South boys hoops' win streak continues

by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville South's boys basketball team made it four wins in a row and 10 of its last 12 after winning two more ECIC Division II home games last week.

The Billies defeated Iroquois, 79-69, last Tuesday and West Seneca East, 95-62, last Thursday, to move within a half game of the division lead. South is 7-3 in league play and 11-5 overall.

The South-Iroquois game featured the Billies' run-and-gun, three-pointing shooting style against the Chiefs' physical play inside.

"I was worried about this one because Iroquois is big and physical and coming off our win against Sweet Home (66-62 on Jan. 25), I didn't know if there would be a let down," said South coach Al Monaco. "It was a quality win."

South had to use its great shooting from the outside (nine threes) to stay ahead of Iroquois, 44-40, going into halftime. Freshman Joe Licata hit 6 of 7 treys and 20 points in the first half. Classmate Phil Stasiak added two threes of his own in the first quarter and had 10 points in the first half. South finished 11 for 21 from behind the arc for the game.

Iroquois mostly used a zone defense in the second half and the Billies countered with 13 points inside from junior center Zach Murray.

"It's almost pick your poison with us," said Monaco.

The Billies scored the first nine points of the third quarter and extended its lead at the end of the third quarter to 53-40. Iroquois fouled late in the game but South went almost perfect from the free throw line, making 10 of 11 attempts, including 4 of 4 from Stasiak and Murray.

Licata (23 points, 7 of 12 from threes), Stasiak (20 points, five rebounds), and Murray (19 points, 12 rebounds) all scored in double figures. Junior Tom LiSacchi came off the bench and scored eight points and made two steals.

Sophomore Mark Coppola only scored four points and made three steals but tied a school record with 15 assists. Chris O'Connell, in the 2005-06 season against Starpoint, and Chris Rice in the 1984-85 season against Clarence, also accomplished the feat.

"When Iroquois zoned, Coppola didn't force any shots and got the ball for people in position to score," said Monaco.

South also made 15 of 37 two pointers and 16 of 21 free throws.

Paul Wirth led Iroquois with 20 points.

South overcame a slow start against West Seneca East to win big.

The Billies trailed, 16-14, late in the first quarter, when they scored the last nine points of the quarter and the first five points of the second quarter, to go up, 28-16. Coppola started the rally by forcing back-to-back steals and buckets to give South an 18-16 advantage. He scored 12 points in the first quarter.

The Billies led, 44-26, at halftime. Licata nailed three straight threes in the third to bump South's lead up to 55-28. They went ahead, 72-48, by the end of the third. The 95 points scored was the most this season by South.

For the first time in Monaco's coaching career, he had seven players in one game score in double figures. Tim Krempa, LiSacchi and Armaan Wood each had career-highs.

Krempa shot 5 of 5 from the field and made 5 of 7 free throws for 14 points. LiSacchi poured in 13 points, four steals and four assists. Armaan Wood had 12 points. Licata made 4 of 6 threes for 12 points.

Licata has 53 threes on the season, tying him with 2004 grad Mike Davis for fourth all-time for the single-season record at the school. The school record for a single season is 90.

Coppola led with 15 points, nine assists and five steals. He has 135 assists for the season (sixth all-time at South) and 278 for his career (fourth all-time). The school record for career assists is 521.

Murray and Stasiak added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

South made 26 of 45 two-point shots, 7 of 18 threes and 22 of 30 free throws.

The Billies play on Wednesday at Orchard Park and Friday at home against Williamsville East. Both games have 7:30 p.m. tip-offs.