Crusaders crumble in OT; 'Burgh boys top Cohoes

Catholic Central's Maria Foglia (left) and Alexi Howland (32) defend Albany's Kelsey Greene during the first half of Tuesday's Big 10 Conference game at Catholic Central. Greene would up scoring the game-winning basket with just seconds to play in overtime. (Photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

It was a wild, back and forth game in the final minutes, a game waiting for a hero.

Albany's Maria Koutsakis connected on three-point goals from each side of the floor late in the fourth quarter, giving the Falcons a five-point lead.

Catholic Central's Taliah Pounds answered with a three-pointer of her own and Mikayla Deguire snared a rebound and the game-tying tip-in with 4.4 seconds left to force overtime.

Albany scored the first seven points of the extra frame, but Catholic Central's Maria Foglia scored seven points in the final minute of the period, giving the Crusaders a 61-60 advantage with just seconds to go.

Albany's Greene raced the length of the court, dropping in the game-winning bucket while getting fouled, just in the nick of time. Final score: Albany 63, CCHS 61.

Catholic Central point guard Jenna Huff looks to evade an Albany defender.

The Lady Crusaders never quite had a chance to put this game away in regulation, even though they led by eight points heading into the final quarter. Albany played into the Crusaders' size advantage in the first half, but the Falcons started to run and gun and use their speed and their conditioning to wear down CCHS and force them to make sloppy plays.

Both head coaches and all of the players certainly had a frustrating time, but from a fan's perspective, it was a thrilling back-and-forth contest.

Catholic Central's Hannah Kutny attempts a shot in the first half of Tuesday's game. Kutny completed a three-point play in overtime that started the Crusaders' late rally.

"It was a good game and I think it was a good game for us," Catholic Central head coach Audra DiBacco said. "It was a battle from beginning to end. You can’t ask for anything better on a Tuesday night. Unfortunately, we came out on the losing end."

Check out the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Record.

--

In boys action Tuesday night, Lansingburgh big man Tyler Hammett dominated in the paint, leading the Knights to a 69-52 victory over Cohoes.

Our Ryan Kircher was there and you can read his account of the game in Wednesday's edition of The Record.

For Tuesday's story on how Cohoes' Josh LeMay and Tom Maloney (pictured below) have used videotape of practice sessions to improve their game, click here.