Williamsville South routs Williamsville East

Williamsville South girls’ basketball coach Kristen Dolan had plenty of basketball to think about on Wednesday night.

While her own team was playing Williamsville East in the Section VI Class A1 game at Clarence, her son Greg was leading the Billies’ boys team in a playoff game against McKinley.

After her game, with Williamsville South safely advancing to the Section VI championship game, Kristen Dolan was asked if she wanted to hear the score of the boys’ game.

“Only if it’s good news,” she answered.

It was, a four-point win for Williamsville South. With that settled, Dolan could move on to discussing her team’s 77-41 win over the rival Williamsville East Flames.

It didn’t take long for the Billies to take control of this one. They went layup, layup, layup, layup to take an 8-0 lead in the first minute and 21 seconds. Realistically, that was the ball game.

“They’ve been really looking forward to this game,” Dolan said. “They’ve been practicing hard and trying to fine-tune some things – concentrating on a lot of the little things that make big things happen. It was key to get off to a start like we did tonight. Maybe we’re finding a bit of a rhythm, because we were out of sync at some points of the season.”

“We came in knowing that we have to be aggressive,” center Amari DeBerry added. “We wanted to get a big lead early.”

The Billies’ passing was frequent, unselfish and superb. They didn’t even make a shot more than a couple of feet from the basket until more than five minutes had gone by, when DeBerry hit a five-footer. Hannah Dolan hit a three-pointer shortly after that, just for variety’s sake.

The lead was 27-10 after a period and 41-17 at halftime. There was no let-up in the second half either, as Williamsville South scored 22 points – all right around the basket. It soon was “clear the bench” time from there.

So, can the Billies play much better than that?

“No, probably not,” Dolan said. “I’ve been trying to move some pieces around and trying people in different spots. I’ve trying to see what we do best and find what the best defense is. Maybe this is something we can build upon.”

Williamsville South came into the game ranked No. 2 in Western New York among large schools, and DeBerry is a major reason why. She finished with 22 points to lead the Billies.

The 6-foot-5 freshman is so quick and fluid that she changes the complexion of a game by her mere presence. Opposing shooters see her coming and look for the nearest exit to avoid a blocked shot. At the other end, she’s clearly improved her assortment of offensive moves around the basket. It would be a surprise if she wasn’t a first-team All-WNY pick.

“She spent her summer playing ball with some of her teammates,” Dolan said. “The timing is there. Amari works exceptionally hard. She can even be a perimeter player.”

Tatyjana Scalisi added 17 for Williamsville South. Rachel Romanowski led Williamsville East with 21 points.

Next up is Hamburg on Sunday afternoon at 2 at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

“We’re happy, but we have to be prepared,” Dolan said about the Section VI final. “We know they’ll be ready.”