Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson
Cassadaga Valley’s Maddie Debo drives to the basket between Chautauqua Lake’s Alex Reyda (10) and Kaylee Tarr (15) during Saturday’s Section VI Class C prequarterfinal girls basketball game at Cassadaga Valley’s Art Asquith Gymansium in Sinclairville.
SINCLAIRVILLE — Maddie Debo might be turning into one of Cassadaga Valley’s top players at just the right time.
Just a freshman, Debo made back-to-back 3-pointers during a key third-quarter run and finished with a career-high 25 points as the seventh-seeded Cougars held off No. 10 Chautauqua Lake for a 54-45 Section VI Class C girls basketball prequarterfinal win Saturday afternoon inside the Art Asquith Gymnasium.
“Maddie is a matchup nightmare because you can take away her inside game and she’ll make you pay from the outside. If you give her extra attention on the outside, she’s got a great game attacking the basket,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Sarah Burnett said. ” … She is a wonderful all-around player and a player to be worried about for the years to come.”
The win vaults Cassadaga Valley into a 6 p.m. Wednesday quarterfinal back in Sinclairville. The Cougars were rewarded with a somewhat unexpected second home game when No. 15 Gowanda upset No. 2 Holland 51-39 in another Saturday prequarterfinal.
“They have so much potential. So many of them are in new positions this season,” Cassadaga Valley head coach Tammy Rice said of her team. ” … These girls are just starting to figure out how good they can be.”
The Eagles came out strong, winning the first quarter 11-9 as Cassadaga Valley did not make its first field goal until 3:58 remained in the opening eight minutes.
“I really loved the way that our girls started. They came out, they executed a game plan … and we got an early lead pretty early on, but you have to give it to Cassadaga Valley, they have a lot of fight in them,” Burnett said. ” … They fought their way back in and at the end were able to execute down the stretch.”
The Cougars took control with a 15-7 second quarter as Debo scored six straight points before Kristyn McVey gave her team a 17-16 lead with 4:24 left in the first half.
Cassadaga Valley would never trail again.
The Cougars’ lead ballooned to 14 on Debo’s second 3-pointer of the third quarter before Chautauqua Lake closed the period on a 10-0 run that included a 3-pointer from Brina Jacobson and a pair of free throws from Kendra Tarr, who was fouled on a desperation 3-point attempt to end the quarter.
“Maddie does a lot. She is leading us this season in deflections and steals. She’s aggressive on the boards and is just a dynamite athlete,” Rice said of Debo. “She is starting to like the 3-point shot this season and I’m happy for her. I think she is going to be a dynamite, all-around player from the outside and inside.”
Cameron Mackey hit a 3-pointer on the Eagles’ first possession of the fourth quarter to make it a one-point game, but Debo, McVey, Breonna Hopkins and Alexis Pattyson quickly put together a 9-0 run that pushed the lead back up to 45-35.
“It’s so easy to get caught up in the game, to get caught up in your own mistakes or what is not working, that you lose sight of playing the rest of the game,” Rice said. “We took a breath and I told them the next eight minutes would be about composure and decision making. We were too emotional and that favored Chautauqua Lake.”
Kaylee Tarr hit a 3-pointer late for Chautauqua Lake that made it a seven-point game, but the Eagles would get no closer in the final two minutes, sending the Cougars into Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
“We’re young in the sense that we haven’t found ourselves in previous years in a lot of close games. This season, we’ve struggled a little bit when we’ve entered the fourth quarter and it came to executing in a close game down the line,” Burnett said. ” … The outcome favored the team that executed down the stretch and unfortunately that wasn’t us.”
NOTES: Breonna Hopkins finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three assists; Debo had 10 rebounds and two steals; Payton Meder had nine rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and two steals; and Pattyson had five rebounds and three steals for Cassadaga Valley, which shot 18 of 54 from the field, including 5 of 15 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 23 times. … Jacobson had 16 points and six rebounds while Karie Tarr had 13 points and three assists for Chautauqua Lake, which shot 16 of 54 from the field, including 4 of 18 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 18 times.
CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (45)
Emery 0 0 0, KarTarr 5 2 13, Mackey 1 0 3, KeTarr 1 3 6, Reyda 0 0 0, GGerring 1 0 2, KayTarr 1 3 5, Jacobson 7 1 16. Totals 16 9 45.
CASSADAGA VALLEY (54)
Fenton 0 0 0, KMcVey 3 2 8, FMcVey 0 2 2, MHopkins 0 0 0, Meder 1 0 2, Pattyson 2 0 6, Johnson 0 0 0, Debo 8 6 25, BHopkins 4 3 11. Totals 18 13 54.
3-point goals–KarTarr, Mackey, KeTarr, Jacobson, Pattyson 2, Debo 3.
Chautauqua Lake 11 7 14 13 — 45
Cassadaga Valley 9 15 12 18 — 54