Delaney: Big win for Dolgeville girls....basketball
The Dolgeville girls basketball team defeated previously unbeaten Little Falls 49-43 in overtime Wednesday. The result of the game is an upset, certainly. Using that word, though, might be doing a disservice to Dolgeville's effort.
They weren't lucky. They were smart.
Dolgeville played a full-court man-to-man press with some double teams thrown in to wear down Little Falls. The Mounties, who came into the game ranked No. xx in the state in Class C, have a short bench. Seven varsity players suit up for the defending Section III Class C-1 champions and coach Pam Munger knew they were vulnerable.
"That's what I'd play against us," Munger told me earlier in the year.
Olivia Tooley scored 20 points for Little Falls, Jordan Mitchell added 12 but Dolgeville's defense held 6-foot sophomore center Jenna Becker to six points in the Blue Devils' fifth-straight win and biggest in coach Lee Quackenbush's seven seasons.
"After the game the girls were so elated," said Quackenbush, a man of few words. "They worked so hard for this. This group (seniors) started in sixth grade. The seniors, we went into the game and we knew we had a shot."
The win moves Dolgeville to 5-5 in the league and 9-7 overall and is, for now, the signature moment of a lengthy rebuilding project. Instead of an end to the season, the Blue Devils basketball team joins its perennially talented volleyball team in the sectional playoffs.
In 2007-2008, Dolgeville didn't win a league game and only three overall. The team won just one league game last year but improved to seven wins. Dolgeville won a state girls basketball title in 1981 and the school dropped the sport the next year for nearly a decade.
"Because we're starting to win, I think people are starting to notice," Quackenbush said. "They talk more about basketball."
When Quackenbush came on board, he started an elementary school program with 16 to 20 kids. Seniors Sarah Reardon, Corinne Alling, Kassie Gonyea, Mary Deveny and Shelby Sutton were products of the program now with approximately 40 players in grades 3-6.
"This senior class is the first class out of that and you see a tremendous difference," Quackenbush said. "The fundamentals are there."
They weren't lucky. They were smart.
Dolgeville played a full-court man-to-man press with some double teams thrown in to wear down Little Falls. The Mounties, who came into the game ranked No. xx in the state in Class C, have a short bench. Seven varsity players suit up for the defending Section III Class C-1 champions and coach Pam Munger knew they were vulnerable.
"That's what I'd play against us," Munger told me earlier in the year.
Olivia Tooley scored 20 points for Little Falls, Jordan Mitchell added 12 but Dolgeville's defense held 6-foot sophomore center Jenna Becker to six points in the Blue Devils' fifth-straight win and biggest in coach Lee Quackenbush's seven seasons.
"After the game the girls were so elated," said Quackenbush, a man of few words. "They worked so hard for this. This group (seniors) started in sixth grade. The seniors, we went into the game and we knew we had a shot."
The win moves Dolgeville to 5-5 in the league and 9-7 overall and is, for now, the signature moment of a lengthy rebuilding project. Instead of an end to the season, the Blue Devils basketball team joins its perennially talented volleyball team in the sectional playoffs.
In 2007-2008, Dolgeville didn't win a league game and only three overall. The team won just one league game last year but improved to seven wins. Dolgeville won a state girls basketball title in 1981 and the school dropped the sport the next year for nearly a decade.
"Because we're starting to win, I think people are starting to notice," Quackenbush said. "They talk more about basketball."
When Quackenbush came on board, he started an elementary school program with 16 to 20 kids. Seniors Sarah Reardon, Corinne Alling, Kassie Gonyea, Mary Deveny and Shelby Sutton were products of the program now with approximately 40 players in grades 3-6.
"This senior class is the first class out of that and you see a tremendous difference," Quackenbush said. "The fundamentals are there."
posted by Anne Delaney at
7:59 PM
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