By Ted Waddell
HANCOCK — January 20, 2006 – In basketball, the ball’s got to go through the strings to win.
In Wednesday night’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI game of hoops between the home team Lady Falcons of The Family Foundation School (5-10) and the Chapel Field Lady Lions, the visitors walked off the court with a 60-33 win as many of The Family School’s shots failed to make it through the hoop.
Chapel Field (8-2, 2-0 Div. VI) outpaced the Lady Falcons in the first frame 25-8, while in the second period The Family School (4-10, 1-2 Div. VI) rebounded to outscore the Lady Lions by an 11-8 margin.
However, Chapel Field enjoyed a 33-19 lead at halftime.
In the third period, the Lady Lions clawed the home team 19-8. The final quarter saw the Lady Falcons edge the visitors by a single point (9-8).
Leading Chapel Field to victory were double-digit scorers Bethany Sgandurra, Jessica Wiejak and Katie Oskam. Sgandurra recorded a game-high 19 points, Wiejak had 14 points and Oskam added 12 points.
Kristin Schroeder was high scorer for The Family School with 13 points.
The two teams were virtually even at the free-throw line. Chapel Field was 5-of-12 (42 percent), while The Family School was 5-of-11 (45 percent).
“I was pleased with the outcome, but in the second quarter we got very sloppy and I didn’t like that,” Chapel Field Coach Sal Patane said.
Patane said while Chapel Field had it under control for most of the game, he was a bit concerned with a “few silly mistakes like passes.”
“Katie Oskam was on fire early on, and then Bethany Sgandurra and Jessica Wiejak took over,” he said. “They all took turns in there.”
According to Family School Coach Carlton Williams, the score didn’t reflect “how hard we played” against a team that’s ranked first in their division.
“There was some intensity on our part, some good runs, but we got in a deep hole and it was hard to get out of it,” he said.
Williams said he “expected a bit more out of our big girls – Kate Slicker and Mary Schmieder.
“They got some good looks, but the ball just didn’t go in,” Williams commented.
Williams also credited the overall performance of Lady Falcons’ Ashley Myers, Kristin Schroeder and Cora Thomason.