Nazareth Academy’s spectacular 2007-08 season has ended one stop short of the state girls’ basketball final.
The Lasers were defeated by Hoosic Valley, 53-43, in a state Class B semifinal game played March 14 at Hudson Valley Community College near Albany.
Gabrielle D’Ercole, a junior guard, scored 12 points to lead Nazareth. But Nicole Jones, the team’s star senior center, was held to six points by the undefeated Indians of Section 2. Nazareth was especially victimized at the foul line, where it was outscored 18-1 (Hoosic Valley was 18-for-32 and the Lasers were 1-for-9.) The Indians’ Kayla Ryan finished as the game’s high scorer with 19 points.
Nazareth, under head coach Chris Belmont, closed out its campaign with a 22-3 record as well as the Section 5 Class B championship. The Lasers triumphed 66-43 over North Rose-Wolcott in the sectional title game on March 1, then went on to win 49-28 over Wayland-Cohocton in the Class B state-qualifier game on March 5 and 67-54 over Olean in state quarterfinal play on March 9 to reach the Final Four.
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