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Williamsville East girls hoops gets off to late start Williamsville East's success in varsity girls soccer has resulted in a late start for its girls basketball program. Pooja and Neha Bakhai, Jessica Kowalski, Molly Bojanek and Christa Morgante practiced for the first time on Nov. 13 because they were playing for the Lady Flames' soccer team which played two days earlier against Victor in the Class A Far West Regionals. Jordan Kowalski, another member of East varsity soccer, plays JV basketball. "We're a little bit behind from where we'd like to be," said East coach Chris Durr, also the school's girls' soccer coach. "I know we'll get better as the season goes on. We have a good amount of experience on this team. Several players have played three varsity seasons." Pooja Bakhai, Jessica Kowalski, Bojanek and Morgante are four of seven returning players from East's ECIC Division II and Section VI Class A-1 championship team. As of this writing, Jessica Kowalski (shooting guard) and Bojanek (shooting forward) are starters with Pooja Bakhai and Morgante coming off the bench at guard. Other East starters are Bridget Steele (point guard), Meghan Scheidemann (power forward) and Kaitlin Roseti (center). Jessica Kowalski, a junior, saw significant minutes last year and will also play at the point when Steele is not on the court, said Durr. Durr said Bojanek, a senior, sees the court well at the two or three position, can post up and is the team's best shooter. Steele, an ECIC II Second Team pick as a sophomore, did a great job last year handling the ball (averaged only 1.9 turnovers a game) and is a defensive hawk, said Durr. Durr said Scheidemann came off the bench as a junior last year and her playing time increased. "She's a hard worker," said Durr. "She has the uncanny ability to be in the right spot at the right time and grab offensive rebounds and get herself in a position to score." Roseti, an All-ECIC First Team and All-Bee First Team selection, should be a force inside. Roseti, 6-foot-1, led the team in points (11.5), rebounds (8.6) and blocks (3.9) per game. It's her third year on varsity. "She played in the Empire State Games so she's got a lot of experience," said Durr. "She's been a solid, steady player for us and now in her senior year, we're looking for her to be the leader, not just in the scoring column, but defensively and up and down the court." "She's no doubt the best center in the league," he added. "She can get up and down the court to defend and get out on the fast break." Durr is also looking for big things out of JV callups, sophomore guard/forwards Neha Bakhai and Taylor Klun, the JV's leading scorer last year, junior guards Courtney Hawkins and Ally Kotz, and junior forwards Aleece Burgio and Anna Stolzenburg. The East JV is on a 52-game win streak. Durr said everyone on the team will have to score more because they lost 161/2 points per game with the graduations of Alanna DeVaughn, Megan Lankes, both ECIC II all-stars, and Nicole Ostanski. "We've got some good kids coming up from JV," said Durr. "(Reserves from last year who will play more this year) are going to have to step up and contribute more every game on a consistent basis. They weren't asked to do as much last year because we started three seniors. Now they need to contribute regularly." The loss of Lankes and DeVaughn, who combined for 105 three-pointers, also limits the team's ability to shoot from behind the three-point arc. "The kids have been working on it but its not as good as in the past," said Durr. "I think our defense will be just as good, if not better. We've got some more quickness on the floor this year and a good number of forwards that can come off the bench." Durr sees his team fighting with Iroquois and Hamburg for the top spot in ECIC II.
East finished 20-4 overall and 11-1 in ECIC II. |
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