Somers basketball comes up short against Pleasantville

SOMERS, N.Y. - Hoping to duplicate its early-season success against Pleasantville, Somers returned to the court Monday, Jan. 5, expecting another tight battle. Instead, the Tuskers found themselves caught in a familiar rhythm they ultimately could not break, falling 49-33 to the Panthers.

The game followed a recurring pattern: Pleasantville surged ahead, Somers answered, and then the Panthers pulled away again. After battling back to within six points late in the third quarter, Somers ran out of answers as Pleasantville closed strong.

Pleasantville jumped out quickly, opening the game on a 10-2 run. Eli Contreras helped settle the Tuskers, breaking the press at midcourt and finding Kaleigh Conti under the basket for two before knocking down a deep three to cut the deficit to 10-7.

Any momentum was short-lived, as Pleasantville responded with eight straight points to take an 18-7 lead in the second quarter. Caitlyn Mayfield and Ava Schmidberger kept Somers within striking distance, with Mayfield converting a second-chance teardrop and Schmidberger powering in a putback to make it 20-11.

Lexi Tomaselli answered for Pleasantville with a strong drive to the basket, followed by a fast-break layup from Emma Murray. Still, Somers refused to fade. Contreras drained another three and added a free throw to trim the margin to 24-15.

With under two minutes left in the half, Contreras attacked the basket through traffic to maintain momentum. After Tomaselli hit a three with eight seconds remaining, Contreras raced coast-to-coast at the buzzer to keep the deficit at 10 heading into halftime.

Somers showed renewed energy to open the third quarter, jumping passing lanes and converting on the other end. Maeve Cleary fed Mayfield inside to make it 29-21. But Tomaselli remained relentless, burying an open three to push the lead back into double digits.

A final push from Somers followed, as Mayfield scored from the low post and Contreras connected from beyond the arc to make it 32-26. The comeback hopes were quickly dashed when Tomaselli answered with three consecutive three-pointers to close the quarter.

Pleasantville put the game away early in the fourth, opening with a runner from Maddie Becerra and two more free throws from Tomaselli, sealing the Panthers’ 49-33 victory.