Lew-Port girls power through Section VI basketball playoffs
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Lewiston-Porter girls, older and wiser, bigger and stronger than their Section VI Class A crossover opponents, are driving back to the Far West Regional round of the state playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
After dethroning Depew for the Class A-1 championship, the Niagara Frontier League champions held off upstart A-2 titleist Amherst, 52-42, on Wednesday night at Buffalo State Sports Arena. Lew-Port (21-3), ranked No. 7 in the state in the A classification, now move on to meet No. 4 Aquinas (19-5) from Section V at noon Saturday at Finger Lakes Community College.
“I think this was a great win,” said junior guard Emily Mountain, who led the Lancers with 16 points. “This wasn’t just me, I had a team of girls behind me that were right there throughout the entire game. It was a whole team effort, and it wasn’t just me. We have girls that wanted this moment and came here and showed out for it.”
Southwestern girls cross over sectional hoops hurdle
Mountain made a pair of 3-pointers at the start of the game, propelling Lew-Port to a 23-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. Exhausted by the fourth quarter, the early dominance was enough to thwart the comeback effort from a youthful, undersized Amherst team that won A-2 as the No. 9 seed.
“I think they have some great talent but we have Emily Mountain and Alize Whitehead,” Mountain said. “We have some girls that have bought into basketball since we were three years old.”
Lew-Port’s second sectional title in three years is the first under coach Brian Hall, who replaced the retiring Dick Lindameer, and after the graduation of all-time scoring leader Sophie Auer.
“They just believe in what we’re doing,” Hall said. “It took some time. We started this thing back in May when I took over the program and we had to learn a new system and style. We had a great summer and a great start. I thought it would take a couple of tough losses to get us to where we need to be, but we have complete trust and belief in each other. It’s a fun group to coach and watch.”
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.
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