Thursday Sectionals: No. 3 Lady Jays give No. 2 A/P tough battle, but late 4th quarter run sends Lady Vikings to D2 Finals; top-seeded Waterloo coasts past No. 4 Lady Lions
AVOCA — The No. 3 Lady Jays of Whitesville gave everything second-seeded Avoca/Prattsburgh could handle, even the kitchen sink for much of the first half of play, ultimately taking a lead after the first quarter in a high-scoring frame.
It would carry over into the early stages of the next frame, but then momentum was built by the Lady Vikings as they ended the half with the lead — one they never gave up for the rest of the game, as they used a second quarter run to fuel up a trip to the Class D2 Finals with a 65-43 home victory over Whitesville to end their season, Thursday night.
“Avoca/Prattsburgh played a great game. They executed well in all phases,” Lady Jays coach Aaron Rawady said. “My girls played with a lot of heart tonight, and I’m very proud of them for that. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t execute consistently. Second chance points killed us, and we just couldn’t rebound. We’ve been undersized all season, but we’ve found ways to negate that on the glass. We couldn’t do that. The girls are hurting after this one, and they really wanted it. But I know this is a special group, and they will use this game as motivation for next season.”
Whitesville engaged in a back-and-forth battle with the Lady Vikings across the first quarter to start the night off, with Vanessa Hall leading the charge on offense. As a result, the Lady Jays were able to build up a five-point, 19-14 lead of the second seeds after the first eight minutes. The same pace shifted over to the early stages of the second quarter, with the Lady Jays retaining their lead.
But the balance of power shifted toward the end of the half, when Avoca/Prattsburgh began to find their rhythm to take the lead away from Whitesville, as they finished the first half with a 20-10 run, and a 34-29 lead. The lead grew after the third quarter to eight, with thanks coming in the form of 10 of the first 12 points going in the Lady Vikings direction.
That all led to the hosts managing to pull away in the end behind a massive 17-3 run in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory permanently.
Hall wound up leading the offense one last time for the Lady Jays, netting a game-high 32 points, including four of the team’s five three-pointers. Kennedy Bledsoe and Rachel Jackson each had five points to chip in, while Serena Ainsworth converted on 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to round off the team’s scoring.
Whitesville will conclude their shortened 2021 season with a record of 10-2, and back-to-back Allegany County Division II championships.
Whitesville 19 10 11 3 – 43
Avoca/Prattsburgh 14 20 14 17 – 65
WHITESVILLE: Kennedy Bledsoe 1 3-6 5, Rachel Jackson 2 0-0 5, Serena Ainsworth 0 1-2 1, Vanessa Hall 12 4-7 32. Totals: 15 8-15 43.
AVOCA/PRATTSBURGH: Kamryn Edwards 2 2-3 6, Colby Santillo 2 0-0 4, Morgan Edwards 4 0-0 9, Kendra Pinckney 5 0-0 11, Riley Stowe 5 2-2 13, Lucia D'Arpino 10 2-2 22. Totals: 28 6-7 65.
3-point goals: Whitesville 5 (Hall 4, Bledsoe), A/P 3 (M. Edwards, Pinckney, Stowe).
Total Fouls: Whitesville 11, A/C 18. Fouled out: None.
Class B2 Semifinals
No. 1 Waterloo 71, No. 4 Wellsville 15
WATERLOO — If the Lady Lions of Wellsville were going to make their jump toward the Class B2 Finals on Saturday, they would need to do it against top-seeded Waterloo on Thursday, and without their leader on the floor - Emily Costello.
The four-seeds were immediately tested out of the gate by the top team in B2, and in the first half of play, they were held to just nine points in the first half, as the Lady Indians ran off on two enormous runs of the Lady Lions to advance to the Finals this weekend with a massive 71-15 victory on their home floor.
“Obviously losing Emily Costello, tonight’s game proved that she was the heart of our team for multiple reasons. Her presence on defense, giving that spark and heart by running our point on offense. It was a tough loss to endure,” said Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord. “We still have a talented group, but we’ll be back. We couldn’t handle Waterloo’s bigs. We definitely have to learn from this. We have to be more confident, and this is a team that we will start to see more often over the next couple of years. But to be better, we have to improve ourselves.”
Waterloo started the game off red hot with a 12-1 run in the first couple of minutes of the first. The momentum carried over into the second, where they accumulated another big run of the Lady Lions, holding them scoreless for much of the frame until Marley Adams launched her lone three-pointer to end what was a 16-0 drought with 3:10 left in the half. With the combination of turnover capitalization and great ball movement, the Lady Indians set the tone in the first 16 minutes for good.
Adams led all Wellsville scorers with four points. Natalie Adams added another three-pointer, while Makenna Dunbar and Ashden Hyslip each had two points.
Wellsville’s shortened season has come to a close, as they finish with a record of 9-3.
Wellsville 3 6 0 6 – 15
Waterloo 23 27 14 7 – 71
WELLSVILLE: Marley Adams 1 1-2 4, Jaylynn Mess 0 1-2 1, Jaelyn Knapp 0 1-2 1, Kaylee Coleman 1 0-0 2, Natalie Adams 1 0-0 3, Makenna Dunbar 1 0-0 2, Ashden Hyslip 1 0-0 2. Totals: 5 3-6 15.
WATERLOO: Morgan Caraballo 5 2-2 13, Macy Carr 4 4-8 14, Natalie DiSanto 3 1-4 8, Kennedy Beniamino 1 4-6 7, Emily Plate 1 0-0 2, Allie Smith 1 2-4 5, Addison Bree 1 0-0 2, Davonti'a Loucks 1 0-0 2, McKenzie Barber 3 4-5 10, Giavanna White-Principio 4 0-0 8. Totals: 24 17-25 71.
3-point goals: Wellsville 2 (M. Adams, N. Adams), Waterloo 6 (Carr 2, Caraballo, DiSanto, Beniamino, Smith)
Total Fouls: Wellsville 21, Waterloo 19. Fouled out: None.
Class D1 Semifinals
No. 1 South Seneca 45, No. 4 Fillmore 35
OVID — No. 4 Fillmore overcame a slow start in the first half to come back and give top-seeded South Seneca a run for their money in the late stages of their Class D1 Semifinal on Thursday.
The Lady Eagles defense kicked into gear, allowing their offense to make an attempt at a comeback, closing down the Lady Falcons lead to as little as six at one point. But after an early first half deficit, and fouls turning into free throws in the end, as they fended off Fillmore to advance to the D1 Finals with a 45-35 victory.
“We just had a rough start. South Seneca is worthy of the number one seed, and has had a championship caliber program for a while now,” Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks said. “We figured they were going to come out with a lot of confidence with their experience, and they certainly did. We talked about not falling into their style of play, which was fast and frantic, and that’s exactly what happened in the first half. We made a lot of mistakes trying to play like them.”
As a result, South Seneca was able to get the start they wanted by holding the Lady Eagles predominantly scoreless for much of the opening eight minute period, with Fillmore finding a way to end the scoreless 10-0 drought with a basket from Emma Cole down low from Morgan Byer. The Lady Falcons lead would grow further to 18 when halftime approached, accounting for another run of the visitors in black and green.
But a flip of the script occurred in the second half, when the Lady Eagles began to make a comeback. And it started with a conversation in the locker room.
“At halftime, we regrouped and talked about staying in the fight, and us being us, and playing our way,” Parks said. “I really feel if we figured things out and settled down about a half a quarter sooner, we might have been able to steal this one. In the third quarter, I wanted to have the girls force them into our style of basketball, more of a defensive and physical slugfest.”
Fillmore did that. Out of South Seneca’s 21 total second half points, the Lady Eagles defense held them to just four shots from the field with the remainder of their points all coming from the free throw line, the majority of which came in the late stages of the fourth quarter when Fillmore began to close the gap behind the Lady Falcons to as little as six.
Harley Miller helped provide that with a big shot from just inside the right wing with under a minute left to go, cutting South Seneca’s lead to six. But with 12 seconds left, the chances for a comeback were spoiled by South Seneca’s defense, as they came away with the final turnover deep in their zone to freeze the field, and run the clock out on the season for the Lady Eagles.
Cole led all scorers for the Lady Eagles with a game-high 18 points to pair with her 13 rebounds, completing her double-double. Jadyn Mucher added in eight points to go with seven rebounds of her own, while Miller finished with four points.
The Lady Eagles shortened season in 2021 is now in the books, as they wrap up with a record of 7-5 as a team that had only one Varsity start when the season began. For Parks, it was an impressive sight to behold as the year went on.
“This group of girls had a total of one player who made a Varsity start at the beginning of the season,” he said. “The growth that they showed in such a short time, was so impressive. They were playing their best basketball at the end of the season, and were a slow start away from a possible Finals berth. We just dug too deep of a hole early, and they hit their free throws in the end. But I couldn’t have asked for much more than what they gave this season. I’m certainly very proud of them.”
Fillmore 2 6 8 19 – 35
South Seneca 10 14 8 13 – 45
FILLMORE: Shelby Beardsley 1 0-2 2, Emma Cole 7 4-10 18, Jadyn Mucher 2 4-5 8, Morgan Byer 0 3-4 3, Harley Miller 2 0-0 4. Totals: 12 11-21 35.
SOUTH SENECA: Hailey Crane 2 0-0 4, Logan Shaulis 3 1-1 7, Lea Fletcher 1 0-0 3, Allisa Fletcher 1 2-3 4, Emma Fletcher 4 5-7 13, Allison Kenyon 3 8-12 14. Totals: 14 16-23 45.
3-point goals: SS 1 (L. Fletcher)
Total Fouls: Fillmore 19, SS 23. Fouled out: Shaulis (SS), L. Fletcher (SS).
