East lady cagers avenge league loss
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

The Williamsville East girls basketball team limited its turnovers and made shots when needed to avenge an early-season loss to Hamburg, 44-40, last Thursday at East.

In the teams' first meeting on Dec. 20, won by Hamburg, 36-33, East committed 27 turnovers. This time around, East made only 13 turnovers.

East was up, 7-2, to start the game, but did not retake the lead until 1:30 was remaining in the fourth quarter. East outscored Hamburg, 15-7, in the final quarter.

Hamburg led, 13-9, after the first quarter, 24-17, at halftime and 33-29, after the third quarter.

Senior leadership, led by Jessica Kowalski and Bridget Steele, pushed East ahead in the fourth. Kowalski scored all seven of her points in the fourth and Steele hit 3 of 4 free throws in the last minute to finish with a team-high 12 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive end, and made three steals. Steele finished 5 of 9 in the fourth from the foul line.

"She was all over the court," said East coach Chris Durr.

Durr said his team made two huge stops on defense in the last 2.5 minutes and his team either came back and scored or made a couple of free throws.

"We held them to three baskets in the second half," said Durr. "The rest of their points came on free throws. We mostly used a man-to-man defense and I think our ability to run the floor and rotate in a lot of kids tired them down the stretch."

Hamburg's best player, Katie Medina, was held to seven points. She made a basket in the first quarter; the rest came on free throws. She scored 15 points when the teams met last time. Durr said Neha Bakhai guarded Medina the most but when she got in foul trouble, Steele defended her.

Bakhai finished with four points. Taylor Klun (eight points, six rebounds), Anna Stolzenberg (eight points), Becca Rumschik (three-pointer) and Aleece Burgio (two points) rounded out East's scoring,

East made 14 of 38 two-point baskets and 2 of 7 three-point attempts.

East opened this week with a 52-21 victory on Monday at Williamsville South.

The Lady Flames led, 10-4, after the first quarter, 25-11, at halftime, and 36-18, after the third quarter.

East's full court press man-to-man defense held South to 15 percent from two-point range and no threes.

"We forced them into a lot of shots inside 10 seconds left on the shot clock," said Durr.

Bakhai and Steele held South's leading scorer, Sarah Marcus was held scoreless. Marcus had three two-point attempts and one three-point try.

Burgio led the Lady Flames with 10 points and eight rebounds. Rumschik scored eight points.

Klun, Jordan Kowalski and Steele each had six points. Jordan Kowalski also grabbed six rebounds. Steele dished out seven assists.

Bakhai chipped (four points), Courtney Hawkins and Ally Kotz (three points each) and Jessica Kowalski, Kristin Ostanski and Stolzenberg (two points each) rounded out the East scoring.

East shot 47 percent (22 of 46) from the floor. Seventeen of the 22 baskets came on assists. They committed a season-low six turnovers.

Cassiana Hyppolite led South with 10 points. Allison Couche (four points), Joanna Ostroot (three points), Claire Licata (three points) and Heather Caputi (one point) also scored for the Lady Billies.

South's only game last week was a contest they should have won, losing last Tuesday against Starpoint at home, 57-53.

The lead switched back and forth. South was ahead, 14-11, after the first quarter, Starpoint led, 21-19, at halftime, and the Lady Billies were up, 44-38, after the third quarter.

South coach Erik Solomon attributed Starpoint's offense in the fourth quarter for his team's so-so defense.

"We hit one three in the fourth quarter," said Solomon. "The rest were free throws."

"I think our legs were tired in the fourth," he added.

Five Starpoint players scored in the fourth, including two threes by Katie Colton.

"They're a well-coached scrappy team," said Solomon. "They did a good job of taking us out of our rhythm."

Solomon said his team had opportunities to tie the game with under a minute to play. Down by three, Marcus was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws. South got the ball and missed a shot that would have tied the score up.

South, like in its recent win over Iroquois, was on fire in the third quarter shooting the ball. Marcus scored 10 points, Ostroot had six and Hyppolite chipped in five.

"We started to attack the post with Joanna. She got a quick six points," said Solomon. "If there was single coverage, Sarah would punch it in to Joanna. If not, Joanna would kick it to Sarah. Starpoint did a good job doubling down on that in the fourth quarter."

Marcus finished with 19 points. Hyppolite added 14 points and five steals. Ostroot had 10 points and five rebounds. Licata added two points and nine rebounds. Couche tossed in two points and hauled in seven rebounds.

South shot 29 percent from twos, 31 percent from threes and 50 percent from the foul line.

South (7-12, 5-6) hosts Lake Shore at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

East (12-6, 8-3) hosts Iroquois on Wednesday and North Tonawanda on Friday. Both are 7:30 p.m. starts.