Not enough | News, Sports, Jobs

One brought out the best in Tayden Persons on Thursday evening.

Sherman’s senior forward scored 13 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and picked up two steals as the third-seeded Wildcats beat No. 2 Pine Valley 44-30 in the first Section VI Class D semifinal Thursday at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.

“I think that’s what you see out of a senior when her season is on the line,” Sherman head coach Emily Eckwahl said. “We’ve always known she’s had the ability in her. Today, she proved us right.”

Fellow senior Lily Martin added 11 points and four rebounds for Sherman, which will take on No. 4 Panama in Saturday’s noon final back at JCC. The Panthers upset No. 1 Clymer 53-44 in Thursday’s second semifinal.

OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
Pine Valley’s Paige Hohl looks for a passing option surrounded by three Sherman defenders.

“She’s our southpaw,” Eckwahl said of Martin. “Anytime she can take that turn to the left, that’s good news for her.”

Pine Valley junior Danielle West, who averaged 16.7 points per game prior to Thursday, scored 6 on a pair of 3-pointers.

“They were running a box-and-one on her. Of course they would, because she’s one of the best shooters around,” Pine Valley head coach Zachary Len said. ” … We needed to work the ball into the paint more. If our posts would’ve started to hit shots, they would’ve taken the box-and-one off of Danielle.”

“Emmersen Crawford and Carlie Gable have been working all season to slow down the other team’s best scorer,” Eckwahl said. “They both stepped up and it was a good team effort on her.”

The Wildcats trailed Pine Valley 10-7 after the first quarter, but took control of the game with a 14-3 second quarter. During that eight minutes, they forced the Panthers into nine turnovers and 1-of-9 shooting from the floor. Pine Valley’s lone field goal of the period was a 3-pointer by freshman Sandy Ivett with 3:33 remaining.

“We’ve been haunted by foul trouble in a lot of close games, so we played it a little bit cautious early on,” Eckwahl said. “We knew that if we were given a chance, we’d love to pressure them.”

Sherman closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 21-13 at halftime.

The teams played an even third quarter, but the Panthers began to run out of time.

Pine Valley junior Paige Hohl scored to open the fourth quarter and made it a six-point game, but Martin scored a pair of baskets around a Kelsey Wagner free throw as the Wildcats’ lead grew to 11.

Persons then scored three straight buckets for Sherman — a pair of them on putbacks — and the Panthers’ only answer was a free throw from junior Sarah Kruszka.

“It gives them another life,” Len said of Sherman’s 18 offensive rebounds. “We’ve stressed box outs; it’s basic, common basketball.”

Vivien Libby scored for Pine Valley down the stretch, but the Panthers turned it over on their final four possessions as the Wildcats closed out the win.

For the game Pine Valley turned the ball over 30 times, which led to 17 points for Sherman.

“We’ve come this far all year and turnovers were a thing we couldn’t stay away from,” Len said. ” … It came back and bit us in the butt again. It’s something we have to continue to work on.”

Now the Wildcats will play for their 13th sectional title and first since going back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. Panama, their opponent Saturday, broke that streak last year on its way to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association semifinals in Troy.

“Tonight was the devil we don’t know and Saturday will be the devil that we do,” Eckwahl said. “We’ve beaten each other up all season. I’m sure we’ll have a classic Class D barnburner on Saturday.”

NOTES: Libby scored 8 points, while Hohl had 7 for Pine Valley, which shot 12 of 35 from the field, including 5 of 17 from 3-point range. … Teagan Gratto had 10 points, eight rebounds, eight steals and two blocked shots for Sherman, which shot 18 of 62 from the field, including 1 of 21 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 13 times.

SHERMAN (44)

Gable 1 1 3, Emory 0 0 0, Kioko 0 0 0, Persons 6 1 13, Crawford 0 1 1, Wagner 2 2 6, Gratto 4 2 10, Martin 5 0 11, Safford 0 0 0. Totals 18 7 44.

PINE VALLEY (30)

Ivett 2 0 6, Kruszka 0 1 1, AWest 0 0 0, Hohl 3 0 7, DWest 2 0 6, Leverentz 0 0 0, Libby 4 0 8, Miller 1 0 2. Totals 12 1 30.

3-point goals–Martin, Ivett 2, Hohl, DWest 2.

Sherman 7 14 12 11 — 44

Pine Valley 10 3 12 5 — 30