Fredonia Continues It’s Mission

The Mission continues. Hannah Cybart had 13 points as No.6 Fredonia scored a decisive 52-18 win over No.3 Tonawanda in the Section VI Class B-1 Quarterfinals that were played at the George H.Miller Gymnasium, Thursday night. With the victory the Lady Billies advance to the semifinals where they will face No.2 East Aurora at Sweet Home High School on March 2 at 7:30. After falling in the B-2 title game the last two seasons the Lady Billies have been on a mission to win sectionals this season. “Literally, five minutes after the game (sectional final loss to Southwestern) once we had cried a little a bit for the leaving seniors we were like ok, let’s go.” Hannah Cybart said. “We’re coming back here and we’re gonna win this year.” Fredonia head coach Carol Zirkle has seen the drive in her girls all season long. While they aren’t taking anyone lightly, there seems to be this resolve in every girl that this is our year. “They’ve been very focused this year and we’ve had our goals set all year,” said Zirkle. “They have their goals and it’s been a focus of improving each day. And we played a really tough non-league schedule to get us ready for the playoffs.”

The Lady Billies definitely looked ready to take on the world as they played a solid defensive game that took away the paint from the Warriors two big girls Haley Schoelerman (6-foot-1) and Alicia Farrell (6-foot).

Coming into the game, Farrell was averaging 7.9 PPG and10.2 RPG while Schoelerman had 11.1 PPG and 9.4 RPG. On this night Farrell was held off the score sheet and Schoelerman was contained to five points-all on free throws.

“My teammates exceeded my expectations because they didn’t even have a chance to get it into (Schoelerman),” said Cybart. Controlling the paint was top priority for the Billies.

“That was our whole focus,” said Zirkle. “To not let them go right and not let them get the ball inside.”

The Billies a high pressure that disrupted the Lady Warrior guards, who played far more hesitant is this game than they had all season long.

“The core of our team has always been our defense and that was true tonight,” Cybart said. “We let our defense lead into our offense and we just really try to support each other. We knew coming in

Fredonia jumped to an 11-2 lead after the first quarter, then extended it to 28-10 by halftime. Built around a strong defense the Lady Warriors, champions of ECIC IV, had their struggles on the offensive side this season. The further they fell behind the more those struggles became magnified.

Tonawanda coach Jay Hall, though certainly not happy with the final score, said he couldn’t fault the effort his girls put forth. They were simply beaten by a better, more complete team. “Like we told them in the locker room. There are two things nobody can take away:The league title and your heart,” said Hall. “How hard you worked all year long to get this far.”

Caitlyn Cybart and Katie Price had nine points apiece for the Billies who defeated City Honors in the pre-quarterfinals.