Onondaga — A head coach not hired until the autumn, a young roster full of mostly unproven players, the presence of so many opponents that had improved from recent form – in short, the West Genesee girls basketball team faced long odds in 2015-16, but have already gone far beyond what anyone dreamed it could do.
As a climax to its unlikely run from a no. 7 seed, the Wildcats charged down the stretch to beat Liverpool 43-36 in Sunday night’s Section III Class AA semifinal at SRC Arena, earning a trip to the title game against unbeaten powerhouse Cicero-North Syracuse exactly one week later on the same floor.
While so many others may have doubted, that new head coach, Stafford Spreter, did not.
“I was sure we had a special team,” said Spreter. “These kids can play.”
And WG never played better than in the last three-plus minutes against Liverpool, a team it beat twice in the regular season, but appeared ready to reverse those results when it made a run midway through the fourth quarter and took a 35-31 lead.
Then Elle Lazore, the Wildcats’ 5-foot-3 junior guard, hit the two biggest shots of her varsity career. With her unique follow-through, Lazore sank a 3-pointer with 3:09 left to cut WG’s deficit to one, and then, with 1:30 to play, got open again from beyond the arc – and hit again, giving her side the lead for good.
“She’s a clutch player,” said Spreter. “Elle has her own way of doing things, but whatever works.”
Now the Wildcats’ defense, stellar most of the night in slowing down a potent Liverpool attack, made a series of big stops. Meanwhile, Madison Smith made four consecutive free throws in the final minute, and Mackenzie Smith tacked on a basket, too, all part of a closing 12-2 run.
continued — That late spurt contrasted the slow nature of most of the game. WG had an advantage of having played in SRC Arena earlier this season, meaning that it didn’t have to get used to the shooting background – unlike Liverpool, who hadn’t competed yet this season on this floor, .
Having to make those adjustments and face WG’s relentless pressure, the Warriors went seven minutes without a point in the first half, yet still rallied to take a 20-18 halftime lead. From there, no one had an advantage more than four points until the Wildcats’ dazzling finale.
Lazore finished with 10 points, with Mackenzie Smith and Sierra Smith earning nine points apiece. Madison Smith (eight points) and Camryn Chawgo (seven points) were close behind as Jenna Wike paced Liverpool with 13 points.
Next Sunday night at 6:30, WG will take its shot at mighty C-NS, who has gone 22-0 this season and is heavily favored to snare its eighth consecutive sectional title – a scenario of long odds WG is quite used to.
