This time of year, the simpler parts of the game like rebounding can be the difference between your season ending or attaining glory.
In the case of the North Tonawanda girls basketball team, their play under the basket has them back in a sectional title game.
The third-seeded Lumberjacks dominated the glass and paint en route to a 62-40 win over No. 2 Orchard Park in a Section VI Class AA semifinal Sunday at Buffalo State University.
“We do a lot of rebounding, we’re battling every day on the boards,” said North Tonawanda head coach Ryan Bradt. “Sometimes the girls complain, but then they see a game like this, and I think they’re going to realize all the physicality we put in practice, you could see it show in a game like today.”
It didn’t take long for North Tonawanda (19-3) to establish itself in the paint. A quick 10-3 run after the opening tip gave them an early cushion, with all 10 points coming off layups.
By halftime, the Lumberjacks had accumulated 27 points in the paint and a dominant 33-13 lead, as the Quakers just could not find an answer for North Tonawanda’s physicality and size.
“It was one of those games where we weren’t hitting shots,” Bradt said. “We play defense, we match up in transition, and we rebound, the rest of it doesn’t matter.”
The Lumberjacks kept their foot on the gas in the second half, starting the third quarter on a 9-0 run and leading by as many as 34 by the game’s end.
North Tonawanda didn’t make a 3-pointer until just under midway through the third quarter, when Lilly Day knocked down back-to-back shots from beyond the arc – though it wasn’t for a lack of good looks. It’s not the sort of shooting trend the Lumberjacks want to see going forward, but when you score 45 of your 62 points in the paint, it makes things a bit easier.
“We try to get 1% better each day,” said Day, who finished with a game-high 19 points. “We just work super hard, and then it just translates to into games.”
The Lumberjacks finished with four players in double figures, with Jakayla Brown posting 13 points and a handful of offensive rebounds, Annabelle Day adding 12 and Gabriella Cashion finishing with 10.
“We have six players that can all score 10, 20 points on a given day,” Bradt said. “We’re very lucky with that.”
Caroline Brown finished with 14 points to lead Orchard Park.
The win gives the Lumberjacks a second consecutive appearance in the Section VI Class AA title game, where they’ll square off against No. 5 Williamsville East (21-2), who handily upset top-seeded Amherst in the semifinals.
After a heartbreaking loss in last year’s championship to Starpoint, the Lumberjacks are using that emotion as fuel as they play for a first sectional title in program history.
“Last year was a really sad feeling,” Lilly Day said. “I don’t think any of us want to feel that again. We’re really hungry this year, especially with four seniors.”
The Class AA championship between the Flames and Lumberjacks is set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Buffalo State.