(Williamsville East wins 40th Annual Rotary Club of Lockport Tournament)
Williamsville East 69, St. Joe's 61
Following several years of competition in the annual Rotary Club of Lockport Tournament to open the season, the Flames finally have some hardware to bring back to Williamsville. Behind a strong team performance with plenty of ball movement, some sharp shooting, and a big third quarter, Williamsville East improved to 2-0 and has reason to believe there's plenty more victories to be expected in the coming months.
Cal Shifflet was named Tournament MVP following his team-high 20 points, a consistent performance throughout on a combination of shooting, drives, and good old fashioned hard work in the paint. Cameron Williams added 12 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team, while Brian Comerford turned in a gritty effort at both ends and scored 11 points.
Shifflet's traditional three-point play with 15 seconds left in the first half answered six straight points scored by St. Joe's and gave the Flames a 30-28 lead at halftime. Patrick Ranallo banged a pair of triples to get the second half rolling for the Flames, who opened on a 14-3 run coming out of the break to take a 44-31 lead midway through the third quarter. After the Marauders cut the deficit to 44-37 with six straight points, Williamsville East closed the third stanza off with another burst, this time a 10-1 run, good for a 54-38 lead through three quarters.
"We talk about being selfless all the time," Flames coach RJ Killinger said. "I told them on any given night, anyone could have double figures and that's shown the last two nights here. We've got guys that hustle, we've got guys willing to do the dirty work, and we're an excellent shooting team...as long as we're passing the ball."
St. Joe's didn't fold and certainly made things interesting down the stretch, knocking down four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Jeremy Johnson drilled back-to-back triples as part of a 10-0 stretch for St. Joe's that cut the Flames' lead to 57-51 midway through the fourth quarter. After a score from Williamsville East's Comerford, Jack Capen stuck his fourth long-range bomb of the game to make it 59-54. However, Comerford came right back with his own trey, and the Marauders could never get any closer.
Capen was outstanding in the game and kept the Marauders afloat in the first half, scoring 22 of his team's 28 points. The senior leader at St. Joe's finished the contest with both a game and tournament high 33 points.
St. Joe's 13 - 15 - 10 - 23 = 61
Will East 12 - 18 - 24 - 15 = 69
Point Totals
Will East: Cal Shifflet 20, Cameron Williams 12, Brian Comerford 11, Patrick Ranallo 8, Conner Williams 6, Sean Keenan 6, Daniel Doyle 5, Nicholas Kieffer 1
St. Joe's: Jack Capen 33, Jeremy Johnson 7, Will Ostrowski 6, Kevin Durkin 5, Santino Martone 3, Keith Norward 3, Pat McCann 2, Amari Gordon 2
**** **** ****
Lockport 54, I-Prep 51
A competitive first game became extra in the final quarter. After five lead changes through the first three quarters that mostly saw the Lions holding an advantage, back-and-forth things went in the final stanza. Seven lead changes over the game's final eight minutes had fans on the edge of their seats and they were rewarded with a great ending. Tied at 51-51, Lockport had one final possession to try keeping the contest from an extra session and delivered.
Devon Darrell, who led his team with 15 points, held the ball as the seconds ticked off the clock. As the final numbers ticked away, he made his move, coming off a screen and finding Torree Cheatom who had slipped into the right corner. Cheatom let a 3-pointer fly and buried it as time expired.
"We wanted the last shot with a chance to rebound with five seconds to go," Lockport coach Dave Gilson said. "Torree came through when we needed him to."
Luke Lawrence turned in a solid performance for Lockport, putting in work in the paint and finishing with 13 points. Devin Leatherman added 12 points in the win for the Lions and was given the hustle award following the tournament for the energy and defense he brought over the last two nights.
Daniel Santiago led the Presidents with a team-high 15 points, while Alex Pagan added 10 points in the loss.
I-Prep 10 - 16 - 12 - 13 = 51
Lockport 14 - 13 - 17 - 10 = 54
Point Totals
Lockport: Devon Darrell 15, Luke Lawrence 13, Devin Leatherman 12, Tivon White 6, Torree Cheatham 5, Rashaun Johnson 2, Isiah Johnson 1
I-Prep: Daniel Santiago 15, Alex Pagan 10, Apache Ruiz 6, Keonte Smith 6, Saequon Carlock 4, Orlando Rojas 4, Antonio Tracy 4, Mazion Bates 2
All-Tournament Team:
Cameron Williams - Will East
Jack Capen - St. Joe's
Jeremy Johnson - St. Joe's
Devon Darrell - Lockport
Daniel Santiago - I-Prep
Tournament MVP: Cal Shifflet - Williamsville East
-centercourt
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