BY: DYLAN O’LOUGHLIN
Canandaigua, NY — Tournament MVP Sydney Reilly dropped a game-high 25 points to lead Elba to its second straight title and 17th in program history, tied for the most in Section V with Pittsford Mendon after a 54-36 victory over No. 2 Fillmore in the Section V Class D championship. Tied 10-10 at the end of one, the senior poured in seven of the Lancers’ 14 points in the second quarter to open up a nine-point lead Elba did not relinquish.
“In the first quarter, that Fillmore team was scrappy and Tom (Parks) does a great job,” Elba head coach Charlie Pangrazio said. “So, we knew to settle ourselves down and look to our senior leadership. Let’s attack better, play our solid defense and stop giving the ball. We turned the ball over quite a bit in that first quarter and we cleaned it up to give ourselves a lead. All five of our starters, they played so much basketball they know what to do. They stay calm and even calm me down once in a while. They know it’s a game of runs, Fillmore had their run and fortunately for us, we had two more runs than they did.”
Elba came out hot to start the second quarter as Reilly hit a floater and converted an old fashion three-point play to take the lead. The senior then facilitated the floor, as she found junior forward Brea Smith in the paint for back-to-back buckets.
To go along with the fast scoring, defense created more opportunities. The Lancers caused multiple Fillmore turnovers and capitalized as Elba held the Eagles to 2-for-6 from the field and won the quarter 14-5. Leading the charge was junior guard Lydia Ross who averages four steals a game. The junior took on the tall task of guarding 16 PPG scorer eighth grader Emalyn Mucher and held her to just five points in the first 16 minutes.
“My whole mindset was ‘It’s a team sport,’ and I had to do my part,” Ross said. “I knew the girls were going to take care of everything on offense and if I did my job on defense that’s all that matters. I had to keep the score low so it would make it easier for us to win.”
In the second half, it was a game of runs. Elba carried its momentum over from the second into the third as the Lancers started the quarter on a 12-6 run to open up a 15-point lead. Fouls became a problem though as Fillmore responded with an 8-2 run all from the charity stripe. Mucher and junior forward Mattie McCumiskey tallied four points each from the line to ignite the run and combined for all of Fillmore’s 12 points in the frame.
“I think we got a little helter skelter again in that third quarter when they made that run because we were trying to over help on defense,” Pangrazio said. “So call the timeout, settle everybody down and just keep them (Fillmore) in front of us. Make them make awkward shots and we didn’t want to send them to the foul line because all of a sudden you get hot from that and you get yourself in trouble. So we needed to get back, calm down and actually slow ourselves down on offense so that would create a better game for us.”
The run bled into the final frame as free throws from McCumiskey to start the quarter cut the lead back to single digits. Nine points was the closest the game ever got as who else but Reilly knocked down back-to-back triples to create a 17-point lead, the largest of the game.
“It’s amazing,” Reilly said. “It’s my senior year and just to do that for my team and everyone around me is an amazing feeling.”
The scoring got contagious from there as three other Lancers put points on the board in the final eight minutes. Elba outscored Fillmore 16-9 in the fourth as Reilly led the way with eight to pull away for the Lancers’ eleventh title since 2008.
To go along with Reilly’s 25, Smith accounted for 14 points while Madalyn Hall and Mariah Ognibene picked up five points apiece. Brynn Stackhouse added a deuce and a free throw for three points while Ross rounded out the scoring with two. The Lancers shot 50 percent from the field (21-for-42) and held its opponent to under 40 for the fourteenth time this season.
“We need to be strong. We know our offense, coach always instills it, but on the defensive end; Defense wins championships,” Reilly said. “We’ve always been told that, so we’ve been working on our defense for the past two weeks and it came out this game.”
For Fillmore, McCumiskey led the way with 14 points including 10 in the second half while Mucher followed with 11. Morghyn Ross recorded five fourth-quarter points while Mylee Miller scored four points in the first half. Tenlee Miller also picked up two points.
With the win, Elba moves on to the Class D state quarterfinals to take on the Section VI Class D champions. Elba has its eyes on the prize as its last loss came against Northville (II) in the state semifinals.
“They know it takes everything, they got to try to get back there,” Pangrazio said. “Section VI has some good teams, so we’ve got to rededicate ourselves for the next three to four days and really focus on watching what they do. It’s going to be a challenge, but the girls, they’re ready and they know what it takes to get there. They’ll give everything they got win or lose and leave all of it out on the court.”
Elba looks to go back-to-back in the Class D Regional as the Lancers take on Panama or Sherman from Section VI. Date and time are still to be determined.
Class D All-Tournament Team
MVP: Sydney Reilly (Elba)
Allie Frederickson (Charles G. Finney)
Sofia Falleti (Notre Dame Batavia)
Mariah Ognibene (Elba)
Mattie McCumiskey (Fillmore)
Brea Smith (Elba)
Emalyn Mucher (Fillmore)
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