2018 City of Palms Signature Series: Glens Falls, NY vs. Petal, MS

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The buzz surrounding this contest is Joe Girard, New York state’s all-time leading scorer after just three years of high school.  He averaged over fifty points a contest last year and is committed to play for Syracuse in the fall of 2019.  Petal is not to be dismissed as they are a solid program out of the Magnolia State loaded with athletes.

Petal scored first on a putback by Don Avila.  Girard responded for Glens Falls by hitting two of three free throws after being fouled on a shot from beyond the arc.  Avila scored the next five for Petal while Girard hit a three in transition to make the score 7-5 in favor of Petal.  Caleb McGill of Petal converted a three point play then Avila again scored to make it 12-5 in favor of Petal with 3:38 to play in the quarter.  Girard responded with one of two free throws and a three to get back to within three at 12-9.  Marcel Blackwell scored from mid-range to push Petal’s lead but from that point Glens Fall outscored Peta 8-2 -over the rest of the quarter to lead by one at 17-16.

A three from Trenton Girard of Glens Fall upped their lead to four at 20-16 to open the second quarter.  However, that would be their highlight from the quarter as Petal would hold Glens Falls scoreless for four plus minutes while going on a 14-0 run, highlighted by consecutive threes from Landyn Shows to lead 30-20 with 3:25 left in the half.  Kyle Vachon of Glens Falls would finally end the skid with a bucket inside but for a few possessions the best Glens Falls could do was trade baskets with Petal.  With 1:20 left in the half and Petal leading by nine at 35-26, Petal ran off seven straight points to go up by sixteen.  A steal and score by Girard ended a woeful half for Glens Falls with the score 42-28 in favor of Petal.

Four quick points by Petal to start the third made things look even more dismal for Glens Falls.  However, they didn’t quit.  They put together an 8-0 run as Nick Danahy scored twice inside, Trenton Girard finished a drive in traffic and Joe Girard connected on a pair of free throws to get Glens Fall back to within ten at 46-36 with 4:31 to play in the third.  McGill of Petal answered with a pair of buckets inside put Glens Falls took advantage of their momentum.  They used an 11-5 run, highlighted by a three from Trenton Girard to make it an eight point, 55-47 game with one quarter to play.

In the fourth, Glens Falls was still in the contest, down seven at 59-52 after a pair of free throws from Joe Girard at the 6:38 mark.  Petal then slammed the door shut with an 8-0 run to push the score to 67-52 with 4:47 left in the contest.  Glens Falls would get no closer than twelve the rest of the contest and Petal would advance with a 78-56 victory.

McGill led Petal with 27 points, most on the inside.  Blackwell added 20 while Avila put up 18 points and Shows connected for 11 points.

For Glens Falls, Joe Girard III went for 22 points while cousin Trenton Girard added 19 points.