High school girls basketball: General Brown nears the end of a quest that began in grade school | Frontier League

“It’s been really crazy this week,” senior guard Karsyn Fields said. “We’ve really been wanting to do something with this opportunity because we’ve been playing together since third and fourth grade.”

Many of General Brown’s players have been on the same team since middle school and have risen through the ranks together.

The Lions have formed a close bond that’s helped them on the court to their best season in team history.

“We hang out inside of school, outside of school, during sports, so we’re together all the time,” junior guard Emma Dupee said. “That really helps with our chemistry because we see each other’s moves before we make them.”

The Lions’ versatility and depth have been a key part of the team’s season and five different players have finish as the game’s leading scorer this season. That kind of multifaceted offense has prevented opponents from keying on one particular player in the General Brown lineup.

“We have a great team and it’s not just one or two players,” junior guard/forward Ashlee Ward said. “We have five great basketball players.”

It’s not just the starting lineup that’s been effective this postseason. Bench players like Ward and Maddie Ferris have been able to contribute with defense and timely minutes off the bench, which can also help if the team gets into foul trouble.

“It feels good having everyone fill a specific role,” Ward said. “If I’m not doing good in one aspect, I’ll try to do my best in something else like rebounding or talking.”

Norwich possesses solid shooters in senior guard Emily Evans and Margaret Dougher. The Purple Tornadoes have won three straight Section 4 crowns and have loads of playoff experience. However, General Brown is confident about its defense against its opponent.

“They did shoot the ball really well in the Section 4 final,” Lions coach Janelle Ferris said. “They’ve got a lot shooters to focus on, which will make our job difficult, but we’ll be prepared with our outside pressure and our zone.”

General Brown’s defense held Bishop Grimes to its second-lowest point total of the season in its 47-26 Section 3 Class B final victory. The Lions know they’ll have to shoot better in the early going after struggling during the opening half of the sectional final.

“We definitely need to shoot the ball better than we did last week,” Ferris said. “We only took one 3-pointer, but missed a lot of layups, so it’s going to be a key to being successful.”

A win would allow General Brown to achieve that milestone and represent the culmination of something it’s been working for since grade school. Fields is a senior and wants to get to the final four in her last opportunity.

“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for our whole lives,” Fields said.

The winner will face the winner of a quarterfinal game between Section 7’s Saranac and Section 2’s Schalmont, which beat Section 10 champion Gouverneur earlier in the week. That game will be at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.