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Randolph Has No Answer For Olean Star’s 44 Points

Olean’s Sara Pfeiffer looks for a way to get around Randolph’s Kira Lewis during their CCAA Division 1 East matchup Wednesday at Gail N. Chapman Elementary School in Randolph. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

RANDOLPH — Olean’s Sara Pfeiffer was held in check by Randolph for one quarter Wednesday evening.

Unfortunately that quarter was the fourth.

By that point the Huskies senior star already had 37 points on her way to a season-high 44 in Olean’s 78-32 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 East victory over the Cardinals at Gail N. Chapman Elementary School.

CCAA teams thought they got rid of Pfeiffer two years ago when she left Olean after scoring 1,492 points through her sophomore season and went to Chandler, Arizona to play for Seton Catholic. After winning the Class AAAA championship last winter, Pfeiffer returned to Western New York for her senior season, and now local teams will have to deal with her again.

“She can shoot and she can handle the basketball,” Randolph coach Shawn Huntington said of Pfeiffer.

Randolph’s Sydney Hvizdzak puts up a layup in front of Olean’s Katie Patrone and Hannah Aiello during Wednesday’s CCAA Division 1 East matchup at Gail N. Chapman Elementary School in Randolph. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

“She doesn’t take breaks,” Huntington added. “She’s all over the place.”

Pfeiffer finished Wednesday going 13 of 25 from the field, including 9 of 12 from 3-point range, and 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Pfeiffer added five of the Huskies’ 15 steals.

Randolph’s Sydney Hvizdzak did her best to keep pace with Pfeiffer early on and finished with a team-high 24 points, but the rest of the Cardinals could not match Olean.

The Cardinals finished 15 of 53 from the field, including 2 of 8 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 26 times in the absence of starting point guard Kara Leeper, who was injured against Southwestern earlier this season.

“We’re just trying to figure things out without having (Leeper) here,” Huntington said. “It’s tough early in the season because we’re still learning our offense. When you pull that piece out it makes it tough.”

The Huskies led just 17-13 after the first quarter when Pfeiffer made just one 3-pointer to go along with six free throws. She could’ve had more, but missed a couple of potential and-one layup opportunities while being kept relatively quiet by the box-and-one defense of the Cardinals and junior Kira Lewis.

“I asked her to play because I liked her intensity and her work ethic,” Huntington said of Lewis, playing varsity basketball for the first time. “I was impressed because we aren’t going to see that caliber every night. I have plans for her.”

Hvizdzak scored all 13 points for the Cardinals, who turned it over six times in the opening eight minutes, including three straight trips down the floor late in the period.

“They came out harder than my girls gave them credit for,” Olean coach Chelsea Bowker said. “Good for Randolph for doing that. … We were in a dogfight with Randolph in the first quarter.”

Pfeiffer began to heat up in the second quarter, scoring 17 of the Huskies’ 19 points in the period, including their final 12 as they took a 36-20 lead into halftime. Randolph’s final bucket of the half was a 3-pointer by Hvizdzak before the Cardinals turned it over on three of their final five possessions.

Pfeiffer added 11 more points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock midway through the period that gave Olean a 49-22 lead.

“When we play intense, we’re going to be tough,” Huntington said. ” … I don’t know why we come out flat in the third quarter … but we’re going to keep working on that.”

Randolph went scoreless over its final 11 possessions of the period and turned it over another nine times in the quarter.

“Once Katie locked in, she’s a great defender. If you give her one job, she’s going to do it,” Bowker said of Katie Patrone, who was mainly responsible for holding Hvizdzak to 6 points after the break. “I gave her the challenge in the locker room at halftime. … That was a really good job on Katie’s part. She’s exhausted and she worked hard. She deserves credit for that.”

Bowker pulled her starters after Pfeiffer added her final 7 points in the fourth quarter as the Huskies breezed to their fourth straight win to open the year.

“Sara is a great player. We are definitely going to see a box-and-one quite often this season,” Bowker said. “I’m going to need girls to step up. … They need to know that they can do it too. … I have plenty of girls on my team that can make baskets, they just have to have confidence in themselves.”

NOTES: Olean’s Justine Brooks opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points to go along with four assists. … The Huskies went 26 of 54 from the field, including 15 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc. … Nizhoni Kennedy had five rebounds for Randolph (2-3, 0-1). … Olean won the jayvee game, 39-26. Hayleigh Fedorwicz led the Huskies with 8 points and Mya Abrams led the Cardinals with 8 points.

OLEAN (78)

HAiello 1 0 2, Brooks 4 0 11, Pfeiffer 13 9 44, CMartin 2 0 4, EMartin 0 0 0, Patrone 1 0 2, SAiello 2 2 7, Miketish 1 0 2, Folts 0 0 0, Graham 2 0 6. Totals 26 11 78.

RANDOLPH (32)

Lockwood 0 0 0, Lewis 0 0 0, Hvizdzak 9 4 24, John 1 0 2, Rhodes 3 0 6, Ames 0 0 0, Pagett 0 0 0, Kennedy 0 0 0, Smith 0 0 0. Totals 13 4 32.

3-point goals–Brooks 3, Pfeiffer 9, SAiello, Graham 2, Hvizdzak 2.

Olean 17 19 23 19 — 78

Randolph 13 7 2 10 — 32

Jayvees: Olean won, 39-26.

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