Girls basketball
East's defense, depth holds off South
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East outscored Williamsville South, 17-5, in the fourth quarter to earn a 50-37 home victory last Thursday.

South outscored East, 11-5, in the third quarter to cut a 27-21 halftime deficit to 33-32.

South coach Duke McGuire said his team was in the game with four minutes remaining in regulation but East's depth was too much to overcome.

"On any given night, we can play," said McGuire. "It's just a matter of how long we can. I was very satisfied with the effort."

East coach Chris Durr said a lack of defensive intensity led to South's comeback.

"In the third quarter, we made a couple of mistakes defensively in transition," added East coach Chris Durr. "In the first half, we were not getting a lot of rebounds so in the second half we started to crash the boards. They had a couple of guards who got past our guards and got some fastbreak layups. In the fourth, we only allowed one shot down the floor and were more patient."

Kaitlin Roseti led East with nine points but did not play much of the second half because of foul trouble. Anna Stolzenburg and Neha and Pooja Bakhai combined for five points in the fourth quarter when East only had a one-point lead.

Stolzenburg finished with eight points. Neha Bahkai had six points. Pooja added four.

Molly Bojanek (six points), Bridget Steele (four points, six assists), Meghan Scheidemann (four points), Christa Morgante (three points), Taylor Klun and Aleece Burgio (two points each) also chipped in for East.

South's Sarah Marcus led all scorers with 15 points as well as two steals, two rebounds and two assists.

Katie Ostroot (eight points, 12 rebounds) was held to three baskets and 2-of-4 free throws in the first half.

Claire Licata (six points) and Heather Caputi (4-of-4 free throws) also excelled for the Lady Billies.

South (2-5, 4-8) play at St. Mary's of Lancaster on Wednesday and at Hamburg on Friday. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

East (11-2, 7-1), ranked fifth among Western New York large schools, plays at West Seneca East at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Williamsville North

North coach Mike DelValle has said his team usually plays one bad quarter in each game this season and that certainly was the case early at Frontier last Thursday.

The Lady Spartans trailed 17-2 after the first quarter and never recovered, losing 52-42.

"Early on, we didn't match their intensity," said DelValle.

Subtracting the first quarter, North would have won, 40-35. The Lady Spartans outscored Frontier, 13-4, in the second quarter and trailed, 31-28, after the third. North held Frontier to one field goal in the fourth quarter.

The biggest discrepancy came at the free throw line. Frontier made 17-of-34 attempts; North was 6-of-11. Frontier's Jordan Eckman made 11-of-17 free throws.

"Because we were behind we gambled more and picked up a lot of reach-on fouls," said DelValle. "If the games are called tight, we have a lot of problems because we're young and move our hands more than our feet."

Katie Kubala led the Lady Spartans with 12 points. Allie Ahern (seven points) and Corrin Genovese and Jill Piaggione (six points each) also scored for North.

North (4-11, 2-7) hosts Clarence at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Sacred Heart

The Sharks improved to 12-0 overall and 3-0 in the Monsignor Martin Association with a convincing 68-12 home win last Friday over Niagara Catholic.

Sacred Heart led, 22-6, at halftime. Gina Ricotta (15 points), Katie Keller (13 points) and Krystal Watson (12 points) scored in double figures.

Last Tuesday, Sacred Heart won at Starpoint, 58-25. Liz Tramposch (12 points) and Keller (11 points) scored in double figures.

The Sharks host Section V's Nazareth at 3 p.m. Saturday at Villa Maria Athletic Center then start a busy league schedule the following week with games against Holy Angels, Nardin, and Nichols.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com