| | Richfield Springs’ Jessica Hext (2) dribbles toward two Madison defenders, Tuesday, in a Section III Class D quarterfinals game at Richfield Springs Central School. Hext had six rebounds and three steals, and the Indians won, 46-21. (Photo by Liesl Schanz) | |
Jessica Hext hit two big free throws with seven seconds left, lifting Richfield Springs to a 41-39 victory over New York Mills, Saturday, in a Section III Class D semifinals game at Ilion High School. Junior Katie Moshier had 20 and 16 rebounds, as the Indians advanced to the finals, where they will play Sackets Harbor, Saturday, at 2 p.m., at Onondaga Community College. Earlier in the week, Richfield Springs didn’t need its floor general, Lauren Richards, to get past Madison, 46-21, last Tuesday, in a Section III Class D quarterfinals girls basketball game at Richfield Springs Central School. Richards injured her ankle three minutes into the game with the Indians leading 4-2. After the point guard’s departure, Richfield had trouble getting into any kind of rhythm. The Indians led, 6-4, after the first period, but broke it open in the second, taking a 26-6 lead into halftime. “I think that hurt us,” Richfield head coach Stacey Mayne said of Richards’ injury. “She’s definitely a leader out there for us. She kind of calms everybody down out there. She sees the weaknesses of other teams and she exploits them, and she makes good passes to Katie (Moshier) inside.” Richards hit the floor with 5:04 left in the opening period, clutching her ankle and rolling around in pain for about 30 seconds. The senior was able to get up on her own and walked to half court and appeared to want to stay in the game, but Mayne took her off the floor. Richards did not return. Hext took Richards’ spot in the lineup and provided good defensive pressure and grabbed some big boards. “Jess did a really good job,” Mayne said. “She did a really good job on the defensive press, and we challenged her to get some rebounds and she did that for us tonight.” Hext finished with six boards and three steals. No. 6 Madison (13-9) played very physical basketball as many Lady Indians hit the floor numerous times. “They are a very good defensive team, so we new it was gonna be a battle to get points,” Mayne said. “We only scored 33 when we played them the last time.” That game was Friday, Feb. 8, at Madison, an Indians victory in Richfield’s regular season finale. Bekah Havens had 11 rebounds and Shelby Seamon had nine for the Indians. Moshier had another huge game inside with 25 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, as third-seeded Richfield improved to 16-5. The Indians advanced to the semifinals to face No. 2 New York Mills (18-3). That would be the third meeting this year between the Center State Conference Division IV giants. The Marauders won both contests by five points, and those were the only two losses Richfield had in the division. Richards’ status for the New York Mills game was unknown, but Mayne was hoping for one extra day to rest the injury. “She can’t really walk on it. She’s says she can’t run on it, so hopefully, we’ll have her for Saturday,” Mayne said. “We’re hoping we play Saturday and not Friday.”
|