After one quarter of action, Falconer (9-4, 4-2) was ahead of Cassadaga Valley 18-3 in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Central Division girls basketball game and early into the second quarter the fire alarm went off, pausing the game.

The fire alarm pause could not extinguish the Golden Falcons offense, which was on fire as they went on to win 62-22.

“We talked about all of us working as a team,” said Falconer head coach Emily Scholeno. “Executing the little things, a lot of mental things. Changing up defenses, running offenses all the way through, just doing the fundamentals and the discipline we know we have to have going through the league the second time.”

The game started slow as both teams struggled to hit a basket in the opening minutes. Andrea Johnson was the first person to hit a basket as she drained a 3-pointer to give the Cougars their only lead of the night.

OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms Falconer’s Grace Lundmark shoots over Cassadaga Valley’s Aliyah Hopkins during Monday’s game.

Cassadaga Valley’s (4-9, 0-6) lead was short-lived as Falconer responded immediately with a Grace Lundmark 3-pointer, then Tess Spangenburg joined in on the fun, hitting three 3-pointers in a row to help get the Golden Falcons lead up to 12-3.

The Cougars called a timeout, but that would not change the story of the first quarter. Lundmark and Ava Fenton helped the Golden Falcons close out the quarter on an 18-0 run.

The second quarter was the closest of the contest, Falconer’s shooting dipped and Cassadaga Valley had its best offensive quarter with 8 points. While the Golden Falcons struggled scoring, their possession time did not falter as they dominated the glass.

“We’ve been talking a lot about that,” Scholeno said about team rebounding. “Emphasizing on boxing out, going up strong and working it in our paint. We have an offense that we run, that rewards the person that gets the rebound.”

Falconer picked up 47 rebounds on the night with 28 of them on the offensive boards. Dani Krenzer led the way with 11, Kayla Lynn snagged eight, Spangenburg pulled in eight, Lundmark grabbed six and Kamryn Harper reeled in six.

“I thought we got a hand on the ball,” Cassadaga Valley head coach Luke Gullo said about his team’s rebounding. “But when you’re so outmatched physically it’s hard to get two hands on the ball and that was the big difference.”

On top of struggling with rebounding, Cassadaga Valley also didn’t do itself any favors with all of the turnovers, forced and unforced. Whether it was bad passes, lapses in judgment or poor ball protection, the Cougars lost the turnover game. Dani Krenzer was the pest on defense for Falconer as she grabbed six steals.

With a 30-11 lead after the first half, Falconer did not slow down and continued to roll in the third and fourth quarters. In the third quarter, five Golden Falcons scored a basket; then in the fourth, seven different players scored, getting every rostered player onto the scoresheet.

Falconer’s Lundmark finished as the top scorer with 19 points and two blocks; Spangenburg finished with 14 points and three assists; and Dani Krenzer ended with 12 points and seven assists.

Emiley Anderson was the top scorer for Cassadaga Valley with 10 points.

“We start three 14-year-old freshmen and they start three 17-year-old seniors,” Gullo said. “They’re just bigger and stronger. Our kids are talented, they’re just on the road to where Falconer is.”

CASSADAGA VALLEY (22)

HAnderson 0 0 0, EAnderson 4 0 10, Hopkins 1 0 2, Johnson 3 0 8, Horton 0 0 0, Hattaway 1 0 2, McChesney 0 0 0, Jasinski 0 0 0, Hornburg 0 0 0, Alaimo 0 0 0. Totals 9 0 22.

FALCONER (62)

Lynn 1 0 2, AKrenzer 1 0 2, DKrenzer 3 5 12, Fenton 3 1 7, Lundmark 8 2 19, Sanders 0 1 1, Harper 1 0 2, Patterson 1 1 3, Spangenburg 5 1 14. Totals 23 11 62.

3-point goals–Spangenburg 3, EAnderson 2, Johnson 2, Lundmark, DKrenzer.

Cassadaga Valley 3 8 7 4 — 22

Falconer 18 12 15 17 — 62