BUFFALO — Within touching distance of an historic sectional title three-peat, the Starpoint girls basketball team went cold at the worst time.
The No. 4 Spartans couldn’t hang on to multiple fourth quarter leads, as they fell to No. 3 Lake Shore 54-46 in the Section VI Class A1 title game Wednesday at Buffalo State University.
“The girls played with their entire hearts,” said first-year Starpoint head coach Melissa Lindner. “Hats off to Lake Shore, they played a good game and took us out of what we wanted to do. … We just had a few shots not go our way tonight.”
A rollercoaster of a second half saw Starpoint (10-12) hold a 44-43 lead with just under two minutes to play. Needing a response, the Eagles got it from an unlikely source in center Payton Stevens, who drilled a corner 3-pointer for her only field goal of the game to put Lake Shore ahead.
Gabby Schmidt drilled two clutch free throws for Starpoint to tie the game at 46 in response, but those were the last points the Spartans would score.
Lake Shore (18-5) closed the game on an 8-0 run, powered by clutch free throws from Chastity LeRoy (19 points) and Katsi Jackson (15, all in the second half), to claim the program’s first sectional title since 2019.
“I’ve never coached a group of kids in any sports that’s not intimated by anybody and not intimidated by the moment,” said Lake Shore head coach Vincent Fininzio. “We had some tough battles all year long. I think the close games and the ups and downs, ebbs and flows of games, I think mentally prepared us for types of games like this.”
Starpoint needed a strong response to even have a chance into the final minutes, as they trailed 23-13 early in the third after a turnover-filled first half without much offensive output to show.
Just when things looked bleak, Natalie Prezioso stepped up.
The senior guard tallied 14 third quarter points, including four 3-pointers, to power the Spartans on a 24-8 run and give them a 37-31 lead with seven minutes to play.
Prezioso scored 19 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, and was a pivotal piece not just on Wednesday, but all season for Starpoint.
“Nat is such a dynamic kid,” Lindner said. “She really has done a phenomenal job this year. She has over 400 points this season, captain of this team, a leader. I can’t say anything but good things about that kid.”
The Eagles would swiftly respond with a 10-0 run of their own to claw back momentum, however, before finding a way to win down the stretch.
For Starpoint, which started the season 0-4 amid a challenging schedule, just making it back to the sectional title game was a feat. Through all the highs and lows, Lindner expressed nothing but pride in her group.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to coach this group of girls for my first season here,” Lindner said. “If you told me back in December we would be where we were, I would’ve looked at you like, ‘Are you sure?’ This group dug in every single day in practice, every single game. I couldn’t be more proud of these girls.”
The Eagles will face the Class A2 champions Depew (20-3) in the Class A crossover game at 2 p.m. Sunday at Buffalo State, with the winner of that advancing to the state tournament.