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March 5, 2010

Westport girls claim 18th title

By NICK ST. DENIS

DID YOU KNOW?

This week in the Press-Republican : These are photos from the Press-Republican. Each week they are moved to the monthly gallery.

You can view photos from past issues of the Press-Republican grouped in monthly galleries.

•   View this week's photos.
•   View monthly galleries.



PLATTSBURGH — As it has all season, Westport relied on solid defensive play to capture their 18th Section VII Class D girls' basketball crown Friday with a 35-28 victory over Lake Placid at the Plattsburgh State Field House.

The Eagles advance to the state quarterfinal game against Section X's Harrisville, which will again be held at the Field House Wednesday at 4 p.m.

"It will be the same thing next game," Westport coach Hokey McKinley said about his team's style of play. "Our defense will carry us as far as it can go.

"If we can just get a little more confidence on offense, we will be fine."

It took a few minutes for each team to settle in the game with not a lot of scoring early on.

However, Westport's Willa McKinley got things rolling with six of the game's first 13 points. She finished with a game-high 11 points, including two 3-pointers.

The Eagles had much of the momentum entering halftime with a 25-12 lead, as Lake Placid commited 14 turnovers before the break.

"Turnovers in the first half killed us," Lake Placid coach Frank Johns said. "But we were able to cut them down to seven in the second."

Lake Placid came out for the second half much more composed, going on an 11-2 run that ended with a big basket from behind the arc by Molly Ploof, who scored nine points in the game.

McKinley used a timeout after the 3-pointer to try to get his team back on track.

"As it typically goes in basketball, the team with the lead at halftime comes into the third quarter overconfident, and the team that is behind raises the level of play," he said.

The Blue Bombers had cut their deficit to four points late in the third, but Willa McKinley hit a very important 3-pointer with five ticks on the clock to make up some ground.

Lake Placid's Megan Riley, who averaged 13 points a game during the season, only scored two in the final game. However, Riley played a hard-fought, agressive game — particulary in the second half — and grabbed nine total boards.

She was also a key component in Lake Placid's second half adjustments that helped the Blue Bombers cut into Westport's lead.

"We moved Riley down low, hoping to get her to post up inside more," Johns said. "It seemed to work for a while, but then they adjusted to it."

The teams totaled just six points in the final quarter. Lake Placid's Cierra Stephenson scored the quarter's first point on a free throw 4:10 in. Stephenson finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Coach McKinley thought his team seemed to be protecting the lead rather than attacking early in the fourth quarter.

"I think it was nervousness," he said. "We came out playing not to lose rather than relaxing and having fun.

"We had to rely on our defense to help us come through."

—

Westport 35, Lake Placid 28

Lake Placid (28)

Ploof 3-2-9, Riley 0-2-2, Stephenson 3-3-9, Balestrini 3-0-6, Thompson 1-0-2. Totals: 10-7-28.

Westport (35)

Hopkins 2-3-7, Rodriguez 2-0-4, M. McKinley 2-0-4, Sherman 2-2-6, W. McKinley 4-1-11, Armitage 1-1-3. Totals: 13-7-35.

Lake Placid 66133—28

Westport 141173—35

3-point goals: Lake Placid (1) Ploof. Westport (2) W. McKinley 2.

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