Little Falls, West Canada Valley girls among Section III's last basketball unbeatens
A half dozen high school basketball teams made it to the new year without a loss in Section III and that list was shortened by two in the first week of 2024.
The girls from Hamilton and Little Falls had each other on the schedule immediately after schools reopened, and the Fulton boys suffered their first loss the same night. Class B Little Falls' 69-58 overtime victory over Class C Hamilton, along with the defeat of Class AA Fulton, left the Mounties with Class C West Canada Valley and Class A Cortland unbeaten among the girls, and the Class AA Syracuse Academy of Science alone among the boys.
"That's a huge win," Little Falls coach Pam Munger said after beating Hamilton. "The biggest thing is that it was a very good game because that is a very good team. There is no better was to prepare for sectionals than to play good teams."
Hamilton was Section III's Class D runner-up last year and will compete in Class C in this year's playoffs with the new six-class alignment. Little Falls is in Class B this year; the Mounties competed in Class C last year after reaching the 2022 Class B semifinals with a 22-0 start to that season.
Little Falls had the home court Wednesday but fell behind early. Hamilton (8-0 entering the new year; now 8-1 with a game in Syracuse Friday against Class AAA Bishop Ludden) jumped ahead 14-3 at the start and led 24-12 at the end of the first quarter after Chloe LaFrance and Reagan Hope each hit two three-pointers and combined for 20 points.
The Mounties (8-0 entering Friday's game against Clinton) started chipping away and outscored the Emerald Knights 20-9 in the second quarter, trailed 33-32 at halftime, and were within five points at the end of the third quarter, a margin set by Lindsey Speer's layup as time ran out in the first half and Colleen Kelly's buzzer-beating three-pointer in the third quarter.
Though they were closer, the Mounties had still never led. They took their first lead at 50-49 midway through the fourth quarter but Logan Langel answered with a three-pointers for Hamilton on the ensuing possession.
The teams would go to overtime tied at 54 after Hamilton turned the ball over on its final possession in regulation and Little Falls' last shot fell short.
The teams traded baskets to start the extra four-minute period before Little Falls went on a 13-2 run to end the game. Ava Grcic scored seven of her 18 points in overtime and Adriana Izzo had six of her 17 for the Mounties who secured the win by shooting seven for 11 at the foul line at the end.
Junior Alexis Kress, the most experienced varsity Mountie on a roster with a single senior, scored a game-high 23 points. LaFrance led Hamilton with 17 points while Hope, Langel and Kelly all scored in double figures, and Speer finished with nine points.
Like Little Falls, Cortland stands at 8-0 heading into a weekend trip north to play one-loss teams General Brown and Indian River, and West Canada Valley put the same record on the line Friday against Clinton.
Section III has seven one-loss teams in addition to Hamilton, including Class A Oneida and Class B Utica-Notre Dame (beaten by Indian River in its season opener) entering Friday's Tri-Valley League showdown. Notably, Class A Central Valley Academy is 6-3 with losses to Little Falls, Notre Dame and Bishop Ludden.
The Mounties and Emerald Knights are scheduled to meet again Feb. 9 in Hamilton.
Unbeaten boys
The Syracuse Academy of Science routed the Syracuse Institute of Technology 72-34 Thursday in what was only the Atoms' fifth game of the season.
Fulton (8-1) dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten with Wednesday's 70-58 loss to Corcoran, and Sackets Harbor was 8-0 before its 57-47 loss to Section II Duanesburg at the Downtown Classic last week at Utica University's Nexus Center.
The Section III boys entered the weekend with eight other one-loss teams, including Class AAA Rome Free Academy (4-1), Class A Camden (9-1) and Central Valley Academy (7-1) and Class B Marcellus (10-1) which suffered its first loss against Jordan-Elbridge Dec. 30. Central Valley Academy defeated Camden 62-50 in December and hosts the teams' rematch Jan. 26.
Esewhere in Class B, Little Falls and Herkimer each lost for the second time in four games Thursday, Little Falls at Clinton and Herkimer against Sauquoit Valley, the team that had previously beaten Little Falls. Both teams are now 7-2, and the meet for the first time Jan. 19 in Herkimer with a Feb. 8 rematch scheduled for Little Falls.
Volleyball
Section III's winter girls volleyball teams are down to three unbeaten teams in their four classes of competition.
Class A Camden (8-0) had been scheduled to play Rome Free Academy (6-1), the 2023 sectional champion, Thursday but the match was moved and the Blue Devils head to Rome Tuesday for that match. Camden also has yet to play New Hartford (9-1), the 2022 sectional champ and the team that split five-game matches with Rome Free Academy this season.
In Class C, defending champion Mt. Markham (8-0) and Beaver River (7-0) have yet to lose. Perennial sectional contender Tully is 9-1 and Cooperstown is 6-1 with a 3-1 loss to Mt. Markham.
The Town of Webb and Cincinnatus are both 7-1 in Class D, and Chittenango (6-1) and Christian Brothers Academy of Syracuse (7-1) are one-loss teams in Class B.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Little Falls girls beat Hamilton in battle of basketball unbeatens
