Granville sports round-up, March 2, 2023

Horde girls win playoff game, then lose

The Granville girls basketball team picked up its first playoff win since 2008 last Friday night but unfortunately, the reward for the Golden Horde was a date with one of the most dominant teams in the area.

Adrianna Rojas eclipsed the 1,000-point career mark as Greenwich rolled over Granville 92-17 in a girls basketball Class CC quarterfinal game Tuesday night.

“It was a great season, but not a great night,” said Granville coach Dan Brown.

Handling teams with lopsided scores is not new for the Witches. It was the second time Greenwich has scored more than 90 points in a game this season and the fifth time they had eclipsed the 80-point mark. Tamarac and Cooperstown are the only two teams to get within 30 points of the Witches this season.

Greenwich led 28-5 after the first quarter and cruised from there.

Brooke Kuzmich added 19 points and six steals for the Witches. Norah Niesz contributed 16 points, eight assists and six steals. Reegan Mullen had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Senior Lilly Strout led Granville with seven points.

Greenwich (21-0) will meet five-seed Voorheesville in the quarterfinals at Averill Park Friday at 8:30 p.m.

Granville closed its most successful season in recent memory with a 9-12 mark.

“We’ll be fine,” Brown said about his team, which won more games than the Golden Horde had won combined in the last three years and expects to return eight players, including three starters.


Horde boys lose in quarter-finals, 77-47

The Granville boys basketball team entered the postseason with high expectations. The Golden Horde knew that competition in their bracket would pose a challenge but were banking on the fact that a third seed and first round bye would at least propel them to the semifinals at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.

But in their playoff opener at Shenendehowa High School, Granville ran into an absolute buzzsaw.

The Golden Horde couldn’t overcome the 3-point shooting and strong play in the paint of six-seed Voorheesville as the Blackbirds eliminated Granville, 77-47, in the Section II Class CC Quarterfinals.

Golden Horde coach Justin Nassivera couldn’t put the blame on his own team’s performance.

“It didn’t matter what we did tonight,” Nassivera said. “They were hot and played extremely well.”

The Blackbirds only managed a 10-10 regular season campaign but clearly benefited from playing the likes of Hoosic Valley, LaSalle, Catholic Central and Ichabod Crane.

Voorheesville jumped out to a 19-13 first quarter lead and extended its advantage to 36-23 at the break.

The Blackbirds’ lead ballooned to 46-23 after a 10-0 run to open the third. A pair of treys from RJ Monger sliced the deficit to 46-29, but Voorheesville led 56-33 at the end of the stanza.

The Blackbirds stayed hot from behind the arc in the fourth, using a 7-2 spurt to lead 63-35.

The rebounding ability of Voorheesville also was a key component of its victory.

“I thought our guys played hard, but we got killed on the boards tonight. That was the difference,” Nassivera said.

Voorheesville’s Carson Carrow scored 31 points to lead the Blackbirds. Seth Wilson chipped in 14 points.

Caleb and Cody Nelson led Granville with 10 points each.

Monger and Will Jennings contributed six points each and Matthew Barlow five.

Voorheesville (12-10) advances to the Class CC semifinals to meet seven-seed Maple Hill.

Granville ends the season 15-6.


See also “Granville’s Perry nips Whitehall’s Austin, 2-0, for 3rd place in state wrestling meet”