Chasing The Final Four Dream

TROY - The OFA Girls Basketball Team's Road to the NYS Class B Final Four will run through a familiar opponent in state competition on Saturday at Noon at Hudson Valley Community College in the Section 7-10-2 Regional Championship game. Watervliet (18-4) earned its fourth straight Section 2 Championship (3 Class B, 1 Class C) with a 38-27 victory over Mechanicville. A win which earned the Cannoneers a 10-game win streak and the opportunity to face the Devils (15-8) in Saturday's contest which earns the winner a return trip to HVCC for the Final Four.

"Watervliet is a great defensive team. They are a very physical team. Section 2 plays a physical type of game," said OFA Coach Mark Henry as his Devils will be looking to win their eighth game and nine attempts and to reverse a 50-34 regional loss to the Cannoneers in senior Megan Morrison's freshman season in 2007. Morrison scored 27 points including two free throws with 4/10th of a second to play to lead the Devils to an extremely physical 46-44 win over Section 7's Saranac Central on Tuesday.

Last year, Watervliet beat Potsdam 67-41 and in 2008, Madrid-Waddington, claimed a 31-30 win in the Class C Tournament against the upcoming OFA opponent. Watervliet placed second in the Colonial Conference at 14-4 led by 5-3 freshman guard/forward Ailayia Demand who averages 11 points per game.

"Ailayia is very quick. She is compemented by 6-1 freshman forward Lashana Tolliver," said Henry. Tolliver is third in scoring with 169 points (7.7 ppg) behind 5-8 senior forward Nae White averages 8.3 ppg with 166 points on the season.

"We hav to be strong with the basketball and rebound very well. We will try to pack it in, stop dribble penetration and make them shoot the ball from the outside," said Henry speaking of the Cannoneers who have hit only 53 three pointers as a team this season. 5-4 Senior guard Tierney McGlynn (133 points), 5-6 junior forward Kristin Skelly (100 points), and 5-5 sophomore Katie Murray (111 points) all contributed solid offensive numbers on the season for the Cannoneers.

The Devils who started slowly with a 1-4 record with losses against Newark, Malone, Hammond, and Canton but finished the season winning 14 of their last 18 games in a year that injuries hindered OFA in several games.

The Devils will be looking to overcome an injury again against Watervliet as forward-center Elissa St. Germain is unlikely to play because of a knee injury which sidelined her for the Brushton-Moira crossover game, theMalone game in the Overall Sectional Championship game, and the Saranac Central game in the first round of the New York State Class B Tournament.

"It's doubtful that Elissa will play. I would love to her have back, it would give a team a big lift. But I don't think it will happen," said Coach Henry of St. Germain, an All NAC selection who ranks sixth in rebounding in Section 10 with nine per game and 17th in scoring with a 10.2 points per game on 79-180 shooting. The SUNY Canton recruit has also recorded 13 steals and 15 assists.

Morrison, the 2009 Central League MVP and 2010 All NAC selection and Nazareth College recruit, stands seventh among the sectional scoring leaders at 13.6 per game and has made a strong recovery from sprains to both ankles. She also has handed out 66 assists, collected 44 steals, grabbed 80 rebounds and has hit for 72-of-her 89 free throw attempts on the season. Junior Lindsay Drummond, another All NAC selection averages 10.5 points 6.8 rebounds per game and has collected 26 steals and 24 assists. Point guard Chelsea Martin ranks among the best in Section 10 9 in assists (98, 4.3 ppg) to go along with 80 rebounds, 76 steals, and 93 points.

Sophomore Mackenzie Cole (149 pts - 6.5 ppg, 149 rebounds - 6.4, 37 steals, 12 assists) and eighth grader Meg Dodge (102 points, 43 rebounds, 25 assists, 12 steals) also have stepped up during the season. Cole's rebounding and inside scoring andDodge's solid ball movement decisions key roles in the victory over Saranac Central. Also contributing are: Rosie Giglio, Nichole Damms, Holli Jo Cota and Alison Paige along with JV callups Carly Arquitt, Brianna Barber, Shannon Tooley, Felicia Barr, and Brittanie Barr.