Big third sparks Sharks to tourney win
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Another trip to the Fredonia Tournament resulted in another championship for the Sacred Heart girls basketball team.

Tied with Frontier, 25-25, at halftime, the Sharks used an 18-8 third quarter to eventually pick up a 54-43 victory in last Saturday's final.

It was Sacred Heart's fourth straight Fredonia Tournament championship.

Sacred Heart coach Sister Maria Pares said her team made some defensive adjustments in the third quarter which led to the scoring outburst.

"We knew they had a couple of outside shooters that got the ball off quickly so we switched up our defense to a match-up zone defense and it made all of the difference in the world," said Pares. "We got a lot of steals and prevented their outside shooters from shooting and took away their driving and passing lanes."

The Sharks' Alycia Pontello scored all six of her points in the third quarter. Tournament MVP Krystal Watson had a game-high 15 points. She also had five rebounds and two assists. Devon Hornung and Hayley Pickett each scored eight points.

Jaimie Warren led Frontier with 12 points.

Sacred Heart advanced to the final after defeating Silver Creek last Thursday, 70-18.

The Sharks led, 34-10. Sacred Heart grabbed 36 rebounds and dished out 18 assists.

Twelve Sacred Heart players scored. Watson was the leader with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists. Bridget Andrews chipped in 13 points. Liz Tramposch had nine points and five rebounds. All-tournament selection Natalie Coppola scored five points, two rebounds and five assists.

Brittany Tallchief's eight points paced Silver Creek.

Sacred Heart (8-1) played Cardinal O'Hara on Wednesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Sharks travel to Mt. St. Mary's for a 6:30 p.m. contest on Friday.