Basketball in Hoop
A clutch free-throw did the trick. And now, the John Jay High School girls basketball team is going to the Westchester County Center.
The sixth-seeded Patriots beat their host, third-seeded Scarsdale, 45-44 on Saturday. John Jay will now play the second seed, North Rockland, at the Westchester County Center at 6:30 p.m. in a Section 1 Class AA semifinal on Thursday.
“North Rockland is very good,” said John Jay coach Larry Brooks, whose Patriots improved to 16-6. “We’ve got to play like we did against Scarsdale. Our kids have bought in and are excited to be playing Thursday.”
Sam Mosca finished with nine points, including the one that put John Jay over the top. Mosca hit a foul shot with two seconds left to give the Patriots what they needed to win. Prior to the game-winner, Scarsdale’s Rachel Cohen hit a 3-pointer to tie it up at 44.
Brooks called it one of the best games he’s been a part of.
“Scarsdale is a great team,” Brooks said. “We were fortunate enough to come out with a win. We’ve been playing good basketball and it’s an honor to go to the County Center.”
Sam Fitzgerald paced the Patriots with 16 points. Marion Dietz added 11.
At halftime the Patriots led 26-24. Brooks told his girls that defense was the key down the stretch.
“We really wanted to turn up our defense,” Brooks said. “We held them to five points in the third quarter and that was big for us.”
A.J. Martelli: amartelli@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4836, Twitter: @AJM_PoJoSports