Girls basketball: Lockport hangs on to top Providence Catholic

LOCKPORT – Lockport girls basketball coach Darien Jacobs knew this season would be filled with ups and downs.

That happens when there is only one senior – Veronica Bafia – on the roster and one of the top returning juniors, Alaina Peetz, is out for the season with an injury.

The Porters entered Tuesday’s matinee matchup with Providence Catholic with one senior and three juniors in uniform. The rest were either freshmen or sophomores.

Those young players stepped to the forefront and lifted Lockport (9-12) to a 41-38 win over the Celtics (10-9), whose fourth-quarter rally came up short. Sophomore Laura Aristikaitis had a team-high 12 points to go with five rebounds, while freshman Evelyn Ingram came off the bench to finish with eight points, including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that put her team ahead 40-24. Bafia and junior Lucy Hynes both scored nine points, while freshman Katie Peetz hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.

“This is a great win for us against a great program,” Jacobs said. “It’s nice to play a game like this since they are a rival because they are so close to us and they are a good program.

“We just wanted to throw these younger girls into the fire and let them experience varsity basketball.”

The Porters didn’t show many signs of nerves.

Providence opened the game with a basket by Gabi Bednar, but Lockport scored the next seven points and never trailed again. Bafia got the Porters on the board with a putback basket, followed by a basket by Aristikaitis, one by Hynes and a free throw by sophomore Addison Way. Providence sandwiched a basket by Taylor Healy and a pair of free throws by Molly Knight (game-high 19 points) around a basket by Bafia, and the first quarter ended with Lockport leading 9-6.

The Celtics were uncharacteristically guilty of seven turnovers in the second quarter, and Lockport took advantage early as the Porters built a 16-8 lead on a basket by sophomore Makenna Klacko, a 3-pointer by Aristikaitis and a basket by Bafia off an assist from Peetz. Providence answered with a 9-4 run to close it to 20-17 at halftime.

Providence then scored the first basket of the second half, a short jumper by Sydney Spencer, to close to within 20-19, but Lockport got a pair of baskets by Hynes and another 3-pointer by Aristikaitis to move out to a 27-19 lead. Spencer scored again to make it 27-21, but Lockport scored the final six points of the quarter, including a basket and a 3-pointer by Ingram, to take a 33-21 lead into the fourth.

Providence got to within 35-24 when Knight hit a 3-pointer from beyond the volleyball line before Lockport got a basket by Aristikaitis and a 3-pointer by Ingram for a 40-24 lead.

Knight started the Celtics’ comeback with another 3-pointer before Spencer made a free throw with 3:27 left, and Knight followed with a three-point play with 2:57 left to close to within 40-31. Spencer scored on a putback, and Knight hit a short jumper to pull the Celtics to within 40-35 with 57 seconds left. After a Lockport turnover, Bednar scored to make it 40-37 with 16.9 seconds remaining, and with 5.2 seconds left, Knight hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 40-38. Bafia hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.8 seconds left to seal the win.

“This was a good win for us,” Aristikaitis said. “It’s been interesting this year with all of us younger players, but we are getting better every game.

“And, it doesn’t matter to us who scores, as long as someone does.”

Providence coach Eileen Copenhaver was pleased with her team’s fight in the fourth.

“We just ran out of time,” she said. “But we dug ourselves too big a hole to crawl out of. We turned it over too much, and our shot selection wasn’t the best.

“Still, I am proud of the girls for the way they fought down the stretch. To be down 16 in the fourth quarter and come back to make it a one-possession game is impressive, but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position to begin with. As long as we learn from this, we will be fine.”