York’s Anna Filosa, Olivia Silkaitis heat up in 2nd half of season-opening win against Oswego East

ELMHURST – Anna Filosa and her York teammates couldn’t buy a basket in the first half of Monday’s season opener against Oswego East.

But they were money in the second half.

Filosa, a senior guard, and junior forward Olivia Silkaitis combined to score 19 points in the third quarter to power the Dukes to a 60-32 victory at the York Thanksgiving Tournament.

Filosa tallied a game-high 16 points to go with six rebounds, five steals and two assists, while Silkaitis finished with 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Nearly all of their offensive production came after halftime, as Silkaitis had all but one of her points while Filosa scored 12 points.

It was a dramatic turnaround from the first half, when the Dukes (1-0) were stone cold from the floor and trailed by eight points.

“We have a lot of younger players who have been practicing a lot, but it was the first game and I think everyone’s nerves were all over the place,” Filosa said. “But I wasn’t hitting my shots. At first no one was really hitting shots.”

Indeed, the Dukes made just 6 of 32 attempts, with Filosa going 2 for 12 and Silkaitis 0 for 6. The two are York’s only returning starters, so it wasn’t surprising to see Oswego East (0-1) take advantage.

The Wolves led 13-5 following a jumper from Desiree Merritt at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter.

“We were a little tight at the beginning,” York coach Brandon Collings said. “We’ve got a young team, a bunch of sophomores and juniors.

“We missed a bunch of layups early and just couldn’t get it rolling.”

Then the Dukes scored seven straight points to briefly take a 15-14 lead. The Wolves went back in front on Maggie Lewandowski’s 3-pointer and led 20-15 when Avery Larma sank a runner in the lane with 1:12 left in the half.

That turned out to be the start of a game-closing 45-12 run by the Dukes, who outscored the Wolves 26-7 in the third quarter to take a 43-29 lead.

Filosa was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the third quarter, while Silkaitis had 10 points.

Collings was particularly impressed with the play of the 5-foot-11 Silkaitis, who sank a pair of 3-pointers.

“I thought Olivia did a great job,” Collings said. “She’s a rare inside-outside girl who can spread you out by hitting the 3 or putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. She can also bang inside.”

There was a lot of banging during a physical game in which both teams regularly utilized a full-court press. The Dukes didn’t seem to mind.

“It was a really aggressive game with fouls and I think second half we just pepped each other up, had a lot of energy,” Filosa said. “Everyone helped each other.”

The Dukes helped themselves to the ball seemingly at will. Oswego East turned the ball over 32 times, 22 of which came on York steals.

Filosa and Ellie Kehoe both had five steals, while Briley O’Brien had four, Paige Byrne had three and Kayla Callahan and Cate Carter two each.

“For a young team we’re all really quick,” Filosa said. “We have a lot of guards. Our energy on defense is going to help a lot.”

Aubrey Lamberti paced the Wolves with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Lewandowski and Merritt both scored eight points. But they combined for only three baskets in the second half.

“I thought that third quarter was awesome,” Collings said. “We’re the type of team with our quickness, our defense is going to have to lead our offense.

“We can do so much more when we can get some steals and get out in the open floor and push the basketball. We’ve got to do a better job finishing in transition, but I was very happy with that second half after a frustrating first half.”