ALBANY - Monticello's girls basketball team played its best first half of the season Thursday. Albany, however, played two better halves and waltzed off the court with a 60-39 win on Senior Night.
"Monticello has improved a ton since we saw them earlier this year," Albany head coach Derik Doescher said. "I told our girls that leading up that this was a different team."
While the Comets rolled in the second half, outscoring the Ponies 28-11, the biggest moments of the season for both teams came in the first.
"I think it was our best half of basketball all year - and it was against a good team," Monticello head coach Mark Gustafson said. "We didn't match up at all with them. In that second half we got tired and their bigs got to us."
Monticello led 9-7 six minutes into the game thanks in part to a solid defensive performance and an offense that spread the scoring. The Ponies first four buckets came from different players.
Albany, however, found a way to take control for a while thanks to the play of juniors Payton Zurfluh and Libby Beck. The duo helped the Comets find their offensive identity, with Beck pounding the paint and Zurfluh driving hard to the rim.
"Libby had a stretch of about 8 to 10 in a row in the first half," Doescher said. "Payton got some steals and some dribble drives."
Albany (8-10, 5-4 Six Rivers East) went from down 9-7 to up 23-11 in just four minutes of game action. But the Ponies never quit.
"I was disappointed in our defense in the first half," Doescher said. "We were giving up open looks - they were open in the post, wide open 3s with all day to shoot."
Slowly Monticello (4-14, 2-7) crept back into the game, getting big baskets from Alyssen Noriega and Mackie Errthum.
"(Noriega) is a good player. Her shot has been off a little bit, so it was good to see it going down tonight," Gustafson said of Noriega, a junior who scored a team-high 15 points.
The Ponies trailed 30-28 with just over a minute to play in the opening half, but Beck scored in the paint with exactly a minute to go to put the Comets up by four headed into the half. Beck finished the half with 17 of her game-high 19 points. Zurfluh scored 8 of her 12 in the same time frame.
In the second half, however, the two teams could not have looked more opposite of their earlier version.
"We definitely wanted to come out strong," Comet senior Brook Kahler said. "Like most games, sometimes out shooting just isn't on. (Coach) always tells us that we have to keep up our defense and the offense will just start coming."
It took more than five minutes for the Ponies to find the basket in the second half, and by then the Comets had already stretched their lead to 41-28. Albany would go on a 14-5 run immediately after that, putting Monticello into foul trouble early. Albany hit 8 of 13 free throw attempts in the half and 18 of 27 in the game. Leading the offensive attack throughout much of the second half was Kahler, who scored 16 of her 18 points in the frame.
"It's an amazing feeling. Honestly, it's very exciting to happen on such a big night with everyone out here supporting us," said Kahler, who added that she knows her days on the court are numbered. "It's just a lot of emotions. I'm trying to enjoy the last bit as much as I can."
The Comets went just 4-19 a season ago, and Doescher, who used to coach the boys program, stepped in to right the ship.
"It's been special. I didn't know what to expect coming over to the girls side. But these ladies have worked hard. We knew coming in that there was room for improvement," said Doescher, who started all five of his seniors and took all five out with 30 seconds left to a rousing applause from the crowd. "I think these (seniors) have set the bar high for the program moving forward. Our goal this season wasn't about wins and losses - it was about having a special season. We wanted to focus on the effort and the attitude and things will take care of themselves. And I think we've done that, showing the sixth-graders, seventh-grades, eighth-graders what's possible and give this program a spark. This was a great group to do that with."
Monticello, meanwhile, went three years without a varsity team.
"It's good, we're getting better," Gustafson said. "We're looking forward to finishing this season strong and bringing almost everybody back. So that's optimistic for us at least."
The Ponies shot just 4 of 15 from the free throw line. Life doesn't get much easier for the Ponies, as they welcome Argyle (14-4, 8-2) Tuesday. Albany hosts Barneveld (9-9, 6-3) the same evening.
"Monticello has improved a ton since we saw them earlier this year," Albany head coach Derik Doescher said. "I told our girls that leading up that this was a different team."
While the Comets rolled in the second half, outscoring the Ponies 28-11, the biggest moments of the season for both teams came in the first.
"I think it was our best half of basketball all year - and it was against a good team," Monticello head coach Mark Gustafson said. "We didn't match up at all with them. In that second half we got tired and their bigs got to us."
Monticello led 9-7 six minutes into the game thanks in part to a solid defensive performance and an offense that spread the scoring. The Ponies first four buckets came from different players.
Albany, however, found a way to take control for a while thanks to the play of juniors Payton Zurfluh and Libby Beck. The duo helped the Comets find their offensive identity, with Beck pounding the paint and Zurfluh driving hard to the rim.
"Libby had a stretch of about 8 to 10 in a row in the first half," Doescher said. "Payton got some steals and some dribble drives."
Albany (8-10, 5-4 Six Rivers East) went from down 9-7 to up 23-11 in just four minutes of game action. But the Ponies never quit.
"I was disappointed in our defense in the first half," Doescher said. "We were giving up open looks - they were open in the post, wide open 3s with all day to shoot."
Slowly Monticello (4-14, 2-7) crept back into the game, getting big baskets from Alyssen Noriega and Mackie Errthum.
"(Noriega) is a good player. Her shot has been off a little bit, so it was good to see it going down tonight," Gustafson said of Noriega, a junior who scored a team-high 15 points.
The Ponies trailed 30-28 with just over a minute to play in the opening half, but Beck scored in the paint with exactly a minute to go to put the Comets up by four headed into the half. Beck finished the half with 17 of her game-high 19 points. Zurfluh scored 8 of her 12 in the same time frame.
In the second half, however, the two teams could not have looked more opposite of their earlier version.
"We definitely wanted to come out strong," Comet senior Brook Kahler said. "Like most games, sometimes out shooting just isn't on. (Coach) always tells us that we have to keep up our defense and the offense will just start coming."
It took more than five minutes for the Ponies to find the basket in the second half, and by then the Comets had already stretched their lead to 41-28. Albany would go on a 14-5 run immediately after that, putting Monticello into foul trouble early. Albany hit 8 of 13 free throw attempts in the half and 18 of 27 in the game. Leading the offensive attack throughout much of the second half was Kahler, who scored 16 of her 18 points in the frame.
"It's an amazing feeling. Honestly, it's very exciting to happen on such a big night with everyone out here supporting us," said Kahler, who added that she knows her days on the court are numbered. "It's just a lot of emotions. I'm trying to enjoy the last bit as much as I can."
The Comets went just 4-19 a season ago, and Doescher, who used to coach the boys program, stepped in to right the ship.
"It's been special. I didn't know what to expect coming over to the girls side. But these ladies have worked hard. We knew coming in that there was room for improvement," said Doescher, who started all five of his seniors and took all five out with 30 seconds left to a rousing applause from the crowd. "I think these (seniors) have set the bar high for the program moving forward. Our goal this season wasn't about wins and losses - it was about having a special season. We wanted to focus on the effort and the attitude and things will take care of themselves. And I think we've done that, showing the sixth-graders, seventh-grades, eighth-graders what's possible and give this program a spark. This was a great group to do that with."
Monticello, meanwhile, went three years without a varsity team.
"It's good, we're getting better," Gustafson said. "We're looking forward to finishing this season strong and bringing almost everybody back. So that's optimistic for us at least."
The Ponies shot just 4 of 15 from the free throw line. Life doesn't get much easier for the Ponies, as they welcome Argyle (14-4, 8-2) Tuesday. Albany hosts Barneveld (9-9, 6-3) the same evening.
