Lady Panthers win two more despite not playing its best
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home's Nadia Durno scored eight points in the Lady Panthers' 52-44 road victory last Friday against Williamsville South. Sweet Home is 10-3 overall and leads ECIC II with a 7-0 record. Also pictured is Williamsville South's Stephanie Bauer.

The Sweet Home girls basketball team (10-3, 7-0) remained perfect in ECIC Division II with a 52-44 road win at Williamsville South last Friday but Lady Panthers coach Matt LaRoach was not pleased with his team's performance.

"The reality is we picked up another win on the road and in the league, but the message is we need to get stronger and better," said LaRoach. "I think every girl in the locker room saw that we didn't play our game and we let South hang around. I guess the positives are that we are gaining experience in close game situations and are finding ways to win games and/or protect leads."

"I just think that we have some work to do if we want to keep striving towards our goals this year," he added. "I thought the mood in the locker after the game was very much aware that we need to get better, get back into practice, and focus on what will put us in position to win games (defense, boxing out, transition game, etc)."

Williamsville South's Cassiana Hyppolite flies through the air and on top of Sweet Home's Laura Nerber. Hyppolite finished with 10 points. Nerber had six points.

Sweet Home used its inside game in the first quarter to lead 12-6. South coach Erik Solomon said Laura Nerber, Bianca Smiley and Nadia Durno scored 10 of Sweet Home's 12 points.

Solomon said his team clamped down defensively in the second quarter, holding Sweet Home to six points, to trail 18-15, at halftime.

Solomon said Sweet Home got the lead up to double figures early in the second half but his team again clamped down on defense. Sweet Home led 35-30, after three quarters. Solomon said his team had the lead for a little while in the second half.

Smiley led Sweet Home with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Smiley gained four points on a series of plays in the second half. Smiley was fouled, finished the basket, missed the free throw, rebounded her miss and made the bucket.

"She just seems to be making strides game after game," said LaRoach. "Her progress has been great. She is doing what she needs to do to get better individually and as a teammate to help her team get better."

Sweet Home's Ellie Allen continued her consistent play with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. She scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, including 4 of 8 from the free throw line.

Durno chipped in eight points. Nerber added six points.

"I really liked the efforts of our forwards, Nadia Durno, Laura Nerber and Bianca Smiley," said LaRoach. "Each of them made contributions. The work they are putting in during practice is starting to pay off in games."

South was led by Sarah Marcus' 18 points and Cassiana Hyppolite's 10 points. Nine of Hyppolite's points came in the second half.

Solomon said Alyssa Ashcroft was a spark on offense and defense in the fourth quarter, scoring six points. Allison Couche recorded four points in each half for eight points. Joanna Ostroot had two points.

Sweet Home opened its week by surviving a 50-47 road win last Tuesday at Lancaster. The Lady Panthers led, 14-12, after the first quarter, 27-26, at halftime and, 38-31, after the third quarter.

"We definitely didn't play our best basketball but were able to make plays down the stretch and get the win," said LaRoach. "At times, we struggled to rebound the ball and contest shots and that's what kept them in the game as well as poor shooting from the free throw line for us."

Allen led all scorers with 25 points. She also had seven rebounds and seven assists.

"She was able to control the tempo and get others involved in the game," said LaRoach.

Smiley added seven points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Cimerman added six points and nine rebounds. Nerber and Amanda Cannizzo each had four points a piece.

Lancaster was led by Maria Kotas' 11 points.

After the game, LaRoach said he talked with his team about needing to get better.

"I posed the question to the girls, 'Did this game help take a step forward, backwards, or did we stay the same?'" said LaRoach. "Only time will tell right now. I just know we need to get better as we work towards the rest of league play."

Sweet Home, ranked sixth among Western New York large schools, is back in action at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Clarence.

South's other game was a 49-42 home loss last Wednesday against Hamburg.

The Lady Bulldogs opened a 17-7 first quarter lead, extended it to 27-17 at halftime, and went up, 36-25, after the third quarter. Solomon said the closest his team could cut the deficit in the fourth quarter was four.

Ostroot almost single-handedly led South's offense. The 5-foot-10 freshman had career highs in points (27) and rebounds (14). She shot 11 of 18 from the floor and went 5 for 8 from the free throw line, including 5 of 7 in the fourth. She had 18 of the team's 25 points after three quarters. She added nine in the fourth.

Hyppolite chipped in eight points and six rebounds. Ashcroft chipped in three and Marcus and Hofher each had two.

Katie Medina led Hamburg with 20 points. She made 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Solomon feels his team's performance against Sweet Home and Hamburg showed that they can play with the best in ECIC II.

"We're starting to cross the threshold between youth and experience," said Solomon. "We're not there yet but these two games were a huge step forward."

South (3-5, 5-9) plays Amherst at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.