Long-range three leads to end of North's season
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Ninth-seeded Williamsville North gave top-seed Jamestown everything they could handle through the first 23:57 of the teams' Section VI Class AA girls basketball showdown last Thursday at Jamestown.

But a long-range shot at the end of the third quarter led to a Lady Red Raider run in the fourth quarter that the Lady Spartans couldn't overcome.

Trailing 42-39 with three seconds remaining in the third quarter, North turned over the ball at half court and Jamestown's Maggie Dalton launched a half-court trey to extend the lead to 45-39.

Jamestown (19-2) used the shot as momentum, outscoring North, 18-2, in the fourth to win, 63-41.

"I think we ran out of gas in the fourth quarter," said North coach Mike Del Valle. "And when you get tired, your shots fall short. And we got outrebounded."

Jamestown faced fourth-seed Clarence in the AA semifinals on Tuesday at Williamsville East.

Eighth-grader Nikki Attea scored the only two points for North in the fourth. Attea finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

North trailed Jamestown, 16-15, after the first quarter, and 31-21, at halftime, but went on a 12-3 run to start the third quarter to cut the deficit to 34-33. A three-point play by Jamestown's Nikki Frederickson, an inside shot by teammate Erinne Cunningham, and a three-pointer by Frederickson put Jamestown ahead 42-35. North battled back with baskets by Katie Kubala and Maddi Genovese. Then came Dalton's shot.

North was down by 12 with two minutes remaining when Del Valle cleared the bench to make sure every player who dressed saw action.

Leslie Ahern, the only senior on North, led the Lady Spartans with 11 points. Kubala chipped in 10.

Freshman point guard Corrin Genovese scored four points but did not have many shot attempts because she was at half court most of the time trying to break Jamestown's press, said Del Valle. Genovese did block four shots, steal three passes and make three assists.

Allie Ahern added four points. Maddi Genovese scored two points. Megan Klansky tossed in two points and grabbed nine rebounds.

North committed 23 turnovers. North only went the free throw line four times, making three. Jamestown hit five of eight attempts.

Frederickson killed North, scoring 27 points on 13 of 16 shooting. She also had 15 rebounds and three steals. Dalton scored 13, including three threes, and dished out six assists. Cunningham hit three threes for nine points. She added eight rebounds, five steals and four assists.

It was the third time North and Jamestown met this season. Jamestown won both earlier meetings.

To face Jamestown, North downed eighth-seed Frontier, 65-58, in the prequarterfinals last Tuesday at Frontier. Del Valle said the 65 points was a season-high.

North split games with Frontier during the regular season.

The Lady Spartans led after every quarter, going ahead, 18-10, after the first quarter, 27-26, at halftime, and 45-36, after the third quarter.

Corrin Genovese battled through the flu to score 10 of her 16 points in the third quarter. She also handed out five assists and made five steals.

"Corrin was the difference maker," said Del Valle. "She gave their point guard fits so they had to pull off their press and go to half court."

Leslie Ahern led all scorers with 17 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Maddi Genovese also was in double figures with 11.

North made eight threes (Corrin Genovese and Leslie Ahern, three; Maddi Genovese, two). Five of the threes were made in the first half.

Eight Lady Spartans scored. In addition to the points scored from Leslie Ahern, Corrin Genovese, and Maddi Genovese, Allie Ahern scored nine, Attea and Emily Helwig each had four and Klansky and Kubala each scored two. Attea also hauled in seven rebounds.

"It was a total team win," said Del Valle. "Everyone contributed and we needed it because we were in foul trouble. (Jamestown made 20 of 30 free throw attempts). We also moved and passed the ball well."

Jordyn Eckman led Frontier with 14 points.

North finishes 10-12. "It's not where we want to be," said Del Valle. "A lot of our losses were close games."