Girls basketball

Manor girls upset defending champs Lady Lions

Manor beats Eldred in Lady Yellowjackets’ Tourney championship game

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY - The 2006-07 season got underway with a thriller as Livingston Manor shook off its early rust to defeat Chapel Field, Section IX’s most successful team of last season, 49-44 in overtime.

For Manor coach Kevin Clifford, a better start to the young season could not have been scripted. His team, which worked relentlessly during summer league and has been going full tilt in practice, used an effective press and trapping defense to disrupt the Lady Lions, who came out cold and missed a number of lay ups early on.

As it was, Chapel Field did get out to an early 7-1 first-quarter lead behind the shooting of Lyndi Fielitz and Katie Oskam.

Manor’s three-and-a-half-minute drought ended with a free throw by eighth grader Marissa Diescher, who would go on to become the Lady Wildcats leading scorer with 12 points, including five in overtime.

Both teams played better in the second quarter, as Manor got better ball rotation and looked for seams in the Lady Lions’ zone defense. Jackie Trotti netted five quick points, fueled by one of Chapel Field’s five second-quarter turnovers, by icing a three-pointer and a nice jumper to bring Manor with two at 8-6. Trotti would repeat that three-two combination in the third quarter on her way to a nine-point night.

Both teams had turnover woes in the first half with Manor coughing it up 12 times, and Chapel Field surrendering the rock 10 times.

Chapel Field led 16-10 at the half, but Coach Sal Patane was clearly not pleased with his team’s performance, including its two-for-six shooting from the free throw line.

Clifford urged his team into stepping up its help defense. A student of the game, he has seen effective use of help, trap and press from the likes of teams at Sullivan West and other successful programs around the section.

The tactic paid off as Chapel Field failed to get good looks at the basket. At times, the Lady Lion guards would find themselves harried and cut off from the flow by Manor’s aggressive defense.

Grace Hodge, Chapel Field’s leading scorer, struggled from the charity stripe, hitting only two-of-six in the third quarter. Oskam was held scoreless in the third frame as Manor kept it close at 28-21 by quarter’s end.

Rose Curtis and Desirae Dutcher raised their level of play in the fourth quarter and contributed six points apiece. Manor went on an 8-3 run and Curtis tied the game at 31-all with 4:51 remaining.

Oskam answered with a pair from the charity stripe, but it was Bionca Colton who gave the Lady Wildcats their first lead of the night by hitting one-of-two from the line. A neat swing of the ball from Trotti to Curtis to Diescher netted two more, but Hodge and Fielitz wrested the lead back. Megan Ellison put Manor in front by hitting one-of-two from the line, but Hodge tied it by doing the same and propelled the game into overtime with the teams knotted at 39-all.

Diescher’s five points in overtime were highlighted by a steal and a quick transition bucket, but it was a Curtis three-pointer that tied the game up after Chapel Field got the early lead.

That shot sent the Wildcat bench into a frenzy and seemed to unhinge the Lady Lions. Manor (1-0) went on to post the 49-44 upset over Chapel Field (0-1). For Chapel Field, a team that has worked hard to prepare for this season, an early loss may prove to be just the tonic that Patane needs to remind his team that this is a new season and the slate has been wiped clean.

The Lady Lions ended their storied run of 2005-06 with a loss to South Kortright in the state final but many expect this year’s team to do well despite the loss of a number of key players, including standouts Jessica Wiejak and Bethany Sgandurra. Hodge, Oskam and Kiersten Kuperus were part of last year’s great run. Manor clearly placed itself in the mix among the Class D contenders that will include Chapel Field, S.S. Seward, Eldred and John A. Coleman Catholic.

The Lady Wildcats broke open a close game with a big third-quarter run to defeat Eldred in the Eldred tournament championship game by the score of 57-31. Riding the scoring of Diescher, who posted 16 points in the win, coupled with 14 from Rose Curtis and 12 from Bionca Colton, Livingston Manor (2-0) made short work of Eldred (1-1), who lost standout guard Jessica Bisland to a knee injury in the tourney opener versus Liberty. Eldred won the tourney opener against the Lady Indians, who battled back in the third quarter to get within one point before losing the game after the commission of a technical foul, which put the momentum back in Eldred’s hands.

The Chapel Field Lady Lions (1-1) roared back from their overtime loss against Manor to crush Liberty (0-2) 62-12 in the consolation game. Visit www.riverreportersports.com for details of the other games in the tourney and albums of pictures.