By Bill Collmer, Hornell Sun Senior Sports Writer
The Section Five Girls Sectional Tournament tipped off Saturday with some early round games and a strong showing by the Wellsville Lions, who raced out to a 19-1 lead and beat North Rose-Wolcott, 58-16. Wellsville has a “neutral” court game against No. 2 Waterloo on Tuesday at Marcus Whitman.
In B2, LeRoy beat Sodus, 80-11 and Mynderse downed Attica, 56-20, while Red Creek beat Holley, 37-14. All Section V No. 1 seeds and coaches of the year are listed at the end of this report.
The Class D bracket featured thirteen teams with Avoca-Prattsburgh earning the Top Seed. A-P Coach Trista Partridge was voted Section Five Class D Coach of the year.
-Class D Girls
Top Seed: Avoca-Prattsburgh (17-3)
Defending Champion: Elba
Contenders: No.2 Seed C.G Finney, No.3 Seed Batavia Notre-Dame, No.5 Seed Elba
Sleeper: No.4 Seed Jasper-Troupsburg
Summary: Elba owns Class D until someone knocks them off. Elba has won two Straight Class D2 Sectional Championships and 17 overall. Don’t be fooled by their Six losses, one is to C-G, Two to Oakfield-Alabama, two to York and one to Notre-Dame. Avoca-Prattsburgh is Led by Steuben County League MVP Sophomore Meyah Putnam along with 6’2″ Center Evelyn Travis. C.G Finney and Batavia Notre-Dame are both strong teams with high scoring guard play. The Championship game will be held Saturday March 7th at FLCC.
-Class C2 Girls
Top Seed: Keshequa (19-1)
Defending Champion: Keshequa
Contenders: No.2 Oakfield-Alabama (20-0), No. 3 Seed Fillmore No. 4 Seed York,
Sleepers: None
Summary: Everybody in Section Five would like to see a Keshequa versus Oakfield-Alabama Championship game. However, York is about as dangerous as they come as the No.4 Seed. Keshequa defeated them in the Championship game last season 57-52. Their two matchups in the Regular season were barn burners with Keshequa winning both by a slim margin. Fillmore is also very dangerous and has Freshman Guard Emalyn Mucher who is a stat sheet stuffer, she’s averaging 20.4 Points, 6.3 Rebounds, 5.0 Assists, 4.7 Steals per game and has knocked down 37 3-pointers shooting 38%. Fillmore took Canisteo-Greenwood to overtime earlier this season. Keshequa Junior Braelyn Isaman recently Surpassed 1,000 Career points. York Senior Tessa Rodwell is the school’s All-Time leading scorer. The Championship game will be held Saturday March 7th at FlCC.
Class C1 Girls
Top Seed: Letchworth (19-1)
Defending Champion: Bloomfield
Contenders: No.2 Bloomfield, No. 3 Lyons, No. 4 Canisteo-Greenwood
Sleepers: No.5 Gananda, No.7 Geneseo
Summary: Letchworth’s only loss was to 20-0 Oakfield-Alabama, however despite being an LCAA School they did not play Keshequa or York during the regular season. Bloomfield played in the rugged Finger Lakes East with Class B and A schools and played Canisteo-Greenwood in their season opener. Lyons is a dangerous team with Triple-Double Threat Ja’Niyah Bell. Gananda has defeated Lyons twice. Canisteo-Greenwood played a challenging schedule; their losses are to AA Canandaigua who they defeated in the second matchup and they lost to Section IV AA Powerhouse Horseheads on the road. The Lady Chargers have wins over Bloomfield, C.G Finney, Avoca-Prattsburgh, Jamestown, Hamburg, Fillmore, Elba, Corning, Wellsville & Penn Yan. The Chargers only have Two Seniors, both Steuben County All-Stars Payton Bentley and Bailey Mullen. Their leading scorer is 8th Grader Kara Mahaney. The Lady Chargers play a fearless style and will be a tough out in Sectionals as they seek their first ever Sectional Championship.
Class B2 Girls–
Top Seed: Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar Richburg (14-6)
Defending Champion: Lyons
Contenders: No.2 Marcus Whitman, No.3 Avon, No.4 East-Rochester
Sleeper: No.5 Addison
Summary: No.5 Addison Split with No.2 Marcus Whitman during the regular season. Whitman lost in the Championship game last season to Lyons and are looking to make a return trip. They lost to Lyons three times this season.
Avon is led by high-scoring Junior Maria Geary (18.0 PPG) The Championship game will be held March 4th at FLCC.
Class B1 Girls
Top Seed: Dansville (17-3)
Defending Champion: Hornell (Coach Jim Dagon was coach of the year, see below)
Contenders: No.2 Waterloo and No.3 Hornell.
Sleepers: No.5 Penn, No 7 Wellsville.
Summary: Hornell is poised to capture its fourth consecutive Sectional Championship with hopes of making it back to the State Championship game. The Lady Red Raiders played all season without the luxury of a home gym. Played a brutal Schedule and still managed a top 3 seed. Hornell features Seniors Mia Nasca, Selena Maldonado & Jordyn Dyring along with Junior Reagan Evingham. The youthful Dansville Lady Mustangs are looking to make some noise as the upstart earned a No.1 Seed, their losses are to Hornell twice and Wellsville. Penn Yan could be a sleeper; they defeated Waterloo during the regular season and rely on Defense to win games. The Championship game will be held March 4th at FLCC \.
| Teams | #1 Seed | |
| Class AAA | Fairport | |
| Class AA1 | Penfield | |
| Class AA2 | Pittsford Sutherland | |
| Class A | East | |
| Class B1 | Dansville | |
| Class B2 | Cuba-Rushford | |
| Class C1 | Letchworth | |
| Class C2 | Keshequa | |
| Class D | Avoca/Prattsburgh | |
| Teams | COTY | School |
| Class AAA | Tom Vasey | Fairport |
| Class AA1 | Mark Vogt | Penfield |
| Class AA2 | Dan Judd | Pittsford Sutherland |
| Class A | Diane Kirnie | Newark |
| Class B1 | Jim Dagon | Hornell |
| Class B2 | Kevin Greenway | Avon |
| Class C1 | Chad DeRock | Letchworth |
| Class C2 | Pete Piraino | Keshequa |
| Class D | Trista Sullivan | Avoca/Prattsburgh |
