North almost upsets top-ranked Jamestown
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

The first time Williamsville North played Jamestown in a girls basketball game last year, the Lady Spartans lost 81-28. The first contest between both teams this season was a much different story.

The Lady Spartans fell, 54-48, to the Lady Red Raiders at home last Thursday. North made it a three-point game with under 40 seconds to play but Jamestown's defense forced freshman point guard Corrin Genovese to take a couple of extra steps on a shot attempt and it didn't go into the net. Jamestown hit some free throws in the last 12 seconds to secure the victory.

"We scared them big time," said North coach Mike Del Valle.

Jamestown is ranked first among Western New York large schools.

Del Valle said his team missed a ton of open shots.

"Our wounds were self-inflicted," said Del Valle. "We missed 10 to 15 layups. Some of them were uncontested."

North hung with Jamestown throughout the game, largely because they didn't turn over the ball (Jamestown had only eight steals) and because Genovese was able to break the Lady Red Raider press.

"I think they may have underestimated our ball handling and passing strength," he added. "I think they thought they could just pressure us and create turnovers but what it did was create opportunities for us once we broke it."

Jamestown led, 14-9, after the first quarter, 33-28, at halftime and, 44-36, after the third quarter.

Senior Leslie Ahern led North with 10 points and had a strong game on the boards, Del Valle said. Genovese had nine points. Senior Katie Kubala and Nikki Attea added eight and seven points inside, respectively.

Nikki Frederickson scored 21 to lead Jamestown. Del Valle said she had been averaging around 30.

North (5-8, 2-5) lost 53-36 to Orchard Park on Monday. Highlights will appear in next week's Bee. North plays Frontier at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Williamsville East

A good first quarter paced the Lady Flames to a 46-22 road win last Thursday at Iroquois.

East took a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, extended it to 27-13 at halftime and held Iroquois to one basket in the second half, a three-point play by Niagara University bound Grace Cunnighman on Iroquois' second possession of the third quarter. Iroquois also had six free throws in the second half. East led, 37-17, after the third quarter.

"To hold a team to one basket in a half is pretty impressive," said East coach Chris Durr.

Cunningham was held to 14 points. Neha Bakhai, Becca Rumschik and Bridget Steele each took their turn guarding her.

East senior Aleece Burgio had her best game of the year, scoring a career-high 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Durr said at one point of the game, she was 4 for 5 from the floor. She finished 5 for 10.

Senior Taylor Klun added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Rumschik and Jessica Kowalski each scored five points. Bakhai had a point and seven rebounds.

East shot 17 for 51, made 11 of 16 free throws, dished out 12 assists and turned the ball over only 12 times.

East (8-4, 4-2) played at West Seneca East on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. East is ranked ninth among Western New York large schools.