With two buzzer beaters and a high intensity crowd, the atmosphere of the Wallkill High School gym was hard to ignore. It was the Wallkill Panthers’ senior night, and they were up against the Highland High School Huskies for a league matchup.

After a couple free throws to start the first quarter, Wallkill’s sophomore guard Emma Schwarzbeck sunk a 3-pointer at 5:12 and added another two with a good jumper 29 seconds later. Senior forward and captain, Madison Dembroski, came around at 2:03 for a layup, and freshman guard Emma Spindler followed suit with 1:55 left in the quarter.

Wallkill held against the Huskies, who only managed to get five points on the board before the buzzer. When the quarter seemed to be completely over, Schawrzbeck throws the ball toward the net, standing just before half court. The crowd screamed at the swoosh while the buzzer blared. Wallkill was up, 14-5.

“I thought we had really good energy especially on senior night,” Schwarzbeck said. “We need these wins to get into sectionals so we need to keep it going.”

Gaining only another 10 points in the second quarter, Highland fell behind. Of them, eighth grade point guard Grace Koehler sunk a jumper and a free throw, while junior shooting guard Icis Roman,ninth grade shooting guard Addie McDowell and junior Dehana Stevens each earned one with a free throw.

Dembroski earned five for Wallkill, and junior guard Gabby Carpino sunk a 3-pointer with 5:18 left on the clock. Another buzzer beater came out of the hands of junior forward Kylie Detz’s hands, adding another three points to the board. The Panthers were now up 28-10.

Freshman Emma Thompson started off the third quarter for the Huskies with two points at 6:51, while junior shooting guard Adrianna Scalo scored two at 4:26. Stevens and freshman point guard Katie Dauenheimer each scored a point with free throws.

Freshman guard Adeline Spignardo started it off for the Panthers with a layup at 6:38. Schwarzbeck came out with another 3-pointer at 5:52, and a minute later Dembroski followed with a layup. With 2:56 left on the clock, Dembroski came to add another two. Senior forward Mackenzie Mesuch finished up the quarter with a 3-pointer at 1:01. The Panthers now led 40-21.

Highland earned another 11 points in the fourth quarter, five of them on free throws due to fouls from the Panthers. Wallkill tallied another 12 to continue the domination into the final minutes of the game. Mesuch sunk two 3-pointers in the quarter to hike up the score. Wallkill gained the win, defeating Highland 52-32.