Big games by Bianca Watson and Rochelle Cherry power the Lasers to the Class B Championship

Bianca Watson and her Nazareth teammates knew they were in deep trouble.

The Lasers trailed Livonia by it points with five minutes left in last night's Section V Class B championship game.

Their star player was having a tough time touching the ball because of Livonia's defense. Jennifer Kamm, Nazareth's point guard, was too sick to play.

The Lasers looked as if they were going to fall one game short of earning the sectional title they, coveted for the second year in a row.

That was something Watson and the Lasers surely didn't want to deal with. Paced by Watson's 22 points and 17 rebounds, Nazareth rallied for a 56-51 victory in overtime at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Watson scored six of her team's 10 points in overtime and was named Most Valuable Player.

"We didn't want to face what we faced last year at the War Memorial when we had six seniors," she said. I knew what we were capable of. We couldn't give up just because we were down."

The Lasers trailed Livonia 42-31 with five minutes left in regulation. A 6-0 run helped Nazareth move closer before tying the score twice in the final 55 seconds. Nazareth's Meredith Craig's layup with 19 seconds left in regulation forced OT.

There were 14 seconds left in OT when Nazareth's Stephanie Herbst made a free throw to put her team ahead 54-51. Livonia's chance to force another extra period ended after an off-the-mark 3-pointer.

Nazareth plays Pittsford Mendon, a 52-48 winner over Honeoye Falls-Lima in last night's Class BB final, in the state-tournament qualifier at 5 tomorrow afternoon at Blue Cross Arena. "The thought (of losing) was there, but I had to pray," Nazareth's Rochelle Cherry said. I was so nervous."

Cherry, Nazareth's top player, finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds. She reached the 1,000 point barrier for her career with a free throw in OT. The 6-foot-2 center was double-teamed by the Bulldogs often, including -in-bounds plays where Cherry could use her height to catch and shoot.

The strategy worked for Livonia, whose tallest players are 5-feet-10.

"We practiced with the coach's brother," Livonia's Trisha Tofany (17 points, 11 rebounds) said. "We were worried about (Cherry), but we just couldn't stop the guards:'

The Bulldogs did make things tough for Nazareth's ballhandlers by using different pressure defenses. Tofany was credited with 11 of the Bulldogs' 20 steals.

"We started to get a little down," Nazareth guard Meghan Dahlman said. "But we came this far."

Kamm, Nazareth's point guard, was too sick to continue after playing 14 minutes. That left the ballhandling duties to Herbst, Watson and Dahlman, an eighth-grader.

"My ball-handling isn't all that great," Watson said. I had to get my mind set that the pressure defense was going to be there."

The Lasers became more aggressive when dealing with Livonia's press and slowly wiped out their 11 point fourth-quarter deficit.

Watson completed a three-point play with 55 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 44-44.

Livonia's Michelle Kress answered that basket 25 seconds later by powering in a layup.

Nazareth 56, Livonia 51 (OT)

Nazareth  9 10 12 15 10 - 56
Livonia     7 14 16   9   5 - 51

NAZARETH: Bianca Watson 22, Rochelle Cherry 16, Meredith Craig 11, Meghan Dahlman 6, Stephanie Herbst 1, Jennifer Kamm 1, Cathy Brant 0, Elizabeth Kamm 0.

LIVONIA: Trisha Tofany 17, Caitlin MacPherson 12, Katie Kress 10, Michelle Kress 8, Chris Sick 2, Lily Board 2, Amanda Moolekamp 0, Kris Hite-Vallone 0, Three-point goals: MacPherson 2. Fouled out: Sick, Board.

MVP: Bianca Watson. All-tournament team: Rochelle Cherry, Jennifer Kamm, Trisha Tofany, Amy Kierst (Marcus Whitman), Heather Conley (Hornell).