By BILLY HEYEN
PENFIELD, N.Y. — Penfield girls basketball has a saying: “The ball will find the energy.”
In overtime and double overtime, Elisa Faklaris was the energy, the ball found her, and she delivered.
“If you’re constantly moving, good things happen,” Penfield head coach Mark Vogt said. “And she’s constantly moving.”
Thanks to three clutch plays from Faklaris, Penfield (9-3) enters next week’s sectional tournament with a 55-49 win over Churchville-Chili (6-4) that took two overtimes to complete. In what was a defensive battle throughout, Haley Emmick’s 13 and Emma Blumenstock’s 12 points led the Patriots, but it all would’ve been for naught without Faklaris — the junior securing Penfield’s Senior day win.
“Going into sectionals,” Vogt said. “That one, it was a grind-out game.”
When the Saints and Patriots met earlier this season, at Churchville-Chili, Penfield went home with a 54-30 win. That night, the Patriots jumped out to a 15-1 advantage and led 23-5 at halftime.
The Saints needed a better start Saturday, and it was the Shipley twins setting the tone early. First, Hannah got out in transition for a feed from Mikayla to open the scoring. From there, Mikayla poured in 10 first-half points — a scoop inside, three foul shots, a long 2-pointer and a 3-pointer from the left corner.
Following Penfield’s win over Churchville-Chili in February, Vogt acknowledged the ability of the Saints’ defense: “I like their 2-3 (zone), I think they play it really, really well, they spread it out, they’ve got good athletes.”
Unlike the first meeting, the Saints’ defense got the better of Penfield early and often Saturday. They closed out shooters and deflected passing lanes and grabbed rebounds to limit second chances. Few Patriots looks were open ones.
“They run a good 2-3,” Vogt said. “They’re very active and they’re smart. They don’t make many mistakes. It’s one of the better 2-3s I’ve seen.”
10 points in the first half for Mikayla Shipley and its 21-14 @CCCSDgbball @CCCSDathletics leading with 1:59 until half after a Blumenstock 3. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/epFnCCIiml
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) March 6, 2021
Just as well as Churchville-Chili controlled the first half, though, Penfield controlled the second. The thought of overtime seemed long gone after the Patriots held an eight-point edge in the third and then started the fourth on a 10-2 run.
The Saints wouldn’t go quietly on the road, though, turning stops into offense — a 3 by each Shipley and some free throws got the game to overtime.
“We have a saying that we have to ‘check back in,’” Faklaris said. “We’re really focused on staying in the moment. So whenever someone makes a mistake, our teammates are just like, ‘check back in, leave it behind.’”
Churchville-Chili jumped out ahead in the first overtime, too, thanks to a Jessalyn Torres 3. But Penfield fought back once more to have the ball with the shot clock off and a chance to tie.
Faklaris began a ball swing around the perimeter for the Patriots and crashed to the basket. Grace Alexander was just long on the initial attempt, but Faklaris was there to grab with two hands before putting it back up and in.
DOUBLE OVERTIME
Putback at the buzzer by Elisa Faklaris ties it at 49 for @mvogtpenfield. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/iWcyIjQ2Db
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) March 6, 2021
Only one field goal was made in double overtime, a 3-pointer from the right corner by Faklaris to open that period’s scoring. And then, with Churchville-Chili down three points and trying to tie it inside 30 seconds, Faklaris timed a reach-in perfectly to nab a steal that let Penfield ice the game with free throws.
“Sometimes offense isn’t always there, so we always focus on defense,” Faklaris said. “Your defense can’t dictate how you play on offense.”
Penfield made the sectional final each of the past two seasons, but 2021 was set to be a new-look bunch. Stars Baylee Teal and Nyara Simmons were among the seniors who’d graduated off last year’s roster.
Vogt has been forced to utilize first-year varsity players more than he’s used to, but the youth movement led to a 9-3 regular season and a spot in the reduced-size Class AA sectionals yet again.
“We’ve grown so much,” Faklaris said. “We’re also all best friends, which is very rare. I’ve never been on a team that’s this close, so I think that’s gonna really help us win in sectionals.”
Playing a defense-heavy game of runs on the Saturday before the one-week sectionals could be the exact final piece to Penfield’s puzzle. If the Patriots face such a ballgame again, they’ll be ready.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta grind ‘em,” Vogt said. “It was nice to get that out before sectionals, because we’ve got an overtime loss and we have a one-point loss. To finish one, I think we can build on some confidence.”
Scoring totals
Penfield: Haley Emmick (13), Emma Blumenstock (12), Elisa Faklaris (8), Eva Elliott (7), Grace Alexander (6), Kennedy Cone (4), Jackie Funk (3), Kylie Bell (2)
Churchville-Chili: Mikayla Shipley (17), Jessalyn Taylor (11), Hannah Shipley (7), Sydney Postell (6), Jasmine Gibbs (4), Esabella Smith (2)
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