MAHOPAC, N.Y.—Defensive pressure and timely shots fueled a fourth-quarter run that turned out to be the difference for the Mahopac HS girls basketball team Friday night (Jan. 3) in a 51-37 home victory over Fox Lane.
Despite Mahopac opening the game with a 12-4 first quarter, the Foxes took a 37-34 lead with 5:30 to play, before the Wolf Pac dug in and closed out the win with a 17-0 run.
“We got up nine a couple of times,” Pac coach Jason Conklin said. “But we couldn’t stretch the lead. But after they took the lead in the fourth, our defense forced a lot of turnovers, and we hit a lot of free throws. It was our defense that won it. We got steals and scored off those. It was a nice finish, and a nice team win.”
Senior Caily Salon led the offense with 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as well as a pair of steals. Sophomore Giana Puckhaber dropped 10 points and handed out a pair of assists, junior Mady Ford added nine points, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals, and junior Ashley Koch had five points to go with five rebounds and two steals.
“Salon really had a big game for us, scoring, and on the boards,” Conklin said. “Giana also had a big game, and Ford was all over the floor getting into them on defense.”
Mahopac beat Nanuet (66-15), and lost to Rye (58-44) in its own holiday tournament on Dec. 27-28. Salon led the Pac with 18 points in each game, and was named All-Tournament along with Puckhaber.
“We came out flying against Nanuet,” Conklin said. “We had good defensive intensity, and set the tempo early. Against Rye, our shots just did not fall. We were 4-for-29 from three-point range, and a lot of those were uncontested. Rye is a good team, with strong guards.”
Mahopac is scheduled to travel to Brewster Monday (Jan. 13) at 6 p.m., and hosts Arlington Wednesday (Jan. 15) at 6:30 p.m.
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