unreal. We’ve talked about this moment with the girls since day one,” Pihlblad said. ” … It’s a dream that everybody is hoping to get to.”

NOTES: Randolph shot 14 of 46 (30.4%) from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 18 times. Morrison finished with 15 points and three rebounds; Herington had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists; and Pence had 9 points and six steals. … Union Springs shot 2 of 12 from 3-point range. Kalet had 12 points and four rebounds; Gilbert had 12 points and five rebounds; and Ella Johnson had 9 points and three assists.

RANDOLPH (45)

KPence 3 2 9, QPence 2 1 6, Storer 1 0 2, Morrison 5 1 15, Herington 3 6 13, Dickerson 0 0 0, Steward 0 0 0. Totals 14 10 45.

UNION SPRINGS (40)

Gilbert 4 4 12, Johnson 4 0 9, KKalet 5 2 12, Waldron 0 0 0, MKalet 1 0 3, Casler 1 0 2, Daum 0 0 0, Evener 1 0 2, Scholz 0 0 0, Jones 0 0 0. Totals 16 6 40.

3-point goals–KPence, QPence, Morrison 4, Herington, Johnson, MKalet.

Randolph 14 12 7 12 – 45

Union Springs 8 11 13 8 – 40

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