Top-seed Penfield outscored Hilton 20-3 over the first eight minutes of their Class AA girls’ basketball Section V championship game and won 54-38. The Cadets were held off the scoreboard for the first 6:52, but outscored the Patriots 35-34 after the first quarter.
Hilton switched to a two-three zone after the first quarter and trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, but Penfield struggled against the zone. Senior guard Cameron Graupman hit on a drive and later a free throw plus senior captain Raine Gardner hit a trey near the end of the stanza.
In the fourth, freshman Meaghan McGwin came off the bench to score on a lay-up after a perfect feed from Gardner. Graupman hit a free throw and a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a Gardner field goal to pull the Cadets to within ten points of the lead with 4:55 remaining.
But Hilton struggled on their remaining offensive possessions and Penfield made six-of-ten from the free throw line over the final three-plus minutes to close the game.
“The hard part is that we played man-to-man all year, but they got to rim on us (early in the game) and we had to work harder on defense,” Hilton head coach Jeff Eichas said. “We got the shots we wanted but they didn’t fall in the first quarter. After that we tightened up and did a little better, but digging yourself a 16-0 hole is a little bit difficult to start off.”
Graupman, who entered the game averaging 24 points per game, was held to 21 and had five steals. Alyssa Juergens had seven points and Gardner added five for Hilton.
Graupman and Gardner were both named to the Class AA All-Tournament Team while junior Allyson Strauss, who left in the fourth quarter with an apparent knee injury, was given the Sportsmanship Award for the Cadets.
