Monday, February 18, 2002
Delhi boys, Sidney girls romp to league crowns
Foote scores game-high 21 points as Warriors remain undefeated with 64-48 victory
By Rob Centorani
Staff Writer
BAINBRIDGE — Sidney is so diverse that even if a couple phases of its game broke down, the Warriors would still be very difficult to beat.
They run, rebound, press, pass, shoot and defend so well. Want to concentrate on their top scorer? That's OK, because their second option is almost as dangerous.
The Warriors won the inaugural Midstate Athletic Conference girls basketball title Saturday with a 64-48 victory over Oxford at Bainbridge-Guilford.
Junior guard Paula Jean Foote scored a game-high 21 points for Sidney (20-0), which used a 12-0 spurt in the third quarter to seize control.
"We have so many options off our offense," Foote said. "Whoever is open, we give them the ball. Everybody on our team is a weapon and everyone can score. We just look to see who's open."
On this night, it was mostly Foote.
"Our goal basically was to keep it out of (Angela) Mirabito's hands, because she's a large part of their offense," Oxford coach Margo Barrows said of Sidney's leading scorer, who finished with 16 points. "We wanted to force someone else to step up tonight and Paula Foote did that."
But it was in the third quarter when all phases of Sidney's well-rounded game came together.
Oxford (12-9) scored the first four points of the second half, with Jessy Nelson's layup bringing the Blackhawks within 32-28 with 5 minutes, 57 seconds left.
Over the next four minutes, the combination of Sidney's 1-2-1-1 press and tough man-to-man defense held Oxford without a point. At the other end, the Warriors' offense proved it could score in a number of ways.
• Perimeter shooting? Mirabito started the run with a 17-footer.
• Passing? First, Foote set up Sarah Wesner for a layup and then Mirabito threw a bounce pass to a cutting Jenny vanderMeulen for a basket. That made it 38-28 midway through the third period.
• Transition? The speedy Foote went coast-to-coast for a fastbreak layup.
• Foul shooting? Wesner made two from the line with three minutes left in the quarter. The foul shooting was actually a bit misleading as Sidney went 11-for-23 from the line. However, for the season, the Warriors are shooting around 70 percent.
Finally, Mirabito found vanderMeulen alone at the foul line for a jumper that made it 44-28.
With Oxford playing man-to-man, Sidney's forwards came out to set high screens for either Mirabito or Foote. The guards used the screens to either take pull-up jumpers or penetrate. If the lane closed down in penetration, they simply kicked it out to the wing.
"Angela and Paula Jean know each other very well and the game very well," Sidney coach Loraine Butcher said. "Anytime they start to do something with the ball, they have options and use them all very well."
Coming into the MAC title game, Oxford appeared to have a favorable matchup with 6-foot center Jill Post against 5-foot-8 Caitlin Graham. Post had a solid game, scoring 17 points, but most were away from the basket. Post hit three 3-pointers and a couple medium-range jumpers. Graham kept Post from being a threat around the basket.
"When we went in at halftime, Caitlin said (Post) hit one from about 20 feet behind the 3-point line," said Butcher, whose team will play host to Unadilla Valley on Wednesday in a first-round Class C sectional game. "I said, 'You know, Caitlin, we'll give her that shot.' She contained her very well in the paint."
Barrows said of Sidney's defense: "You don't try to do anything fancy against them, because they're so athletic. They've got every position covered and they're a great team."
The Warriors head into the Section Four Tournament sharing the state's top Class C ranking with Section Three's Mohawk.
"Right now, we're pretty confident, but we can't take anyone lightly," Foote said. "We just have to treat every game like it's a new season."
SIDNEY 64, OXFORD 48
SIDNEY (20-0): Kristina Borowoski 0 1-2 1, Ashley Brazee 1 0-0 2, Paula Jean Foote 9 2-6 21, Caitlin Graham 0 0-0 0, Amanda Haney 0 0-0 0, Angela Mirabito 7 2-3 16, Tiffany Mott 0 0-0 0, Lisa Starkey 1 0-0 2, Jessie Fisher 0 0-0 0, Jenny vanderMeulen 5 1-2 11, Jessica Mertz 0 0-0 0, Sarah Wesner 3 5-10 11. TOTALS: 26 11-23 64.
Three-point field goals: O 5 (Post 3, Nelson, Tompkins); S 1 (Foote).
