Class B2 semifinal - Cassadaga Valley 57, CSAT 49
The Cougars had four players finish with double figure scoring, led by Dustin Schauman's 15 points. A basket by Schauman with two minutes remaining in the first quarter gave his team a 12-10 lead, and Cassagaga Valley would never trail the rest of the way. The win sets up a meeting with the winner of tonight's contest between Wilson and Cleveland Hill, to determine the champion of Class B2 in Section VI.
CSAT was able to tie the game once in the second quarter and trailed 31-28 at halftime. The Cougars' Dalton Walsh connected on a 3-pointer as the third quarter closed out to give his team its largest lead, 46-36. CSAT attempted to mount a comeback in the final quarter and got to within four points. However, on the ensuing possesion, Robert Glover converted a traditional three-point play, before getting back to the line to sink a pair, putting the game away for Cassadaga Valley.
Class B1 semifinal - Lackawanna 48, Dunkirk 39
The most anticipated game of the evening pitted undefeated Dunkirk against a Lackawanna team that entered the game with a 12-7 record. The Steelers, who won a Class B state title in 2006, have made a second home out of Buffalo State with several years of consecutive appearances. The Marauders were the complete opposite, coming from relative obscurity in high school basketball circles. However, coming into the game, Dunkirk had won its previous six games by an average margin of 45 points.
The bright lights at Buffalo State quickly blinded the Marauders, who found themselves down 7-0 to Lackawanna. Dunkirk finally got onto the scoreboard at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter, but less than two minutes later, leading scorer Vincent Bomasuto went to the bench with his third personal foul. With their leader on the bench, the Marauders were able to battle back, and took a 14-13 lead in the second quarter on a basket from junior Kevin Holmes. But as the Dunkirk fans rejoiced that their team was finally in front, Lackawanna's Christian Cheatom came right back down and answered with a score, and Dunkirk would trail the rest of the game.
Despite sitting Bomasuto until the final minute of the first half, Dunkirk only trailed 21-18 at halftime. But even when he was in, the Steelers smothered him and made him work just to touch the ball. After a 47 point performance in the quarterfinals on Friday night, Bomasuto didn't even score his first basket until 49 seconds remained in the third quarter, closing the gap to 31-30. Once again, it was Cheatom who responded with a three-point play followed by another basket to put the Steelers up 36-30 as the teams headed into the fourth.
After Cheatom opened the scoring in the final quarter, Bomasuto got the Marauder fans going again when he pulled up and canned a 3-pointer to make the score 38-33. But after milking 34 seconds off the clock, Lackawanna senior Dondre Alexander calmly stepped back, elevated, and drilled a '3' of his own as the shot clock buzzer rang. A minute later, a wild series under the basket ended with a basket by Cheatom, and the Steelers had built their largest lead of the game, 44-33, with just over four minutes to play.
Even as the game was on the line in the final minutes, it was the seasoned Steelers who played harder, played smarter, and seemed to want it more. I'm sure it helped that the team was no stranger to fierce competition, while the opposite was true for Dunkirk.
Dunkirk head coach Jerome Moss was quoted after the game by the Buffalo News, saying "That hasn't happened all year and it was strange for it to happen now", referring to his team's inability to score more. Maybe I can help explain this strange occurence. The Steelers nonleague schedule consisted of Orchard Park (AA), Frontier (AA), St. Joe's (MMAA - Class A), St. Francis (MMAA - Class A), Lafayette (A2), and Batavia (A2). Dunkirk used its six nonleague opportunities to schedule six Class C teams: two games with Oracle Charter, two against Maritime Charter, Frewsburg, and Westfield. One fan remarked after the game, "they scheduled to go undefeated, not to win the section". Lackawanna was just 2-4 in nonleague games, while Dunkirk rolled in all six by an average margin of 33 points. My question for Dunkirk, how'd that scheduling work for you?
Cheatom finished with a game-high 19 points, while Alexander scored 15 points. Holmes led Dunkirk as the only Marauder in double figures with 15 points.
Class B1 semifinal - Newfane 63, Tonawanda 38
Dan Hambruch scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the first quarter to help his Panthers race out to a 17-6 lead. Hambruch opened the game with a 3-pointer, one of three in the first, and five total for the game. Newfane led the entire game, and stretched its lead to 31-18 at halftime, thanks to nine second quarter points from Rohn Pierce.
The Panthers put together a pair of 8-0 runs in the third quarter to extend their lead to 45-25 after three quarters. Hambruch opened the final quarter with a basket and a soaring rejection of a Warrior fast break, that set him up for his fifth 3-pointer of the game. The score reached 56-29 midway through the fourth quarter, when the Panther reserves began entering the game. Newfane's student section, "The Blue Zone" chanted "we want Colin", referring to beloved senior Colin Ferington. They got their wish, and Ferington put the ball in the basket upon entering the game.
It was a very strong showing for Newfane. They defended Tonawanda extremely well, particularly Warrior big guns Jesse Lalka and Clayton Hess. Lalka, the team's leading scorer was held to just seven points. Hess led Tonawanda with 15 points. Pierce finished with 16 points in the win.
Lackawanna will now face Newfane for the Class B1 championship on Saturday, 1:45 pm, at Buffalo State.
Let us know what you thought in the comments section below.
-centercourt
Great win by Newfane. Great play by Hambruch and Pierce of course...but, it was the team play, tough defense, and depth that pulls this team away from the pack.
Lackawanna/Dunkirk game was interesting. Lackawanna played well, but Dunkirk looked a bit shocked the whole game. It seemed that they were used to Bomasuto having lots of open looks....and when he didn't get them (due to some nice faceguarding and his own foul trouble), they had no answer. I think they paid for playing a soft schedule. They played to go undefeated in the regular season, not to go far in sectionals. You HAVE to play tough teams in tournaments to prepare you for that atmosphere.
Lackawanna plays uptempo - defensive rebounds find their way to #3 quickly to get them out on the break...Cheatom is a good rebounder and slasher. I was impressed with them, but still think Newfane has the edge Saturday.
Fun time of the year, that's for sure.
Posted by: The Phoenix | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 07:35 AM