Canandaigua outlasts gritty Sutherland to win Section V Class A girls basketball title

There was a glow about Mike Brennan and once he started to explain, it all became clear.

Because that’s how good he felt about coaching the Canandaigua Academy girls basketball team to the Section V Class A championship with Saturday’s 55-46 win over Pittsford Sutherland.

“Imagine if Christmas came once every (14) years,” the coach said.

Canandaigua’s last title came in 2009 and on Saturday, the No. 2 Braves (19-5) had to guard against complacency. They beat the top-seeded Knights (19-4) by 20 points late in the regular season, but Brennan knew his team wouldn’t have it that easy in Saturday’s final.

“I was being neurotic about it, but I knew we’re not 20 points better than them,” he said.

He was right, of course, and the 27-27 score late in the third quarter showed as much. But with 1:58 left in the third, Julia Geitner hit a 3-pointer and Mya Herman drained a baseline jumper at the horn for a 32-27 CA lead.

The game was never closer than six the rest of the way.

“At the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth, we lost control a little bit,” Sutherland coach Dan Judd said. “And that was the difference.”

More:Section V girls basketball scores for the 2022-23 season

Key play: Defense and offensive timing

The five-point sequence of Geitner’s 3 and Herman’s jumper deserves some context. To that point, defense was the name of this game.

Consider: Sutherland’s halftime lead was 23-22 and through the first six-plus minutes of the third, the teams combined for just nine points. So when Geitner’s 3 landed to break a 27-27 tie followed by Herman’s jumper, it was big for the Braves.

“She’s one of the most gifted athletes we have,” Brennan said. “We’ve been trying to find a niche for her … it took us all season.”

CA pushed its lead to 36-30 midway through the fourth and a pair of big rebounds by Liv Schorr extended two possessions for the Braves, which allowed them to burn more clock.

And when a Leora Cook basket cut CA’s lead to 38-30, it was Geitner to the rescue again. She was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws with 3:41 left for a 41-32 lead.

“We lost our defensive focus and gave up some shots that we can’t give up against them,” said Judd. “They’re too good of a shooting team.”

They said it

Canandaigua coach Mike Brennan: “It was nothing schematically. It was just kids making plays. It really was that simple.”

Canandagiua senior Mya Herman, on how long she’s been waiting for this: “Since freshman year. We lost in the semifinals three years in a row.”

Canandaigua junior Kyleigh Chapman: “We just wanted to bring energy and stay in front of our kids.”

Brennan: “We try to make teams beat us with contested jump shots and if they do that, we shake their hands.”

By the numbers

Ellie Bergin led Sutherland with 19 points.

For Canandaigua, Herman finished with a game-high 25 points, Geitner scored 18 and Chapman scored eight.

The Braves were 12-for-13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Section V Class A girls basketball all-tournament team

Aubrey Smith (Irondequoit), Audrey Hintz (Mercy), Leora Cook (Sutherland), Julia Geitner (Canandaigua), Ellie Bergin (Sutherland), Kyleigh Chapman (Canandaigua). MVP: Mya Herman (Canandaigua)

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Canandaigua tops Sutherland, wins Section V Class A title