Both seniors, starting with Ellie Pearson and then Bella Sirianni, managed a shot on the possession, but neither could score. Southwestern had one more look after that with 10 seconds left coming back down the floor, but a drive for a layup instead just sent the Trojans to the line and Newfane held on for the 57-55 victory and trip to the sectional finals.

“That was definitely (the look we wanted),” Southwestern head coach Kay Sirianni said. “The first shot didn’t hit the rim like we wanted it to, but then we got the second shot. We had the opportunity there to score, but sometimes you draw it up and run it right but it doesn’t always go in the hoop.”

For the first time since 2017, the Southwestern girls will not be playing in the sectional finals at Buffalo State College.

However, from the start, it looked like the top-seeded Trojans would maintain the program’s status quo despite graduating their best player ever in Reece Beaver a year ago. Southwestern outscored Newfane 20-9 in the opening quarter with senior Ellie Pearson having half of the points.

Southwestern’s Ellie Pearson floats a shot over Newfane’s Kameryn Boyer during the Section VI Class B1 semifinal at Maryvale High School on Wednesday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

Not only was the Southwestern offense running well through Pearson, but the team was giving Newfane fits on the defensive end of the court.

That all changed once the fouls began piling up, especially with Pearson reaching three early in the game and needing time on the bench.

“That was huge,” Sirianni said. “Ellie, even though she played a great game for us offensively and she was able to score. When we don’t have a lot of subs — we were missing two players today — Ellie had to slow down on defense because we need her in the game. When you’re in foul trouble like most of the girls were, it changes your defensive game.”

With the defense unable to play as aggressively, Newfane was able to drive to the basket and three players thrived finishing with double-digit scoring. Kameryn Boyer led the Panthers with 18 points, Anna Chunco scored 15 and while running the point Sienna Bowers had 12 points.

“We didn’t anticipate them being able to attack the hoop as well as they did,” Sirianni said about Newfane. “Boyer and Chunco just beat us to the hoop over and over again and got those easy layups. Being in foul trouble there really wasn’t much we could do about it.”

By halftime, the Southwestern lead was cut down to one possession at 28-26 and then early in the third Newfane took the lead and it invigorated the 4-seeded Panthers and their fans that they could pull it off.

Newfane held Southwestern to single-digit scoring in both the middle periods, but was never able to pull away with a commanding lead as Southwestern continued to linger.

With Pearson back in the game, the play leveled out again, but with every player more tentative on defense as the fouls added up it was hard to slow the Newfane offense.

“They kept their composure and their cool,” Sirianni said about her team’s fight. “They believed that they could do it right until the end. You could see that because they knew what to do, they followed when they needed to follow, they set screens, they knew when we had to score. We kept our composure and kept it really close until the end and didn’t give up, so I’m proud of the girls for that.”

Pearson finished her career with the Trojans with 25 points, eight rebounds and a block, while Bella Sirianni had seven assists and three rebounds.

“Ellie and Bella, they have that experience,” Coach Sirianni said about her seniors. “It’s hard to replace that. They’ve been leaders on the team all season long and we will truly miss that leadership and just their positive attitude and talent next year.”

Southwestern sophomore Marlana Cresanti provided the secondary scoring with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, Braya Beaver collected five assists and five rebounds, Gianna Sirianni had four rebounds and a block and Charlotte Beaver had six boards and a block.

“A loss like this hurts,” Coach Sirianni added. “But give it some time and it should serve as some motivation, especially for our younger players. We have some great younger players and even a great jayvee squad that’ll be coming up to varsity. Looking ahead, I think we can be back here and maybe further next year.”

After holding on for the two-point victory, Newfane (16-5) will compete against No. 2 Health Sciences (15-4) for its first sectional title since 1996 when the Panthers won the C1 title.

Southwestern finishes the season with an 18-4 overall record.

NEWFANE (57)

Boyer 7 4 18, Bowers 3 5 12, Patcyk 0 0 0, SChunco 2 0 4, Miller 0 0 0, Noonan 0 0 0, AChunco 6 0 15, Golden 3 2 8. Totals 21 11 57.

SOUTHWESTERN (55)

GSirianni 2 0 5, Cresanti 5 4 14, BBeaver 0 2 2, BSirianni 2 1 6, CBeaver 1 1 3, Pearson 9 3 25, Robinson 0 0 0. Totals 19 11 55.

3-point goals–Bowers, AChunco 3, GSirianni, BSirianni, Pearson 4.

Newfane 9 17 13 18 — 57

Southwestern 20 8 9 18 — 55