Sweet Home girls bow out to OP in quarterfinals

The Sweet Home girls basketball team went 12-0 in ECIC Division II and 16-4 overall in the regular season but are out of the Section VI Class AA Tournament.

Seventh-seeded Orchard Park used a 12-0 run, including a three-pointer off the opening tip, to open a 20-11 first quarter lead en route to a 50-32 upset over the second-seeded Lady Panthers last Thursday at Sweet Home.

"Heartbreak is probably the best way to describe the result of the game," said Sweet Home coach Matt LaRoach. "It seemed like everything that they threw at the rim seemed to go in. We knew they would shoot the ball and were capable of making them, but they were on fire. Their opening run matched with their intensity really set the tone for them."

Sweet Home narrowed its deficit to five in the second quarter but that was as close as they got. The Lady Panthers went down, 31-19, at halftime, and, 42-23, after the third quarter.

"We were playing catch up for the entire game, a position we hadn't found ourselves in many times this year," said LaRoach. "Out of halftime, we hoped to chip away at their lead and it just didn't play out."

Junior guard Ellie Allen led all scorers with 15 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Guard mate Gleniesha Ferby scored six points.

"The guards did a nice job," said LaRoach. "Missed opportunities such as rebounds, easy shots, and finishes attributed to our own demise. I really thought we needed to do a better job rebounding and playing with intensity. We lacked it and it hurt us."

Bianca Smiley added seven points and eight rebounds for Sweet Home.

OP was led by Jill Fairchild (14 points) and Taylor Swiatek (11 points).

Despite the loss, the future is bright for the team next year. LaRoach returns six juniors and two sophomores.

"I know these girls are far from satisfied about this season and we can only use it as motivation for the offseason with summer leagues, team camps, etc." said LaRoach. "The stretch between now and next November will be the longest in many years for us, but how we respond to the stretch will put us in a position to do great things again next season."

Sweet Home graduates a special class of seniors. They are Amanda Cannizzo, Nadia Durno, Laura Nerber, Gleniesha Ferby, Coretta Davis and Lauren West.

"Cannizzo, a four-year varsity player, has been one of our starting guards for those four years and has been everything that this program is about," said LaRoach. "Durno (two years) was a captain on the team this year who displayed tremendous leadership. Laura Nerber (two years) has blossomed into a basketball player. Gleniesha Ferby (three years) has shown great growth and commitment to getting better. Coretta Davis (three years) had a great career the past two years and this year sustained a season ending ACL injury in the second game. Lauren West (two years) has been a great role player and leader on the team. These girls have been exceptional and this is an extremely difficult group to say goodbye and good luck to this year. They will be missed."