The SCAA's best?

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on Jan. 30, 2009

People can debate who the most talented girl’s basketball team in the SCAA is all they want, but no one can dispute Waldron is a team to catch right now.

[caption id="attachment_77" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Waldron's Chelsea Shadbolt alters a shot by Pittsford's Katelyn Kipfmiller in the first half of Waldron's 57-50 win. Photo by RJ Walters, Hillsdale Daily News."][/caption]

An improving Pittsford squad gave the Spartans all they could handle Thursday, but despite 30 turnovers and a 14-point first half deficit Waldron’s athleticism and depth paid off just as it has all season long as they improved to 8-0 in SCAA play and 12-1 overall with a 57-50 victory.

The Spartans are still unscathed in conference play and they have beaten perennial powerhouse Camden-Frontier, but have yet to play Hillsdale Academy, the only other team unbeaten in league play.

A sweaty, tired Waldron head coach Jeff Knowlan said he believes his girls are the team to beat right now.

“I tell my girls that everyday (that they are the best). I believe it, I want them to believe it and you’ve got to believe you are the best team until someone proves it different,” he said. “I graduated six seniors last year and everyone thought I wouldn’t have much this year and I tried to talk to the girls at the beginning of the season and tell them hey, nobody is expecting you guys to do much. But they worked hard all summer and went to camps and have done all they can to prove they’re a good team.”

Pittsford head coach Ryan Hoover said he wasn’t about to rank the top teams in the league at this point, but he did say Knowlan’s squad is one of the hardest working he’s seen.

“Well record is the only thing that matters...it’s not fair to Camden and Hillsdale Academy to really say who is the best though because Waldron just beat Camden-Frontier and have yet to play the Academy so I’m not going to get into ranking teams,” he said. “All I know is Waldron works extremely hard out there and Jeff is a great coach and they do all the things you want your team to do.”

Hoover’s Wildcats (3-10 overall) almost had the pleasure of spoiling Waldron’s perfect league mark behind 19 points, nine steals and eight rebounds from Katelyn Kipfmiller, but second-half shooting struggles and a bit of a free-throw discrepancy were too much to overcome.

“On free throws they were 24-of-34 and we were 10-of-22, so that seems like a pretty big thing to me in a 7-point game. The reason they got to the line though is because they’re more athletic,” Hoover said. “I’m sure we wear down, but Waldron is more athletic than we are, it’s just the fact and there is no shame in that. We’re standing right with teams like Waldron, Camden-Frontier, and Climax-Scotts punch-for-punch, we just don’t make the plays at the end to finish it.”

The Wildcats forced the Spartans into a handful of bad decisions in the first quarter and some offensive putbacks, coupled with several jumpers staked them to a surprising 20-8 lead.

After going ahead 27-13 though, the Spartan defense settled down and the Wildcats red-hot start was behind them.

A 23-7 run in the final six minutes of the half gave Waldron 31-29 halftime lead.

Knowlan said the second quarter proved to him that his team has the necessary intangibles to role with the punches when an opponent delivers them.

“The first quarter was real sloppy and we did show heart and did come back. It was about two weeks ago when we played Camden, Jackson Christian and Deerfield three games in a row and we learned we could win close games and I think that helped when we were down by 12 or more points,” he said. “I learned that I don’t have to panic and the girls don’t have to panic if we get down a few points because we know we can come back. We’ve got to just ride the storm out.”

Ashley Jagielski led the way with 13 points, five steals and four assists, but it was a multitude of players who made a difference.

Abbe Wines finished with 10 points and 10 boards, while Kelsey Knowlan pitched in a team-high 15 points and seven boards. Courtney Whitehead poured in 12 points.

For Pittsford, Marissa Hamilton scored 12, but other than her and Kipfmiller no Wildcat scored more than six. Hoover was more than pleased with his team’s heart and effort but he said he’s getting a little sick of moral victories.

“It’s hard telling them the same thing over and over when you play so hard and do so many good things. We’ve made a lot of good strides, but it seems like at some point we should be rewarded so it keeps their confidence up,” he said.

With seven games left on the schedule Knowlan said he feels like his team has all the components to be a championship team.

“With Ashley and Courtney, two good senior and two of my juniors, Kelsey and Abbe, two of my captains....they are just a good group of girls who bonds well. If Ashley says something everyone listens and if Abbe or Kelsey says something, they listen.”