TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — All the Greenwich girls basketball team could do last year was watch from the sideline as Duanesburg celebrated a section title after beating the Witches 64-47 in the Class C championship game. Jason Slater’s team had to wait an entire year to enact revenge against the Eagles, and when the opportunity presented itself in the C/CC playoff game, Greenwich capitalized.

“This is all the girls have talked about since we left here this time last year,” said Slater after Greenwich’s 51-43 win over Duanesburg Friday night at Hudson Valley Community College, the site of last year’s Class C tournament. “We knew barring any(thing) drastic, it was gonna be us and Duanesburg again. Sure enough, it was. The girls played awesome today. It was a complete team effort, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

The C/CC playoff game was a new addition this year to the Sec. II postseason scene. The winner represents Sec. II, Class C in the state tournament. Duanesburg reached the playoff game after claiming a second straight section title on the C side; Greenwich secured a spot in the game with a sectional championship in CC.

The Witches came out playing a swarming style of defense that had a usually potent Eagles offense flustered. Duanesburg managed just two points through the first 6:27, as Greenwich jumped out to a 7-2 lead.

But after Eagles head coach Chris Herron called a timeout at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter, his team settled in; specifically junior Alex Moses, who single-handedly scored nine straight points on three long balls to give Duanesburg an 11-8 advantage with 7:03 to play in the second quarter.

The two sides traded buckets from there until the score was knotted up at 17. Then, Greenwich freshman guard Brooke Kuzmich scored a go-ahead lay-up in the waning seconds before halftime, and the Witches took a two-point lead into the locker room.

They grew that lead to seven midway through the third quarter, but the Eagles again battled back, trimming their deficit to three points by the end of the quarter with the score at 29-26.

In a frenetic final stanza, both squads went back-and-forth – Greenwich answering every time Duanesburg appeared primed to make a run. After Eagles junior guard Allison O’Hanlon knocked down a two-point jumper at the 4:35 mark to bring her team within one point, Greenwich countered with an 8-0 run, punctuated by a Kuzmich floater in the lane, giving the Witches a 45-36 lead with 90 seconds remaining on the game clock.

The gap proved too much for Duanesburg to overcome, and Greenwich held out the remaining minute-and-a-half for the 51-43 victory.

Kuzmich tallied a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, and reflected on the significance of besting Duanesburg after last season’s championship heartbreak.

“It feels really special; I’m really proud of how everybody played,” said Kuzmich. “They all played great, and I’m just happy to win this time. I’m excited to see how far we go. We just gotta prepare now.”

Greenwich will be preparing for a sub-regional matchup against the champion of Sec. VII. That game will be played Wednesday at Clinton Community College.

After a disappointing end to an otherwise sterling, 18-7 season for Duanesburg, there is major optimism for this team next year; they return all three of their top-three scorers: O’Hanlon, Moses, and Hannah Mulhern.