Hudson Bluehawks Clash with Maple Hill- Lance Wheeler Video

Tim Martin- Columbia-Greene Media HUDSON -- A 14-0 fourth-quarter run helped Hudson pull away from Maple Hill and post a 78-61 victory in Tuesday's Patroon Conference boys basketball game. With Maple Hill still within striking distance with 5:20 to go in the game, Mike Alert drained two straight 3-pointers to turn a 56-51 edge into a 62-51 advantage. Nytrell-Franklin-Hedgepeth followed with a three-ball of his own, then Alert connected on his third trey of the quarter to make it 68-51. The victory raises Hudson's record to 5-0 in the Patroon and 5-1 overall. The win was also their 23rd straight in conference play. Still, Hudson coach Shawn Briscoe was not completely satisfied with his team's performance. "Foul trouble got us tonight," Briscoe said. "We have to do a better job on the defensive end. That's putting our guys in position where we're committing fouls. That's three games in a row we've been in foul trouble. The first half tonight is about as deep in foul trouble as we've been and we had to use everybody on the bench in the first half. "I like the way we rebounded in the second half, guys stepped up. Mike hit some big shots, Nytrell hit one and Jeremy made some big shots for us tonight. We just have to clean things up defensively, that's the main thing. We have to come with a little more intensity and we have to start from the gate." Maple Hill was able to take advantage of Hudson's foul issues in the early stages of the contest as the Bluehawks' big man, Kimedrick Murphy, was whistled for two fouls 90 seconds in and the Wildcats jumped to a 7-1 edge. Hudson got on track, though, and went on a 20-6 run to end the stanza with a 21-13 edge. The Bluehawks lead grew to 10 a minute into the second quarter, but more foul problems caused Briscoe to go to his bench and the Wildcats narrowed the gap to 34-31 by halftime. Austin Decker's three to start the second half evened the score at 34-34, but Hudson outscored the Wildcats, 20-7, the rest of the period to take a 54-41 lead into the final eight minutes of play. Ramirez hit a career-high 18 points to lead Hudson. Alert added 17, Tyler Dellavechia had 11 and Willie Walker and Ellis Richardson nine apiece. Decker poured in 27 for Maple Hill (4-3, 4-2). "We haven't played out best, but we're still winning games," Briscoe said. "Now we need to find a way to play our best because at some point some team is going to knock us off because of it." In the junior varsity game, Hudson defeated Maple Hill, 100-32. Dayquan Griffin paced the Bluehawks (6-0, 5-0) with 29 points. Lavon Fernandez added 24, Willie Jones 14, Noah Hedgepeth 11 and Nick Bernockie 10. Hudson travels to Cairo-Durham on Thursday. Junior varsity action tips off at 5:30 p.m. MAPLE HILL (61): Decker 8-7-27 (4), Santore 2-0-4, Axtmann 1-3-5, Samarija 2-2-6, Butler 2-0-5 (1), Hanrahan 3-2-8, E. Kulpa 2-0-4, Jones 1-0-2. Totals 21-14-61 (5). HUDSON (78): Alert 7-0-17 (3), Dellavechia 2-6-11 (1), Walker 4-1-9, Murphy 1-0-2, Richardson 4-1-9, Ramirez 8-1-18 (1), Franklin-Hedgepeth 2-1-6 (1), Wynn 1-1-4 (1), Ivey 1-0-2. Totals 30-11-78 (7). Taconic Hills 49, Rensselaer 25 CRARYVILLE -- Ron Piper and Kolby Clegg combined to knock down six 3-pointers as Taconic Hills defeated Rensselaer, 49-25, in Tuesday's Patroon Conference boys basketball game. Clegg drained four treys, while Piper hit two as the Titans evened their Patroon Conference record at 3-3. The score was deadlocked at 13-13 after one quarter but the Titans took control in the second stanza, outscoring the Rams, 15-6 to take a 28-19 edge at halftime. Neither team could buy a bucket in the third period, but the Titans were able to outscore the Rams, 7-1, to take a 35-20 advantage into the final quarter. Piper finished with 18 for Taconic Hills. Clegg had 13 and Russ Beck 10. The Titans (4-3 overall) are off until Dec. 27 when they host their Holiday Tournament. RENSSELAER (25): Alshami 2-0-6 (2), Foreman 0-1-1, Mallory 3-0-6, Nixon 2-2-6, Rider 2-0-6 (2). Totals 9-3-25 (4). TACONIC HILLS (49): Beck 4-2-10, Clegg 4-1-13 (4), Firth 0-2-2. Leipman 1-0-2, Piper 8-0-18 (2), West 1-1-4 (1). Totals 18-6-49 (7).