JV basketball Wildcats win final contest of season in closing seconds

by Dillon Cooper

The Pittsford Wildcats, who were coming off of a disappointing free-for-all conference game against the very talented North Adams-Jerome Rams, were focused in on their next opponent less than twenty-four hours from their awkward finish in conference play. Nevertheless the Wildcats would prove to be too much for the visiting Hudson Tigers as they won in overtime, 42-37.

The match would start off on a low key and would only pick up a degree of intensity in the following possessions, with the Wildcats scoring and picking up a good margin (but not a comfortable margin) on the Tigers. Hudson would burn a time-out and come out of the break on a little run of their own to close out the first of five quarters. “The game was a little closer than I expected but we had to play harder,” said freshman Elliot Krasney.

This contest would fall under the old idea of if you let a less talented team keep up with you then they will gain confidence and quickly think that they are in this game and could possibly win the whole ordeal! After the Wildcats steadily built up a valuable lead, it slowly began to dissipate to nothing but a distant memory as the Tigers started to chip away. For Hudson, this game would be very important to them because if they won, and pulled off the upset, they would avoid a very uncomfortable goose-egg in the win column. This game was just as equal in importance for the ‘Cats as they wanted to end their season on a high note and not a three-game skid.

For much of the second half there was a battle of ball control and it was no secret that the Achilles heel was the turnovers! With the Tigers still hanging on for dear life they had a final act of desperation, and with a couple of deuces scored by the opponents in black and orange, Hudson found themselves ahead late. Pittsford would fight off the charging Tigers and battle back to a lead but would fail to hit crucial free throws to put the game out of reach. This disappointment would come back to haunt the ‘Cats like a Friday the 13th phantom. Hudson would make a clutch deep J to put this game into overtime. Pittsford would have to fight off their M-34 rival for one more quarter!

P-ford had four minutes left in their season and they could either spend it as winners or as losers. The athletes in their pure white armor would stiffen on D and become sharp shooting players on the other end, scoring back-to-back triples and building up a insurmountable possibility of a come-back by the Tigers, whose momentum was now favoring the home team. Pittsford would end the game hitting though oh-so-important free shots from the stripe.

There is no doubt the Wildcats had a great season, finishing at 13-7 and 12-2 in their conference. With this win the Wildcats sent the sophomores off on a great note in front of the hometown fans on parents night. From the moment that they took the floor in mid November to the time they walked off the hardwood in early March, one thing is clear: the Wildcats improved through the course of those cold winter months and molded together to form a winning basketball team.