MAX SCHULTE Joy Pittsford Mendon's Leah Bartholf (14) celebrates as teammates Patricia McGrath, left, and Kim Felosky rejoice after the Vikings advance to the Class B girls state tournament.

By James Johnson
Democrat and Chronicle

(March 11, 1999) -- The Pittsford Mendon Vikings survived a nail-biter of a sectional final on Monday, winning by three points.

As exciting as that game was, it may not compare to the playoff game the Vikings endured last night against Nazareth.

Mendon earned Section V's slot in the Class B state tournament by holding off the Lasers, 53-52, last night at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

The Vikings sweated out Nazareth eighth-grader Meghan Dahlman's last-second layup attempt, which rolled off the front end of the rim, to find out if their wild season would continue.

"It was definitely tense," Mendon forward Margaret Mary Dugan said. "But things like that happen, that's what makes post-season so fun.

"We had to hold on to the end and hope we were lucky."

When the horn sounded, the Vikings hugged each other so tight it would have been impossible to pry them apart. They were right back where their season ended last year: in the state tournament.

Mendon (22-2) plays Williamsville East (23-1) of Section VI in an 11:45 a.m. quarterfinal Saturday at the Blue Cross Arena.

"At the start of the year, not all," Mendon guard Leah Bartholf said about her team's chances of returning to states. "I was very worried about us winning sectionals."

Dugan scored the game-winning points with 43 seconds left, when her putback of a missed free throw gave Mendon a 53-50 lead. She finished with a game-high 19 points.

Nazareth juniors Bianca Watson and Meredith Craig paced the Lasers (23-2) with 17 and 16 points.

They became their team's go-to players when 6-foot-2 center Rochelle Cherry (eight points) left the game after injuring her right shoulder in the third quarter.

"Our star center was out so we had to work harder," Watson (11 rebounds) said.

Cherry hurt her shoulder when deflecting a Mendon pass with 2:58 left in the third quarter. She was assisted off of the court, but stayed to watch the game.

"It was something we had to capitalize on," Mendon guard Kim Felosky said. "We had to focus on her and it took away some of our players from defending some of theirs."

The largest lead Mendon was able to build was a 38-33 cushion with 7:13 left. After that, the teams weren't separated by more than two points until Dugan's putback.

Patricia McGrath put Mendon ahead 51-50 with 49 seconds left when she scored on a layup. When Nazareth's inbounds pass became a loose ball, McGrath was there to snatch it up and make a pass to Felosky, who was fouled.

Felosky missed the front end of the 1-and-1 but Dugan was there for the rebound and banked in a shot. Craig cut Mendon's lead to 53-52 with 26 seconds to go when she put in her own missed shot.

Felosky and Dugan were a combined 0-for-3 in free-throw attempts over the next 12 seconds, keeping Nazareth alive. After the game, Dugan smacked her forehead recalling her two misses.

After a Nazareth time-out, Lasers point guard Jennifer Kamm passed the ball to Dahlman, who dribbled up the court with a sideline on her right.

Dahlman headed for the basket and, through Mendon defenders' arms, put up a shot that spun on, and then, off the rim.

"I thought it was going in," Watson said. "She thinks it was her fault. (But) she tried."