ELDRED – In their first of two matchups on the season, the Eldred girls basketball team took down Livingston Manor, 52-22, on Thursday, January 4 on their homecourt. With the victory, the Yellowjackets returned to .500 on the season at 4-4. 

Eldred returned all of their players from last season, while Livingston Manor lost five key players to graduation in addition to going through a transition of merging their program with Roscoe. That difference in experience between the two teams showed up on the court, as the Wildcats looked outmatched from the opening tip. 

The Yellowjackets’ defense was suffocating Livingston Manor all evening as they played aggressively with full court press and tight defense which led to a number of turnovers and errant shots for the visitors. In fact, Livingston Manor wasn’t able to find the bottom of the net on a field goal attempt until the closing seconds of the first quarter, scored by senior Athena Niforatos. Senior Sarah Evans made two free throws early in the first quarter as their first points. 

After the first quarter, Eldred was leading 11-4, which looked a lot closer than the game really felt at the time. It was never that close again, as the Yellowjackets really distanced themselves in the second quarter to make it 24-11 at halftime. 

On top of being tormented by the Eldred defense, the Wildcats were also struggling to keep up when the Yellowjackets possessed the rock. The Eldred offense followed their shots well as they crashed the boards and pulled down a handful of offensive rebounds, leading to second chance points. There were even a few possessions in which Eldred pulled down multiple offensive rebounds in a row. 

“We concentrate on specific stuff at practice and that’s one of them - crashing the boards, rebounding and boxing out,” Eldred Coach June Hallock said. “It’s a good feeling to see it translate to the game.”

“Eldred did a very good job of rebounding, getting to their spots and pushing the pace,” said Livingston Manor Coach Maggi Fitzpatrick. “We struggled defensively and gave up too many second chance opportunities and open layups.”

Eldred scored 14 points in each of the final two quarters while only allowing 11 total points in the second half to the Wildcats. Forward Olivia Gonzalez netted 10 of her game-high 15 points in the second half. Gonzalez was also a major factor on crashing the glass and on one offensive possession she pulled down three or four rebounds in a row before finally getting a shot to land. 

Eldred point guard Sydney Furler also hit double digits in points as she finished with 11, seven of which came in the second half. The leading scorer for Livingston Manor was Evans, who finished with eight points. 

“We’re looking forward to making adjustments and playing them again in February,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I feel very good about [this win],” Hallock said. “We practiced very hard the last couple of weeks. Myself and the girls wanted this game, it was our first league game and I just can’t say enough about my mighty six. They work, they never give up and they come to practice every day while giving me 150 percent.”