Lady Panthers clinch ECIC Division II title

Sweet Home's varsity girls basketball team finished off an unblemished regular season record in ECIC Division II but it wasn't easy.

In a playoff-like atmosphere, the Lady Panthers (16-4, 12-0) clawed its way to a 56-51 road win last Wednesday at Hamburg.

Hamburg led most of the game (11-10 after first quarter; 27-22 at halftime; 41-36 after third quarter) but Sweet Home outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 20-10, in the fourth quarter.

Sweet Home forward Nadia Durno had a key rebound and put back with 1:30 remaining to push the lead to six. Sweet Home also shot 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

"I cannot say enough about the girls and their ability to believe," said Sweet Home coach Matt LaRoach. "That was one of the key components down the stretch as we were able to keep plugging away and find a way to win. I thought down the stretch we did a nice job of dialing into what we needed to do and we were able to wear Hamburg down with our defense. I thought conditioning played a huge factor. We never gave up."

Ellie Allen led Sweet Home with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

"Ellie Allen was a big key to our victory," said LaRoach. "She found ways to score for us and her leadership on the court and in the huddle was big."

Bianca Smiley added 10 points. LaRoach felt Smiley played better as the game progressed.

Amanda Cannizzo and Gleniesha Ferby each added six points.

Hamburg was led by Katie Medina's 24 points.

Sweet Home opened its league play with a 63-33 road win last Monday at West Seneca East.

The Lady Panthers got off to a sluggish start, ahead, 16-10, after the first quarter, but controlled the tempo of the game the rest of the way, leading, 37-15, at halftime, and 49-27, after the third quarter.

"Our defense really led to transition opportunities for us," said LaRoach. "As soon as we realized that it was going to take a strong effort on the defensive side of the ball, we were able to dictate the tempo of the ball game."

Allen led all scorers with 21 points although LaRoach thought she could have scored more. Allen also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists.

Sweet Home also had nice efforts from their other guards, Rachel Cimerman (12 points) and Ferby (eight points).

"These three guards did a great job of pushing the tempo," said LaRoach.

JV call-up Raylin Brooks scored nine points, hauled in four rebounds, and played a bunch of minutes, said LaRoach.

West Seneca East was led by Stephanie Gigante's 17 points.

"All in all, we did not play a complete game," said LaRoach. "Although the score may seem lopsided, the inconsistency is what bothered me about this game. I am happy we picked up another league win but we need to focus on playing complete games."

Sweet Home closed out its regular season with a horrible showing at Williamsville North last Thursday, falling 57-30.

North held Sweet Home to five first quarter points (14-5), 11 by halftime (29-11) and 14 after three quarters (39-14).

"Sweet Home came out flat and everything clicked for us," said North coach Mike Del Valle.

"I am not one for excuses," added LaRoach. "This was simple. We just did not play well. The ball just didn't seem to go our way. North ran us all over the floor and made plays. One upside about the game was that a lot of players were able to see court time. I am very disappointed with the effort. This game can only be seen as a loss if we do not learn from it. I think after the game, everyone in the locker room was humbled by it. A game like this must get us refocused and back in the gym working on what we do every day, and motivate us as we prepare for sectional play this week."

Leslie Ahern paced North with 15 points on 6 of 14 shooting and five steals. Corrin Genovese added 13 points, six assists and five steals. Genovese went 4 for 4 from twos and 1 of 5 from threes. Katie Kubala chipped in 12 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Maddie Genovese added seven points. Megan Klansky grabbed nine rebounds. Allie Ahern had four points and eight rebounds.

Smiley led Sweet Home with 12 points and eight rebounds. Cimerman added six points. Genovese held Allen to four points.

As well as North played against Sweet Home, they didn't at Jamestown last Friday. North lost 79-60.

Del Valle said his team trailed, 64-54, with six minutes remaining, had three chances to cut the lead down and missed shots.

"We turned it over too many times," said Del Valle. "We probably had 40 to 45 turnovers in the game and they scored a lot of their points off of them. When we broke their press, we scored."

Jamestown's Nikki Frederickson was the beneficiary of many of the turnovers, scoring 39 points.

North trailed, 23-18, after the first quarter, 42-28, at halftime, and 63-46, after three quarters.

Jamestown also went to the free throw line 27 times, making 16 attempts. They had 18 free attempts in the first half.

North went 1 of 9 from the foul line. Six of North's nine attempts weren't until the fourth quarter.

Leslie Ahern (18 points), Allie Ahern (16 points) and Corrin Genovese (15 points) scored in double figures for North. Corrin Genovese scored 11 of her 15 points in the third quarter. All three had at least three fouls.

Erinne Cunningham added 24 for Jamestown.

North finished the regular season 9-11 overall and 5-7 in ECIC Division I.

(Patrick J. Nagy contributed to this article)