OBSERVER Staff Report
BUFFALO - The No. 8 Dunkirk Lady Marauders (8-12) pulled off the upset Saturday, as they rolled to a 57-29 win over No. 1 Buffalo East (10-6), during Section 6 Class B-1 girls' basketball quarterfinal action, at City Honors High School.
"They're a great group of girls," Dunkirk head coach Sarah Bogardus sad. "They're all hard workers. We all expected them to do well in the post season because we knew as an eight seed, we were going to be a tough eight seed, and that we'd be looked at as the underdog. But we never felt like we were the underdog. We always tell our girls to go into every game not to expect to win, but to have the expectation to win."
Balanced scoring and a stout defensive effort helped account for the Lady Marauders' win, as they outscored the Lady Panthers, 10-2 in the first quarter.
"I thought we played pretty good defense throughout the whole game," Bogardus said, before adding of the first quarter that, "I think our defense forced them into tough shots, and I think that's the main reason we won the quarter."
As successful as its defense was in the first quarter, Dunkirk's defense allowed Buffalo East to gain some momentum, as they outscored the Lady Marauders, 13-2.
"We played pretty flat in the second," Bogardus noted. "We weren't' being as aggressive, we weren't going to the basket and we were just settling for outside shots. We weren't attacking the basket."
After a shaky third quarter, which still saw the Lady Marauders outscore the Lady Panthers, 11-5, Dunkirk took the game over in the final eight minutes to pull off the upset.
"We all decided as a team that we were capable of playing a lot better and that we need to play with more energy and intensity," Bogardus said. "And in the fourth quarter we played with a lot more confidence and intensity. And I think that really accounted for our success."
With only one senior on the team, Bogardus knows that her young team gained some valuable experience as it will now get ready to face off against Olean in the semifinals, on Wednesday, at Sweet Home High School.
"They are obviously very excited," Bogardus said of her team. "Anytime you can knock off a Number 1 seed it's a great achievement. But at the same time, we're looking to Wednesday when we will play Olean again. And the girls need to stay focused. They need to maintain the same kind of focus they have the first two playoff games and bring that into our game on Wednesday."
Khee Nance led the Lady Marauders with her game-high 15 points while Lacy Clark had an impressive game as well, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds to go with a pair of assists.
"These girls have accomplished so much already this year," Bogardus added. "They had a lot of firsts for Dunkirk basketball."
The lone senior on the Dunkirk squad, Alayna Carlson chipped in nine points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.
On the season, the Lady Marauders and No. 5 Lady Huskies split their two games, with each team winning at home.
Class B-2
No. 3 Roy-Hart 42, No. 6 Gowanda 38
MIDDLEPORT - Gowanda's run through the Section 6 Class B-2 girls' basketball playoffs came to an end, as the No. 6 Lady Panthers (10-10) fell to No. 3 Roy-Hart (16-3), 42-38, during quarterfinal action Saturday.
"It just sucks when you lose a game when one official overturns the other officials call five times," Gowanda head coach Eric Ring said. "When we figured it all out, that added 10 points to the scoreboard. It's tough to play when (the other team) has an extra guy out there."
The Lady Rams jumped out to a 12-11 lead after the first quarter, before outscoring the Lady Panthers, 13-7, in the second quarter to take a 25-18 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Rams, 8-7 and 12-10, in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, but it was not enough as Roy-Hart advanced to the semifinals.
Taylor Johnson had a team-high nine points while adding 10 rebounds in the loss. Also for the Lady Panthers, Kayla Isaac had eight points, Katie Stang seven points, seven rebounds and six steals and Alexa Farner seven points and 11 rebounds.
Jessie Dewaters had a game-high 16 points while teammate Haley Harrington added with points in a winning effort.
