East overcomes to defeat South
Lady Flames to make fourth straight A-1 final appearance
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville South's Claire Licata drives past West Seneca East's Jordyn Schenk during the Lady Billies' 44-22 Section VI Class A-1 prequarterfinal win last Tuesday at South. South beat McKinley, 50-48, last Thursday at McKinley in the quarterfinals and lost in the semifinals to Williamsville East, 46-34, last Saturday at Lockport High School.

Williamsville East girls basketball coach Chris Durr was worried heading into his team's Section VI Class A-1 semifinal game with Williamsville South last Saturday at Lockport High School.

His team had just watched top-seeded Kenmore East, who beat Grand Island twice during the regular season, fall to the fourth-seeded Lady Vikings, 35-31. East, a heavy favorite over South, had beaten the Lady Billies twice during the regular season, including a 52-21 thumping on Feb. 11.

Up by five after the third quarter, the third-seeded Lady Flames used its depth to outscore seventh seeded South, 17-10, in the fourth quarter to survive, 46-34.

"This was probably the game that worried me the most," said Durr. "It's an old cliché but it's tough to beat a team for a third time. I knew the game would come down to emotion and knowing that we beat them twice, they had everything to gain and nothing to lose. South was playing with confidence. Those are the scary teams to play."

Amherst Central's Jennifer Newhouse denies Lake Shore's Lindsay John during the Lady Tigers' 48-23 Section VI Class A-1 prequarterfinal win last Tuesday at Amherst. Also pictured is Amherst's Casey McGuire. Amherst went on to lose to Williamsville East, 43-34, last Thursday in the quarterfinals at East.

East (16-6) faces Grand Island (12-8) for the A-1 title at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Center. It's East's fourth consecutive trip to the A-1 finals. They lost to Grand Island three years ago, beat Kenmore East two years ago and lost to Kenmore East last year.

"We played a very difficult schedule this year (Bloomfield, Nazareth, Jamestown, Clarence) and the losses we had prepared us for tough games," said Durr. "If we had played a lighter schedule, maybe we would not be as good as we are. Also, the kids didn't stop working."

South (10-13) led East, 8-6, after the first quarter and if not for a running jumper by Bridget Steele, would have led at halftime. Instead, East had the 18-17 advantage.

"They came to play," said Durr of South. "I got to give them credit. They kind of slapped us around a little bit and took it to us. It was a combination of us not playing great defense against them and them making some shots and us missing some shots and turning the ball over. We probably had six turnovers in the first quarter alone."

"Our emotion and intensity in the first half was outstanding," said South coach Erik Solomon.

Solomon also felt his team caught East off guard by running some different offensive sets that they hadn't seen.

"We were able to get easy baskets off of them," said Solomon.

The game stayed close for most of the second half with East ahead.. The Lady Flames went up, 29-25, after the third quarter and maintained a six-to-eight point advantage for most of the fourth, forcing South to foul late to stop the clock.

East made 11 of 15 free throws in the fourth with six coming down the stretch. Anna Stolzenburg went 4 for 4. Becca Rumschik hit 2 of 2. Steele made 2 of 3.

In addition to the free throws, Durr felt his team's depth was better than South's which allowed his team to grab rebounds in the fourth quarter that they didn't get in the first quarter.

"We ran out of gas," said Solomon. "Lockport's floor is huge so our girls were really winded and East continued to execute its offense."

Durr also credited the win to good team man-to-man defense.

Steele (10 points, five assists) and Neha Bakhai (eight points) held South's two best scorers, Cassiana Hyppolite and Sarah Marcus, to nine and eight points, respectively. Four of Marcus' eight came from free throws.

Taylor Klun hauled in six rebounds and scored six of her eight points in the fourth, including a three-point play.

Becca Rumschik scored six and Jessica Kowalski connected on three free throws.

Stolzenburg led East with 11 points and six rebounds.

Allison Couche (eight points), Joanna Ostroot (five points, seven rebounds) and Claire Licata (four points, six rebounds) also scored for South.

The Lady Flames shot 14 of 43 from the floor; the Lady Billies went 15 of 36. East made 17 of 29 free throws. South connected on 7 of 10 attempts.

East had 14 turnovers while South made 17 mistakes.

Each team won games in the quarterfinals on Thursday to advance. East beat sixth-seeded Amherst, 43-34. South upset second seed McKinley, 50-48.

Amherst's Amy Simon made three jump shots in the first quarter to help give the Lady Tigers an 11-10 first quarter lead.

East's defense responded in the second quarter, holding Amherst to six points while the Lady Flames' offense scored 11 to go into halftime ahead, 22-16. Aleece Burgio scored six of her 13 points in the second quarter. Burgio also finished the game with five rebounds.

"Our defense wasn't where it needed to be in the first quarter," said Durr. "Once they started knocking down shots, they played with confidence and they kind of knocked us around a little bit. It wasn't that we were playing bad. We had open jump shots and weren't knocking them down."

Amherst wouldn't go away. Durr said every time his team had a seven-to-nine point lead, they would get a couple of baskets to draw closer. Amherst went on a 7-2 run to close the third quarter to trail, 29-27. Amherst freshman JV call-up Ashley Fields scored seven of her eight points in the quarter.

East, like they would do against South, pulled ahead in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Tigers, 14-7. Burgio scored five, Stolzenburg tossed in four and Bakhai and Kowalski each hit 1 of 2 free throws down the stretch for East.

Stolzenburg and Kowalski (eight points each), Steele (five points, five assists), Bakhai (five points) and Klun (four points) also contributed for East.

East shot 15 for 41 from the floor and made 13 of 22 free throws.

Amherst got good balanced scoring. Simon scored 11 and Jenny Newhouse pitched in nine.

"Overall, a great effort by both teams," said Amherst coach JoAnna Fildes. "This was a hard fought game that our kids never gave up on."

South trailed McKinley after every quarter (13-12 first; 22-19 second; 36-30 third) but it wasn't until the fourth when the Lady Billies started to make their layups.

"We probably missed 12 uncontested layups in the first half and 20 in the game," said Solomon.

With under a minute remaining, Couche tied the game at 48-48 and a basket from Licata gave South the two-point lead. South missed a couple of free throws in the last 20 seconds but Licata and Hyppolite grabbed offensive rebounds. McKinley got the ball back at half court with one second left but couldn't get a shot off.

"The girls held their composure all game," said Solomon. "We knew the game was in striking distance and we were missing a lot of easy shots. The girls stuck to the game plan and didn't hang their heads and the shots started falling."

Marcus scored eight of her 16 in the fourth. Other scoring from South came from Ostroot (10), Licata (nine), Hyppolite (six), Couche (five) and Heather Caputi and Molly Hofher (two each).

Shaquita Smith (14 points) and Javonna Kincannon (12 points) were in double figures for McKinley.

South opened its week with a 44-22 prequarterfinal win over 10th-seed West Seneca East last Tuesday at South.

South's offense got off to a slow start, leading, 9-4, after the first quarter and, 16-11, at halftime but got it together in the second half, going ahead, 31-16, after the third quarter and outscoring the Lady Trojans, 13-6, in the fourth.

Marcus led all scorers with 16 points. Couche scored all 10 of her points in the second half. She also grabbed seven rebounds.

"She attacked the glass and got several put backs," said Solomon. "She really controlled the game."

Licata (six points, seven rebounds), Hofher and Hyppolite (four each) and Caputi and Brittany Marranco (two each) also scored for the Lady Billies.

South shot 18 of 53 from the field and made 6 of 8 free throws.

Amherst, seeded sixth, toppled 11th-seed Lake Shore, 48-23, in a prequarterfinal game last Tuesday at Amherst.

The Lady Tigers had a 21-13 advantage at halftime but went on a 12-3 run in the third quarter and outscored Lake Shore, 15-7, in the fourth.

"Lake Shore plays a very scrappy game and we held our composure throughout the four quarters," said Fildes.

Fields started her varsity career off with a great night with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Newhouse scored 10, Simon pitched in seven and senior Elana Korn had six.

Amherst finishes 13-9. "Overall, it was an exciting season," said Fildes. "After my fifth season of coaching varsity basketball, I would have to say this team is one of the hardest working group of student-athletes. They never gave up on anything. I commend them for their efforts and an outstanding season."

Amherst graduates five seniors - co-captains, guard Daisy Timlin and guard/forward Amy Simon (averaged seven points, four rebounds), center Jenny Newhouse (averaged 10.5 points and eight rebounds, blocked 75 shots); forward Elana Korn (averaged six points and four rebounds) and guard Casey Martin (team-best 71 percent from free throw line, averaged three points and 47 percent from three-point range).

The team returns junior guard Eva Lankes (second on team in total points, 166; led team in steals), junior forward Kaelyn Sullivan and sophomore guards Rachel Schepart, Casey McGuire (averaged three points, led team in assists) and Jequana Roberts (averaged 11 points).

"We look forward to the underclassmen to step right in next season," said Fildes. "With the addition of some help from the JV program (16-4 this season) it looks like the potential to continue our success next winter."