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HF-L girls overcome sluggish start, beat Churchville-Chili

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HF-L’S Teagan battles inside during Class A first-round action, Tuesday night. Churchville-Chili’s Layla Jackson (1) and Esabella Smith (4) defend on the play. (Photo: RON ANDREWS)

By PAUL GOTHAM

HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. — Steve Willoughby knew it was a matter of time. The head coach of the Honeoye Falls-Lima girls’ basketball team watched as his Cougars struggled through a first quarter in which turnovers (exact number not needed) outnumbered field goals made (three).

That an eighth-grader and ninth-grader highlighted HF-L’s surge on the offensive end of the floor might not have been as expected.

Caroline Smith finished with a career-high 14 points, and Shaye Angelo delivered the go-ahead bucket as No. 6 HF-L advanced to the Class A quarter-finals with a 49-40 win over No. 11 Churchville-Chili.

“We have a lot of young kids that haven’t played a sectional game before,” Willoughby said. “Did you see how tight we were in the beginning of the game?”

Smith scored eight points in the second quarter.

Trailing 17-11, the ninth-grade forward scored four straight. Her steal and layup pulled HF-L within two at 17-15.

“She came alive,” Willoughby said of Smith. “I told her what are you so worried about? What are you nervous about? She makes a reverse layup, a couple of runners in the lane.”

Clare Ruff buried a 3-pointer on the first possession of the third quarter to give HF-L a 21-19 lead. Two possessions later, Angelo, an eighth-grader, hit a triple from the left corner for a lead the Cougars did not surrender at 24-21.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM RON ANDREWS HERE. 

“Those were some big shots that we got from really young kids,” Willoughby said of Smith and Angelo.

Smith followed with a rebound and putback before Teagan Kamm took over with six points. A six-point deficit turned into a 12-point advantage at 35-23, and HF-L was on its way to clinching a spot in the quarterfinals and a meeting with No. 3 Webster Schroeder.

“I kinda knew that we would get out of that funk,” Willoughby said. “We were playing at home. We shoot well here. We were just tight.”

Kamm, who scored the 1,000th point of her career last week after grabbing her 1,000th rebound of her career earlier in the season, matched her program record with 22 rebounds while scoring 19 points. Ruff, a junior point guard, added six points.

“We got steady play from Teagan and Clare, for sure.”

Angelo joins Kamm and former HF-L Cougars Jessica Chapin and Tara Snavlin as the only eight-graders to play on varsity over the 33 years Willoughby has been at the helm of the program.

“She’s incredibly poised for eighth grade,” Willoughby said of Angelo. “I played her a lot of minutes. Not even because of the shooting but because of her defense, her defensive ability and her awareness on the floor. She’s a solid player.

“The kid is as poised as any eighth-grader I’ve had. Nothing rattles her. She’s got a very good shot. She’s going to get better every time she plays.”

Whitley Easton and Marlee Green scored three apiece while Emma Hoffman added a free throw for HF-L (15-5).

Sydney Postell paced Churchville (8-13) with 15 points. The junior guard scored six during the second quarter when the Saints grabbed a 17-11 lead. Layla Jackson added nine points. Emma Voglewede and Esabella Smith both scored four. Haley Leonard (3), Katherine Draper (2), Emma Healy (2) and Jessica Wittman (1) also scored for C-C.

HF-L and Webster Schroeder will play Friday at a site to be determined.

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