Section V State Qualifier

Keshequa’s season comes to an end

CALEDONIA — Size matters.

It sure did help the Bishop Kearney Lady Kings who used 6-foot-2 sophomore Princella McCullough, 6-foot-1 junior Emmanuella Edoka and 5-foot-10 senior captain Skyler Gausney-Jones all to their advantage during their 50-45 victory over Keshequa (20-2) in a Section V Class C state qualifier Tuesday in Caledonia.

Jones (18 points) and McCullough (14 points) combined for 32 points to pace the Lady Kings.

While the size certainly helped the offense, what the Lady Kings did defensively really created problems for the much smaller Keshequa team, who doesn’ have a starter over 5-8.

“I felt their size influenced some of our shots and also they deflected a lot of passes with their long arms,” said Keshequa coach Pete Piraino.

After starting the season 7-8, Bishop Kearney has put together a string of nine straight W’s including their Section V Class C2 title win over Lyons.

But it looked early on like Keshequa might be ready to pull off the victory especially after senior Kristen Jackson hit a three-pointer that beat the first period buzzer cutting BK’s advantage to 14-9. A 13-4 second period run sparked by solid play from senior Alex Flint, who scored eight points in the period, combined with an aggressive, swarming defense that helped give the Lady Indians the 22-18 halftime lead.

But B-K would turn up the defensive heat in the third period and went on a 16-6 run that gave them the 36-28 lead. Gausney-Jones scored nine in the third while McCollough put back three offensive rebounds for six of her points.

Keshequa tried to battle back in the fourth qiarter but B-K would come up huge from the FT line as Sheila Hawkes hit 5-of-6 down the stretch to keep the Lady Kings in front.

Keshequa did manage to hit three, 3-pointers in the fourth — coming from Alex Flint, Tessa Gordinier and Shannon Gordinier, whose trifecta came just before the final horn to make it 50-45.

Flint led Keshequa with 19 points, nine steals and eight rebounds.

The sophomore Tessa Gordinier tallied nine points with four rebounds and four assists while Lindsay Piraino, Kristen Jackson and Shannon Gordinier each added five points. Jackson also added four steals and three boards.

Despite the loss, Piraino was proud of his girls’ effort.

“I am very proud of our girls — they try so hard, always,” said coach Piraino.

Keshequa will lose three seniors to graduation including Flint, Jackson and Grace Mehlenbacher.

“Grace, Kristen and Alexandrea are and have been a joy to coach,” said coach Piraino. “It has been fun to watch their growth. They mean a lot to us all at Keshequa.”