ALBION —
Avenging an early season road loss, Albion knocked Roy-Hart from the ranks of the unbeaten by a 43-33 margin Tuesday to throw the Niagara-Orleans League title race into a dead heat.
The loss drops Roy-Hart to 10-1 and into a tie for first place with Wilson (10-1), a 33-27 victor over Akron (3-8) as Albion stays in the title race by improving to 8-3.
In the other N-O games, Medina (6-5) downed CSAT (0-11) 62-34 and Newfane (4-7) topped Barker (3-8) 41-22.
“It’s a huge win. The improvement we’ve shown from the start of the season until now is just huge,” said Albion coach Lucian Price whose Purple Eagles have now won five in a row.
Abby Edwards scored 13, Tanisha Moyer nine, Sarah Papponetti eight and Justice Nauden seven to lead Albion’s balanced attack.
Olivia Kelkenberg scored 10, Jesse DeWaters nine and Kristi Harnish seven for Roy-Hart.
Albion jumped out to a 14-8 first period advantage on four jumpers by Edwards, two by Papponetti and a bucket off a turnover by Nauden and never relinquished the lead.
Second period baskets by Moyer, Papponetti and Eboni Taylor helped keep Albion up 26-20 at the half.
Roy-Hart did close the gap to 26-24 early in the third period on baskets by Haley Harrington and Harnish. However, the Lady Rams managed just one more basket the rest of the period as Albion regained a 35-26 advantage at the three-quarter mark on a rebound bucket by Moyer, a lay-up by Papponetti and a three by Nauden.
“We just didn’t shoot well. Our shots just didn’t fall,” said Roy-Hart coach Don Baker. “Albion played very well though. They outhustled us and out rebounded us in key situations.”
Plagued by a rash of ill timed turnovers and continued cold shooting Roy-Hart could get no closer than six in the final period.
Albion put a lock on the win by closing with an 8-4 run including a lay-up off a turnover by Nauden, and a jumper and a lay-up by Edwards.
“We played real good defense. We just showed a lot of heart defensively,” Price said.
Albion next hosts Wilson in another key contest Friday while Roy-Hart looks to rebound against CSAT.
Medina 62, CSAT 34
Maggie Balcerak and Albanellys Perez combined for 46 points to spark Medina past CSAT 62-34.
Balcerzak finished with 24 point, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks and Perez 22 points, 12 rebound, five steals and two blocks. Sharon Husung also chipped in with eight assists and four steals for the Mustangs.
Medina took charge at the outset jumping out to a 24-8 first period lead as Balcerzak and Perez each tallied 10.
The Mustangs maintained leads of 38-19 at the half and 54-27 at the three-quarter mark.
Wilson 33, Akron 27
WILSON — Jessica Curry scored a game high 20 points to lead Wilson to the narrow 33-27 win over Akron which was paced by Kierstyn Sturmer’s 16.
Wilson led 15-6 at the half and 19-15 after three-quarters.
Newfane 41, Barker 22
Snapping a three-game losing streak, Newfane bested Barker 41-22 as Kate Shaw scored 15 and Maddy Passuite had 10.
Newfane led 13-8 after one period, 21-11 at the half and 37-15 at the three-quarter mark.
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