No. 10 Iroquois upsets No. 2 Albion

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 20 February 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Chanyce Powell (10) puts up a shot over Iroquois defender Calista Mis during the host Purple Eagles narrow loss to the visiting Lady Chiefs this evening.

A combination of a rash of ill timed turnovers and cold shooting stretches proved costly as No. 2 seed Albion dropped a narrow 52-48 decision to visiting No. 10 Iroquois this evening in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class A2 girls basketball tournament.

Albion, which led most of the way, pulled even at 48-48 with 32 seconds to go on a jumper by Sarah Metzler but could not score again.

Iroquois regained the lead for good on a layup by Colleen Wirth with 20 seconds to go and then put a lock on the victory and a trip to the semifinals on two free throws by Marissa Parker with just five seconds remaining.

Wirth finished with 16 and Parker 10 as Ejayah Arrington added 13 for the Lady Chiefs.

Chanyce Powell scored 16, Kelsee Soule 14 and Metzler 10 for Albion as Justice Nauden added 6 and Emily Blanchard 2.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Kelsee Soule puts up a shot for Albion against Marissa Parker (32) of Iroquois.

Albion got off to a strong start grabbing a 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter getting six points each from three different players.

Metzler had two jumpers and a layup, Powell a rebound bucket, a layup and two free throws and Soule a jumper and four free throws for the Purple Eagles during that stretch.

Albion, which made good on 11 of 12 free throw attempts in the first half, opened up as much as a 10 point, 27-17, advantage late in the second quarter after a 9-1 run which included a jumper by Soule and a layup by Nauden.

However, Iroquois cut the deficit to five, 27-22, at the half and then used a 18-10 third period surge to rally into a 40-37 lead at the three-quarter mark.
Wirth had a three and three layups and Calista Mis a three and a jumper to lead that Lady Chiefs rally.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Sarah Metzler shoots over Ejayah Arrington of Iroquois.

Albion quickly rallied back into a 41-40 lead at the outset of the fourth quarter on two free throws by Soule and a jumper by Powell but the Purple Eagles could not hold the advantage.

Iroquois answered right back with buckets by Arrington and Wirth to regain the lead for good at 44-41.

Two baskets by Parker then offset Albion tallies by Soule and Metzler to keep the Lady Chiefs on top at 48-45.

Turnvoers and hasty shots though plagued Albion in the hectic final three minutes.

Metzler finally found the range on a jumper with 32 seconds to go to briefly retie the contest at 48-48 but the final four points and the victory belonged to Iroquois.

“The big thing was the turnovers,” said Albion Coach Lucian Price. “Handling their pressure caused some of those rushed shots and the turnovers as well. The girls played hard we just came up a little short.”

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Justice Nauden puts up a shot for Albion over Iroquois’ Jillian Walczyk.

Class B2

Wilson 53, Gowanda 40
Top seeded Niagara-Orleans League champion Wilson bested No. 9 visiting Gowanda in a Class B2 quarterfinal 53-40.

Emily Lasher had 18 points and 7 rebounds, Allie Bubar 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists and Megan DiLaura 9 points and 5 rebounds to set the pace for Wilson which led 22-15 at the half and 39-24 after three quarters,

Also in Class B2 No. 6 Akron defeated No. 14 Lackawanna 55-24.

In Class B1 Tonawanda ousted Newfane 62-41.