Girls: Federation T.O.C. Class "A" Semifinal Recaps

GLENS FALLS, NY- While most of the focus has gone to Class AA for the NYS Federation Tournament on the girl’s side, Class A also has a lot of intriguing storylines as Staten Island Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt each needed a semifinal win to get make it a rematch of last season's title tilt.

One of the two teams found some semifinals issues on Saturday, while the other made quick work of their competition to get the game that everyone wanted making it a rematch for the Class A championship on Sunday. Before we get there though, let's found out how the two teams got through with a recap of the Class A girl’s semifinals.

As the defending Class A NYS Federation Tournament champions there was the thought that getting to the championship once again this season would be a forgone conclusion as Staten Island Academy was taking on the PSAL champs in James Madison.

Even though they didn't play the schedule that SIA did, Madison came into the game on Saturday morning 23-0 and looking to shock those in attendance and move on to play for the title.

It looked like that was going to happen as the Lady Golden Knights took a 55-52 lead with under a minute to go after a three from the corner by Deidre Foster '19. SIA though wasn't going to go away as after big FT's and a key steal that led to a basket down low by Elizabeth Althoff '18, the Tigers were able to rally and hold on in the final seconds for a 57-55 victory.

One of the biggest fears that those associated with Staten Island Academy had going into the game with James Madison was looking towards a possible Class A Championship Game rematch with NYSPHSAA champions Jamesville-DeWitt, and according to guard Megan McEwan '17 that was something she had a serious feeling could happen.

"I feel like this game we came in excited and we were going to overlook it and move forward," McEwan said. "We would look to the next game and overlook this game."

Admitting that was the worst thing that could happen, from the opening tip you could see that the energy level that James Madison was playing with, along with the young talent they have would be a problem throughout the game if the Tigers didn't take the Lady Golden Knights extremely seriously.

After a fairly slow start, in part due to the cobwebs of not playing a game for over a month, SIA didn't get going offensively until just after the midway point of the opening quarter SIA began to come alive with Emily LaPointe '19 knocking down the Tigers first three of the game, propelling them on a 14-2 run to take a double-digit lead at 19-9 with just seconds left to go in the 1st.

Cameron Corbett '17 would get in on the long-range act, and with Clare Mitchell '17 able to finish on putbacks down low, Staten Island Academy maintained a 25-14 lead before the aggressiveness of James Madison started to take over.

Melinda Feratovic '19 using her length to be an inside/outside threat, while Ketsia Athias '18 was able to get in strong positions to finish with her back to the basket and get the game within 35-30 at the half.

It was a disappointing half of play in the eyes of Tigers head coach Nicole Sarcone who didn't like what she was seeing from her group of seven, feeling like they were not executing on the little things that would normally carry them to victories.

"They were definitely taking us out of our element with their size and they were getting a ton of rebounds and second and third chances," Sarcone stated. "We also were letting them in the lane too much in the first half and we wanted to adjust that."

While doing a better job of not letting them dominate the paint as much as they did in the first half, James Madison was doing a better job from the perimeter in the second half which again took Staten Island Academy by surprise as the Lady Golden Knights were staying within striking distance, and then pounced off missed shots down low by the Tigers to push the tempo, and when Foster buried the 3 from the corner, Madison took a 55-52 lead.

A feeling of this could happen for James Madison started to swell among the team and their supporters who grow loud in the final minute with the belief of something special could be about to happen. Sarcone though was imploring her team to stop settling for jumpers, noting that the outside shot wasn't falling and wanting her team to stay calm and try and get to the rim and then do something they don't do much of defensively.

"Us three coaches talked and we had taken 3 threes and we weren't hitting them and we really weren't hitting any all game so we said let’s just try and go inside and we got ourselves to the foul line," Sarcone said about what was talked about to change the momentum with her assistant coaches. "We will try and get a turnover on defense and if we can't we would foul, but kudos to our team because we haven't worked on the press too much because we don't have the bodies to do that."

Sarcone just told her team where to line up defensively on the court and McEwan said she bought into it immediately, and after a pair of FT's by Sophia DeMauro '19, McEwan was in the right place to pressure the ball and create a steal.

She got the ball and nearly took herself until she saw Althoff at the rim with 13.8 seconds left, and when that happened she knew what she needed to do.

"I was going to go up with my right hand but I saw Liz at the rim and got it to her and even though she had missed a couple earlier I knew it was going to go in once she put the shot up," McEwan admitted.

It touched nearly every part of the rim but it eventually dropped for Althoff to have SIA score 4 points in under 10 seconds to reclaim the lead. Madison didn't call a timeout and looked to push in transition, McEwan dove on a loose ball though creating a jump ball which made it Tigers ball with under 10 seconds to go.

LaPointe would be fouled immediately and in the bonus, she would hit 1 of 2 to make it 57-55, giving James Madison one last chance to tie or get the win. Athias was doubled near midcourt and she threw the ball up just hoping something good would happen. Many of the SIA player’s hearts sunk in seeing a Lady Golden Knights player wide open under the basket. The ball fell into the arms of Sarah James '19, but her putback attempt was waved off coming just after the final buzzer allowing the Tigers to celebrate as they rallied and held on for a 57-55 victory.

Althoff had 12 points for Staten Island Academy in the win, while Mitchell was limited to just 10 points in a game that saw the Tigers find a way to win when they didn't have their best.

In the heartbreaking last second defeat, James Madison was led by Ericka James '19 who had 15 points, with Foster chipping in with 13 points as well in the loss.

The win, as tough as it proved to be, now puts Staten Island Academy in Sunday's NYS Federation Class A Championship Game, and while they were on the brink of exiting in the semifinals, McEwan said there was no way she was going to go out this way, happy now that she has one more game to play on Sunday, and getting to enjoy the rest of her night tonight.

"I’m a senior and I said no way I’m letting this happen. There was no way I was going home tonight. We made dinner reservations and I wanted to be good for tomorrow. There no way it’s happening, we wouldn't let it and now tomorrow we have a chance."

After coming in last season not even knowing there was a Federation Tournament and thinking the NYSPHSAA Championship was their final game of the season, the Red Rams were more prepared this season. Making the NYSPHSAA title their main goal last year meant they didn't have the passion to win a Federation Title, but this year that has all changed as the goal is clear, to take home all the hardware.

From the very start this was all about Jamesville-DeWitt as Jamie Boeheim '18 was able to score 17 opening half points, giving the Red Reams a 33-18 lead at the half, pulling away even more from there for a convincing 31-point semifinal win.

Finishing last season with a loss to SIA in the Federation Championship Game, it wasn't the feeling that the players for Jamesville-DeWitt wanted, and while they may not have known about Feds going in, the loss left a feeling that guard Meg Hair '18 didn't want to feel again.

"Seeing them win gave us a lot of motivation to get back and play them again this year," Hair said. "We were focused on getting here this year and hopefully getting a chance to play them again."

That desire and passion to get a second chance at Staten Island Academy was clear as from the start it was all Red Rams with them denying the outside shot and making life tough when Kellenberg tried to attack and score off the dribble.

The Firebirds did try to hang around early as the J-D shooters didn't find a rhythm themselves in a cold Glens Falls Civic Center, but once they got going, they really got going.

Hair and Momo LaClair '21 both were able to connect on treys early in the 3rd quarter and from there it was all about the dominating presence of Julia Kelner '17 as the Bryant bound forward was able to create her space inside and finish with ease as the led grew to as big as 34 in the 4th for Jamesville-DeWitt.

Coasting home it was clear that the matchup they wanted would happen as when the final buzzer sounded it became official that J-D would get their shot at revenge against SIA, beating Kellenberg in the second Class A semifinal, 62-31.

Boeheim had all 17 of her points in the first half, leading the way for four Red Rams scorers, with Kelner adding 13 points and 14 rebounds to also help pace J-D.

Morgan Staab '17 finished a phenomenal high school career by scoring 14 points for the Firebirds, the only Kellenberg player in double figures in the defeat.

It's the game that Jamesville-DeWitt has wanted all season long as now knowing that the Federation Tournament is a real thing, they wanted Staten Island Academy and they get their shot at them on Sunday afternoon, and Boeheim hopes this time it can be a different result.

"They are a great team Staten Island Academy and we need to come out strong and play better than we did last year. We were up last year at the half and fell so we have wanted this game ever since and hopefully we can pull it off this time."