Hilton uses balanced attack to cruise by Greece

By: Pat Louer

HILTON, N.Y - The Hilton Cadets entered halftime of Monday's contest against the Greece Lightning with a 33-18 lead. The Cadets would use a balanced attack to open up the scoring, resulting in four players hitting the double-digit mark en route to a 77-26 blowout.

In the first quarter, Hilton jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. However, it became a back-and-forth affair as the Lightning's sophomore guard Ja'Nyah Reaves found junior forward Giovanna Williams for an easy layup. However, the early six-to-five deficit was the closest Greece came to trailing all night. The Cadets ended the quarter on a five-point run, making the score 11-5 heading into the second.

The second quarter saw Greece's highest scoring quarter of the night, coming from sophomore guard Kanii Betts. Betts found different ways to finish around the rim, drawing fouls and knocking down a couple of jump shots. Her eight-point effort led all Lightning players in scoring and led Greece to a 13-point second quarter. However, Hilton was able to respond with the help of senior forward Taylor Anne. Anne's eight of her 10 points came in the first half, displaying her ability to shoot from the outside.

Hilton's Madison Murphy drives hard to the rim. Photo courtesy: hilton_cadetphotography (Instagram)

"What we like about Taylor is that she can step in and step out," Hilton head coach Dave Heise said. "She's doing a lot of good things for us."

The third quarter saw a lot of the same offensive input for the Cadets. However, their offense was created by generating turnovers through 3-2 and 2-3 zone defenses. The zone defense allowed junior guard Madison Murphy and freshman guard Allison Starwald to probe passing lanes. The two combined for nine of Hilton's 16 steals on the night, 11 of those coming in the second half. Murphy also led all scorers with 16 to push Hilton's lead to 51-23 by the end of the third.

Off the Cadets' steals, sophomore guard Amiyah Miles was pushing the pace in transition, finishing multiple fastbreak layups. Also converting an and-one, Miles tacked up a dozen points, finishing with the second-most points on the night.

"She's deceptively strong," Heise said. "She's facilitating tonight too, pushing the ball up the floor, making sure we're stretching the floor."

The Cadets finished the game on a 26-3 run in the fourth quarter. Specifically, Allison Starwald used the fourth to knock down two of her three threes in the game. The attack was fueled by the ball movement of the Cadets, as 10 of the team's 14 assists were in the second half. Nine of 10 tallied a basket in the scorer's box for Hilton by the end of the game, leading to a 77-26 victory.

"We're here," Miles said. "And we're not going away."

Hilton huddles as a team to talk strategy. Photo courtesy: hilton_cadetphotography (Instagram)

Hilton moves to 12-3 on the season. They'll face Webster Schroeder tomorrow at home. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Greece Lightning fall to 3-12. They'll face the Greece Thunder next at home on Friday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.