East's comeback against McKinley falls short
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East's Mark Guenther reaches in to steal the ball from Iroquois' Matt Wesolowski during the Flames' 55-45 Section VI Class A-1 prequarterfinal win last Wednesday. East lost 84-70 at McKinley on Friday in the quarterfinals. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase photos at www.BeeNews.com

Williamsville East played comeback all game in its 84-70 Section VI Class A-1 quarterfinal loss at McKinley on Friday.

The Flames, seeded fifth, trailed the Macks, seeded fourth, 28-11, after the first quarter and, 34-11, two minutes into the second quarter but cut the deficit to six with two minutes remaining in the game.

"We seem to be intimidated by them at first," said East coach Dennis Belote. "But I give my team credit for fighting back. We could have packed it in and lost by 40 but I credit my seniors for not quitting. It showed that we could play with them."

Belote said McKinley couldn't cover East guard Andy Heim, who scored 11 points in a 22-15 Flames second quarter that cut the deficit to 43-33 at halftime. Heim finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Belote said he also changed defenses from zone to man which helped his team's turnaround.

McKinley led, 56-42, after the third quarter.

Down by six late, Belote said a designed play for Heim to either draw a foul, go to the hoop, or get the ball to junior center Brian Wallden (16 points, 16 rebounds, seven blocks) never materialized as the Flames attempted a three-pointer. McKinley went the other way and scored.

East senior Justin Andreozzi scored a career-high 20 points, including seven in the first quarter.

He also hit four threes, and played well defensively with Nick Kanutsu on McKinley guard William Robinson, holding him to three points.

Mark Overall (26 points) and Tamere Shannon (22 points) led the Macks.

East made 21 of 27 free throws but committed 20 turnovers, 14 in the first half.

The Flames opened tournament play with a 55-45 win over twelfth-seed Iroquois last Wednesday.

East opened a 26-20 halftime lead in the third, outscoring the Chiefs, 20-11. The lead was up to as many as 20. Heim and Wallden each scored six and Rick Silvestri and Andreozzi chipped in four each.

"We played very well," said Belote.

Heim led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He dished out four assists.

Wallden added 10 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. Silvestri added 11 points. Andreozzi scored all eight of his points in the second half. Belote thought Mike Rath ran the point well.

East finishes 12-10. Heim, Silvestri, Kanutsu, Andreozzi and Rath graduate but Belote will return Wallden, Mark Guenther, Chris Schiumo, Aaron Tichenor, Mark Rutecki, Kevin Castine, Mike Silvestri, Peter Heim and will have Dave Mernan from the JV.

"I thought we finished a little below expectations," said Belote. "I thought the kids did great things on the court but we struggled with our three-point and foul shooting."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com