BROADALBIN - The Patriots' search for answers on the basketball court continues for another week.
Broadalbin-Perth lost to previously winless South Glens Falls 51-35 in front of the B-P fans at Broadalbin-Perth High School on Thursday.
"We are working hard every day and we just aren't getting results," said B-P coach Tucker Gifford, whose team drops to 0-7 overall. "As much as I thought we had a good week of practice, we just didn't produce today. They outplayed us."
Article Photos
Broadalbin-Perth’s Nick Coveney (4) and South Glens Falls’ Joshua Hay scramble for a rebound during the fourth quarter of a Foothills Council game at Broadalbin-Perth High School on Thursday. (The Leader-Herald/Erich Neuhaus)
The Patriots took the lead into the second quarter when Justin Ferguson buried a 3-pointer with five seconds left for an 11-8 lead. A Ben Bellandi free throw to start the second made it 12-8, but that was as close as the Patriots came to the win.
South High went on a 9-0 run early in the second quarter and started to use its size advantage against the Patriots.
Forward Justin Ducey used his 6-foot-2 frame to score on a putback during the run before another 6-2 forward, Patrick Mulcahy, reeled off South High's final seven points for a Bulldogs 24-21 halftime lead.
"I thought Pat Mulcahy and Justin Ducey matched [B-P's] physicality," South High coach John Mossing said.
Mulcahy finished with eight points and seven boards with Mossing saying that was the"best game of his varsity career."
Despite the three-point margin at halftime, Gifford wasn't impressed. B-P only managed two field goals in the second quarter.
"I thought we came out a little flat tonight," Gifford said. "As much as we were close in the first quarter, we just didn't have it tonight. I mean, we were lucky to be down by three at halftime. Then in the second half, it just never changed."
The Patriots, whose tallest player on the court usually tops out at 6 feet, only made four jumpers in the second half as South High's length and man-to-man defense disrupted any kind of rhythm B-P tried to obtain. Also killing any kind of flow to B-P's offense was South High fouls.
Although B-P makes up for its size in quickness with speedy guards such as Dominic Kwiatkowski, Ethan Church and Bellandi, when those guards were fouled driving to the hoop they combined to only make 8-of-16 free throws.
As a team, the Patriots finished just 14-for-25 from the charity stripe.
With missed opportunities at the line and from the floor, South High's lead slowly grew to 36-27 by the third quarter's end before expanding even more in the fourth.
B-P was held without a field goal between the final 5:42 of the third quarter and first 3:52 of the fourth, totalling almost 10 minutes of the second half and resulting in a 17-6 score differential during the field goal-less drought.
"We're having a hard time putting the ball in the basket," Gifford said. "It's top to bottom."
The Bulldogs only shot 12-of-25 from the line, but for as cold as B-P was from the floor on Thursday, it didn't matter much.
Anthony Lennox scored a game-high 14 points for South High, while Ducey scored nine points with six rebounds. On defense for the Bulldogs, Anthony Ciuffetelli shut down B-P's leading scorer in R.J. Pingitore, who came in averaging 13.4 points per game. The senior was limited to just six.
"He went chest-to-chest with him and did a nice job" Mossing said Ciuffetelli.
South High will welcome its first win considering the brutal schedule it's had so far. It played arguably the best Section II Class A school in Green Tech - twice - two Class AA schools in Shaker and Colonie and three of the top four teams in the Foothills in Queensbury, Scotia and Glens Falls.
"We've played a lot of tough competition so we hoped it was going to get us ready for the Foothills," Mossing said. "We had a couple of decent games in the Foothills that we lost, but these guys aren't quitting and I'm not quitting on them.
"We knew we were going to get one, now what do we do with it?"
Kwiatkowski led B-P with 11 while Church scored seven. The two combined for six of the teams 10 field goals.
The loss drops B-P's record to 0-4 in the Foothills, but the team is by no means quitting. Gifford said his team is practicing hard and has improved since the beginning of the year, but it's just not showing up on the scoreboard.
"I said 'When you stop working, you might as well end the season,' but they haven't done that," Gifford said. "We'll just keep our heads up."
B-P travels to Gloversville on Monday before hosting what could be a winless Hudson Falls team Thursday.
South Glens Falls 51, Broadalbin-Perth 35
South Glens Falls8 16 12 15 -51
Broadalbin-Perth11 10 6 8 - 35
South Glens Falls
Ciuffetelli 1-4-6, Lennox 6-1-14, Hay 2-2-6, Mulcahy 3-1-8, Ducey 4-1-9, VanDixhorn 1-1-4, Buser 0-2-2. Totals: 18-12-51.
Broadalbin-Perth
Bellandi 1-2-4, Church 3-1-7, Kwiatkowski 3-5-11, Pingitore 1-4-6, Coveney1-0-2, Sylvia 0-1-1. Totals: 10-14-25.
3-point goals: South Glens Falls 3 (Lennox, Mulcahy, VanDixhorn); Broadalbin-Perth 1 (Ferguson).