B U F F A L O N E W S
The biggest upset of the Section VI Tournament to date belongs to Grand Island. The No. 4 seed Vikings knocked off No. 1 seed Kenmore East, 35-31, in Saturday’s Section VI Class A-1 semifinal played at Lockport.
Grand Island was staring at a 30-19 deficit after three quarters when they pulled off the improbable — outscoring Kenmore East, 16-1, in the fourth quarter.
“They never stopped believing,” said GI coach Jenepher Banker. “We were missing some easy baskets early. They just kept playing hard. It’s really a pretty young team and they’ve gotten and better as season has gone on.”
Five different players scored for Grand Island in the fourth quarter led by Val Griffith, who had seven of her 15. GI stayed in a zone throughout the fourth and held on for the win.
Kenmore East (18-3), last year’s Class A-1 champions, were led by senior Jazmine Bell’s0 points. East shared the Niagara Frontier League title with Lockport this season while GI finished in fourth place.
Williamsville East earned its fourth straight appearance in the title game with a 46-34 win over stubborn Williamsville South. East beat South twice in ECIC II, 53-37 and 52-21, but this game was much tighter. The Flames led just, 18-17, at halftime.
“South came out fired up. We got slapped in the face with their intensity and emotion in the first half,” said East coach Chris Durr. “They were coming off two nice playoff victories, including the upset over McKinley.”
East outscored South, 17-10, in the fourth quarter as Taylor Klun netted six of her eight points. The Flames (16-6) were led by Anna Stolzenburg with 11 points. Bridget Steele added 10.
Class A-2 semis: Joelle Connelly had 31 points, bringing her within 59 of the all-time scoring record in Western New York, as Pioneer beat Maryvale, 75-36. Connelly also had 14 rebounds, seven blocks and five assists. Ashling Flannery added 15 points and Jenna Crabb had 10 for the Panthers, who held a commanding 43-16 lead at halftime.
Olivia Gmerek had 19 points for the Flyers, who finish 15-7.
Ashley Gallagher had one of her biggest games of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds as East Aurora cruised with a 47-19 win over Springville. Alicia Sweet had 13 points and 12 boards.
The Blue Devils allowed just five second-half points.
The A-2 final will include the much-anticipated matchup between Pioneer (21-1) and East Aurora (19-4) on Thursday at ECC Flickinger Center.
Class B-1 semis: Rachel Lowry and Rachel Bantleman had 12 points each and Alicia Stebbins added 11 as Olean advanced with a 50-29 win over Southwestern.
Fredonia beat Medina, 44-26, as Mary Kate Bongiovanni had 15 points and four assists, Grace Moore 14 points and Alison Stoll 10 rebounds.
Class B-2 semis: Kenmore East wasn’t the only No. 1 seed to fall in the semifinals. Liz DeWaters scored seven of her 15 in the second quarter of Roy- Hart’s 42-32 win over top seed City Honors. . . . Falconer used an 11-2 third quarter to break open a close game in a 40-29 win over Wilson. Skylar Carlson had 14 points while Aubry Jones had 13 rebounds for the Falcons.
Kacie George got the ball on the wing and scored a layup with two seconds left as Holland edged Silver Creek, 52-50. Kate Broom had 16 points and eight steals and George finished with five assists and four steals. Silver Creek got 14 points each from Brittany Tallchief and Sammy Williams.
Class C-1 semis: Lindsay Stoddard scored eight of her 16 points in the decisive third quarter as Allegany- Limestone advanced to its sixth straight final, 57-40, over Salamanca. The teams split during the regular season, but a 20-6 second quarter helped the Gators pull away in this one. Elisha Darby led the Gators with 19 points. Stoddard also had seven assists and eight steals and Caitlin Martin had 12 points.
Allegany-Limestone graduated all its starters from last year’s team that won Class B-1.
The team started the season 4-5, but has gone 10-3 since. Coach Frank Martin decribed the win over Salamanca as the best game his team has played all season.
Class C-2: Samantha Kopp had the usual monster game, recording 33 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocks as Franklinville used a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter to pull away from Randolph, 53-45. Franklinville had a 36-35 lead at the time of the run. Morgan Johnson added seven assists and six points for the winners.
Class D quarters: Top-seed Sherman advanced with a 56-27 win over Panama as Michelle Persons (15 points, five steals), Beth Gribble (14 points, six rebounds, six steals) and Rachel Ottaway (11 points, seven rebounds) had fine all-around games in the win.
Clymer eliminated Pine Valley, 52-45, as Tara Bailey had 22 points, nine rebounds, four steals and four assists, while Andrea Lictus 14 points and eight rebounds. The Lady Panthers, who finish 16-5, got nine points from Nikole Lindquist.
West Valley advanced to the semis with a 44-36 win over Forestville as Chelsye Wells recorded 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Monsignor Martin: Holy Angels continued its sizzling three-point shooting, canning five of its seven for the game in the opening five minutes as the Angels routed Mount St. Mary, 50-34, in a prequarterfinal game played at Niagara University.
Jessie Yee, who set a school-record with seven treys in her last game, had four more three-pointers and 14 points, while Katie Gibbins finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Marissa Pullo made six steals and set the Holy Angels record for steals in a season with 159, breaking the old mark of 154 set by Beth Lenz.
The Angels, who sank 13 treys as a team in their last game — a two-point win over defending playoff champ Mount Mercy — led by 25-7 after the first quarter.