Offensive rebound, after offensive rebound, after offensive rebound.

Six in all.

There was one problem, though: None of the putbacks found the bottom of the net.

As it turned out, Trojans head coach Kay Sirianni wasn’t worried.

Southwestern’s Gianna Sirianni drives to the basket during Wednesday’s Section VI Class B girls basketball quarterfinal against Alden. Photo courtesy of Shelly Phillips

“We might not have been shooting well,” she said, “but we were playing really hard.”

Indeed.

Ultimately, second-seeded Southwestern found its collective footing and ran off the next 18 points, led 18-2 after the first quarter and 39-10 at halftime en route to a 76-27 victory over No. 10 Alden at the Southwestern High School gym.

The win advances the Trojans (15-7) into the semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 3 Salamanca at Dods Hall at Fredonia State. The Warriors (17-5) advanced by virtue of their 66-49 win last night over No. 6 Allegany-Limestone.

Coach Sirianni said her team’s playoff successes in the last week are the result of “peaking at the right time.”

“I think that’s part of it,” she said, “but also our last word for ‘character’ is ‘resolve,’ and we have to stay committed to our goals. The last couple weeks we’ve been saying our first goal is to win our league and then our next goal is to stay committed to every game, make it our best game and play it like it’s our last.”

Those practice discussions played out against Alden (12-10) in a big way as everybody on the Southwestern roster made a contribution, headlined by two eighth-graders and a sophomore. Tenth-grader Charlotte Beaver scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three steals; eighth-grader Gianna Sirianni had 23 points, six boards and three assists; and eighth-grader Jada Edwards had 13 points, 10 steals, seven blocks, four assists and three rebounds. For good measure, junior Marlana Cresanti collected 8 points and 10 steals, and senior Braya Beaver grabbed eight boards.

“This is one of those years where I think we have so much growth and potential, but I don’t know if I’ve seen all of it yet,” Coach Sirianni said. ” … These girls tend to surprise me every game. They’ve improved so much. I think they have several games ahead of them, if we can continue to play our best.”

A sign that hangs above the door leading to the locker rooms at Southwestern lists the girls sectional championships through the years. There are 16 in all, the most recent title coming in 2024.

Whether they can even think about playing for another one, the Trojans must find a way to get past Salamanca, which won the last meeting between the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 rivals two weeks ago to earn a split of the season series.

“It definitely wasn’t the game we thought we could play the last time, and Salamanca is a really good team,” Coach Sirianni said. “I think it’s a great matchup for us. I think it might be just a matter of who can play a little harder and who can shoot a little bit better on Saturday.”

The winner of that game will face either No. 8 Eden or No. 5 Akron in the sectional championship game, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. a week from today at Fredonia State.

“We took a picture of that (sectional championship sign) actually about a month ago,” Coach Sirianni said, “and we pointed up to it and said, ‘This is our goal, let’s get another sectional win.’ I think this team could definitely get there.”

NOTES: Jillian Uhrich led Alden with 11 points.

ALDEN (27)

MyUrso 1 0 2, Watson 0 0 0, Uhrich 3 3 11, Bauer 0 0 0, White 2 2 6, Scheifla 0 0 0, Casillo 0 0 0, Mergenhagen 0 0 0, Jankowski 0 0 0, Pantell 2 0 4, Vink 0 1 1, MaUrso 0 0 0, AnHolzman 1 0 3, AvHolzman 0 0 0. Totals 9 6 27.

SOUTHWESTERN (76)

Sirianni 10 2 23, Brown 1 0 2, Cresanti 4 0 8, Charles 0 0 0, Beaver 0 2 2, Emley 1 0 2, Edwards 6 1 13, CBeaver 10 1 24, Dykstra 0 0 0, Ricker 1 0 2. Totals 33 6 76.

3-point goals–Uhrich 2, AnHolzman, Sirianni, CBeaver 3.

Alden 2 8 9 8 — 27

Southwestern 18 21 14 23 — 76