Lady Flames defeat Iroquois, NT; South wins
Girls basketball
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East's Jessica Kowalski fires a shot past the reach of North Tonawanda's Joanna Fretthold during the Lady Flames' 52-36 win last Friday at East. Also pictured is NT's April Walker (13).

Williamsville East's girls basketball team earned the third-seed for the Section VI Class A-1 Tournament after beating Iroquois, 46-42, last Wednesday at East.

Trailing, 30-23, after the third quarter, East outscored Iroquois, 23-12, in the final quarter to pull ahead for the victory.

East seniors Aleece Burgio and Jessica Kowalski each stepped up in the fourth. Burgio scored eight of her nine points and Kowalski hit a three-pointer with two and a half minutes remaining to break a 39-39 tie. Kowalski also went 4 of 4 from the free throw line. She was 6 of 6 from the line in the game. She finished with nine points. Burgio also grabbed six rebounds.

The game was tied 8-8 after the first quarter and East went up, 18-17, at halftime. East was in foul trouble in the first half. Neha Bakhai, Bridget Steele, and Taylor Klun each had three fouls. Iroquois made 9 of 15 free throw attempts.

Iroquois outscored East, 13-5, in the third quarter. Rachel Sluberski (13 points) hit two of Iroquois' four threes in the third quarter.

Other players who contributed for East were Taylor Klun (nine points), Steele (six points, six assists), Sarah Dipofi(four points), Bakhai, Jordan Kowalski and Courtney Hawkins (three points each).

East shot 16 for 48.

The Lady Flames closed out the regular season 14-6 and 9-3 with a 52-36 home win last Friday at North Tonawanda.

East led, 31-28, after the third quarter and outscored North Tonawanda, 21-8, in the fourth quarter, including a 17-2 run to close out the game.

"It shows what we can do when we want to play," said East coach Chris Durr. "That kind of summed up the season so far. We have spurts where we either don't do things well on offense or don't play good defense."

Senior Anna Stolzenburg led East with 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting on senior night. Burgio, another senior, added 10 points and nine rebounds. Burgio went 4 of 4 from the free throw line in the first quarter. The four attempts were East's only free throws in the game. Twelve fouls were called between both teams opposed to 39 against Iroquois.

"NT played a zone and we were settling for jump shots and NT was not penetrating much either," said Durr.

Klun and senior Jessica Kowalski each scored six, Steele and Ally Kotz each had three and Bakhai, Jordan Kowalski and Becca Rumschik each scored two. Rumschik also dished out five assists.

Hawkins, Kotz and Steele are also seniors.

East led NT, 10-7, after the first quarter. The score was knotted at 18-18 at halftime.

Williamsville South

The Lady Billies closed out the regular season 8-12 overall and 6-6 in ECIC Division II with a 56-47 victory last Wednesday at South.

The game was senior night and seniors Claire Licata, Molly Hofher, Alyssa Ashcroft and Laura Pfannschmidt opened the game on an 8-2 run. The score was tied, 12-12, after the first quarter.

South went up, 29-21, at halftime and 42-32 after three quarters. South coach Erik Solomon said his team went up by as many as 18.

"We got a lot of steals off our man-to-man pressure defense and Lake Shore struggled with it," said Solomon.

Sarah Marcus led the Lady Billies with 19 points on 6 of 11 shooting. She also made 4 of 7 free throws and dished out three steals.

Cassiana Hyppolite chipped in 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting and four steals. Joanna Ostroot tossed in 10 points and nine rebounds. Licata had six points. Ashcroft and Allison Couche each scored four points.

Sacred Heart

The Sharks closed out the regular season 17-6 overall and 10-3 in league play after winning two uneventful games last week.

Sacred Heart defeated Nardin, 31-24, last Tuesday at Daemen College and St. Mary's of Lancaster, 45-23, last Wednesday at Villa Maria.

The Sharks led, Nardin, 14-12, at halftime.

"It was not one of our finer games," said Sacred Heart coach Sister Maria Pares. "We couldn't buy a shot. Luckily, we played good defense."

Nobody from either team scored in double figures but Krystal Watson did have eight points, 17 rebounds and one assist. Sam Arena added eight points, two rebounds and two assists. Kacey Bougard chipped in six points. Liz Tramposch tossed in five points and six rebounds.

Sarah O'Brien led Nardin with seven points.

The Sharks dominated St. Mary's, taking a 24-9 lead into halftime.

Ten Sacred Heart players scored, led by Devon Hornung's 10 points, four rebounds and one assist. Arena had eight points, one rebound and two assists. Watson had six points, six rebounds and one assist. Tramposch added six points, three rebounds and one assist.

"A lot of kids got a lot of playing time," said Pares.

Raeann Stillwell scored five points to lead St. Mary's.

The game was also senior night.