TROY — Trailing by five at halftime of the NYSPHSAA Class AA girls’ basketball championship game, Bethlehem was hoping to open the second half with an offensive push in its effort to cap off a miracle run to the state title.
Instead, it was Section 6 champ North Tonawanda that came out sizzling in the third, scoring the first nine points of the quarter — all by Annabelle Day — as the Lady Jacks seized control. Though the Eagles gamely battled to the end, the deficit was too much for Bethlehem as the Eagles dropped a 57-37 decision Sunday at Hudson Valley Community College.
Bethlehem (13-12) had won five straight postseason games following an 8-11 regular season to come within one game of the state championship.
“We were hoping to get a big surge and that was one of our downfalls in the third, we didn’t come out strong and we didn’t score when we needed to score on some of those possessions,” Bethlehem coach Trish Piccini said. “We knew it would be a tough game but we also knew we were up for it, we’ve had these challenges before. They were just bigger and stronger and more of an opponent than what we’ve seen.”
Trailing 35-21 in the third, Bethlehem finally found its range when Elizabeth Kearney and Macy Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Another Young triple with 57 seconds left in the third cut the North Tonawanda (23-3) lead to 39-32.
Young, a freshman, was on the floor for the first time and entered the game after Bethlehem’s Lily Griesbach picked up her fourth foul.
“She has done that all postseason,” Piccini said. “That got us going a little bit, that just defines the team. Someone comes in, does their job, and helps the team.”
The Eagles, who never led in the game, were unable to draw closer as the Lady Jacks went on a 12-0 scoring run to take a 51-32 lead with 3:34 left to play.
Bethlehem converted just 14 of 49 field goal attempts and faced the disruption near the basket with the presence of 6-foot-3 Lady Jacks center Jakayla Brown, who blocked five shots and altered many more.
“That was a tough one, trying to tell the girls to fake before you go up, use your body,” Piccini said. “We weren’t getting any calls going up against her and we just simply didn’t have the size.”
Eighth-grader Brynn Elfeldt led Bethlehem with eight points, all in the first half, and pulled down seven rebounds while Kearney led the Eagles with nine rebounds to go with a team-high five assists.
“It is going to take a little while to process everything, this is a tremendous group,” Piccini said. “They have come out time and time again, they’ve been underdogs, overmatched, the shorter ones. They bought into it, they are a tremendous group of young women who are super strong and they’ll be back.”