By: Matt Hanes
BROCKPORT, N.Y. – The No. 1 seeded Brockport Golden Eagles’ record-breaking season continued against the No. 8 seeded Elmira Soaring Eagles in the first round of Empire 8 playoffs. The Golden Eagles finished with a 101-62 win, marking the first triple-digit game under 10-year Brockport head coach Corinne Jones.
Elmira started the scoring off with a mid-range jumper from Amarionah Dixon alongside a left-wing three pointer from Laura Bogota. This lead would be Elmira’s only lead of the game as Brockport fired back with a right-corner three with Anna Lee and a pair of pull up shots from Stephanie Jean-Baptiste.
“I thought we just came out shooting the ball super well,” Jones said. “We started with Anna Lee’s three and Stephanie was on fire. We talked about how we scored zero threes against Elmira in the last game, so maybe that gave us a little motivation.”
Brockport’s efforts led them to shooting 35-for-79 (44.3%) from the field including 11 three-pointers.
Kaileigh Hunt and Cam Tooley worked down low together, finding back-to-back layups to keep the pace for the Golden Eagles. Jean-Baptiste followed with a three-point shot and hard drive to end the quarter with nine points.
Twenty of Jean-Baptiste's game-high 25 points were scored in the first half.
"It’s definitely a lot of behind-the-scenes work,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Coming in early, leaving late, putting my shots up, working on my game and just letting the offense flow.”
Hunt finished the first quarter with an old fashioned three-point play to help Brockport lead 25-18. Despite Elmira outrebounding Brockport last game, Hunt finished the first quarter with six rebounds including four offensive rebounds.
Jean-Baptiste continued her stellar play with a layup in the first 11 seconds of the quarter assisted by Peyton Maneri. Elmira’s Mallory Welty responded minutes later with a high-arching three before Maneri sparked a 13-0 Brockport run with a southpaw lay-up.
After an Emma Ryan layup for Elmira late in the second quarter, Hunt responded quickly with a triple just eight seconds later. Elmira responded with a quick lay-up from Welty before Brockport’s Shannon Blankenship connected on another three. Jean-Baptiste finished her first half scoring with a three and a free throw as the Golden Eagles ended up 54-35.
“Stephanie is just a gamer,” Jones said. “I just looked at her eyes, she was guarding the ball in full court and everything. I really do let our players play and Stephanie and I have learned a lot about each other over the years.”
Blankenship and Jean-Baptiste picked up where the Golden Eagles left off at half, nailing a three-pointer each just one minute after a three from Bogota. Elmira’s Nevaeh Winston later sparked a 10-0 run following a right-side layup over Hunt before Brockport responded with their own 10-point run capped off by a Hunt layup.
The Golden Eagles finished the quarter up 78-54 and Hunt finished with a 15-point, 10 rebound double-double, her fifth of the season.
“We just wanted to compete, it doesn’t matter who we are playing,” Hunt said. “We are in our home building, our home gym, so we wanted to come out and fight. That’s exactly what we did.”
Brockport’s bench play rounded out the record-setting offensive play, with Mandy Brink leading the quarter with eight points. Harmony Philo also added five points in the quarter with a layup and a deep three. Brink also tallied the 100th and 101st points of the game after a shooting foul in the last 15 seconds of the game.
Brink finished with 15 points and nine rebounds coming off the bench. In four of her last five games, she has reached double-digit points.
“When people say improvement, I’m always surprised,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Mandy was our starting point guard last year so all this is stuff we know she can do, and we believe in her.”
Brockport’s win improves their record to 23-3 moves them up to the Empire 8 semi-finals, where they will face off against Nazareth at home on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m.
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