Sacred Heart's Watson named Knights' MVP
Girls all-star basketball
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter

Sweet Home's Gleniesha Ferby focuses on the basket while getting ready to take a shot during the Knights' 93-62 win over the Lions in the second game of Saturday's 10th annual Cheektowaga Lions Senior High School Ladies Basketball Classic. Photo by Patrick McPartland Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Both winning teams at Saturday's 10th annual Cheektowaga Lions Senior High School Ladies Basketball Classic relied a great deal on their post play, so it was no surprise that John F. Kennedy's Melissa Schultz and Sacred Heart's Krystal Watson were named their respective squads' Most Valuable Player.

Schultz set the tone for solid play down low in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Cheektowaga Central, scoring 16 points and pulling down five rebounds to push the Justinettes to an 83-70 win over the Lionesses, and Watson took that effort to another level by scoring 25 points, pulling down 11 rebounds, blocking two shots and stealing the ball twice in the Knights' 93-62 conquest of the Lions.

"I just came out to play, so I was surprised (to be named MVP)," Schultz said. "I just wanted our team to win, and I wanted to show that I can play basketball."

Sacred Heart's Samantha Arena gets ready to soar towards the basket for a layup attempt during Knights' 93-62 win over the Lions in the second game of Saturday's 10th annual Cheektowaga Lions Senior High School Ladies Basketball Classic. Arena's high school teammate Krystal Watson was tabbed the Knights' MVP. Photo by Patrick McPartland Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Schultz did more than just show she can play basketball - she showed she can dominate down low despite being listed at just 5-foot-6. Schultz powered her way through the paint all night and even though she didn't have as many rebounds as she did during any single game of her career, she was active under the basket every second she was on the floor.

Schultz and her Justinettes teammates were wise to use their size advantage - the Justinettes had four players taller than the Lionesses' tallest player, 5-9 Tori Rebman from Immaculata - especially after the smaller and quicker Lionesses ran out to an early lead. Knowing that they couldn't pound the ball inside against a much taller lineup, Lionesses coaches Matt LaRoach of Sweet Home and Chris Koselny of East Aurora decided to play the game at an extremely quick tempo.

The strategy worked for the Lionesses early as they got out to a 15-8 lead early, but the Justinettes methodically chipped away at the Lionesses' lead until they took their first lead with 7:10 to play in the opening half, 26-25. From that point on, the Justinettes went on a 20-10 scoring streak, scoring with jumpers, putback baskets, free throws, three pointers, and fast-break layups to take a 46-35 lead at the half.

"When we saw the roster, we knew we were a pretty small team, so we tried to use that to our advantage," Koselny said. "Using our speed and shooting worked out for us early, but then when we got cold a little bit and they started really rebounding well, it wasn't working as well for us. Overall though, our kids played really well. It was nice to try and throw a group of talented players together and see what works best."

The Justinettes, seeing what worked in the first half, continued to work the ball down low or, at the very least, hit the offensive boards to get multiple looks per possession in the second half to the tune of a 12-4 run over the first five minutes of the second half. The Justinettes' 17-point lead only changed in slight increments the rest of the way as the Lionesses were able to close the gap to just 12 points on multiple occasions.

"We definitely won the game on the offensive boards," St. Mary's of Lancaster head coach and Justinettes co-coach Keith Junik said. "When you get 10 to 15 extra shots in the game, you're going to make a lot more shots. We just did a really nice job limiting their second chances and taking advantage of ours."

Part of the Lionesses' problems in pulling any closer than 12 points came at the free throw line, where they made just 6-of-20 shots in the second half after going 6-of-10 in the first half.

"One thing you can't blame on the coach is free throw shooting, and that's something that really hurt us," Koselny said. "We missed six in a row at one point and they had made seven or eight to keep their lead going."

Besides Schultz, the Justinettes had three other players finish in double figures, including Clarence's Holly Travis (14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, one steal) and Maryvale's Joey Ruderman (11 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists), while East Aurora's Sarah Tarrantino (four rebounds, three assists, two steals) and Cheektowaga's Margo Pagano (five rebounds, two assists, one steal) each added six points. Sweet Home's Nadio Durno added three points, six rebounds and a block.

"It's exciting to be around so much talent," Junik said. "You could see from the very first practice that they just all clicked. The girls could all shoot, could all dribble and just do whatever they wanted to on the court."

Cheektowaga's Taylor Pagano, Margo's twin sister, led the Lionesses' efforts with 16 points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist, while team MVP Elisha Darby of Allegany-Limestone added 13 points and seven rebounds. Iroquois' Rachel Sluberski (11 points, three rebounds, two steals) also finished in double figures, while Cardinal O'Hara's Shaniqua Ray (nine points, two rebounds, two steals) just missed double figures.

Kenmore East's Cheryl Hartinger (two points, three rebounds) and JFK's Krissy Wesolowski (one point, four rebounds, one steal) also played for the Lionesses.

"It was kind of weird because I was wanting to pass to her every once in a while," Taylor Pagano said of playing against her sister. "It was good though. We didn't really want to be guarding each other though. We just wanted to keep things even."

The second game saw the Knights and Lions trading the lead back and forth six times in the first 10:30 before the Knights finally took control for good, 19-18, on a basket by East Aurora's Jessica Tarrantino (16 points, four rebounds, two steals). The Knights pushed their lead to 36-21 with 3:50 to play in the first half before three consecutive three-point baskets by the Lions trimmed the lead to 36-30.

The Lions, who outscored the Knights 17-6 over those last four minutes, used two more three pointers before the end of the first half to pull within four points at the half, 42-38.

"We let a 15-point lead slip at the end of the first half due to the fact that the other team got red hot behind the three-point line, so we knew we had to close out harder and have girls off the ball start helping when they drove to the basket in the second half," Maryvale head coach and Knights co-coach Dean Ramirez said. "We just took the philosophy of letting each girl have the opportunity to exhibit what they are good at doing, to let them go out there and have fun."

That fun included crashing the boards for the Knights in general and for Watson in particular. Watson, who had six of the Knights' points in their 8-1 run to open the second half, had six of her boards in the second half. She also showed that she's not a one-dimensional player, taking a trip out of the post to nail a three pointer from dead on that gave her team a 70-52 lead with about seven minutes to play in regulation.

"Everybody in those games has talent, so it was an honor to be noted as the MVP," Watson said. "You just go out and play your hardest, you don't really worry about the score or how many points you have. I know I wouldn't have had a lot of the game I did if it wasn't for my teammates. But, it's always a lot easier to have fun when you're just messing around."

East Aurora's Ashley Gallagher (10 points, eight rebounds) also scored in double figures for the Knights, while Iroquois' Grace Cunningham (three rebounds, two assists, one steal) and Sacred Heart's Samantha Arena (five steals, three rebounds) each added eight points. Clarence's Katie Lancellotti chipped in with six points, four rebounds and a block, while Sweet Home's Gleniesha Ferby added two points, four rebounds and a steal.

St. Mary's of Lancaster's Katie Kapanek was held scoreless, but she did contribute four rebounds, a steal and a block.

Lions MVP Katie Medina of Hamburg (12) was her team's lone scorer in double figures. Maryvale's Toni Caruso chipped in with seven points, two rebounds and a steal, while Orchard Park's Jill Fairchild added six points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Kenmore East's Jazmine Bell (one rebound) and Clarence's Brianna Nemmer (six rebounds, two blocks) each added two points.

The games will be broadcast on Time Warner Cable Sports Network's channel 13 at noon and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 23, and at 8 p.m. Monday, March 24.