Spartans prevail

SYRACUSE — Someday, South Jefferson's Section 3 girls basketball dynasty will end. Nothing lasts forever.

But the Spartans made a boisterous statement for the capacity crowd Saturday evening at Onondaga Community College: Someday, has not arrived yet.

Freshman Rachael Bassett's game-high 22 points lifted the Spartans to a 43-39 triumph over Cazenovia, and also to their sixth straight overall Section 3 Class B title.

South Jefferson will play the winner of the Section 4 final in the state playoffs next Saturday at SUNY Cortland.

Also at OCC, Sackets Harbor downed Richfield Springs 49-36 in the Class D final to earn its state tournament berth. The Patriots are set for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

In the Class C final, Beaver River watched an early upset bid fizzle, and its season ended with a 55-42 defeat to unbeaten Cooperstown.

SOUTH JEFFERSON 43, CAZENOVIA 39

The Spartans and Lakers traded the lead eight times in the final quarter, before Leah Williams nailed two foul shots with 1:05 left in regulation to give South Jefferson the lead for good.

The teams matched each other shot-for-shot during a three-minute stretch that brought both contingents of fans to their feet. But the Spartans proved that their grip on the sectional banner won't soon be relinquished.

"We really don't want this run to end," freshman Rachael Bassett said.

Only four South Jefferson players managed to put the ball in the basket. Linsey Niles registered 16 points, and Cassie St. Hilaire added five.

Cazenovia's defense rendered South Jefferson helpless often in the first half. The Spartans missed their final four shots of the first quarter, and came up empty on five consecutive possessions in the second. South Jefferson's troubles were down low, as the Lakers (20-3) won the rebounding battle 18-7 in the first half.

With his team trailing by a point seconds before Williams's free throws, Pat Bassett contemplated his first sectional loss in years.

"With about one minute left, I actually thought, 'I can live with losing this game,'" he admitted. "I know that's easy to say from the winning side, but I honestly didn't know if we could beat this team."

His daughter was the biggest reason he didn't have to live with a loss. She scored 10 second half points, and swished 5-of-6 foul shots down the stretch. She played like the coolest, most experienced player on the floor instead of one of the youngest.

"She drove on us, and when we gave her some space, she hit a big 3," Cazenovia coach Paul Harney said. "Rachael Bassett earned a lot of respect tonight."

Molly Dougherty's two free throws with 5.3 seconds left could have tied it for the Lakers, but both rattled off the rim.

Niles then sealed the Spartans' state playoff reservation with two foul shots.

"I just really think they all believe right now," Pat Bassett said. "Lately our motto has been, 'Why not us?' We knew we had to win seven games for a state title. We've won four, and have three to go."

SACKETS HARBOR 49,

RICHFIELD SPRINGS 36

Veteran coach Lyle Weaver has been here before, but the feeling of an overall sectional title — the Patriots' second since 2004 — never changes.

"This is great," said Weaver, who has already announced his intentions to retire after this year. "The only thing that tops it is that it takes us to states."

The Patriots play the Section 4 champion next weekend. They'll likely have to put forth a better effort in the early going than they did Saturday.

They bricked several layups, while the Indians' Katie Moshier pumped in eight points during the first quarter.

Sackets Harbor (23-1) knew it had to contain the junior forward, and it did for the final 24 minutes. Moshier made only one free throw the rest of the way, finishing with nine points.

"We knew she was the key player," Lindsey Grey said. "Slowing her down really helped a lot."

Courtney Allen led Sackets Harbor with 19 points, including six straight in the first half. She was the only one who finished hoops consistently.

The rest of the Patriots caught on soon enough, and when Sarah Maxon grabbed an offensive rebound and snuck a bounce pass to Grey, Sackets was off on a 12-0 pre-halftime run.

"We had to start pushing the ball quicker," Allen said. "Coach said we were slowing down too much. We didn't finish our layups, and that was a problem. We'll have to fix that next week."

Grey finished with 16 points, and an Allen field goal gave Sackets a late 18-point lead. Only a Moshier free throw, and a basket by Jessica Hext disguised the Patriots' superiority — a bit, at least.

"We played pretty sloppy at times," said Weaver, who has never coached a state playoff victory. "For some reason we shot better from the outside than on wide open layups. Still, we just have to win once to get to the (state) semifinals."

COOPERSTOWN 55, BEAVER RIVER 42

The Beavers suffered a severe size disadvantage underneath the basket, and the Redskins finally starting exploiting that fact during the second half.

Samantha Fox and Jen Wehner dominated for Cooperstown (24-0) after halftime, when they combined for 25 points.

During the first half, however, the seemingly insurmountable odds against the Beavers (18-5) seemed manageable.

Beaver River used a hot shooting touch to open up a 27-21 lead by the end of the second quarter.

Several traveling violations and careless mistakes frustrated the highly favored Redskins early. But contributions from the bench kept them close, as they matched Beaver River's shooting prowess from the perimeter.

"It very easily could have been over in the first half," Cooperstown coach Mike Niles said.

After McKayla Nuffer drained a 3-pointer to tie the score 33-33 at the end of the third, Cooperstown orchestrated a 12-0 run to start the fourth. Tessa VanDerVeeken, who is the Beavers' tallest player at 5 feet, 8 inches, picked up her third fourth foul and was forced to sit. The Redskins then even had more of an inside mismatch.

"We just kept playing," Beavers' coach Bob Chamberlain said. "We had to give up the outside to guard the inside, and they made some shots.

"Our kids have never given up, and that's all I've ever asked of them."

Danielle Chamberlain, who paced the Beavers with 13 points, hit two 3s in the final two minutes, and Payge Lehman added another 3 with 49 seconds left in regulation. The rest of the Beavers' shots bounced off the rim, or only found air.

The Beavers walked off the floor knowing they'd earned the respect of the highly favored Redskins, who advanced to next Saturday's state playoff quarterfinal at C-NS.

"As hard as it is to lose, we never thought we'd keep up with them," Danielle Chamberlain said. "I actually think they were scared at one point."