Floyd girls basketball loses in state semifinals to Aquinas Institute
Savannah Pantry of Floyd takes a shot against Aquinas Institute during the state Class AAA girls basketball semifinals in Troy on Thursday. Credit: Stephen Weaver/Stephen Weaver
TROY — Now that its best season to date is officially in the books, the Floyd girls basketball team can say it is pointed in the right direction.
The Colonials lost to Section V’s Aquinas Institute of Rochester, 65-37, in the New York State Class AAA semifinals at Hudson Valley Community College on Thursday afternoon. They finished their season 19-6.
Aquinas (14-9) will remain at HVCC to face Albertus Magnus in the finals at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Junior forward Savannah Pantry put forth a strong effort, finishing with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. She added 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
“I’m really happy and proud of us,” Pantry said. “I can’t wait to get back and play with the same returning players next year.”
Floyd is not a particularly storied program. It does not have a county or state title, nor has it had a deep run in a state tournament — at least not until this year. When coach Rich Sinclair first took over in 2016, the program was in the gutter. Things did not change overnight once he arrived, as the Colonials went 19-66 through his first five seasons.
However, since coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Floyd has been amongst Long Island’s elite. This year marked the team’s fifth consecutive season with a double-digit win total, and its fourth winning season in that span. By securing the at-large bid to the Class AAA state tournament, the team made it to a place it had never been to.
The Colonials’ 61-30 victory in the regional final over Corning-Painted Post last Sunday was the first win in a state tournament game in their history, and it brought them within a game of the finals.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” Sinclair said. “They totally exceeded expectations, and they worked exceptionally hard to do so. It’s a group that’s a family, that’s tight-knit, and it’s been a wonderful ride.”
After getting to the state championship game’s doorstep, Floyd will return 12 of its 15 players. With 80% of this state semifinalist team returning, next year can not come soon enough for the Colonials.
“I’m proud that we made it this far, but this loss still hurts,” freshman guard Taleah Coppola said. “I’m very excited. I feel like next year is going to be even better than this year. I feel like we’re going to win everything.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
