Brantley leads Catskill past Watervliet

CATSKILL — The Catskill girls basketball team won its opening sectional game on Thursday night against the Watervliet Cannoneers, 49-33.

Janay Brantley displayed her leadership on the court once again, leading all players with 27 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Hannah Konsul added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Catskill will now play at No. 1 see Schalmont on Saturday night in the quarterfinal round of the Section II Playoffs.

The game was competitive on the defensive side early on, and scoreless in the first few minutes. After a Watervliet layup for the first score of the game, Catskill hit a three pointer that gave them a 3-2 lead and they led the Cannoneers through the final buzzer.

It took Brantley a few possessions to starting heating up, but she continued to be aggressive with shot attempts to display confidence from the outset.

The Cats led 12-5 after one, and maintained that pace throughout the game. Catskill held Watervliet to a miniscule, four points during in most of the second quarter, but gave up a Cannoneers layup to end the half to make it six.

The Cats led 23-11 at halftime and were looking sharp.

Watervliet came out with better confidence on offense in the third period, scoring six points in just over two minutes of game time.

However, Catskill leisurely kept pace with them, scoring six of their own in the same time to maintain their double-digit lead.

After three quarters the Cats were up by 20 points and looked to cruise to an easy victory.

Watervliet made it interesting in the fourth quarter when they cut the lead to nine with under three minutes on the clock.

But Janay Brantley was not going let the comeback happen while she was on the court, fighting through a foul to make a layup on the continuation to put the Cats back up by 11.

This took out what little wind the Cannoneers had left to spare in their lungs, and deflated their efforts.

“We grind out a tough win against a fast physical team,” Catskill coach Chris Quinn said. “The girls really prepared well with our film sessions on Watervliet. And what can I say, Janay was a beast 27/15, but our other girls did their jobs and played well.”

WATERVLIET (33): Davis 1-3-5, Garcia 3-0-6, Grimmick 1-0-2, Joyner 4-1-9, Smeltzer 1-0-2, Tambolleo 3-3-9. Totals 13-7-33.

CATSKILL (49): Abel 1-0-2, Brantley 9-6-27, Konsul 3-4-10, Leipman 2-0-6, O’Connell 1-2-4. Totals 16-12-49.

3-pointers: Brantley 3, Leipman 2.