THE VIEW FROM CENTERCOURT | Western New York Boys High School Basketball

Billies and Panthers repeat to set up rematch

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Just as they've been favored to do all season, Williamsville South and East each won Section VI titles on Saturday.  The next step for the two teams will be squaring off on Tuesday night at 7:45 pm at Buffalo State in a rematch of a highly anticipated crossover from last season that was won handily by the Billies.

 

The Panthers swept the Yale Cup series with Riverside, then proved to be too much for the Frontiers again in the postseason with a 58-45 win in the Class A2 final on Saturday.  Tremmell Fisher scored 19 points to lead East, which held a double-digit advantage throughout most of the second half.  Riverside cut the deficit to six points at the 5:02 mark of the fourth quarter, only to see the Panthers score the next five points.

 

Andre Jackson finished with 12 points for East, while Lamont Little led the Frontiers with 11 points.

 

Williamsville South's 56-49 win in the Class A1 final over Bennett included records falling, milestones reached, and more fourth quarter drama.  Joe Licata finally broke the New York state record for career 3-pointers when he connected from long distance in the first quarter.  The win gave the Billies their first ever 20-win season in school history and back-to-back sectional titles for the first time, the third overall for South.  It was also the 350th career win for head coach Al Monaco.

 

South led by as many as 14 in the first half and took a 12-point lead into the break.  In the third quarter, Bennett came to life and battled back to within three, before heading into the final quarter trailing 44-39.  The Tigers scored eight unanswered to open the fourth and held a 47-44 lead with under five minutes to play. 

 

However, much like the Billies semifinal win against Hutch-Tech, the most critical moments of the game were owned by a veteran South squad.  The defending overall Class A champs outscored Bennett 12-2 over the final five minutes, getting scoring nfrom five different players during decisive run.

 

Phil Stasiak finished with a game-high 19 points, while Licata and Erik Hansen each scored 12 points.  Forest Richardson led the Tigers with 13 points.

 

-centercourt

8 responses to “Billies and Panthers repeat to set up rematch”

  1. StateChamps2003 Avatar
    StateChamps2003

    Will this year’s Will South v. East game be a better showcase than last year’s debacle? I sure hope so. The thing I like about this year’s East squad over the last three is that there are no “stars” on this team. There are no clear cut All-WNY players like in 2008 with Webb, 2009 with Gary, and last year with Jackson. One can argue a case for Fisher but I think he is more of a great leader than a great player.
    The East team has really seemed to gel and play together as a team. I hope the rematch is more enjoyable to watch than last year’s blow out.

    Reply
  2. hoopster Avatar
    hoopster

    I’m with you Champ. Hope for a good game as well.
    Didn’t see the game Saturday, but a buddy of mine who did said both teams had a ton of turnovers and the game was a sloppy one overall.
    And CC, Phil Hansen played for the Buffalo Bills before becoming the Jills of late. The name is Eric I believe.

    Reply
  3. centercourt Avatar
    centercourt

    HA! Nice catch hoopster. It’s fixed.
    My apologies to Erik.
    I still haven’t typed Jim when referring to Chad Kelly .

    Reply
  4. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    South hasn’t played good basketball in 2 months… They peaked in their win over North in the Jolly Boys tournament. And in my opinion, O’Connell is the most valuable player on the South squad. No one else on that team can dribble, if East gets him in foul trouble, south will go down. I also think Stasiak has not had quite the year I was anticipating…guess that is just a credit to Coppolla.

    Reply
  5. Andrew Webster Avatar
    Andrew Webster

    Let me say, ditto on the O’Connell being the most valuable player on South. He is definitely the straw that stirs the drink and I was very impressed with his ability to not only make great passes, but to make the right pass at the right time. He definitely took a beating the other night, but kept coming back hard at Bennett and putting a tremendous amount of pressure on them. He did a fantastic job of pushing the ball up the court. Certainly Stasiak is a great player that typically gets his. Licata is one of the best shooters ever and has to be accounted for at all times. However, I will say that it felt like he was pressing a bit the other night and may be slumping a little bit (as much as the NYS three point career leader can slump). Hansen is a very capable player and Adams and Schaus are good role players. South vs East should be a great game and I think that O’Connell is the player to watch for South and Fisher is the player to watch for East.

    Reply
  6. wrong Avatar
    wrong

    nice comment after a write up about them winning another section 6 in class a. disagree about stasiak because without him that team is nowheres close to 20 wins. funny that a team that cant dribble has all the sucess they did, maybe oconnel should get player of the year then right? stasiak had a great year and a great career.

    Reply
  7. guest Avatar
    guest

    He certainly had a great career, the schools all time leading scorer. but throughout his career he must have averaged 15 points a game on free throws and breaking out early(sometimes not even getting over half court!) and getting layups whether from coppolla or oconnell. With no coppolla I thought more shot attempts would go his way and though eh would average in the high 20s but that hasnt happened. And in the one game OConnell got in foul trouble they went to Stasiak at the point and it was evident he did not have a good handle of the ball. It is what it is, the team is 20-1 so I am sure he isnt complaining. He certainly has not shown the ability to beat someone off the dribble though he is a great slasher and backdoor cutter. He will most likely be either 4th team all wny or honorable mention and it is certainly deservedly so, he has had a fantastic career and looks to cap it off tuesday night.

    Reply
  8. centercourt Avatar
    centercourt

    “guest” –
    First off, clever moniker. It’s one thing to roll with it as the default name during a live chat, but to actually put enough thought into typing out the name as your own is exceptional.
    In reading your recent comments about Phil Stasiak, I think you may be contradicting yourself.
    Earlier, you stated “I also think Stasiak has not had quite the year I was anticipating…guess that is just a credit to Coppolla.”
    Then, less than two hours later, you said “With no coppolla I thought more shot attempts would go his way and though eh would average in the high 20s but that hasnt happened.”
    So which is it? Did Coppola create all of Phil’s shots last year, or was Phil supposed to get many more shots this year without him?
    You said he must have averaged 15 per game just from free throws and breaking out early. I hate to break this to you, but those points actually count for the team also – they get added right to the scoreboard.
    A great slasher that can’t beat someone off the dribble? Does he wait until the refs aren’t looking and travel?
    You thought he’d be averaging in the high 20’s without Coppola. Really? Any idea how many players in all of WNY average in the high 20’s? What a ridiculous statement!
    The bottom line on Stasiak is he is the leader of the back-to-back Section VI Class A champions and the only one loss team in the section still playing.
    For the record, here are Stasiak’s numbers and team rank through 21 games this season:
    Points…..18.9 (1st)
    Rebounds….4.9 (2nd)
    Assists…..3.1 (2nd)
    Steals……3.9 (1st) Not bad for a guy who you say sometimes doesn’t even get over halfcourt.
    If you can acknowledge a fantastic career and a season that will again garner All-WNY honors (I’ll guarantee much higher than you think) why the passive aggressive approach to trying to diminish his game? Your comments sound like they’re rooted in jealousy or bitterness.

    Reply

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