East's experience trumps North's youth
Lady Flame leaders step up in second half to win holiday tourney
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East's Becca Rumschik drives past Newfane's Heather Eberhart for a layup during the Lady Flames' 53-20 opening round win of the Williamsville East Holiday Tournament last Thursday at East. East beat Williamsville North, 57-35, on Friday in the tournament final. East has beaten North in the final since the tournament began four years ago.

The Williamsville East girls basketball team leaned on its experience to overcome a halftime deficit to win the fourth annual Williamsville East Holiday Tournament last Friday night at East.

Trailing 29-15 at halftime, East senior co-captains Bridget Steele and Jessica Kowalski combined for 19 points in the second half as the Lady Flames outscored Williamsville North, 38-20, in the final two quarters to win, 57-35.

Kowalski hit a three-pointer on East's first possession of the second half to start the rally. She finished the third quarter with six points and had nine overall. Steele, who played with strep throat, scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter, including 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed six rebounds.

Williamsville North's Maddi Genovese looks for an open teammate as Williamsville South's Cassiana Hyppolite defends during the Lady Spartans' 56-30 opening round win last Thursday of the Williamsville East Holiday Tournament at East. North lost to East, 57-35, in Friday's tournament final.

East has seven seniors on its roster. All are returning players. Many either start or see significant playing time. North has one senior, five juniors, two sophomores, three freshmen and one eighth- grader.

"Our experience from playing tough teams early in the season (Lockport, Bloomfield, Clarence) is what changed the game for us," said East coach Chris Durr. "I thought we could take advantage of their youth, and I think in the second half, we started to make some plays."

"I told them in the locker room that was the ultimate team game," he added. "They shared the basketball and did what was necessary on defense."

"We never put a full game together," said North coach Mike Del Valle. "We played a horrible first half and a great second half or vice versa. We're not getting enough balance, and the only way to get it is from experience."

Williamsville South's Brittany Marranco releases a shot past the outstretched reach of Williamsville North's Leslie Ahern. South lost to North, 56-30, last Thursday but beat Newfane, 67-25, in the consolation game on Friday.

Junior Neha Bakhai, another returning player for East, scored seven of her 10 points in the third, including a three at the buzzer, to give East a 36-35 advantage heading into the fourth. It was East's first lead since 4-2 early in the first quarter.

East made 15 of 20 foul shots in the fourth quarter and went 19 for 30 overall. They shot 46 percent (18 for 39) from the floor in the game.

Early on, it looked as though North was going to hand its first loss to Durr (Durr is 14-0 lifetime against North). The Lady Spartans used an aggressive 2-3 match-up-like zone to jump into passing lanes and cause early East turnovers leading to fastbreak layups and a 14-10 first-quarter lead. North was ahead by as many as nine, 21-14, in the second quarter.

Durr said his team overcame North's defense in the second half by running the court better, taking better shots and not turning the ball over as much.

Del Valle said his team's shot selection in the second half was poor (17 for 56 in the entire game) and forced some bad passes.

It also didn't help that the Lady Spartans' best inside player, junior Katie Kubala, barely saw the floor in the second half because she was in foul trouble. She picked up her third foul 1:20 into the third quarter, her fourth with 4:22 left in the third quarter and her fifth with 6:11 left in the fourth.

Taylor Klun, another East senior, had six points and six rebounds. Several of the rebounds were offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.

"I thought she had one of her best games," said Durr.

Two other seniors with varsity experience, Anna Stolzenburg and Aleece Burgio, added seven and eight points, respectively. Six of Burgio's eight points came in the first quarter. Stolzenburg also had nine rebounds. Sophomore Becca Rumschik scored six points and dished out four assists. Senior Ally Kotz chipped in a free throw.

Freshman point guard Corrin Genovese and senior guard Leslie Ahern led North with nine points each. Kubala scored eight points. Allie Ahern (seven points), Megan Klansky (six points, five rebounds), Emily Helwig (four points) and Nikki Attea and Chioma Kalu-Nwiwu (one point each) also contributed.

It was the fourth time East defeated North in the tournament final.

In the consolation game, Williamsville South used an aggressive man-to-man defense that caused several turnovers to extend a 15-5 first-quarter lead to lead 40-11 by halftime. South won 67-25. South finished with 23 steals and seven blocks.

"That was really the first time we came out in a full-court man," said South coach Erik Solomon. "That's exactly how we want to play our game."

South shot 27 of 58 from the floor and had three players in double figures led by 23 from sophomore Sarah Marcus, who shot 8 of 17 from the floor and hit two threes. She also had four steals.

Junior Cassiana Hyppolite added 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Hyppolite also made four steals.

Allison Couche chipped in 11 points and made seven steals. Brittany Maranco (six points), Heather Caputi (five points), Molly Hofher (four points, three blocks), Joanna Ostroot (three points) and Claire Licata (two points, seven rebounds) also contributed.

In first-round games on Thursday, East beat Newfane, 53-20, and North beat South, 56-30.

East and North went different routes to attaining victory. East led Newfane, 18-7, after the first quarter and extended the lead to 34-10 by halftime and 42-12 after three quarters. North led South, 16-14, at halftime but outscored the Lady Billies, 30-9, in the third quarter.

In the third, Del Valle said his team played a half-court trap defense that led to South turnovers and quick points. South finished with 24 turnovers.

Corrin Genovese led North with 12 points followed by Allie Ahern's 11 and eight each from Maddi Genovese and Kubala.

Marcus led South with 13. Hyppolite and Ostroot each scored six.

East hit its first four shots against Newfane and finished 42 percent (23 of 54). They also went 7 for 8 from the foul line and committed only nine turnovers.

East's Jessica Kowalski led all scorers with 12 points. Others who scored for East were Stolzenburg (eight points, eight rebounds), Burgio (seven points), Rumschik (six points, four assists), Klun (six points, five rebounds), Sarah Dipofi, Jordan Kowalski and Kotz (four points each), and Bakhai (two points).

Newfane coach Brandon French coached many of the East players when they were on JV to a 52-game win streak.

East beat North in the JV final.

East, North and South return to action this week. East (6-4, 2-2) will host South (4-5, 2-2) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. North (4-6, 2-3) will host Nardin at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.