Ashley Kuchinsky Explodes in Fourth Quarter to Deliver on Senior Night

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On Wednesday January 21, Somers welcomed Woodlands to the high school and had the Tuskers hoping they could celebrate senior night with a win. 15-2 and 33-17 leads by the visitors said otherwise. But on both occasions, Caitlyn Mayfield kept her elders from being run out of the gym, and that left the door open for Ashley Kuchinsky.

Raining threes down throughout the fourth quarter, an 18 point tsunami by the junior led the way to a thrilling 55-48 Somers victory.

Steals, tough drives, one triple and one short jumper quickly darkened the mood after the uplifting opening ceremonies, though. So off the bench came Mayfield, and she made a pair of drives to slow down the Woodland’s express.

15-6 with 1:48 left in the first quarter, Somers was able to get out of the disastrous start, and Kuchinsky really made sure. After Kacey McCullough came up with a steal at half court, the junior began the long range forecast with her first triple of the afternoon, and a respectable 16-9 first quarter resulted.

Onto the second, Shea Mullins seemed to continue the momentum. Receiving from Mayfield, the freshman point guard squared up and made it a four point game. Unfortunately, Woodlands answered and went on a 9-2 run to close the half at a score of 25-14.

Intermission didn’t slow the Falcons either. Two from the line, a coast to coast layup, and the 33-17 score once again forced Mayfield to the fore front. Out of timeout, she took the pass from her little freshman sidekick at point guard and calmly nailed the three pointer.

In at 4:45, Eli Contreras stepped up (and around) next. From above the arc, she exploded to the hoop and ducked under the defense for an underhand layup.

33-22, the Somers guards kept coming at Woodlands. Mia Paulmeno stole a cross court pass, and sunk a tightly contested layup to move the Tuskers into a single digit deficit.

Still, Woodlands hung on strong, and entered the fourth with a ten point lead. Not 12, Kuchinsky hit a runner in the paint at the buzzer, and the tone was set for the ending.

But it was Mullins who began the tricycle ride. After Woodlands scored the first points of the quarter, the point guard dropped a three, and that had Kuchinsky taking the cue. She hit a three from long range and drove coast to coast for a conventional three point play.

40-35 now, Kuchinsky wasn’t afraid to share the wealth. After hitting from downtown following a Woodlands timeout, she doubled teamed the corner with Contreras, and the turnover allowed Mayfield to hit a runner that tied the score at 40 to 40.

Not done with the defense, Contreras went solo. The sophomore got the steal at half court, and her fast break layup gave Somers their first lead of the game with 5:15 remaining in the game. Woodlands did answer to tie it up, but the writing was on the wall.

Emma Flores found Mayfield all alone underneath the basket for an easy bucket and Kuchinsky was ready to seal the deal. Two more triples made it 50-42 with two minutes to go, and a minute later, her free throws iced the game for the honored guests.

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