Amherst can't spoil Hamburg's ECIC II title hopes

Amherst Central's Jodi Battaglia, left, battles for a loose ball in a game Friday at Hamburg High School. Hamburg won 55-46 and won the ECIC Division II title. Photo by John Normile Purchase photos at www.BeeNews.com

Amherst Central tried to spoil Hamburg's bid for the ECIC Division II girls basketball title last Friday but the Lady Bulldogs proved too tough at home.

The Lady Tigers led, 29-24, at halftime but Hamburg outscored Amherst, 12-4, in the third quarter to regain the lead and momentum for the remainder of the game to win 55-46. The win gave Hamburg the league title.

"Based on our first meeting with them in January where they beat us by 14 points, we made a few changes to our game plan to defend the fast break that they run so well," said Amherst coach JoAnna Fildes. "Overall, we played our best four quarters of basketball on Friday. We fought hard until the end even with being in foul trouble."

Amherst was led by Liz Reid and Jodi Battaglia with 11 points each. Jennifer Newhouse contributed 10 hard fought points and eight rebounds in the paint.

Hamburg was led by Katie Medina's 25 points.

Amherst (6-10, 4-6) played at West Seneca East on Tuesday but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Lake Shore at 6 p.m. on Thursday and close out the regular season on Friday with a non-league game with Niagara Catholic.