Lady Dukes win Saugerties Tournament

By Kyle Adams
Posted 12/11/19

Elizabeth Lofaro’s 32 points led the Dukes past the Saugerties Sawyers, winning the 15th Annual Shane Geisler Tournament in Saugerties. Earlier in the week, the Dukes defeated Pine Bush in the …

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Lady Dukes win Saugerties Tournament

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Elizabeth Lofaro’s 32 points led the Dukes past the Saugerties Sawyers, winning the 15th Annual Shane Geisler Tournament in Saugerties. Earlier in the week, the Dukes defeated Pine Bush in the first round, advancing to the championship game. Saugerties had defeated Hudson to earn their spot in the game.

The starters for Marlboro were made up of two pairs of sisters, and included Briana Bernicker, Erin Lofaro, Alexa Bernicker, Elizabeth Lofaro and Paige Dawson.

The first half wasn’t pretty defensively, who went into halftime trailing 40 – 32, but a comeback was on the horizon.

“We came out to a slow start, sometimes it happens, but luckily we were able to come together and play as a team and play stronger in the second half,” said Marlboro Coach Marion Appler. “I said to the girls at halftime, you’re not gonna do it if you don’t do it together.”

They took that Avenger mentality to heart and the Dukes went on a 21 – 9 run in the third quarter, taking the lead 53-49 and added on in the fourth quarter. They outscored Saugerties 34 – 13 in the second half the game, and clinched the victory by a score of 66 – 53.

“I think I did a really good job of putting the ball in the basket and we worked really well together and we came out strong in the second half and that’s why we got the win today,” said Elizabeth Lofaro. In the game she totaled 32 points, including four 3-pointers, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Her sister, Erin had a double-double herself, including a whopping 17 rebounds, to go along with her 18 points and 5 assists.

“At halftime we realized that we weren’t doing what we needed to do and came together and said the only way we’re going to do this is to do it together,” said Erin Lofaro. “We found the opening and passed the ball around and got the win.”

Briana Bernicker added on 11 points for the Dukes. Paige Dawson contributed with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
To start the season, the Dukes participated in the Corinne Feller Memorial Tournament at Valley Central High School, where they lost their first game to Burke Catholic, and won the consolation game against Middletown. After their two victories in Saugerties, the Dukes improved to 3 – 1 for the season.

Next up for Marlboro will be New Paltz, on December 11 and rival Highland on December 13. Both games will be on the road.