The Elba girls basketball team has the potential to go a long way this season. They showed that Tuesday night with a solid 45-36 victory over host Oakfield-Alabama.
The Lancers had a slim 23-19 lead at the half, but coach Tom Nowak's strategy of subbing in five at a time to keep bodies fresh, and pressing his opponent like crazy worked.
The Hornets were getting to the foul line - a lot - in the first half, especially Brynn Perfitt, who scored a game-high 19 points with nine rebounds.
Perfitt kept O-A in the game with seven of those points coming in the first half and a constant scoring effort in the second.
Cassy Engle had a 3-pointer before Meg Stucko and Julie Webster had consecutive baskets. After Oakfield-Alabama had one of its three shot clock violations, Sarah Schwartzmeyer hit a shot at the third quarter buzzer to put Elba up 34-25.
Engle hit another 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter and after Webster scored and had an and-1, Elba had a 43-25 score.
Oakfield-Alabama had a little run at the end to make the score respectable, but Elba mostly dominated the second half for the victory.
Hillary Bates also had 11 points with four assists for the Hornets, who fall to 6-7.
Engle led Elba with 10 points with Webster adding seven Chelsie Pangrazio had five points and had over five assists.
Elba is 8-0 in Genesee Region League Division II, one game ahead of Notre Dame as we head down the stretch run. The Lancers are 12-2 overall and will be watching Jasper-Troupsburg (11-1) and Keshequa (10-2) as the three are fighting it out for the top seed in Class DD.
