Girls basketball
Steele posts career day in East road victory
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East's Christa Morgante, left, drives past a Lake Shore defender during the Lady Flames' 58-28 road win on Thursday. The win put East in a first place tie with Hamburg in ECIC Division II. Photo by John Normile

Bridget Steele continued her excellent floor play in Williamsville East's 58-28 road win over Lake Shore on Thursday.

The junior point guard scored a career-high 15 points and added seven assists and two steals in the Lady Flames' win.

"In the last three games, she's scored 30 points from the point guard position and that's nice for us to get," said East coach Chris Durr. "Not only did she score 15 points, she set up seven other baskets... She's starting to get more opportunities and the more she gets, the more confidence she has taking a shot and getting to the basket off the dribble."

Kaitlin Roseti added 16 points and eight rebounds inside for the Lady Flames, who opened a 16-9 first quarter advantage to 27-16 by halftime. East extended the lead to 41-24 after the third quarter.

"I was a little disappointed in how defensively we started the game," said Durr. "We were giving them too many defensive rebounds and open looks. But the 16 points we scored is the best first quarter we've had in the last four games."

East made a season-best 12-of-16 free throws. They were 22-for-45 from the floor and only committed 14 turnovers.

Molly Bojanek and Christa Morgante added eight points each, Aleece Burgio scored five and Courtney Hawkins, Taylor Klun and Anna Stolzenburg had two points each.

The win, along with a Hamburg loss to Iroquois last week, put East back in a first place tie in ECIC Division II. East is 5-1 in league play, 8-2 overall.

East hosts Depew at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and travels to Amherst for a 7:30 p.m. start on Friday.

Williamsville South

After missing a few games with a knee injury, Katie Ostroot returned to form at West Seneca East on Thursday.

The Williamsville South senior scored 23 points, nine coming in a 14-2 Lady Billies first quarter, and grabbed 10 rebounds, in a 46-20 ECIC Division II road win.

Ostroot played in the Williamsville East Tournament over holiday break but was held to 20 points and 16 rebounds between two games.

"It was nice to see Katie like that," said South coach Duke McGuire. "We set the tempo early and got the ball to her and she was in position and converting. This was kind of a breakout game for her."

South led, 25-10, at halftime and, 36-12, after the third quarter.

Sarah Marcus had an all-around game, scoring nine points to go along with 10 assists, five steals and a blocked shot.

"She played a terrific all-around game and really did a good job getting the ball underneath to Katie," said McGuire.

Heather Caputi added a career high eight points and scrapped for loose balls all the over floor, said McGuire.

"It was nice to come out and play better," McGuire said. "We didn't turn over the ball as much. It was nice to get a league win."

South (4-6, 2-3) played at Iroquois on Tuesday but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press.

Sacred Heart

The Sharks (9-0, 1-0) opened its defense of the Monsignor Martin Association title with a 54-33 home win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 8.

Sacred Heart plays all of its home games at the Villa Maria Athletic Center.

The Sharks led, 30-16, at halftime. Eleven Sacred Heart players scored, led by three three-pointers from Katie Keller. Keller also had five steals.

Liz Tramposch and Gina Ricotta added eight points each.

"We played pretty well," said Sacred Heart coach Sister Maria Pares. "Krystal (Watson) and the younger kids like Sam Arena and Liz Tramposch played really well. Everybody made contributions."

The Sharks won three tournaments to get itself ready for the league schedule.

"When you look back, we beat some pretty good teams in the preseason," Pares said. "Sometimes you don't realize how much that helps you. You always try to play games to pick up experience for the league."

If Sacred Heart is to fare well in the league, they will have to do it longer without center Liz Subjeck. Subjeck reinjured her sprained ankle during a drill in practice and might be out an additional two to three weeks, Pares said.

Sacred Heart beat Nichols, 58-50, on Monday. A game write-up will appear in next week's edition.

Williamsville North The Lady Spartans were on the losing end of two close home games this past week, falling to Orchard Park, 40-38, on Thursday and Maryvale, 40-39, on Saturday afternoon.

"We're so young that we just don't know how to win those yet," said North coach Mike DelValle. "We're coming close. It builds character. We'll learn from those."

Julia Montroy was the hero for the Lady Quakers, scoring with three seconds left.

"They ran a play and we had a breakdown on defense," said Del- Valle. "We didn't switch on a screen and they had an easy shot underneath."

DelValle said Megan Klansky tied the game at 38-38 on a rebound basket.

Orchard Park, who handed North a 56-33 loss in December, led, 15-10, after the first quarter, 29-18, at halftime, and, 35-33, after the third quarter. DelValle said his team handled OP's pressure a little bit better and played stronger defense in the second meeting, holding them to two baskets and six free throws in the second half.

Katie Kubala led North with 13 points. Corrin Genovese scored all ten of her points in the second half. Klansky played strong defensively, especially on the boards, said DelValle.

Mandy Sahaar led Orchard Park with 19 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. She had five second half points, three from free throws.

Down 23-12 at halftime against Maryvale, North used an aggressive man to man defense to outscore the Lady Flyers, 15-6, in the third to trail, 29-27, after the third quarter. North missed a shot at the end to win the game.

North would have won had they converted on its free throws. The Lady Spartans made only 5-of-12 attempts and missed the front end of a one-and-one twice in the fourth quarter.

Maryvale was 6-of-7 from the line in the fourth and 14-of-17 overall.

Kubala led North with 14 points. Klansky added 13 points.

North (4-9, 2-5) hosted Lancaster on Tuesday but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com