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IRVINGTON, N.Y. Dobbs Ferry led at halftime Thursday before allowing Ardsley to make a second-half comeback in a 51-47 loss to the Panthers in the opening round of the 33rd Annual William Warnock Memorial Girls' Basketball Tournament at Irvington High School.
Ardsley (1-0) will face host Irvington, the winner of the second game, in Saturdays tournament final at 8 p.m., while the Eagles (0-1) will meet Blind Brook in the consolation game at 4 p.m.
We let their best player beat us, she made shots and they got a lot of layups late, Eagles coach Erik Bartell said of Ardsley's Toni Pilla. We let them back in the game and they played well.
The Eagles trailed the Panthers 9-4 after five minutes of play until senior guard Jeana Corradina hit two 3-pointers and Christy Sato and Kristin Foresti each nailed a three to help build a 16-11 lead for Dobbs ferry at the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers defense stiffened in the second quarter, holding the Eagles to 11 points, but Ardsley could only score 10 and trailed 27-21 at the half.
Junior guard Pilla, who led all scorers with 27 points, took over midway through the third quarter for Ardsley, hitting a 3-pointer with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter to make the score 34-32. Pilla kept up the pressure, scoring on another 3-pointer and adding another hoop to give the Panthers a 36-34 lead after three quarters.
Ardsley took a late seven-point lead at 44-37, but Foresti and Corradina led the Eagles back to within 44-41 and the game stayed tight the rest of the way. The Eagles trailed by a single point with less than two minutes remaining when Smith hit a bucket and then two free throws to help the Panthers hold off the Eagles.
Corradina led all Eagles scorers with 20 points and Foresti scored 10.
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