East beats Williamsville South in an instant classic

 

Who says lightning can't strike twice?  I know the Billies aren't saying it.  Two years ago at Buffalo State, Williamsville South led its Yale Cup opponent McKinley, 63-61.  With just six seconds on the clock, Mansa Habeeb banked in the game-tying shot and two overtimes later, the Billies lost an instant classic.

 

Fast forward two years and you have the Billies leading another Yale Cup opponent, this time East High, at Buffalo State.  With Williamsville South up 61-58 and just eight seconds left on the clock, Tremmell Fisher banked a game-tying 3-pointer in for the Panthers and two overtimes later, the Billies found themselves on the wrong end of another instant classic.

 

Here's how it all unfolded:

 

Phil Stasiak opened the game by draining a 3-pointer and had the first five points of the game.  East finished the quarter on a 6-0 run, including a basket at the buzzer from Andre Jackson. 

End of the 1st quarter - East 17, Williamsville South 11

 

The Billies trailed the entire second quarter and were down by eight points before Joe Licata hit his second 3-pointer of the game with just four seconds left in the half.

Halftime - East 31, Williamsville South 26

 

The third quarter was when things really began heating up.  Licata and Jackson first traded buckets, and then the 3-pointers started flying.  Five straight fell between the two teams in a span of 1:39 - Licata and Jackson again traded, then Stasiak hit a pair between another from Licata.  The three-point barrage sparked a 12-0 run that put South in front 43-36.  Another series of treys was exchanged at the end of the quarter, with one from Licata sandwiched between a pair from Jackson.

End of the 3rd quarter - Williamsville South 46, East 45

 

Midway through the fourth quarter with the game tied 50-50, the Billies went on an 11-2 run and led 61-52 with just 2:37 remaining in regulation.  Jackson scored the next two field goals, followed by two free throws from Fisher with 1:01 on the clock, making it 61-58.  With 18 seconds left, East inbounded and began passing around the perimeter, looking for an open three.  As the seconds ticked down, Fisher got the ball, pulled up over his defender, and banked in a prayer that would send the game to OT.

End of regulation - East 61, Williamsville South 61

 

After scoring the first four points for his team in the extra session, Fisher fouled out.  Despite not having its leader, East was able to take a 69-64 lead on a putback from Jason McDaniel with 59 seconds left in the first OT.  With eight seconds to go, Licata dropped his fifth 3-pointer of the game to pull South within a point.  After East missed from the line, the Billies gave it to Stasiak, who was fouled on a drive to the basket with 1.3 seconds left.  After missing the first, Stasiak connected on the second.

End of the 1st overtime - East 70, Williamsville South 70

 

The Panthers outscored Williamsville South 12-3 during the first three minutes of the second overtime.  They connected on eight of 12 free throws in the fianl session on their way to a 19-point outout over the final four minutes, led by six points from Chris Boyd.

Final Score after double overtime - East 89, Williamsville South 80

 

The game saw a combined 18 3-pointers and 70 free throws attempted.

 

Jackson led East with 24 points, Boyd scored 21, and Fisher finished with 19 points.

 

Stasiak's career ended with a game-high 29 point effort, while Licata scored 25 points.

 

 

 -centercourt

Comments

[StateChamps2003]

Here are my two cents:

In a week that has shown some rather sloppy and rather un-eventful basketball for the most part, it was great to finally see a game that was worthy of a sectional final.

I thought both teams played their hearts out, especially O'Connell, Fisher and Stasiak. Fisher did everything from bringing the ball up the court and setting up the offense to banging down low in the post. O'Connell had absolutely no fear of going to the hoop and seemed like every time he had the ball he was going to drive to the hoop. Stasiak's great play on both ends of the floor were outstanding and after the way South were hitting their FTs, I thought for sure the game was over when he was going to the line for 2 when down by one.

Licata probably started the game at least 0-6 from 3s in what seemed like open shots. It wasn't until he started to shoot off balance, in your face threes did he start to catch on fire. I also noticed that he is a pretty one-dimensional basketball player. He's very slow on defense and could not for the life of him stay in front of his man in the half court set. He's definitely a pocket passer.

Now for the refs. This was bothering me the whole game. I've never seen a sectional final game officiated so close like that in my life. There were more touchy fouls than I would have liked to see and there were too many "make up" calls as a result. I will say that the foul on Stasiak at the end of the first overtime was the correct call.

I'll have to agree with Jack Herlan in a different post in that I think Aquinas will handle East pretty easily.

[Brew]

Fisher was absolutely sensational. Extremely impressed by him. 1st team all wny.
Oconnell plays with a ton of passion and is a great defender. He seems to drive every time because he can't shoot. Honorable mention all wny.
Stasiak played his heart out. Gutsy, all around great performance. Best I have seen him shoot in my 3 south games this year. 2nd or 3rd team all wny.
Licata is a sensational shooter but certainly a one trick pony who is not the quickest and struggles on defense. Honorable mention all wny.