Wildcats use huge second half to get past Rams

Schodack, NY — The Maple Hill boys varsity basketball team completed the season sweep of cross-county rival Rensselaer Friday, in a 53-42 win propelled by an explosive second half.

The Wildcats, 8-8 (8-6 Patroon Conference), only managed to put up 20 points in the first half, 11 of which came from sophomore big man Nate Mannion. 

“Tonight he was awesome,” said Wildcats’ head coach Scott Hanrahan of Mannion. The 6’3″ center finished the game with 11 points. 

Down 21-20 at the half, Hanrahan let a fire under his squad, inspiring them to an 8-0 run at the start of the third. “I just told them we had to be more patient and work together offensively,” the coach went on to say.

With a scout from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the stands, senior guard Austin Decker understandably had butterflies in his stomach, but the 5’10” three-sport athlete turned things around in the second – scoring 11 points. “It was a lot of pressure, but I just had to let it go and pick things up for my teammates,” the little big man said. 

Decker, who’s averaging 17.2 points per game admits his team still has work to do. ” We need to work a lot on offense [becoming more consistent], but our defense is pretty good, and our press is unstoppable.”   

With three contests remaining and Sectional playoffs right around the corner, coach Hanrahan knows just how important each and every game is.  “These wins are amonster, and we need all the ones we can get. The further we get out of the pack the better, climbing the seedings latter.” 

Maple Hill will play their final home game of the regular season Tuesday when they take on conference leader Hudson at 7:00 p.m.

Stats
Maple Hill: Name, FG, 3-Pt, FT, FTA, FT %, Points.
Garrett Axtmann 5 0 2 4 50 12
Austin Decker 4 2 2 4 50 16
Evan Kulpa 1 0 0 0 0 2
John Paul Kulpa 1 0 0 2 0 2
Nate Mannion 5 0 1 2 50 11
Quinn Pratico 0 1 0 0 0 3
Ethan Samarija 2 1 1 2 50 8
Jack Santore 0 1 0 0 0 3

Rensselaer: Name, FG, 3-Pt, FT, FTA, FT %, Points.
Motasam Alshami 0 0 1 2 50 1
Anthony Carter 1 3 0 0 0 11
Zach Herrin 1 0 0 0 0 2
Zach Mackey 1 1 1 2 50 6
Messiah Mallory 4 0 0 0 0 8
Xavier Nixon 2 0 2 4 50 6
Todd Rider 1 2 0 0 0 8
Full box score

-Dylan Rossiter(@ByDylanRossiter)