Two down, two to go.
Ossining and Rye took home the first two gold balls of the Section 1 girls basketball tournament Sunday, winning in Class AA and Class A, respectively. You can read, watch and see all about both games here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Class C final
Haldane defeats Hamilton 48-34 in the class C semi-final basketball game at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on Saturday, February 27, 2016.
No. 1 Keio (15-6) vs. No. 3 Haldane (11-10), 5 p.m. — Haldane 51, Keio 40. Being two undersized teams that like to push the ball, both should match up well against each other. Ultimately, I think this game comes down to experience, which Haldane has by the truckload. The Blue Devils enter as the two-time defending champions, while the Unicorns have never won a gold ball. It’s tough to get a feel for this game seeing as how Saturday was the first time I saw both, and the Haldane-Hamilton game was hackfest with the pace of a snail. There are some head-to-head comparisons to reference — Haldane beat North Salem three times (somewhat handily) during the regular season; Hamilton beat Keio twice (handily) during the regular season, and Haldane obviously beat Hamilton in the semifinal. The only thing I’ll predict with relative confidence is a Haldane win, and that it wouldn’t surprise me if the score is even lower than what I predicted. Anything beyond that is a complete shot in the dark.
Class B final
Irvington defeats Valhalla 44-35 in the Class B semi-final basketball game at the County Center in White Plains on Friday, February 26, 2016.
No. 1 Irvington (21-1) vs. No. 3 Woodlands (16-6), 7 p.m. — Irvington 61, Woodlands 54. Bulldogs head coach Gina Maher can say that beating Woodlands — which handed Irvington its only loss this season — won’t make winning any sweeter, but it’s hard to believe that. Maher is also on record saying that losses are good for a program, so it’s not that I don’t believe that aspect; I just think that if you get a chance to avenge a loss and win a championship in the same process, it has to make the win that much better. Of course, this all assuming Irvington wins, which is hasn’t against the Falcons. I give the edge to Irvington because, despite shooting 18 percent in the loss, it only fell by four points. I doubt the Bulldogs will shoot that poorly again, but then again, anything is possible at the County Center. These two teams have won the last six gold balls (albeit Irvington has won five) and have made the last state semifinals each year, so it should be an exciting one for fans.
Twitter: @Zacchio_LoHud, @LoHudGirlsHoops
