West Genesee’s girls basketball team dominated the paint in its 61-45 girls’ basketball rout of visiting Corcoran Thursday night in the Section III Class AA quarterfinals.
When the no. 3 seed Wildcats (15-4) weren’t dropping in layups, they were pulling down offensive rebounds, and Corcoran coach Jim Marsh came away impressed by the host’s effort down low.
“They (West Genesee) were able to get it to the rack and get second-chance opportunities,” Marsh said. “I thought it was an inside game. We couldn’t defend them. They went by us at will. They got better shots than what we did. Their inside kids beat up our inside kids.”
WG’s two key frontcourt players, Melissa Fumano and Vicki Graveline, combined for 34 points.
Graveline, who had 16 points, did most of her damage in a second-quarter run that saw the Wildcats take the lead for good. The junior dropped in eight points in a decisive 9-3 spurt that gave West Genesee a 33-23 halftime lead.
“Vicki did a great job in the middle against a 2-3 zone,” Wildcats coach Dan Hallinan said. “She scored a lot early and had a lot of action on defense. The key was her facing the basket in the middle of the two-three and taking it to the hoop hard.”
Fumano, who led her side with 18 points, saved her best for the third quarter, when WG stretched its lead. The sophomore scored eight points in a spurt when the hosts took a 47-33 lead.
“Melissa took the ball to the basket, hard. Over and over again,” Hallinan said.
Any thought Corcoran had of coming back in the final quarter was doused by the Wildcats’ outside game. Kerri Taylor dropped in a pair of 3-point bombs to give the hosts a 54-40 advantage with less than four minutes left.
“I have to give huge credit to Kerri,” Hallinan said. “She came off the bench and gave us a huge lift.”
Hallinan was glad when the final buzzer sounded. He was concerned all week about facing a Cougars team that had lost twice to the Wildcats in the regular season.
“We’re very familiar,” Hallinan said. “Three wins is tough. Corcoran is a great program. They’re so athletic. They’re so well coached,” Hallinan said. But our kids said (that) hey, we beat them twice, we can beat them a third time if we play our game”
Corcoran finished its season at 8-11. Mary Morgan led the Cougars with 13 points. Labreya Stewart dropped in nine.
A night later, WG watched as no. 2 seed Fayetteville-Manlius rallied in the second half to beat Utica Proctor 56-44 in its AA quarterfinal.
This sets up a semifinal between the Wildcats and Hornets (17-2) Tuesday night at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, with the winner to get Cicero-North Syracuse or Liverpool for the title at the Carrier Dome on March 2.
