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Poland reaches Section 3 basketball final as Logan Cookinham breaks scoring record

jon rathbun, times telegram
·4 min read

SYRACUSE - The Poland Tornadoes and the West Canada Valley Indians each had a senior reach an impressive basketball milestone Saturday but the top two seeds and Kuyahoora Valley neighbors will not be meeting in Section III's Class D championship game next week.

Logan Cookinham broke No. 2 Poland's career scoring record in the Tornadoes' 66-39 win over Copenhagen, the 2022 sectional and state champion. The win avenged Poland's 58-40 loss in last year's sectional final.

Logan Cookinham (right) puts up a shot for the Poland Tornadoes during the fist half of a Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, Section III semifinal agaunst Copenhagen at Onondaga Community College's Allyn Hall in Syracuse, New York. Cookinham boke Poland's careeer scoring rcord early in the secnd half.
Logan Cookinham (right) puts up a shot for the Poland Tornadoes during the fist half of a Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, Section III semifinal agaunst Copenhagen at Onondaga Community College's Allyn Hall in Syracuse, New York. Cookinham boke Poland's careeer scoring rcord early in the secnd half.

More:Section 3 girls basketball scores for the 2022-23 season

Reese Fellows scored her 1,000th career point for West Canada Valley, adding that to her 1,000th rebound from a game earlier this month against Adirondack. Fellows and the Indians, the No. 1 seed, led through the bulk of their game before Hamilton rallied in the fourth quarter and won 58-55.

Poland and No. 4 Hamilton will meet for the third time this season to determine Section III's Class D champion. The 11 a.m. game will be the first of five championship contests played March 4 at SRC Arena, just down a hall from the gym where Saturday's game was played on the campus of Onondaga Community College. Wins by Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse earlier Saturday set the matchup for Class AA, and the Class A final was determined Friday with Indian River and Central Square advancing as the top two seeds.

Classes B and C play Sunday to finalize the championship weekend schedule.

Cookinham makes more Allyn Hall memories

Logan Cookinham scored the 1,000th point of her varsity career in Poland's 40-38 win over Immaculate Heart of Watertown in last year's sectional semifinals. One day shot of a year later, she broke Shiane Irwin's school scoring record on that same Allyn Hall court while helping the Tornadoes earn their return to the championship game.

"It's really funny that it ended up that way," Cookinham said. "It happened to be this game at OCC both years."Getting a win in a second shot at Copenhagen was a plus.

Logan Cookinham (12) was presented with a banner during a timeout after she broke Poland's career scoring record two minutes into the thurd quarter of a Section III playoff game against Copenhagen Saturday. She scored her 1,000th point in last year's sectional semifinal win.
Logan Cookinham (12) was presented with a banner during a timeout after she broke Poland's career scoring record two minutes into the thurd quarter of a Section III playoff game against Copenhagen Saturday. She scored her 1,000th point in last year's sectional semifinal win.

"It feels really good," Cookinham added. "Now we get a chance to finish what we couldn't last year."

A win next week would give Poland's girls program its first sectional basketball title.

Poland (21-2) led by two points after the first quarter and eight at halftime before outscoring No. 3 Copenhagen 31-12 in the second half

Cookinham led the way with 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Sophomore Madison Haver matched her season high with 17 points while Sydney Tabor had 13 points and seven rebounds and blocked three shots.Senior Aubree Smylka scored 13 points for Copenhagen.

Hamilton rallies to beat West Canada Valley.

West Canada Valley led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter but the No. 1 seed could not hold off a Hamilton team that scored 25 points in the final eight minutes. The 58-55 win gives Hamilton's Emerald Knights a spot in next weekend's Class D final against Poland, the winner of the earlier semifinal and twice a winner against Hamilton during the regular season.

Hamilton Emerald Knight Reagan Hope (12) blocks a West Canada Valley shot during the first half of Saturday's Section III semifinal.
Hamilton Emerald Knight Reagan Hope (12) blocks a West Canada Valley shot during the first half of Saturday's Section III semifinal.

A 10-2 run cut the lead to two points with five minutes remaining and Hamilton took a 52-51 lead - its first since the first quarter - on a three-point shot with 1:37 on the clock. The Emerald Knights (17-6) took the lead for good on an Emily Neuenschwander three with 26.1 second left. West Canada Valley (20-2) missed a chance to tie at the foul line and Reagan Hope added the final two free throws for Hamilton.

Logan Langel led Hamilton with 22 points and was one of four Emerald Knights with multiple three-pointers.

Reese Fellows had a game-high 25 points and also matched her season-high for West Canada Valley. She scored her 1,000th point on a basket in the lane that gave the Indians their first double-digit lead early in the third quarter.

West Canada Valley Indian Reese Fellows goes up for layuo during the first half against Hamilton Saturday at Onondaga Community College. Fellows, a senior, scored her 1,000th point during the game.
West Canada Valley Indian Reese Fellows goes up for layuo during the first half against Hamilton Saturday at Onondaga Community College. Fellows, a senior, scored her 1,000th point during the game.

Upsets set final for Class AA

No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Rome Free Academy were beaten by Ciceo-North Syracuse and Liverpool, respectively, in the Class AA semifinals at Allyn Hall.

Liverpool's Warrriors (19-3) outscored Rome Free Academy's Black Knights (18-4) 24-4 in the second quarter and opened a 46-22 halftime lead. Rome Free Academy scored the first eight points of the second half but 16 points was as close as the Black Knights would get before the final three minutes of the game.

Nevaeh Wingate 14 points in the second quarter and 24 before halftime on the way to a team-high 28 for the Warriors, seeded third. Gianna Washington added 10 points.

Rome Free Academy Black Knight Amya McLeod drives around a Liverpool defender during the second half of Saturday's Section III semifinal in Allyn Hall.
Rome Free Academy Black Knight Amya McLeod drives around a Liverpool defender during the second half of Saturday's Section III semifinal in Allyn Hall.

Senior Amyah McLeod led Rome Free Academy with 29 points in her final scholastic game.

In the second game, Cicero-North Syracuse, the defending champion and No. 4 seed needed overtime to knock out Auburn which had won 13 consecutive games.

Rome Free Academy entered the semifinals with a 15-game winning streak. The Black Knights were also beaten in the semifinals last year.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Poland girls back in Section 3 basketball final after avenging loss