By BOB CHAVEZ
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — The Webster Schroeder Warriors kept coming. Over and over, again and again.
But there may be a reason the North Tonawanda athletes are called the Lumberjacks: They don’t fall over.
Intense defensive pressure and devastating outside shooting fueled the Lumberjacks to their latest harvest, a 62-48 win over Webster Schroeder in Friday night’s Class AA state quarterfinal on Putt Moore Court at Finger Lakes Community College.
North Tonawanda, 20-3 and ranked No. 1 in the state, is making its first appearance in the state tournament and showed no sign of nerves. The Lumberjacks were fierce on defense and fearless in shot selection. Schroeder (23-2), meanwhile, played well but simply didn’t have enough to offset the pressure.
“They’re a really good team,” Webster Schroeder coach Codi Mrozek said. “I thought we battled well in the first half and were right with them.”
But then?
Then came the third quarter. Schroeder trailed 26-17 at halftime but opened with a 3-pointer from Jenna DiMarco to cut the deficit to four points but North Tonawanda responded with a pair of 3s to open a 10-point lead. For the game, the Lumberjacks hit 8 3-pointers.
Schroeder caught fire after that with a 10-0 run to tie the score, 32-32, which forced a North Tonawanda timeout at 4:23 of the third.
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“We wanted to communicate better and not let them get too loose for open shots,” Mrozek said of the halftime talk. “We wanted that defensive mindset.”
It certainly worked for the Warriors and they trailed 38-37 late in the third after Kylie Clement’s 3-pointer, but Annabelle Day and Lily Day answered with 3s of their own to make it a 44-37 game. The Lumberjacks then opened the fourth with consecutive 3-pointers (Annabelle Day and Maddie Caron) to push their lead to 50-39.
A basket and a free throw from Avery Kroening cut the Lumberjacks lead to 50-45 with 4:20 left, but North Tonawanda pulled away from there thanks to a defense that suffocated the Warriors and if it allowed anything, it allowed very little.
“We wanted a lot of pressure (on defense) but (Schroeder) was prepared for a lot of what we did,” North Tonawanda coach Ryan Bradt said. “And that fourth quarter was everything we come with. Loose balls, transition, rebounds. We were doing everything that came down to just wanting it.”
So of course, Schroeder heads home with disappointment. But considering the season it endured, there is plenty of hardware to celebrate.
“Winning sectionals is what you want,” said Mrozek. “I’m so proud of these kids and the way we got through some adversity this season is something most people won’t understand.”
Annabelle Day scored a game-high 24 points for North Tonawanda and Caron and Jakayla Brown each scored 12. Clement led Schroeder with 16, Kenyatta Hart scored 15 and Kroening scored 12.
North Tonawanda advances to the Class AA state semifinals next weekend at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
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