High school girls basketball: Cape Vincent's Brennan, Canandaigua head to state Class A final
Mar. 17—Cape Vincent's Michael Brennan has led the Canandaigua girls basketball team into Saturday night's state championship game.
Section 5's Canandaigua (21-5) will play Section 1's Walter Panas (22-5) at 7 p.m. in the Class A final at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy after defeating Section 8's Manhasset 55-42 in a semifinal game Friday afternoon at the same site. Walter Panas, of Cortlandt, defeated Section 2's Averill Park, 47-42.
Brennan, Canandaigua's coach for 11 years, is a graduate of Thousand Islands High School and played for the Vikings boys basketball team for five seasons, graduating in 1999.
"Right now it feels like we won the Super Bowl but we've got one more game to go," Brennan said in his postgame interview.
Canandaigua is attempting to win its first state basketball title of any kind after capturing its first Section 5 crown in 14 years earlier this month.
Senior Mya Herman led a balanced offense with 14 points for the Braves, while Eily Hubler scored 13 and Kyleigh Chapman 12. Chapman also pulled down 13 rebounds.
"Our goal all year was to win sectionals and then we get here and it's insane," said Herman, who has committed to play basketball for Division II Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla.
Canandaigua took a 19-14 halftime lead and put the game away with a 23-16 fourth quarter.
"We were patient — offensively and defensively (Manhasset) did such an unbelievable job — and once we got in the groove end of the third, early fourth, I felt good about it," Brennan said.
Alexandra McIntire scored 12 points, Nicoletta Tsiamas scored 11 and Lauren Perfetto 10 for Manhasset (24-2).
Brennan has credited the team's tough schedule this season for getting the Braves the sectional title and into the state tournament. Canandaigua played Section 2's Amsterdam earlier in the season and faced Section 6's Hamburg prior to playing the same team in the state quarterfinals, which the Braves won in overtime.
Canandaigua had also played almost the entire season without a traditional home game as its court became flooded in December, ruining it for the season. The team played home games at nearby Finger Lakes Community College.
"We've got some really good athletes and they're really smart and they're patient on offense and they find each other and they pass the ball well," Brennan said. "So we play as a team pretty well."
