By PAUL GOTHAM
PENFIELD, N.Y. — Last Saturday, the Webster Schroeder girls’ basketball team found itself on the wrong side of a 66-64 decision at St. Mary’s of Buffalo’s Monsignor Martin Athletic Association.
The loss was the first of this season.
On Friday night, the Warriors took out their frustrations on a league rival.
In a battle of two teams ranked in the top 10 of the state, Schroeder looked every bit the part in dominating host Penfield, 55-25.
“Sometimes adversity is not a bad thing,” second-year head coach Codi Mrozek said referring to last week’s loss. “Especially for a young team like this. It’s good to go through those things. How do you respond to success? And how do you respond to losing? You can fold, or you can say okay we got to get better. That’s what we did. We had a great week of practice, and it showed.”
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The Warriors took a 10-point lead (22-12) into halftime and doubled it by the end of the third quarter (43-23). Schroeder’s defense limited a Penfield squad, averaging better than 61 points per game, to four field goals over the first 14 minutes of the second half including the first six minutes of the fourth when the Warriors did not allow a point.
“We knew if we could get stops, we could score,” Mrozek explained. “Sometimes, you can outscore teams. This is a team that you got to get stops. We really, really worked on that this week. We know that they like to run. We play a very similar style of game.
“Defensively, we knew our jobs. We knew our roles, and people helped. For the first time really all season, we truly held each other accountable. We responded well to that. Our defense fueled our offense.’
Mariah Watkins gets the and-one. @Schroedergbball 30-17. pic.twitter.com/uRjWci0km1
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 4, 2023
At the same time, Mariah Watkins scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter. The junior guard, who recently became the school’s all-time leading scorer, opened the third-quarter offense. She followed later with an and-one before converting a pair of free throws and capped the stanza with a jumper in the lane as the horn sounded to end the quarter.
“We said it in the locker room we knew they were going to come out here ripping and roaring at us,” Mrozek commented. “We needed to be ready for that. It was just a mindset. We had controlled the whole first half. We played in games earlier in our season where we let teams come back and chip away. We’re not that team any more. We’ve gotten better. We’ve competed against tougher teams.
“We knew that we had to be calm and confident and go into to go at them like it was zero-to-zero. We did. We came out hot. It was a great response coming out of halftime.”
Penfield (15-2) came into the game winners of 12 straight. Their only other loss is a 13-point setback when the same two teams met in mid-December.
Bria Watkins grabs the offensive board and finishes in traffic. Mariah Watkins follows with a bucket at the buzzer. @Schroedergbball 43-23 heading to the fourth. pic.twitter.com/k1GzerYW1s
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 4, 2023
“Penfield is a powerhouse program,” said Mrozek who played in Penfield Youth Basketball as an elementary school student when her dad (Chris Battaglia) was the head coach of the school’s football team. “We know what they do. We know that they know how to win, but we really prepared for this second game. We were excited to get that.
“I know their program very well, and Coach Vogt is a great coach. That’s why it’s fun to play them. It’s fun to beat them because they’re good.”
Watkins also grabbed 11 rebounds to complete a double-double while collecting four steals. Younger sister, Bria, had 15 points and five rebounds. Ava Gallup grabbed 11 boards and added five points of production. Sarah Ferruzza and Addison Morgan added seven apiece to round out the scoring for Schroeder (16-1).
Grace Alexander led the Penfield offense with six points. Jackie Funk, Ashley Kalvitis and Lena Lipani scored five apiece. Ally Young and Cassidy Cone both accounted for two points.
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