The Tully girls basketball team went into the locker room at halftime searching for someone to step up. Anna Congelli and Ella Polak answered the call, scoring 33 of the Black Knights’ 34 points in the second half to lead Tully to a 53-41 win over Dryden in the opening round of the Miss Holiday Hustle Tournament Thursday at Marathon High School.
Tully opened the second half with a back screen to get Congelli free for a layup and head coach Jeff Russell went back to that play time and time again. Congelli scored 22 of her game-high 28 points after halftime, all on 2-point field goals.
Russell constantly stressed the importance of getting Congelli the ball in opportune spots, frequently yelling to only throw the ball where only she could catch it.
“We’ve talked about the difference between making the pass and forcing the pass,” Russell said. “I said to them at one of the timeouts, ‘If you think you can get her the ball, get her the ball.’ The one rule is do not underthrow the ball. Either she gets it or it goes out of bounds. If you underthrow it, it’s a fast break this way and we’re all facing the wrong way.”
“We’re learning when to try and get her the ball,” Russell added. “She works her fanny off in there wanting the ball. A lot of times she’s calling for the ball and she’s not open. That’s OK. I’d rather have the girl with the ball decide if she’s open or not.”
Dryden went into halftime with a 24-19 lead after a 16-6 second quarter. The Lions had no answer for Congelli and Polak and their offense seemed to sputter.
“It was inexperience,” Dryden head coach John Pascarella said. “I brought up an eighth grader, Lily Turco, to help us because we had a senior on vacation. There was a little inexperience out there. We were making mistakes we just shouldn’t be making.”
Tully closed the game out with a bang, with Polak going 8-for-8 from the line and Dryden scoring just 13 points in the final frame.
“We just worked really hard in the fourth quarter on the defensive end,” Russell said. “I look forward to seeing the film and stats because what we said in the locker room was someone needed to step up. If they take one of our girls out, who’s going to fill that role? We did a really nice job (Thursday) of people starting to step up.”
Congelli paced Tully with 28 points and Polak followed with 20. Kameryn Meaney’s three points and Gwyn Wilbur’s two points closed out the Black Knights’ scoring.
Russell saw a bit of development from his girls in their ability to come back and close out a game, something he’s always looking for.
“What we’ve been trying to preach all year is we need to get better every game,” Russell said. “They’ve been around for a while. I’ve coached or taught them since seventh grade. One of the things I was impressed with was we took care of the ball, we didn’t panic. We had a couple turnovers, but nothing like what we could’ve had.”
Guilianna Pascarella paced Dryden with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. Alyson Smith added eight points, Sydney Covell scored five points, Turco added four points and Abbey Smith scored two points.
Dryden appears close to a breakout, but someone else will have to step up as a threat offensively next to Guilianna Pascarella.
“Something I will say is these girls all work hard and are disciplined in the game of basketball,” John Pascarella said. “Once they find that balance of working hard and being disciplined with the plays and things like that, they’ll see it turn around pretty quickly.”
Tully will take on Marathon in the championship game at 6:30 p.m. today, while Dryden will face Deposit/Hancock in the consolation game at 3:30.
HOCKEY
ALBANY CBA 5, CORTLAND/HOMER 2
Finn Thomas and Cooper Swartz each scored for Cortland/Homer, but the Golden Eagles trailed 3-1 after two periods and couldn’t mount a comeback. Owen Rizzo and Bodey McGrath each added an assist and Jack Medeiros made 34 saves in goal.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
McGraw at Cortland, 6:45 p.m. today
Homer vs. Groton, 5 p.m. today at Cortland Jr./Sr. High School
Dryden vs. Greene, 1:45 p.m. today at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena
Moravia at Vestal, 6:30 p.m. today
Cincinnatus vs. Morrisville-Eaton, 5:30 p.m. today at Fabius-Pompey Jr./Sr. High School
Moravia at Bainbridge-Guilford, 6 p.m. Monday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jordan-Elbridge at Cortland, 1 p.m. today
Tully at Marathon, 6:30 p.m. today
Dryden vs. Deposit/Hancock, 3 p.m. today at Marathon High School
McGraw vs. Poland, 2 p.m. Saturday at Fabius-Pompey Jr./Sr. High School
HOCKEY
Syracuse City at Cortland/Homer, 1:45 p.m. today at J.M. McDonald Sports Complex
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Tully at Canastota, 9 a.m. today
BOYS WRESTLING
Homer at Spencerport, 10 a.m. today
GIRLS WRESTLING
Homer at Midlakes, 9 a.m. Saturday
Groton at Coxsackie-Athens, 9 a.m. Monday
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Homer, Groton, Dryden at SUNY Cortland, 8 a.m. today
