Cal-Mum, Bergen, and Wheatland advance – Alexander, Oakfield, Notre Dame, and Pembroke exit
| BataviasBest.org
Sunday, February 29, 2015
Several teams advanced to the semifinals of the Section V Girls Basketball Tournament last night. Here is what took place on the local scene:
Class C1 – Byron-Bergen 41 Notre Dame 32 – Bees start fast, outlast Irish despite ferocious comeback
In a quarterfinal matchup for the ages on Saturday afternoon, Byron-Bergen was able to defeat Notre Dame by nine in order to advance to this week’s semifinal.
Leading the Bees in victory was Abbie Kelley, who was seemingly unstoppable at times on offense – while also playing sound defense underneath the basket. For the Irish in defeat, Becca Krenzer and Shea Norton played strong, but ND’s struggles against the B-B pressure eventually did them in.
To begin the first half of yesterday’s game, the Bees jumped out to an
immediate 11-0 lead following the first few minutes of play. However, Notre Dame was able to work their way back into things late in the half by cutting the deficit to only six – but a late bucket from B-B increased their lead back to double digits as they led by ten (21-11) going into the break.
Out of the intermission Notre Dame started to make a charge.
Largely due to a strong defensive effort, with 5:00 to go in the second half, the Irish found themselves within one point of the Bees’ – who had been held scoreless since coming out of the locker room. Shortly after working their way within one, Notre Dame was in fact able to take a brief lead at 22-21, but shortly after the B-B offense finally awoke in order to regain the lead themselves with 3:30 left to go in the third.
Throughout the final eleven minutes of the game the action was back and forth, but with about 4:45 remaining Byron-Bergen seized control.
Beginning with back-to-back buckets from Kelley, the Bees would go on
an 8-0 run in order to push the score from 27-27 to 35-27, giving them back a sizable lead. Despite continuing to fight for the remaining 3:00 that were left following the outburst from the Bees, Notre Dame did not have enough to overcome the late surge and ultimately fell by the nine-point margin.
The Bees will now move on to face Gananda in the semifinals on March 3rd.
Check out our Saturday scoreboard for all of the local scores from yesterday’s games as well as stats.
Class C1 – East Rochester 59 Pembroke 41 – Bombers simply too much for the Dragons
The Dragons finished their season on a tough note yesterday afternoon after falling to East Rochester by a large margin during their quarterfinal matchup. Despite hanging around for much of the first half, Pembroke allowed the Bombers to pull away during the second half behind extremely hot shooting from the field.
“They are a tough team,” said Dragons head coach Ron Funke following the game. “They have so many shooters.”
Funke also spoke about how this year went for he and his team during what was his first as head coach of the girls program (previously boys coach at Pembroke).
“It was kind of tough taking over a team that went to the Finals (last year) but we persevered and are ready to improve next year,” he said to wrap-up his comments.
ER will now move on to the semis to face Mynderse where the winner will face whoever comes out of the B-B vs Gananda matchup.
Check out our Saturday scoreboard for all of the local scores from yesterday’s games as well as stats.
Class C2 – Cal-Mum 41 Alexander 35 – Tight battle ends in Raiders advancing to semifinals
A game in which the Trojans led 17-16 at the half ended in heartbreak for the road team, as a quality Cal-Mum team was simply too much for them to overcome in the long run.
“It was a hard-fought, fast-paced game,” said Alexander head coach Marcia Hirsch on Saturday. “The third quarter got us. We missed a couple of layups and some putbacks. We were able to get within one in the fourth but we had to foul to stop the clock and they hit free throws.”
Hirsch also spoke about how despite the difficult defeat she believes her team will rise in response to it.
“It’s a tough loss, but we’ll be back,” she remarked.
Cal-Mum head coach Mike Reed also had plenty to say following the quarterfinal contest between the two (fairly) local teams.
“Alexander did a great job on defense,” he began. “Coach Hirsch had prepared them well and they executed their plan. We made a couple of runs but could not pull away. Going 11/14 in the fourth from the free throw line allowed us to win the game.”
Draining more than half of those clutch free throws was C-M’s Gill Flint, who made 6/6 during the final frame and 4/4 over the final thirty seconds in order to secure the victory for her team.
“Those are the kind of games you expect in Sectionals,” concluded Reed. “We were fortunate to win and advance.”
Next up for the Red Raiders will be Geneseo on March 3rd. Tip off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
Check out our Saturday scoreboard for all of the local scores from yesterday’s games as well as stats.
Class C3 – Wheatland-Chili 35 Oakfield 20 – Wildcats advance to semis
In a crazy bracket that includes an eight, five, two, and six seed in the semifinal games, the Wildcats advanced past the Hornets last night behind strong play throughout the final three quarters.
Wheatland was able to take a 20-10 lead into halftime despite being ahead by only one point after the first quarter, and continued to add to their lead as the game progressed.
“We lost starting guard Hannah Dunlap two minutes into the game today with an ankle injury,” said OA’s head coach Jeff Schlagenhauf following the game. “We also shot the ball poorly for what was really the first time all year.”
He also spoke about his team’s future going forward as they look ahead to the offseason.
“The season was a success, we started two Freshman most of the year until Lauren Reding got hurt and another Freshman was my first player off the bench,” he said as he wrapped-up his thoughts. “Most of the team returns. The future is bright.”
Wheatland will now move on to face Bolivar-Richburg on March 4th.
Check out our Saturday scoreboard for all of the local scores from yesterday’s games as well as stats.
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Stay tuned going forward for continued coverage of Section V Girls Basketball.
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Section V Girls Basketball Tournament Update – A few local teams remain
