From the opening tip-off, the Lansing girls basketball team used experience and hustle to dominate Watkins Glen, 51-35, Friday night en route to their second straight Interscholastic Athletic Conference Large School Division championship, at Tompkins Cortland Community College.

Lansing coach Stuart Dean said he used at least five defensive looks, and attributes much of the success they had on the night to their senior class.

"We have three really good seniors in Ellyn Grant-Keane, Stephanie Gonyea and M.C. Barrett, who provide the leadership on this team. I can't say enough about them," Dean said. "We were here last year, and we've been here before, so that experience and the great leadership helped."

From the first whistle, the Bobcats (18-0) used stingy defense to open up the floor and create fast break opportunities. Keane and Barrett threw outlet passes all game to open teammates who were streaking down the court for uncontested lay-ins. Lansing's Jocelyn Ford, who was honored before the game for scoring her 1,000th career point, was the recipient of many of these passes and finished with a team-high 12 points.

"We came out of the gate strong and ran the floor really well, which is one of our strengths," Ford said. "If we take care of the ball and play to our abilities, we'll have the chance to beat anyone."

It took the Senecas a long time to settled in, and their opening jitters resulted in a 10-0 deficit halfway through the first quarter. The future is bright for Watkins Glen, as they return all five players who started, including sophomore Taylor Chaffee who scored 14 points, and averaged more than 20 per game this season.

Watkins Glen coach Michelle Simiele is excited of the prospect of having this rotation back next season, with a little more seasoning under their belts.

"It took us a while to get going, but once we did I liked what we saw," Simiele said. "We're such a young team and in this type of game experience is extremely valuable.

"We just told them to go out and have fun because they worked hard to get there. The good news is they're all back next season."

Despite going undefeated, the Bobcats earned just the third seed in the Section 4 Class B tournament, with defending champion Oneonta, who knocked them out last year, potentially looming. Lansing will continue its quest toward the sectional championship Feb. 20.

"We had a goal to win our division, which we did," Dean said. "We had a goal to win the IAC championship, which we did. Our next goal is to win sectionals, so we have to just keep focused and move on toward that."