But the senior point guard from Sacred Heart Academy of Buffalo stood tall in the second half Saturday night, leading the Sharks to a 57-48 victory over Southwestern in the championship game of the Southwestern Tournament.

Huss scored the final five points of the third quarter and 10 points in the fourth period, including a 6 for 6 from the foul line, to finish with 19 points as Sacred Heart improved to 4-0 on the season.

“She could do it all,” Trojans coach Kay Sirianni said. “We had a really hard time guarding her. She’s really a difference maker on that team.”

Reece Beaver led the Trojans (4-1) with a game-high 24 points, but the standout junior guard was limited to 7 after halftime.

With Jamestown coach Ken Ricker looking on, the Red Raiders’ Marley Drake (5) and Anne Enquist (21) surround Warren’s Sammie Ruhlman during the consolation game of the Southwestern Tournament on Saturday. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

The defense for the Sharks saw to that.

“Sometimes you get a night where one or two girls shoot poorly. Tonight we all shot poorly,” Sirianni said. “Kudos to Sacred Heart because they put enough pressure on us and ran the right defenses to keep us from creating shot opportunities.”

After trailing by as many as eight points in the first quarter and by as many as seven midway through the second period, Sacred Heart closed the first half on a 10-0 run to seize a 28-25 lead at the break.

Southwestern’s offensive struggles continued in the third quarter as it managed just one field goal — Madi McIntyre’s layup on a feed from Beaver — and the Sharks capitalized, highlighted by Huss’ 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Armed with a 38-31 advantage, Sacred Heart remained in control the rest of the way, thanks to connecting on 10 straight free throws. For the game, the Sharks were 14 of 16 from the charity stripe compared to just 8 of 17 for the Trojans.

Meghan Trapper, the tournament Most Valuable Player, finished with 16 points and Abby Uglow added 12. Huss was also named to the all-tournament team, joining Beaver and Kira Ricker of Southwestern, Peyton Wotorson of Warren and Kylie O’Brien of Jamestown.

“We invited three excellent teams to make us better,” Sirianni said. “In the big picture, we got better by playing really good teams this weekend.”

Southwestern is back in action this Friday when it travels to Clarence for a nonleague game.

“We’re packing our schedule with good teams,” Sirianni said.

CONSOLATION GAME

WARREN DOWNS JAMESTOWN

Meea Irwin is a freshman for Warren.

She just didn’t play like one Saturday night.

The guard’s performance during a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter provided the Dragons a small cushion en route to a 52-44 victory over Jamestown in the consolation game.

“She’s been lacking confidence lately,” Warren coach Lisa LaVan said. “I told her during a (fourth-quarter) timeout, ‘This is your game, this is what you love is playing at this pace. Just have fun.'”

All the Dragons seemed to do just that.

Peyton Wotorson led a balanced attack with 12 points, Alana Stuart had 11 and Iwin finished with 10, including 8 in the final period.

Alyson Canfield paced Jamestown with a game-high 18 points and Kylie O’Brien chipped in with 12.

“They don’t have role players,” Red Raiders coach Ken Ricker said of Warren. “Everyone makes plays, confident plays. We’re just not at that point yet. … It’s going to take a while. For this team in particular, the effort (is there), but until we get all the details and the little things we’re going to struggle.”

The game was close throughout, however. Warren led by four points after the first quarter and by five at halftime, but behind eight points from Canfield and a trey by Marley Drake in the final seconds of the third quarter Jamestown tied the game 35-all heading into the final eight minutes.

That’s when Iwin made her presence felt.

With the Dragons leading 37-35, she turned in a personal highlight-reel effort that included three field goals, an assist and a blocked shot. Thanks to her inspired play, Warren led 47-41 with just under three minutes remaining. The Red Raiders never got closer than three points the rest of the way.

“(LaVan) is the best coach I know in girls basketball,” Ricker said. ” … She puts in more time than anyone. … They’re just a very committed program. She’s a great coach, and you know they’re gong to play defense and rebound. If they make shots, you’re in real trouble.”

Fittingly, Irwin connected on a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left to put the game away for good.

“(Jamestown) is scrappy, they’re tough and they make you play at a very, very fast pace,” LaVan said. “Knowing Ricker through the years, that’s his style and he’s good at it. We were just able to wear them down a little bit and we go a little deeper. I think that helped us a little bit.”

The Dragons will be back in action today when they play Cathedral Prep.

“It never ends,” LaVan said. “We loaded up December on purpose. It was nice to sneak out a win (Saturday), because it doesn’t get any easier for us.”

The Red Raiders open their Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 schedule at Clarence on Dec. 19.

Championship Game

SOUTHWESTERN (48)

Cobb 0 0 0, RBeaver 10 2 24, Cotter 1 2 4, BBeaver 0 0 0, Sirianni 1 0 3, Riley 0 0 0, Hamilton 0 0 0, McIntyre 4 0 8, Pearson 0 0 0, Ricker 2 4 9. Totals 18 8 48.

SACRED HEART (57)

Personius 0 2 2, Caterina 2 0 6, Huss 6 6 19, Bonvisutto 1 0 2, Uglow 5 2 12, Trapper 5 4 16. Totals 19 14 57.

3-point goals–RBeaver 2, Sirianni, Ricker, Caterina 2, Huss, Trapper 2.

Southwestern 17 8 6 17 — 48

Sacred Heart 14 14 10 19 — 57

Consolation Game

WARREN (52)

SRuhlman 1 2 4, Kuzminski 0 2 2, Farr 3 2 8, Stuart 4 2 11, Wotorson 5 1 12, Irwin 4 2 10, GRuhlman 2 1 5, Foster 0 0 0. Totals 19 12 52.

JAMESTOWN (44)

Brandow 0 0 0, Freeney 1 1 3, Drake 2 2 8, Glover 0 0 0, Canfield 6 3 18, Engquist 1 1 3, O’Brien 5 2 12. Totals 15 9 44.

3-point goals–Stuart, Wotorson, Drake 2, Canfield 3.

Warren 16 10 9 17 — 52

Jamestown 12 9 14 9 — 44