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Tuesday, March 6, 2018 | BataviasBest.org
Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
The Section V Basketball Championship season is now complete, but not before three local girls basketball teams capped-off their 2017-2018 Section V season with titles in their respective classifications. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Class C1), Wheatland-Chili Wildcats (Class D1), and Elba Lancers (Class D2) will now look ahead to crossover matchups tonight – all just a win away from the NYSPHSAA Tournament.
Notre Dame overcomes 13-point 3Q deficit to defeat Letchworth 42-35
Built on toughness, Notre Dame has hung right in there with the most-formidable teams on their schedule throughout the past several seasons. This weekend vs Livingston County titan Letchworth was no different.
The Irish showed their ability to rise to the occasion on Saturday afternoon.
With just under 6:00 to play, ND fell behind the Indians by a large 13-point margin and it seemed as if their championship hopes were slowly slipping away. However, the Irish stemmed the tide following a timeout at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter, and quickly started to chip away at their deficit. Within minutes, Notre Dame surpassed Letchworth on the scoreboard and took their turn in the driver’s seat heading into the fourth quarter.
PHOTO GALLERY: Notre Dame vs Letchworth – Section V Girls Basketball – PHOTO GALLERY (03/03/2018)
During the final frame, the Irish continued to control the action, and walked away with the seven-point victory. Leading them to the win was Callie McCulley, who scored 15 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots.
With the win, Notre Dame picked up their second-straight championship, and now plays C2 winner South Seneca in a Section V crossover contest tonight. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm at Marion HS. Tune in on Twitter for updates.
Despite a slow start, Wheatland-Chili rolls Pavilion 45-20
The Wheatland-Chili girls basketball program has turned into one of the best in the area over the past few seasons. Now with two championships in the last three years, the Wildcats have forced themselves into the conversation when discussing championship-caliber programs which play the game the right way – with heart, hustle, and hard work.
This past Saturday vs fellow Class D1 finalist Pavilion W-C displayed what has transformed them into such a high-caliber group.
Down 8-2 just five minutes into the game vs the Gophers, Wheatland seemed ripe for an upset. Not to worry, though, as the Wildcats would quickly turn things around.
PHOTO GALLERY: Wheatland-Chili vs Pavilion – Section V Girls Basketball – PHOTO GALLERY (03/03/2018)
Over the next 25 minutes, W-C outscored PAV 43-12 behind 18 points from Alyssa Seilheimer, and aggressive defense which held Pavilion leading-scorer Kim Davis to just 10 points in the game. Davis typically averaged over 15 points per game.
Wheatland-Chili now looks forward to their next postseason matchup tonight, with Class D2 winner Elba. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm at Cal-Mum HS.
Elba met their match, but Lancers’ train rolls along after 47-42 win over Andover
In the words of Young Jeezy, this game was “back-and-forth like a seesaw”.
As both teams swapped buckets throughout all four quarters, the Class D2 Finals between Elba and Andover came down to the very end – with the Lancers gaining the slim advantage simply before time ran out. If there were five more minutes in this one, who knows what might have happened. It was that close.
PHOTO GALLERY: Elba vs Andover – Section V Girls Basketball – PHOTO GALLERY (03/03/2018)
With that being said, Elba fans won’t look back at this game and think how close it was – they’ll just remember that their team was the one who finished with the win. Their second in the championship game in as many seasons.
Sparking Elba’s victory over the Panthers was Emily Reynolds, who scored 23 points.
Next up for the back-to-back champs is Wheatland-Chili tonight in Cal-Mum. Tune in beginning at 7:00 pm for updates on Twitter.
