Wednesday Sectionals: No. 3 Avo/Prat starts fast, builds early lead to punch ticket to Class D2 Finals; Top-seeded Fillmore makes 3rd straight return to D1 Finals behind blank of No. 4 Honeoye

Written By Chris Brooks

HORNELL — There’s a common characteristic that both Avoca/Prattsburgh and Andover/Whitesville both share the same ground on. That being quickness.

By the end of the night in their Class D2 Semifinal contest at Maple City Park in Hornell, a question needed an answer — who could move quicker than the other?

After some pleasantries were exchanged across the field to begin, a response was created fairly quickly by Avoca/Prattsburgh. And it was one that changed the outlook for the rest of the night, as they scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of play to establish their lead, taking control of possession for the majority of play to hold onto their 2-0 lead until the end to punch their ticket to the Class D2 Finals this weekend by shutting out and eliminating Andover/Whitesville on Wednesday.

“This was a tough result to handle,” Andover/Whitesville co-coach Aaron Rawady said. “We made two bad mistakes early, and Avoca/Prattsburgh did a good job of capitalizing on them. After that though, we tightened up defensively and never really allowed anything too threatening. We were able to create some good scoring chances, but we just couldn’t capitalize on them. The girls played hard, but we weren’t able to execute like we are used to.”

Four minutes removed off the clock, Avoca/Prattsburgh broke the ice on a play that stemmed from a throw-in provided by Riley Stowe. The ball was carried down the sidelines for a shot, which found a deflection off of the mitts of Brynn Scholl in goal for Andover/Whitesville (9-7). A second attempt was made shortly after by Kamryn Edwards, who knocked in the ball into the empty side of the net next to the far post for the early lead.

Another miscue from Andover/Whitesville eventually led to Avoca/Prattsburgh’s second goal in the first 10 minutes of play. After a hand ball right near the 30-yard line, the No. 3 seeds set up for an indirect kick out front. The kick was launched in on goal, and before exiting play, Ariana Sierra saved the loose ball and put the shot into the net next to the far post once more for a 2-0 lead that they held onto for the remainder of the game.

“Playing from behind that early and by that margin, is tough to come back from,” said Rawady. “At halftime, we talked about how we had overcome that deficit earlier in the season. The girls still had confidence that they could do it again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.”

Andover/Whitesville, despite Avoca/Prattsburgh maintaining possession for the majority of the first half, was able to garner chances on the cage themselves as the night progressed, with their first big opportunity in the first half coming from Zoey Lee, who broke free from the defense for a potential breakaway. Lee fired off a shot to the cage, where it ultimately met the leg of Emily Hammond in goal and redirected away to end the threat.

More chances would come in the second half with Kennedy Bledsoe sending forward a ball from midfield to the feet of Gabby Terhune, who provided too much of a second touch on the ball to continue progressing down the sidelines with it for a play on net, finding its way out of play off a deflection to set up a corner kick that Andover/Whitesville could not capitalize upon.

Perhaps the team’s biggest chance of them all came right near the midway mark of the second half, when Zoey Lee dug a ball loose in front of an empty Avoca/Prattsburgh net after Terhune’s initial shot went off of Hammond’s hands and to the front. Lee would regather possession for a shot on goal, but a heads up play from Jada Derick saw the shot become blocked and cleared out of the zone.

The Avoca/Prattsburgh defense would hold its ground from that point forward to lay claim on the shutout over Andover/Whitesville to advance forward to the Finals on Saturday.

Despite the loss, Andover/Whitesville did record a 9-6 outshooting of the finalists, with Scholl making four stops in between the pipes in what was her final start of the season.

Andover/Whitesville’s season has reached its conclusion, as they wrap up the campaign with an overall record of 9-7. The team will graduate four Seniors at the end of the school year in Lee, Rachel Jackson, Olivia Hanks and Rylie Bryan.

“We are so proud of the girls for the season that they had, and all the hard work they have put in,” Rawady reflected. “We’re definitely going to miss our Seniors. Zoey, Rachel, Olivia and Rylie have done so much for our programs during their careers before we came together as one team. Everyone is hurting over this right now, but we know that they will use this as motivation going into next season.”

Class D1 Semifinals

No. 1 Fillmore 4, No. 4 Honeoye 0

WARSAW — Making it to the big dance four straight years is a task that can be impossible to repeat year after year. In the NFL, the Buffalo Bills familiarized themselves with the Super Bowl during the 1990s by punching four straight tickets to the last dance — an accomplish no team has matched since.

More locally, the Fillmore Lady Eagles, with one more win on Wednesday, could punch their ticket to a fourth straight Class D1 title game. All that was needed was a victory over the No. 4 Lady Bulldogs of Honeoye.

The Lady Eagles offense drew a pair of calls right in the first 10 minutes of play to set up two prime opportunities to strike. They would go on and do just that, and then some, as they recorded a 3-0 lead on Honeoye and kept it in tact for good to propel themselves into their fourth straight Class D1 Finals this weekend with a 4-0 shutout of the Lady Bulldogs.

“This is four straight years in the Finals, that isn’t easy in itself. We have a lot to be appreciative about,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. “We came out and put pressure on them early, and it resulted in two fouls and two goals for us. Tonight, we looked rusty and we lacked play, but that is a product of our time off and easier first round game. It was good to get the Sectional juices flowing as Honeoye was quick, and physical.”

Just three minutes into the game, a penalty was committed by Honeoye inside the Fillmore (18-0) box, which resulted in an early penalty kick chance. The opportunity was taken by Grace Russell, who left no doubt and buried it home to earn the 1-0 lead to begin the Semifinal festivities. Further into the first 10 minutes, the lead was extended on another special teams play — a Rachel Hatch direct kick, as she maneuvered the ball around the Lady Bulldogs defense in front, and into the net to garner a two-goal lead.

The advantage would soon reach three before the first half saw its conclusion, as Hope Russell scored Fillmore’s last two tallies, with her first coming right near the midway mark off one of two Sophia Templeton feeds from center. The two would reconvene later on in the second half with Russell’s second goal just seven minutes into the final 40 minute session to permanently seal the victory for the Lady Eagles.

In all, Fillmore outshot Honeoye by an 18-4 count, with Preslee Miller recording the shutout in between the pipes with two saves.

The Lady Eagles are now onto their fourth straight Class D1 Finals appearance, where they will go for their second title in that span with a massive clash slated for Saturday against second-seeded Marion, who defeated No. 6 Wheatland-Chili earlier in the night after a 9-8 penalty kick marathon to decide advancement after a scoreless tie in regulation.

Site and time for Saturday’s Final between the Lady Black Knights and Lady Eagles has yet to be determined.

BOYS SOCCER

Class C2 Semifinals

No. 1 Keshequa 7, No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg 0

FILLMORE — The first half of Wednesday’s Class C2 Semifinal saw a lot of noise being created on the field. Especially in the first half, where top-seeded Keshequa and their high octane offense overwhelmed No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg for much of the evening, scoring four goals in the first 40 minutes and never looked back, as the defending Class D1 champions will go for a Class C2 title this weekend by eliminating the Wolverines with a 7-0 victory in Fillmore.

Nathan Thayer led the goal-scoring for Keshequa with three goals and a helper, including the game’s first tally coming just over 10 minutes into the game. In between his second goal with 10 minutes remaining, Sterling Strain and Ian Hinrich added goals of their own at the 24th and 37th minute marks to complete a span of goals in just 13 minutes to end the first half with a 4-0 lead.

Thayer then began the second half with his hat trick-clinching goal just over 10 minutes in, beginning another strand of goals from the Indians, scoring three in a span of seven minute to wrap up an offensive effort that consisted of 22 shots on the Bolivar-Richburg (10-6-3) net. Avery Strobel and Reese Powers would record those goals off back-to-back rushes in a single minute to wrap up their return trip to the Finals.

The Wolverines recorded eight shots on the Keshequa goal, all of them being stopped to keep them off the board. On the other end, David Abdo made 15 stops in his final start of the year.

Bolivar-Richburg’s back-to-back trips to the Class C2 Semifinal round has officially ended, as they wrap up another spectacular season with a record of 10-6-3 overall. The Wolverines will return all but two Seniors next season, losing one of their leading scorers Wyatt Karnuth and their sweeper, Hunter Stuck, both to graduation.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Class D2 First Round

No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg 3, No. 13 Campbell-Savona 0

BOLIVAR — The Lady Wolverines, after concluding the regular season victoriously, remained one of the hottest teams heading into the Sectional tournament. When Wednesday night came, it was time to put it to the test, as they hosted No. 13 Campbell-Savona.

Behind the dynamic offense brought on by Jianna Nix, and a slew of Lady Wolverines chipping in to help the cause, fourth-seeded Bolivar-Richburg would not be stopped on their home floor, as they overcame a Lady Panthers battle in the opening set to roll in the last two sets of the night to pick up the sweeping triumph, taking the 25-23, 25-12, 25-9 decision to move onto the Quarterfinal round.

Nix led the offensive front for the Lady Wolverines (13-4), sparking the attack with a game-high 17 kills to pair with six denials at the net. Helping further the offensive cause was Kori Thomas, who added in seven kills and five blocks of her own. From the service line, Brena Walp recorded seven aces to pair with six more kills on offense.

On defense, Haley Mascho provided 12 digs while the team’s setter, Kaitlyn Graves handed out 19 assists to her teammates to couple with nine more digs on defense, and three aces.

Bolivar-Richburg now advances to the Class D2 Quarterfinal round, which begins on Friday with a tentative first serve set for 6 p.m. against No. 5 Bradford/Dundee on their home floor.

No. 4 Dundee/Bradford 3, No. 13 Cuba-Rushford 0

BATH — The rebound the No. 13 Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford provided after a slow first set against fourth-seeded Bradford/Dundee was an experience they have not had all season long — a marathon exchange. After both sides tied the game at 25, it would go more than 10 extra points to determine the outcome.

Even though the Lady Rebels gave one of their biggest battles of the night, Dundee/Bradford was able to survive the marathon with the set victory, carrying the momentum over into the third and final set of the night, as they recorded the straight-set sweep of Cuba-Rushford to force elimination in Bath, taking the 25-8, 31-29, 25-10 decision on Wednesday.

In their final game of the 2021 season, the Lady Rebels (5-11) were led by Brianna Green on offense, who recorded a team-high four kills to pair with three digs and a block up front. On defense, Meghan O’Keefe recorded seven digs to go with one ace. Setter Quincy Tyler handed out eight assists to couple with six digs and one ace to wrap up the scoring.

Cuba-Rushford’s season is now over, as they conclude with a record of 5-11 overall. The team will say goodbye to just three Seniors at the end of the school year in O’Keefe, Tyler and Ella Jaffe.

Class D3 First Round

No. 7 Genesee Valley/Belfast 3, No. 10 Wheatland-Chili 1

BELMONT — It was a start that seventh-seeded Genesee Valley/Belfast had to overcome early on their home floor, Wednesday night. After No. 10 Wheatland-Chili dominated the night’s opening set, they would have to win the next three to come away with a first round win to open Sectionals.

In the second set, they looked to Madison McKenzie to deliver the goods. From the service line, she would go on to record 12 straight points to build up a large lead they never lost to tie the game, ultimately building momentum for the remainder of the contest, as Genesee Valley/Belfast came away victorious with three straight wins to end the night with a 3-1 win over the Lady Wildcats (9-25, 25-6, 25-18, 25-21).

“The first game was extremely rough, but I think we came out pretty nervous to start,” said GV/Belfast coach Darren Bradt. “After a long talk, we came back strong in the second game with Madison helping us build that large lead. In games three and four, we played really well after fixing errors along the way. This is our first Sectional win in a few years, and it was a great way for the Seniors to end their last time on their home court.”

Kaitlin Sadler helped the cause on offense for Genesee Valley/Belfast (8-11), recording a team-high 12 kills to couple with four assists, four aces and three blocks. At the front of the net, Addy Herring handed out 14 helpers to pair with six aces.

Genesee Valley/Belfast now moves into the Quarterfinal round of the Class D3 bracket, as they hit the road to face No. 2 Notre Dame-Batavia in a 6 p.m. first serve on Friday.

No. 5 Hammondsport 3, No. 12 Hinsdale 0

HAMMONDSPORT — The Lady Lakers of Hammondsport got off to the start they wanted to begin their journey through the Class D3 Field, as they rolled past visiting No. 12 Hinsdale on Wednesday with a straight-set victory, taking the 25-17, 25-18, 25-21 win.

Statistics for the Lady Bobcats were not made available upon publication.

The season is over for Hinsdale, as they finish the 2021 season with a record of 2-12 overall. The team will graduate three Seniors at the end of the year in Kylee Leonard, Kendall Tucker and Kenzington Wesley.

Chris Brooks
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Tuesday Sectionals: No. 4 Scio creates 1st half momentum shift, score three straight en route to D2 Finals berth; No. 2 Fillmore clinches 3rd straight D1 Finals appearance