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Bellanca
holds the Vikings together
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by
Eric Keppeler
Grand Island Dispatch, February 2, 2007
Karen Bellanca
isn’t flashy on the basketball court.
The Grand Island High School senior isn’t the tallest
player out there, and she probably won’t score a ton of points.
She didn’t crack the varsity squad until last year, or the starting
lineup until this year.
But as one of just two seniors on a very young team,
she’s been absolutely essential in helping the Vikings to contend
for the Niagara Frontier League crown.
“It’s a lot different than it was last year, but it’s
still good because these girls are just great to work with,” Bellanca
said. “The younger kids have been just amazing, but they make me
feel old. We all work together as equals. But I think they still
look up to us at least a little.”
Along with fellow senior Courtney Donovan, Bellanca
is a team captain for a squad that returned just three players.
“Karen is the
glue that holds our team together,” Grand Island coach Jenepher
Banker said. “She may not score a lot of points, but she does all
of the little things that we need in order to win. She makes all
of the right decisions and she’s been a great leader, on the floor
and off.”
The 5-foot-10 Bellanca chuckles at the glue comparison,
but she takes very seriously the mantle of leadership that comes
with being a captain.
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Karen Bellanca in action Tuesday against
Lockport. (photo by Larry Austin) |
Never one to try and
pad her stats – she understands that the Vikings have been and continue
to be a talented offensive bunch – she knows she’ll get her points. But
she says her primary mission is to keep her teammates on the same page
and working together.
“I try to take care of things on the defensive end and keep
everyone intense and focused,” Bellanca said. “I try to encourage my teammates
– they usually follow our example because we’re older. So if one person
slacks off, others will, too. But if somebody is always keeping everybody
going, we all stay pretty intense.”
Bellanca saw some playing time last season as a reserve,
but she was kept off the floor more by circumstances than by any shortcomings
on her part.
“Last year, she was stuck behind a bunch of really good
seniors, so it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t start,” Banker said. “But
she played AAU over the summer and she’s improved just a ton. She’s been
solid for us at both ends of the court, especially the defensive end.”
The Vikings are just two years removed from the team that
won the Section VI Class A-1 championship and then advanced to the Far
Western Regionals.
Last year’s squad was knocked out in the sectional semifinals,
bowing to eventual champion Williamsville East, and Bellanca hopes to
see the team reclaim its title in her senior year.
“I definitely think we have the talent to go at least as
far as we did last year in the playoffs, hopefully farther,” Bellanca
said. “We’re very focused.”
GI gets even with win over Lions
by Larry Austin
Grand Island Coach Jenepher Banker said Tuesday’s
game against Lockport may have been the best she had seen center
Courtney Donovan play.
Donovan had 30 points, 12 rebounds, five steals, and
five blocked shots for the Vikings in a 45-40 win over the Lions.
The victory left Lockport with an 8-2 league record, with GI a half
game back at 7-2. Kenmore East’s win over Niagara Falls Wednesday
lifted them to a 7-2 record as well.
“Awesome, completely awesome,” Banker said in describing
Donovan, a 6-2 center. “She just wanted the ball every time down
the court and we tried to give it to her every time down the court.”
Mallory Griffiths had 10 points, while Karen Bellanca
added five blocked shots as well. Tiara Durant led the Lions with
19 points. Burke had 14.
Lockport had leads of 10-6 after one quarter and 28-24
early in the third quarter in a tight game.
“This is a big win,” Donovan said, noting that the
Vikings had lost to the Lions by a point in an earlier meeting this
season, and a win would lift her team into a first-place tie. “We
worked really hard to get this one, so I’m really proud of my team.”
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Courtney Donovan scores two of her 30 points in a win over Lockport.
(photo by Larry Austin) |
| Donovan was able to provide a critical
bucket each time the Vikings needed one. She drained a three-point
shot from the top of the key to close the scoring of the third quarter,
putting the Vikings up 35-34. She scored an early hoop in the fourth
quarter and then converted a three-point play on a lefthanded hook
shot in the lane to put GI up 40-34 with 4:48 remaining in the contest. |
“We just had to keep working. They were pressuring a lot
in the low post,” Donovan said. “They play really tight and overplay on
defense and we’ve just got to be patient and wait until the opportunities
come.
“I was looking to just take it at them any way I could.
I wasn’t going to hold anything back being my senior year and just because
we’ve worked so hard. This was the last chance to get them and I’m proud
because we did.”
Lockport drew as close as 42-40, but Donovan made three
free throws down the stretch and swatted away a Bridgette Burke jump shot
to secure the win.
Bellanca and Molly Hayes helped lock down Burke, one of
the league’s leading scorers, in the halfcourt defense.
“Bridgette’s very strong, she’s a very good shooter and
she will just take it right at you, but Karen just did an excellent job
on her and took her out of her game tonight,” Donovan said.
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