West Seneca East’s boys basketball team stepped up its defensive effort in the second half of Friday’s league clash with Williamsville South, but a last-ditch three-point attempt to send the game to overtime rimmed out, leaving East just short of the upset bid, 50-47.

East limited South to just 16 second-half points, and with an 11-7 run over the third quarter was able to erase the Billies’ seven-point halftime advantage going into the final stanza. Both teams battled hard for the win in the fourth quarter, and it wasn’t until the end where South was finally able to separate from East for good.

“We played really well against one of the better teams in our league,” coach Dan Lutman said. “It was good to see us bounce back like that from a tough effort just a few days earlier, and it was really nice to see the kind of defensive effort we put forth in the second half.”

Andy Smigiera led the way for East with 14 points, while Alex Pacer added 11 points. Dakota Michels chipped in with six points.

East was looking to put forth a good effort against South Friday after turning in a less-than-stellar performance three days earlier in its 64-44 loss to Maryvale.

The Trojans actually played the Flyers close for most of the game, but Maryvale’s 34-16 scoring advantage in the middle two frames proved to be the difference in the contest. Maryvale broke the game open with a 23-11 run over the course of the third quarter that “put the game away,” according to Lutman.

“They beat us pretty good in the second half,” Lutman said. “We had 25 turnovers that game; we just couldn’t keep control of the ball. It was probably one of our worst games of the year, unfortunately.”

Michels hit three three-point baskets to account for the majority of his team-high 13 points, while Smigiera chipped in with 11 points. Pacer added eight points, while Matt Kumro hit two three-point baskets for all of his six points.

East (1-12, 1-7 ECIC II) returned to action Tuesday against Williamsville East, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Trojans close out their week Friday with their Senior Night game against Lake Shore, and then finish off their regular season next week with games at Starpoint (Tuesday, Feb. 7) and Hamburg (Thursday, Feb. 9).

“The hope is that we’re starting to play our best basketball,” Lutman said. “The big thing for us is keeping our turnovers down. We’re playing pretty good half-court defense for the most part, so if we can take care of the ball, get good shots and make our opponents work hard for anything they get, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”