Cavallo’s game winner lifts Women’s Basketball over Adirondack

By Bobby Colla

A 40 foot three-point shot from Nikki Cavallo with 11 seconds left in the game gave the Vikings a 46-44 win over Adirondack in their home opener.

“I obviously thought there was more time on the clock than there was,” said Cavallo.

“[It was] stunning,” said Head Coach Kathleen Russell. “I was trying to call time out as it was happening. I’m glad I didn’t get it.”

“We needed a win,” said senior and leading scorer Samantha Tomeck. “The entire team was down. We had lost three straight.”

The score differential was within six points for the games entirety. The halftime score had Adirondack leading 21-20.

Though Hudson Valley out rebounded Adirondack 35-33, they allowed Adirondack 10 offensive rebounds.

“We work on our rebounding every practice,” Tomeck said. “We have definitely improved [but] we still need to work on it.”

Cavallo did come through in the clutch, but admits her play still has to get better for the team to be successful.

“I have to cut down on the turnovers,”Cavallo said. “As the point guard I can’t be turning the ball over as much as I have been.”

Cavallo and Tomeck have scored 36 of Hudson Valley’s 46 points.

Tomeck was the leading scorer with 21 points, but also shot 10 of 11 from the line, had six rebounds, two assists, and lead the team with four steals.

“I just want to help the team win,” Tomeck said.

“We didn’t play our best, but we played good enough.” Russell said. “We were missing two starters so this is very promising.”

Vikings’ guard Rose LaPietra and center Sarah Janson had a small game on the stat sheet but played parts in the victory.

Though LaPietra only had five points she had eight rebounds and forced Adirondack mistakes which caused turnovers.

The Vikings enjoyed their second victory of the season and improved their record to 2-3.

The team took high spirits into a game against SCCC last Sunday but they would fall 79-61.