TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Amanda Lewis and Kelly Walsh have been teammates on the Cardinal O’Hara girls basketball squad since they were freshmen.

And ever since their freshman season, they’ve longed to go to New York City for the state Catholic High School Athletic Association tournament.

The wait ends today.

By virtue of its Feb. 26 triumph over Niagara Catholic, Cardinal O’Hara earned the Monsignor Martin Association South Division’s second and last at-large bid to the Catholic state Class B tournament.

The Hawks were scheduled at 4 o’clock this morning to board a bus headed for Long Island, where they’ll face Sacred Heart Academy of Hempstead in the quarterfinals at St. Dominic High School in Oyster Bay.

“We’ve been waiting for this for four years,” Walsh said after practice Thursday. “It’s really exciting. We’ve been focused on this all season,” Lewis added.

A win today propels the Hawks into Saturday’s semifinal round. The championship game will be contested in the Big Apple Sunday, and a potential matchup would have Cardinal O’Hara playing another Buffalo-area school, St. Mary’s of Lancaster, which plays Fontbonne Hall in the semifinal round Saturday.

This year, the Hawks are looking to stay alive in the tournament after bowing out in the first round last season — when it was held at Canisius College — with a loss to Our Lady of Mercy. This time, the Hawks will travel a long way to reach their destination, and they don’t plan on coming back so soon.

“We’re taking the attitude that whatever anyone else might think, we deserve to be where we are,” said Cardinal O’Hara coach Dan McDermott, referring to the Hawks’ three-point win over Niagara Catholic.

“That was a game we had to have to put us at this point, and we earned the right to be here. We don’t win that game, we’re done,” McDermott said.

Added Walsh, “That game was crazy, the way it went back and forth. But we left our heart on the floor.”

That drive and determination has marked the Hawks 2009-10 season. Cardinal O’Hara has compensated for its severe lack of size with speed and aggressiveness on defense, and it’s helped the Hawks shut down some of their opponents’ top scorers throughout the season.

The Hawks don’t know much about Sacred Heart, but the game plan will be much the same as it has been this season. “We’ve got to be more aggressive and beat them down the floor,” Walsh said.

Walsh has helped key Cardinal O’Hara’s offense, while Lewis has provided tight defense. Meanwhile, freshman Leah McDonell has recorded a number of monster games.

In order to succeed at states, O’Hara will have to play well as a group, McDermott said. “As much as we expect Leah to do what she naturally does, it’s got to be a complete team effort,” he said. “That’s what’s going to give us our best chance. The more we play together as a unit, the better our chances are going to be. If we follow the plan, then I feel very good about our chances.”

For good luck, McDermott after a recent practice had each player touch the plaque that the Hawks were awarded in 1990 when Cardinal O’Hara was a state finalist in the tournament.

It’s been a long time since that run, and the Hawks are hoping to return at the end of this weekend with some brand new hardware to hang.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.



TIP-OFF TIME

• WHO: Cardinal O’Hara vs. Sacred Heart (Hempstead)

• WHAT: NYS Catholic High School Athletic Association girls basketball Class B quarterfinals

• WHEN: 4 p.m. today

• WHERE: St. Dominic High School, Long Island