Section 4's best undefeated, ranked second, movin' on with purpose. Kevin Stevens / Staff Video
As high school basketball season approaches the far turn, how’s this for depth of quality in Section 4?
As it relates to the ladies, anyway.
New York State Sports Writers Association rankings reflect 14 girls teams among the top 14 in their respective enrollment classifications.
Fourteen!
Tack on a couple top-sixers on the manly side of the gender barrier and that’s quite the haul. And no particular surprise that the gals’ standing relative to the rest of New York far outweighs that of the guys. The quality of girls ball continues to exceed the fellas, has for some time in these parts.
Atop the pile? Regardless of those numerals affixed to teams? Hands down, Susquehanna Valley’s girls. Chad Freije’s second-ranked squad is 13-for-13, arriving at that bountiful baker’s dozen with wins in a six-day span over South Jefferson, Binghamton and Norwich by 14, 24 and 34 points, respectively and symmetrically.
Most impressive was that 54-41 victory last Saturday over South Jeff at Onondaga Community College, where the Spartans fell 23 1-2 points shy of their scoring average through 13 wins. Included was one venture into three-digit territory.
“They’re good. We played very well,” Freije shared. “Alexis Drake was phenomenal for us. They had two 6-foot girls who pretty much tried to take Maeve Donnelly out of the game and Lex made a couple jump shots to make them come out and play her. Our guards were great defensively, we got out in transition a little bit.
“They have a really good team, they’re well-coached and probably have a really good chance of winning their section. We might see them again.”
Most telling, with regard to the reputation Susquehanna Valley has built in recent seasons, were the words of South Jefferson coach Michelle Whitley. She told Syracuse.com: “It was like a mid-term — OK, this is where you want to be. This is the big time, and we fell short. But we learned a lot.”
Do note, that is the coach of a previously undefeated team, perhaps Section 3 Class B favorite, referring to SV as “the big time.”
For a straight-down-the-line take on where these Sabers are? Gotta hit up senior point guard and eloquent team spokesperson Holly Manchester. The question: Is your team where it wants to be with regard level of play?
“Quite honestly, I think we are,” was her no-bones response. “I like where we’re at. Obviously, there is always room for improvement but I definitely like the spot where we’re at, the wins we’re putting up, the balance across the scorebook. I definitely like it defensively, we’re doing really well. Some people have come up to me and said we’re stifling teams on defense, that’s something we’re really proud of.”
These Sabers are special because what they do, they do unfailingly together. Ain’t any “stars,” which seems to work just fine with them. And they’ve scheduled aggressively, weathered that so far and forge ahead.
“We wanted to play the best teams possible,” Freije said. “My wife wasn’t excited that we were in Syracuse on Saturday, but we’re trying to find the most competitive games in the area, outside the area. We just want to make sure we’re ready to play.”
But, a tad risky? As in, might a couple losses have hurt the cause?
“I think it would have made us hungrier, made us work a little harder. As long as you learn from your losses, I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Chad said through a patch of gravel. Sounded as if maybe onset of flu and a whole lot of coaching effectively double-teamed that voice of his.
Co-next-best girls team hereabouts? Seton Catholic Central, ranked eighth in Class A, and Elmira, fifth in AA— a rung above thrice-beaten Ossining, that is. They’ve bumped into one another, in fact, with the Express falling by 55-47 while misfiring on an exorbitant percentage of shots in its lone setback.
The Saints’ losses have been served up by SV, a couple of no-doubters, and Irondequoit’s Bishop Kearney, presently ranked 11th in AA. No shame in any of the three, to be sure. The Saints and Kearney split a pair of five-point decisions 16 days apart.
Relative to those rankings — which mean squat, really, until roughly this time of the winter when matters begin to present a semblance of reality — Section 4 is particularly and justifiably well-represented among small schools.
Bainbridge-Guilford is positioned atop Class C, with Odessa-Montour fifth, Moravia sixth and defending state champion Watkins Glen No. 13.
The ‘D’ tabulation fits Delhi in at No. 2, Deposit-Hancock No. 8, South Kortright 10th and Stamford 13th.
Over on the guys’ side, one must sensibly identify Seton Catholic Central and Owego as Section 4’s top guns.
The Saints are No. 6 in Class B, their two defeats served up by out-of-state foes in the Josh Palmer tournament. I’ll go ahead and label Owego, bested twice in late-autumn by large-school opponents in Peach State tournament competition, as the finest 22nd-ranked basketball team there is. Nature of the beast, is all. Drop two tough goes early while so many others munch on cupcakes and it’s a tough climb up the list.
Matters not, of course, but …
Those two should meet in a Southern Tier Athletic Conference playoff semifinal, and perhaps again in Section 4’s Class B title game — and do prominently highlight Feb. 12 and March 3 on the sports viewing calendar. Gallagher v Sage, Hartrick v Bogart, Sinicki v Evans at the controls. Oh, yeah!
The Indians dealt the Patriots a 58-44 loss. Kevin Stevens / Staff Video
The fellas from Newfield, 10 months removed from a runner-up finish in Class D states at the Arena, are second back of fellow unbeaten Moriah, to which the Trojans fell by nine in the 3/18/17 state finale.
Not to jump the gun on this thing but, here’s hoping space is reserved on Newfield’s bench, just in case, for that little blond cutie come March. Coach Bubble’s daughter Hayden was 9-year-old Belle of the Ball last time the Trojans suited up at One Stuart Street. Should they return? Gotta have that lass back on the sideline.
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