AMSTERDAM — For being a guard/forward, Sha Sha Cooper won’t wow opponents with her height.
But when the 5-foot-7 Cooper plays aggressively, she’s a force — as Gloversville found out Monday in the Rams’ 62-21 girls basketball win. Cooper had 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals to lead a balanced attack.
Amsterdam improved to 7-1 in the Foothills Council and overall. Gloversville fell to 0-7 in the league and 1-7 overall.
“That’s always my goal, that’s why I’m down there at the post,” Cooper said. “That’s what my coach expects from me, so I tried really hard to get that tonight, and I did.”
Cooper’s first quarter was particularly impressive, with five points, three rebounds, a steal and a block.
“She played with confidence, her and Annie [Stanavich] both,” Amsterdam coach Eric Duemler said. “I thought they were both strong, confident, athletic.”
With leads of 23-9 after the first quarter and 43-14 at halftime, the Rams could afford to run many plays with different personnel at different spots.
“We have Johnstown and Queensbury coming up, and they both play predominantly man, so it’s good that Gloversville played man for the majority of the game,” Duemler said. “We keep getting better and improving at that. We ran some other stuff to prep for B-P on Thursday. They’re an improved team with some good young talent. It’s going to be a good test for us.”
“This game was more of putting our plays out there to see if they would work or not work. This was very useful for us,” Cooper said.
While Amsterdam slowed its pace in the second half, Cooper still gave great effort.
“I think the motivation of the fans pushed me to show out a little bit more. I think I kind of keep that motivation to be that player,” she said.
Guard Ashley DiCarlo also had 13 points and eight rebounds. Sydney Hoefs had her usual all-around game of 12 points, four rebounds, three blocks, three steals and three assists. Sierra Goodson had seven points, while Stanavich contributed six points and four steals. Brianna Francisco also scored six points.
“I see growth with this squad that maybe you don’t see every single year,” Duemler said. “These kids are still learning and improving, and they haven’t reached their ceiling. We know down the stretch and in the sectionals we need more than just one or two kids; we need them all to contribute and be that confident player.”
Lucia Bouchard led Gloversville in scoring with six points, while Allie Salvione pulled down eight rebounds.
Gloversville 9 5 5 2 — 21
Amsterdam 23 20 13 6 — 62
Gloversville scoring: Brown 2-0-5, Chapin 0-2-2, Salvione 0-2-2, Dutcher 0-0-0, Murphy 0-0-0, Bouchard 2-0-6, Tesi 2-0-4, Christman 1-0-2. Amsterdam scoring: Cooper 6-1-13, DiCarlo 4-2-13, Hoefs 5-0-12, Agresta 1-0-3, Goodson 3-0-7, Stanavich 2-2-6, Derrico 0-0-0, Lamont 0-2-2, Francisco 3-0-6. Gloversville totals: 7-4-21. Amsterdam totals: 24-7-62.
