East survives number of factors to beat Amherst
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

If you were looking for an offensive minded girls basketball contest between Williamsville East and Amherst on Friday, you picked the wrong game to watch.

The Lady Flames won a defensive battle on the road, 31-21.

Amherst's aggressive 3-2 match-up zone defense, combined with a bunch of missed easy inside layups, starters Molly Bojanek and Kaitlin Roseti on the bench with two fouls each, and Bridget Steele spraining her left ankle, led to a 6-1 East first quarter lead and 11-9 halftime advantage. East only shot 5-of-32 from the floor in the first half.

The Lady Flames turned it around in the second half, shooting 8-of-19 and taking a 22-17 lead at the end of the third quarter.

"As aggravated as I was about our shooting, the positive is we held them to one free throw in the first quarter, nine at halftime, and 21 for the game," said East coach Chris Durr.

East's 51 shots are 14 below its game average. They only turned over the ball 10 times.

Bojanek led East with eight points, three steals and two assists. Roseti chipped in seven points and 10 rebounds. Durr lauded the play of Anna Stolzenburg, who came off the bench to score three points and grab six needed rebounds.

Jessica Kowalski and Megan Klun scored four points each and played well at point guard and forward, respectively. Pooja Bakhai also played the point well in place of Steele.

Steele and Aleece Burgio scored two points each.

Amherst's Jodi Battaglia was held to two baskets and 4-of-8 free throws for eight points. Amherst missed its seven other free throw attempts.

East won at home over Depew, 49-39, in a non-league game on Wednesday.

East jumped out to a 14-2 lead in what Durr called his "team's best first quarter all year."

The Lady Flames led, 16-10, at the end of the quarter and took a 24-20 advantage into halftime. The Lady Flames were ahead, 35-31, at the end of the third quarter.

"That's the type of team we need to play against," said Durr. "They're scrappy, hustle all over the court, trap, and change defenses."

Roseti led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She also grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked six shots. Steele added six points, six steals and six assists. Kowalski (six points), Christa Morgante (four points), Meghan Scheidemann (two points, eight rebounds, three assists), Neha Bakhai (two points), Bojanek (two points, five assists), Stolzenburg (two points) and Pooja Bakhai (one point) also chipped in.

East shot 22-of-44 from the floor.

Jordan Schrimmel led Depew with 18 points, including four three's.

East (10-2, 6-1) hosts Williamsville South at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com