Local squads hope to punch final four tickets in Binghamton
Mar. 10—The state high school basketball playoff fields have been whittled down to their respective "elite eights", with three teams from the local ranks still alive: the South Kortright boys, and the Cooperstown and Oxford girls.
All three squads will be in action on Saturday in Binghamton at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena for the State Regional Championships, with each hoping to advance to the final four.
Oxford (20-5) kicks things off at noon against Section XI Champion Smithtown Christian in the Girls Class D Regional. The Blackhawks are coming off their first sectional title in 20 years when they defeated top-seeded Cherry Valley-Springfield 38-36 last Saturday.
Oxford was led, as they usually are, by 1,000-point scorer Madalyn Barrows, who provided 20 points in the victory. But the story of the game was the Blackhawks' defense, as they held CV-S star center Joleen Lusk to 12 points while coming up with several key stops in the game's final seconds.
Smithtown Christian advanced to the Regional Final by defeating Section IX winner Webutuck 36-28 in Tuesday's Subregional contest.
After that will be South Kortright (21-3) taking on Section IX Champion Chapel Field Christian (18-5) in the Boys Class D Regional at 1:45 p.m. This game will be a rematch of last year's Regional Final in which the Rams won 68-52 to move on to the final four.
This will be the second straight playoff rematch for South Kortright, as the Rams defeated Greenburgh-North Castle in the Subregional round for the second year in a row on Tuesday by a score of 80-55.
SK's Connor Quarino has been lights out in the playoffs so far, averaging more than 33 points per game in the Rams' last four contests, including 37 in Tuesday's victory.
Chapel Field also won in the Subregional round, taking down Section XI winner Bridgehampton 58-53.
Finally, Cooperstown (19-5) will face Section IV Champion Union Springs (24-0) in the Girls Class C Regional at 3:30 p.m. This matchup features two of the hottest teams in the state as both are on double-digit win streaks.
The Lady Hawkeyes have won 13 in a row, with their 64-59 victory over Weedsport last Saturday sending them to their first sectional title since 2020. Dani Seamon averaged 23.8 points in Cooperstown's four sectional contests while Rory Nelen was the team's top scorer against Weedsport with 17 points in the title game.
Union Springs, meanwhile, has been the top squad in the state for much of the season and is ranked number one in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association. The undefeated Lady Wolves defeated Moravia 52-32 in the sectional final and won their three sectional games by an average margin of 26 points.
