Blazers take championship again

MILLBROOK —  The Millbrook girls basketball team, the Lady Blazers, are the Section IX, Class C New York state champions for the second year in a row. And also, for the second year, they were escorted to the Millbrook High School parking lot on their return home Sunday, March 19, by a sheriff’s car, a New York State Police car, and more than one Millbrook police car.

There were also ambulances, Millbrook firetrucks plus one from Unionvale, and other assorted vehicles sounding their horns and flashing their lights while people waiting for the bus cheered mightily as it came into the lot at just about 4:25 p.m. Some of these same vehicles were there to see the team off on Friday.

The semifinals, held at Hudson Valley Community College on Saturday, March 18, saw the Blazers playing the unbeaten Greenwich Witches; they played well and beat the Witches 70-52. In that game, Natalie Fox had 19 points and 20 rebounds. The team stayed ahead through all four quarters. That victory took them to the final game, against Randolph. The game ended with the Blazers garnering the win 59-46.

The final game on Sunday, March 19, had the Blazers ahead again in all four quarters: end of the fist quarter, the score was Millbrook 14, Randolph 10; second quarter: Millbrook 31, Randolph 22; third quarter: Millbrook 44 to Randolph’s 37; and then the final quarter, where the win became a reality.

Adam Peak, the Lady Blazers winning coach, said: “I’m happy for the kids, the student athletes. Two years in a row they won, and there were 150 teams starting out! I’m happy for the team because this is such a wonderful experience for them. I’m also happy for the school, proud and happy.”

Some of the seniors will always have this victory to remember; some of the girls will play again next year, hoping to emulate the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Blazers will always be noted in the record books of the NYSPHSAA state championships as Section IX, Class champs, two years in a row.