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Critical Victory

Jamestown Holds Off Clarence In 4th Quarter For 82-77 ECIC D1 Win

Jamestown’s Alyson Canfield has her shot challenged by Clarence’s Ella Corry during Tuesday’s ECIC Division 1 game at McElrath Gymnasium. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

When Alyson Canfield left McElrath Gymnasium on crutches Saturday afternoon, Ken Ricker thought she was done for the season.

The Jamestown head coach certainly didn’t think his junior guard would be available Tuesday night for a critical Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 showdown with Clarence.

When five starters are expected to play pretty much the entire game, losing any one of them to injury can be disastrous.

So when Canfield was cleared Monday to play against the Red Devils, it was close to miraculous in Ricker’s eyes.

Canfield didn’t dominate the box score, but did provide 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal to go along with a pair of crucial deflections late in the game as Jamestown hung on for a 82-77 victory over Clarence.

Jamestown’s Marley Drake puts up a shot in front of Clarence’s Allison Glaude during Tuesday’s ECIC Division 1 game at McElrath Gymnasium. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“I’ve known her since the day she was born. It was such an empty and sick feeling. … I thought there was no chance that she’d play,” Ricker said of Canfield. “We know that our team is extremely fragile. We left the gym Saturday thinking Alyson Canfield’s season was over. … Sunday she couldn’t walk, and today she’s out there.”

Senior Marley Drake led the Red Raiders, now 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the league, with 35 points to go along with eight rebounds, while fellow senior Kylie O’Brien had 18 points, 16 rebounds and two steals. Mickia Freeney, another senior, had 11 points, 10 steals, nine assists and four rebounds.

“This was the first game we’ve had where in the first half all five were aggressive and all five were confident,” Ricker said. “Going into halftime, everybody was doing their thing.”

Senior Hannah Farley led the Red Devils (6-6, 4-3) with 25 points, but sat most of the third quarter with foul trouble.

“Farley is a stud. She was all-league last year,” Ricker said. “She got into foul trouble mostly because we kept force feeding Kylie. … That was a huge advantage for us.”

Jamestown, which built a double-digit cushion with an 11-0 run to open the second quarter, led by 19 late in the third quarter and by 18 early in the fourth quarter before Clarence began its rally.

A quick 8-0 run that included a 3-pointer from Allison Glaude and 5 points, including a 3-pointer from Farley, made it a 10-point game with 5:20 remaining.

“There was some coaching error, but we couldn’t press anymore,” Ricker said, noting three of his starters had four fouls apiece. “Once we stopped doing that, Ella (Corry) could make plays for everybody.”

Farley hit another 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining to make it 75-68 and Emily Glaude hit from deep with 1:25 left to make it 75-71.

Drake answered at the other end of the floor with a 3-pointer of her own — her sixth of the game — to give the Red Raiders a little breathing room, but back-to-back Jamestown turnovers allowed the Red Devils to make it 78-75 with 48 seconds left.

Clarence got free in transition, but a pass that likely would’ve led to an easy lay-in was too high for its intended target and the ball was turned back over to the Red Raiders. Drake calmly sank four free throws in the closing seconds allowing Jamestown to escape with the victory.

“This was a massive win to have a tie-breaker against them,” Ricker said. “The first time we kind of stole it … and today we almost gave it away.”

As is usually the case, the Red Raiders’ defense led to much of their offense. Jamestown forced the Red Devils into 26 turnovers, which led to 34 points.

“You just need one or two runs a game. The other team is going to get some too, ours just have to be bigger,” Ricker said. “We had a couple of really great ones.”

Next up for Ricker’s team is a Thursday date with Lancaster as McElrath Gymnasium. The Legends, who are Class AA’s 12th-ranked team according to the New York State Sportswriters Association, beat the Red Raiders 92-49 back on Jan. 4.

“They are just in a different stratosphere,” Ricker said of Lancaster. “Last year, the second time we played them at home, at least we got to compete. … That’s what we’ll talk about on Thursday.”

NOTES: Drake had eight rebounds and Anna Engquist had five for Jamestown, which shot 27 of 80 (33.8%) from the field, including 8 of 32 (25%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over just nine times. … Ella Corry had 19 points and Emily Glaude added 11 for Clarence, which shot 30 of 62 (48.4%) from the field, including 8 of 22 (36.4%) from 3-point range.

CLARENCE (77)

Corry 8 3 19, EGlaude 4 0 11, AGlaude 2 2 8, Chiaino 1 0 2, Farley 10 2 25, Zuppa 0 0 0, Heary 2 2 6, Zobel 3 0 6. Totals 30 9 77.

JAMESTOWN (82)

Brandow 0 1 1, Freeney 5 0 11, Drake 12 5 35, Canfield 4 2 11, Engquist 3 0 6, O’Brien 3 12 18. Totals 27 20 82.

3-point goals–EGlaude 3, AGlaude 2, Farley 3, Freeney, Drake 6, Canfield.

Clarence 22 9 22 24 — 77

Jamestown 20 23 26 13 — 82

Jayvees: Clarence won 60-25.

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