In a game filled with pressure on both ends of the court, the Pioneers of Poughkeepsie made a few less mistakes than the Admirals of Arlington and were able to run their way into the semi-finals in front of a packed house at Our Lady of Lourdes High School.  Antonio Williams guided the Pioneers to the victory with a game-high 18 points, while the superior quickness of Taquan Webb netted 12 points.  Andy Ziemins led an inspired Admiral effort with 12 points.

Arlington jumped out to the early lead as Louie Torres connected on several field goals to propel the Admirals to a 7-4 advantage.  Arlington used ball movement and quick reversals against the extended Poughkeepsie 2-3 zone in order to create open shots.  When the buzzer sounded for the end of the first quarter, Arlington led 14-13.  In the second quarter, Poughkeepsie turned up the pressure on the Arlington guards with full court zone pressure that brought numerous lay-ups and free throw opportunities.  Williams’ 8 points in the first half would allow the Pioneers to take the lead heading into the half.

Poughkeepsie continued to apply the full court defensive pressure against the Admirals in the second half, but also had to fall back into a man-to-man defense at times in order to limit the easy inside baskets and second-chance opportunities the Admirals were getting.  Still, the ability of the Poughkeepsie guards to penetrate past the Admirals and create in the lane enabled the Pioneers to extend their lead to seven by the end of the third quarter, 37-30.  Arlington continued to find it difficult to finish their open opportunities on offense in the final quarter and Poughkeepsie’s transition baskets continued to pile up and gave them commanding control in the last few minutes.  Poughkeepsie held on and advanced to face John Jay with the 58-49 victory.

Arlington coach Matt Hoyt was still pleased with the effort his team put forth Thursday night.  “I thought we outworked them and kept battling the whole game, but in the end it came down to making shots and things just didn’t play out for us.  I’m still very proud of my guys though.”  Arlington will be in action again tomorrow against Beacon at 4:30.