Photos and story by Steve Harrison
The Hornell girls’ basketball team improved to 12-6 with a 65-56 win over Dansville Friday night.
It was senior night for the Red Raiders and Steve Harrison captured all the action and tears!
“We got out to a great start in the first quarter with a 17-5 lead. Defensively we were locked in from the opening tip. We only gave up 2 points to Dansville’s leading scorer in the first half,” said Hornell coach Jimmy Dagon. “She (Dansville’s Aynsley Belcher who finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds) did get us for 17 more in the second half, but that’s what great players do, so the early lead was huge.
“No lead is ever safe against Dansville. They’re a team thats very talented and they never give up, and I give those girls and their coaches a lot of credit for building that sort of a culture.,” Dagon continued. “Our scoring was very spread out, which is a credit to the fact that we have multiple players who can make an impact on the offensive end. Down the stretch we had very timely baskets to stop some runs. A few that come to mind are the 3 pointers from Lilly Hoyt and Payton Bentley, and the “and 1’s” from Selena Maldonado. I think the girls have really bought into the fact that we have multiple weapons, and that anyone on any given night can lead the charge, and that makes us pretty tough to match up with. It all comes from their selflessness as a team- the only thing they care about is finding ways to win games.”
Dagon added, “Lilly ended up with 15 points and all of them came at crucial moments , Maddie Moore had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and was tasked with defending Dansville’s leading scorer all night where she did a fantastic job, and Selena Maldonado set the tone for us on both ends of the floor with a stat-line of 17 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.”
Dagon said the Hornell team is still improving.
“I’m really happy with how we’ve been playing lately,” he said. “We’ve still got to continue to grow everyday, but we are definitely finding our groove at the right time heading into the sectional tournament in two weeks.”
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