MONTICELLO – The Lady Panthers started their playoff run early, needing to win two of their final three games to punch their ticket to Sectionals. With a big home win over Port Jervis on Thursday and a win over Liberty at SUNY Sullivan on Saturday, Monticello will return to the playoffs for the second consecutive season, their first under the tutelage of first-year coach Sheila Burns.

Lady Panthers seniors defend “The Pit” one last time

With only three games remaining to clinch a playoff spot, and Wednesday night’s game being the last home game for the ladies, it added the extra push needed by the seniors to set the tone for the final push. They also led the way for the boys, who were in the stands supporting while preparing for their game Friday vs the Raiders as well. 

With the senior night festivities over and the pit packed as ever, the Lady Panthers jumped out to 4-0 lead, carrying over the energy radiating from the loved ones, and kept their foot on the gas from start to finish.

Port showed some fight, clogging the paint and adding five of their own points to only trail by two with the first coming to an end with a score of 7-5.

Both teams came out with a ton of pressure and led to another low scoring quarter with a 10-9 Raiders lead at the half. Both teams showed complete focus on the defensive end and showed no signs of giving up or making the game easy for the other club. 

Coming out of the half, the Lady Panthers were in complete control and firing on all cylinders behind their senior standouts in Aaliyah Mota,  Amiah Neails and Gianna Demaio who combined for 36 of Monticello’s 42 points with 13 of those points being scored in the third. 

Monticello attacked the defensive side just as hard, coming out the half with numerous steals and blocks to assert their 13-3 score difference to end the third quarter up nine.

With only eight minutes left in the game, and being down nine, the Lady Raiders tried turning up the heat on the defensive side with a couple traps and some hard fouls that ended up back firing with the Lady Panthers capitalizing. Monticello shot 100 percent for the quarter from the stripe. Trusting in their offense and making the right pass time after time led to an monstrous 4th quarter, netting 20 points, with half of them coming behind Mota who was doing everything she wanted on the floor. 

The Lady Panthers ended the game on a 20-4 run and came out on top with a final score of 42-17 and taking the first of two must win games to end out their three game push for sections. 

Coach Sheila Burns stated that she, “Feels good that the girls ended their senior night with a win together as a team. The ladies came out slow but came out of the locker room remembering what they were fighting for and brought the energy to get the win.”

Monticello clinches sectional trip with win over Liberty

The Lady Panthers clinched their second straight trip to the playoffs Saturday morning in a 40-20 win over rivalry Lady Indians of Liberty. They played for a great cause in the long-time Coaches vs Cancer Classic.  

Liberty came out hot with Angelica Rothberg getting things started with five straight points for a 5-0 lead, and taking the assignment of covering Aaliyah Mota full court in Liberty’s effort to slow down the senior stand out with a “box and one” defensive scheme. 

The defense seemed to be working until Monticello set a high ball screen that resulted in Mota hitting a 3 to end the 5-0 opening run and start a 10-0 run for the Lady Panthers, with Mota tallying nine of the 10 points to end the first with a 5-point lead. 

The second showed some fight from the Lady Indians  with Alli Dworetsky answering with a three directly after Amiah Neails’ inside score. 

Dworetsky’s shot started a string of back-to-back baskets by both teams, with Amiah Neails netting six points total in the second and Angelina Rodriquez adding in two points of her own to end the half down 21-10 behind a three right before the buzzer for the Lady Panthers by Caroline Akantara. 

Liberty returned with their intensity levels up in the third, picking up 2 fouls on Angelica Rothberg resulting in Alli Dworetsky having to take on the task of “face guarding” Mota full court and drawing first blood with Angelina Rodriquez scoring the first bucket of the third. 

Monticello went 2-6 from the stripe in the quarter and it looked like Liberty had a chance to start closing the gap. At least until Isabella Velasquez hit two big shots in a row for the Lady Panthers for a total of four points that was matched by Mota as well for a 8-5 3rd quarter. The late push putting the momentum fully in Monticello’s hands ending the third with a score of 29-15 with only eight minutes remaining. 

With one final quarter to push for a great comeback, Liberty came out super aggressive, resulting in Rothberg fouling out to start off the quarter and Monticello taking full advantage. 

The Lady Panthers scored six unanswered before Liberty returned fire with a 3-pointer by Rodriquez resulting in a Lady Panthers timeout. 

Coming out of the timeout Monticello nets in two of their final six points and finished the game on a 6-2 run for the 40-20 victory.