OFA Hands B-M First Loss To Reach Finals

BY DAVE SHEA

and STEVE HEATON

POTSDAM - OFA Coach Mark Henry was looking for major contributions throughout his lineup as his Class B Champion Lady Blue Devils squared off against undefeated Class C Champion Brushton-Moira in Tuesday's semi-finals of the Section 10 Girls Basketball Tournament.

Contributions as adjustments for the loss of all-star forward Elissa St. Germain, who was sidelined with a sprained knee.

He didn't have to look far as senior guard Megan Morrison, who was later honored as a finalist for the Jan Reetz Award as Section 10's Outstanding Player, turned in one of her best shooting performances of the season scoring 25 points, sophomore forward Mackenzie Cole scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and eighth grader Meg Dodge scored 10 points and passed out four assists in her first varsity start as the Devils methodically built a 40-25 lead after three quarters and held off B-M's fourth quarter rally to claim a 57-45 win.

"Malone is obviously very tough. We will have to play well," said Coach Henry looking toward the attempt to reverse two regular season losses to the Huskies.

A win which handed the NAC East Champion Panthers their first loss after 20 straight wins and moved the 14-7 Devils into the Section 10 Championship game against NAC Central and Section 10 Class A Champion Malone (18-1). The Huskies moved into Friday's 6 p.m. title game at SUNY Potsdam by downing Class D champion Harrisville 65-41.

"We pushed very hard to build the big lead and with Elissa St. Germain out and I think we got a little tired in the fourth quarter. Being short a key player is tough," said Coach Henry.

"Megan Morrison had one of her best games of the season and we shot the ball well as a team. Mackenzie Cole really rebounded well and Meg Dodge giving us 10 points was a key effort."

Morrison, who converted 9/13 shooting attempts, showed the triple threat of her offensive resume to start the Devil pull-away in the first quarter. She closed out the quarter by hitting a three-pointer, a drive to the goal and a 12-foot jumper as the Devils scooted out to a 12-5 lead and then widened it to 21-5 in the second quarter aided by a putback from Rosie Giglio. Dodge and Cole, who posted a 4-8 shooting night, both converted three-point plays in the third quarter where the Devils maxed their lead.

B-M's Krista Trimm buried back-to-back threes to accelerate the Panthers' fourth quarter rally which was founded in a swarming fullcourt press. Jessica Jaques converted two spinning moves in the lane to cut the deficit to 49-43 but the Devils used free throws by Morrison and Lindsay Drummond and two defensive stops to secure the victory.

Drummond finished with seven points and five rebounds for the Devils with Chelsea Martin grabbing six rebounds and passing out five assists. Chenice Russell, who shared the Jan Reetz Award with Malone's Kelsey Johnson, led the Panthers with 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals with Trimm and Shayna Russell each scoring eight points and Jacques finishing with six points.

"If we play a whole game with the intensity we showed in the last 12 minutes tonight, we will be fine in the states. In one way it was good for us to face a team like OFA and fall behind. Because it shows we can come from behind against a good team," said B-M Coach Sam Dumont.

"And we definitely have to shoot better, especially inside. We got a lot of close shots that we just missed."

Malone 65, Harrisville 41: The Huskies used a 17-5 second quarter to take command of the Lady Pirates (16-4) as Central League Co-MVP's Brittany Marshall and Kelsey Johnson (six points) combined for 13 of the 17 points

"Sitting through the awards ceremony we came out a little sluggish. But we picked things up in the second quarter," said Malone coach Shelly Skelly. "Against OFA we can't do that. We've got to come out much stronger. It's tough playing a team three times."

Kelsey Johnson delivered 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. Brittany Marshall delivered 16 points, seven boards, seven asists and three steals and Sara Lamica added nine points. Katie Tatro added six point and six rebounds and Amanda Gadway passed out three assists. NAC West Co-MVP Patty Coloney scored 14 points in the third quarter to finish with 23 points. Desirea Hall and Kathleen Coloney added six points.

Malone 65, Harrisville 41

Harrisville: P Coloney 9-4-23, Hart 1-0-2, K. Coloney 3-0-6, A Wallace 2-0-4, Hall 3-0-6, Totals 18-4-41

Malone: Fountain 2-0-4, Tatro 3-0-6, K Johnson 9-6-24, Ash Gadway 1-0-2, Skelly 1-1-4, Lamica 3-3-9, Marshall 7-0-16, Totals 24-10-65

Harr 8-5-20-8

Mal 12-17-21-15

Three Pointers: Mal 3 (Skelly 1, B Marshall 2), HV (P. Coloney 1)

———-

OFA 57, Bruston-Moira (45)

OFA: Drummond 3-1-7, Dodge 2-5-10, Giglio 1-0-2, Martin 0-3-3, Cole 4-2-10, Morrison 9-6-25. Totals: 17-2-17/20-57.

B-M: Trimm 3-0-8, Gary 0-2-2, S. Russell 3-2-8, LaPage 2-0-4, LaPage 2-0-4, Keck 1-0-2, C. Russell 4-2-11, Manchester 0-4-4, Jaques 3-0-6. Totals: 16-10-45.

B-M 5-8-12-20-45

OFA 12-10-18-17-57

Three-Pointers: OFA 2 (Morrison, Dodge), B-M 3 (Trimm 2, Russell 1).