NEWBURGH – After last year’s heart breaking 49-40 loss in the semifinals to Pine Plains Tri-Valley came into this basketball season with one goal and one goal only, and that was to strike gold. 

The Lady Bears had twelve returning players this season. They had experience to their advantage, and it showed with several statement wins this season, like their twenty-point win over Ellenville. 

This Tri-Valley squad has made history as the first team to win the Class B title for the Bears after moving classes this year. With their win at Mount St Mary College over O’Neill they have proved that they are up for the task. It was an extremely physical game from the start from both clubs on defense causing turnovers and doubling all post entries and corner passes. 

Tri-Valley led the entire contest until the start of the fourth quarter when O’Neill came out of the break and hit a three pointer to try to regain the lead in the final seven minutes of the game. 

Both teams turned up the pressure in this championship game. Aggressive play and a few scuffles would see both the Bears and the Raiders visit the foul line, getting their fair share of chances to seal the game at the charity stripe. 

With Tri-Valley regaining the lead with a little over two minutes left a technical foul was called against the Lady Bears after a disputable no-call on a hard foul.

 TV was at a crossroads, and down by one with the clock winding down.

O’Neill missed the shot at the line giving the Lady Bears an opportunity to tie the game at 39 or take the lead.

With just over a minute left in the game, senior, Kaitlin Stungis was fouled on a loose ball giving TV a chance to take the lead. At the line Stungis missed the first shot but netted the second tying the game at 39 a piece with less than a minute to go in regulation. 

As time ran down and the Raiders took a final shot to take the lead, but it didn’t fall. TV’s Jenna Carmody was able to secure the rebound and draw a reaching from the visiting team with less than ten seconds left on the clock. At the line TV had a chance to seal the deal for the Lady Bears and win their first ever Class B title. 

The cheers from the O’Neill student section were deafening as Carmody stepped to the line. The first attempt bounced off the front of the rim. 

You could hear sighs from the crowd. As Carmody released her second attempt the tension in the gym was thick. Her second attempt is good as the ball bounces off the back board and straight in giving the Bears a one-point lead.

O’Neill’s final offensive play came up scoreless and the Lady Bears pull off the 40-39 victory in an upset over the Lady Raiders to become the Section IX Class B Girl’s Basketball Champions. 

Tri-Valley was led in scoring by Jenna Carmody with 15, Avery Carrier with 10, and Allyson Chevalier and Jordan Dymond contributed 6 a piece.