East comes back to beat Iroquois
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East changed up its defense from a man to 3-2 zone in the second quarter against Iroquois on Monday en route to a come from behind 39-32 road win.

Down 13-6 after the first quarter, East girls basketball coach Chris Durr made the switch and his team trailed, 22-19, at halftime.

East held Iroquois to three baskets and one free throw in the second half.

"I told the girls before the game that a win would possibly give us a home game for the playoffs so we really had something to play for," said Durr. "And we didn't start well. We were playing man for man and they were getting too many opportunities so I changed it in the second quarter to a 3-2 zone."

Anna Stolzenburg had a career-night, scoring 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting.

"She was the difference," said Durr. "They were double teaming Kaitlin (Roseti) so Anna had an opportunity and her and Taylor Klun had good opportunities to score because sometimes they were wide open."

Roseti added 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Bridget Steele scored six points, grabbed a season-high nine rebounds, and dished five assists.

Molly Bojanek (nine points), Klun and Krista Morgante (three points each) and Neha Bakhai and Jessica Kowalski (two points each) also chipped in.

East closed out its home schedule with a 61-21 senior night win over Lake Shore on Friday.

Seniors Roseti, Morgante, Bojanek, Meghan Scheidemann, and Pooja Bakahi held Lake Shore scoreless in the first quarter, 20-0, and were ahead 33-7 at halftime.

"I was pretty impressed with the way we started," said Durr. "We kind of put Lake Shore back on their heels right away. It was 7-0 in the first minute and a half. We played a full court 1-3-1 trap and caused a few turnovers quickly."

The five also helped East to an 18-point third quarter.

Bojanek led all scorers with 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists. Roseti scored 10 points and chipped in eight rebounds. Morgante had eight points and four assists. Schiedemann scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Aleece Burgio (eight points), Courtney Hawkins (six points), Klun (five points, six rebounds), Kowalski and Steele (three points each) and Stolzenburg (two points) also contributed.

East shot 21 for 52 from the floor, hit three three-pointers, and made 16 of 22 free throws, including 4 of 4 each from Bojanek and Roseti. The Lady Flames turned the ball over a season-low seven times. East's bench scored 25 points. Sixteen of the team's 21 baskets had an assist.

East (15-3, 10-2), ranked tenth among Western New York large schools, closes out its regular season this weekend in the Lockport Tournament. East plays third-ranked Western New York large school Nardin at 6 p.m. on Friday. The winner plays Olean or Lockport on Saturday at either 6 or 7:30 p.m. It's the first time East has played in the tournament since the 1998-99 season.

Sacred Heart

The Sharks (20-1, 10-1) concluded nine games in 17 days with wins last week over Mt. St. Mary's, 59-36, O'Hara, 61-11, Holy Angels, 41-37, Mt. Mercy, 60-51, in overtime, and 70-27 over St. Mary's of Lancaster.

All victories were team wins as multiple players scored. Natalie Coppola led 11 Sharks in scoring against Mt. St. Mary's with 15 points. Katie Keller added 10. Another 11 scored against O'Hara. Liz Subjeck led with 10.

Eight players scored against Holy Angels. Keller and Devon Hornung each scored eight. Krystal Watson added eight points and nine rebounds.

Another eight Sharks scored in the overtime win over Mercy. Keller (13), Coppola (12) and Subjeck (12) scored in double figures.

"I think Mercy is a scrappy team," said Sister Maria Pares. "They played us well. We could not hit a foul shot to save our souls."

"At the end I was pleased with our poise," he added. "We didn't get rattled. We played our game."

Sacred Heart led St. Mary's, 42-12, at halftime. Thirteen Sharks scored, led by Liz Tramposch's 13.

The Sharks, ranked second among Western New York large schools, return to action at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the Villa Maria Athletic Center against Mt. Mercy. The rematch with Nardin is at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, also at Villa.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com