CHESHIRE — On a typical night in a normal high school basketball season, what Hoosac Valley’s Averie McGrath did to Taconic on Monday night might have stung a lot more than it did.

 

Of course, when it’s March 8 and you are playing your first basketball game of the season like the Taconic girls were, everything gets put into perspective.

 

“Honestly, no,” Taconic’s Ahliyah Phillips said when asked if she thought she was ever going to play this year. “But once we kind of got the word that they were trying to have a season, I started to try to get ready fast.”

 

Phillips got ready in a hurry, earning a double-double in her team’s opener. Unfortunately for Taconic, McGrath’s trey from the right corner as time expired was the difference as the Hurricanes came back from a five-point deficit with just under four minutes to play and beat Taconic 41-40. Phillips had 21 points, 15 rebounds and added five steals.

 

While Phillips and her teammates might not have been in mid-season, or for that matter, early-season form, Taconic pushed a team that had played 15 more games to the limit.

 

“It felt good” to be out there, Phillips said. “At first, it was kind of hard. Everyone was pretty tired. All of us hadn’t played in a while. We’ve only had three practices before this game. We were doing a lot of conditioning and obviously, we need a lot more than we got.

 

“I think we all played pretty good for not having played in about a year.”

 

If you took away the first five minutes of the first quarter, it was a very even game. The Hurricanes scored the game’s first 11 points and led 13-4 after one quarter. Hoosac maintained a lead, and it was 23-17 at halftime.

 

Taconic wouldn’t go away. After McGrath drove to the hoop with 4:30 left in the third quarter, Taconic’s defense kicked it into another gear, holding the Hurricanes without a point the rest of the stanza. Phillips scored seven points in those last 4 1/2 minutes, and when she scored off an Alex Hudson assist with 2:26 left, Taconic had its first lead of the game at 31-29, and was up four after three quarters.

 

“They are so talented. Just watching them warm up, they’re a joy to watch,” Hoosac coach Holly McGovern said.

 

“You think about them in another month. In that time frame, they’re certainly going to be a different team.

 

Unfortunately for them, they’re starting their season. Fortunately, they’re getting a chance to play.”

 

Taconic upped its lead to 39-34 when Hoosac’s Annie Canales missed a shot, Taconic’s Faith Cross got one of her six rebounds, and Phillips finished at the other end. Alyssa Garabedian answered with a coast-to-coast drive to the basket of her own. She was fouled and completed the 3-point play. That started Hoosac rolling.

The Hurricanes held Taconic to one point in the final 3:43, but were still behind 40-38 after Ciany Conyers — who had 11 points — was 1 for 2 from the line with 8.2 seconds left.

 

Hoosac got the ball into the front court and quickly rotated the ball toward the right corner, where McGrath’s trey splashed through as the horn sounded. They were the final three of her team-best 17 points.

 

“It’s something that we just talk about in transition,” McGovern said. “Just keeping the basketball as much in the middle as possible, spreading out the offense and just taking the first good look. We had to take that look pretty quick, and we were fortunate Averie hit the shot.”

 

Rylynn Witek chipped in with 14 points and had a team-high eight rebounds. Taconic’s Kendra Buda had four assists to pace her team.

 

“It was nice to finally be out here,” Taconic coach Matt Mickle said. “It’s been tough [getting them ready]. We’ve only had a couple of days to get them ready. Wind was definitely an issue. They’re excited. They’re excited to be here. They were really happy when they heard they were going to get some basketball games. I’m sure, as the two weeks go, we’ll start getting our legs underneath them.”

 

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