BINGHAMTON – Bainbridge-Guilford, playing perhaps at its highest level all season, threw a hefty scare into defending Class C state champion Elmira Notre Dame Saturday evening at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Crusaders, who have not lost a game to a Class C team the past two seasons, needed a three-point play from Mallory Lawes and two free throws from Margie McKinery over the final 83 seconds to pull out a Section IV title win over the Bobcats.
“Our kids came out and played incredible; I’m just very disappointed for them,” said B-G coach Bob Conway. “We executed what we had practiced: We kept Lawes from scoring, and Marcie Day did a tremendous job on her. We also wanted to keep Agan (Kate) off the glass. We had some opportunities, the ball just didn’t bounce our way a couple times.”
Bainbridge Guilford (19-3), whose only two previous losses earlier this season came against Unatego, led most of the game, although END went on an 8-0 run to end the third quarter and grab a 41-39 advantage.
After trading leads most of the last quarter, B-G senior Jen Patten fed Nicole Conway for a layup to give her club its last lead, 50-49 with 2:25 to play. Throughout the contest, it was the career scoring night of junior Mariah Schaeffer that allowed the Bobcats to stay close or maintain the lead. Schaeffer hit a trio of three balls and finished with a career-high 26 points.
Lawes, limited to nine points in the game – half of her season average – put the Crusaders ahead to stay with 1:23 remaining. Those points were Lawes’ only points in the contest after a six-point first quarter.
B-G missed two free throws and a late-game shot down the stretch as a response to Elmira’s offense. “We did an outstanding job against their pressure defense all game,” Conway said. “Last year we came out against them and were intimidated from the start. It went all downhill from there...it’s just disappointing. We played great as a team and had a chance to beat the number one team in the state and possibly our own chance to win a state title. Our kids put every ounce of energy they had into this game.”
