Lady Jackets Win Regional Title For First Time In "C" Division

Madrid-Waddington upsets Watervliet to advance to the NYS Class C final four.
Photo by: Jeff Bunstone

The lady Yellowjackets of Madrid-Waddington sure know how to make it interesting as they took on the #5 state ranked Watervliet lady Cannoneers. In the first quarter the Yellowjackets started with a 7-0 run. It looked as though they were going to slowly but surely pull away. Watervliet got a couple of quick buckets but Madrid controlled the lead 9-4 after one. In the second the Jackets extended their lead to 10, 14-4 with 5:42 left in the first half. Watervliet ended the half on a 6-0 run and only trailed by 4, 14-10 after two quarters played. In the third things got interesting. Watervliet used their size to keep the game within winning distance and Madrid had a hard time stopping their horses. Madrid caught a break and went up by four 22-18 with a little more than a minute to play. But the Cannoneers Paige Colfer hit a huge three just before the end of the quarter to make it a one point game 22-21. In the fourth Chanessa Blakemore took the lead quickly for the Cannoneers for the first time 23-22 off a baseline jumper. But Madrid kept it close as the Jacket's Crystal Mouthorp generated the tie off a free throw make 23-23. Madrid-Waddington had numerous opportunities to take a commanding lead off foul shots, but they could not get them to fall. After the Jackets got a bucket from Stephanie Lancto , Jennifer Curley went to the line and converted 1 of 2 free throws and took a 3 point lead 28-25 with two minutes left in the game. Watervliet cut it to one with one minute to play when Paige Colfer hit a running jumper, 28-27. As the clock wound down the Jackets produced some clutch free throw shooting and with 16 seconds left and the game paced at 30-29 in the Jackets favor, Abby Shoen went to the line and hit one of two free throws with proved to be the winning basket. The Cannoneers could not convert a lead off of a M-W turnover with 3.3 seconds left, and the Madrid-Waddington Yellowjackets won their first Class "C" Regional Championship 31-30 and headed to the New York State Class "C" Girls Final Four in Troy at Hudson Valley Community College. Paige Colfer had a huge night producing 24 of the Cannoneers 30 points by herself. The Yellowjackets used an all around team effort to win the game. Crystal Mouthrop had 8 leading the lady Jackets to the Title victory.