Top-ranked Hammond ends Poland girls' run in Class D basketball
The run is over for the Poland girls after the Section III champions were beaten 63-33 Friday in Class D regional basketball play by Section X Hammond, the state's top-ranked team.
Hammond's Red Devils (19-1) bounced back from their first loss of the season and took control early at SUNY-Potsdam. They outscored Poland's Tornadoes in each of the four quarters and earned the first spot in next weekend's Final Four.
The Red Devils led by 10 points after the first quarter. Poland made a 7-0 run in the second quarter but trailed 27-15 at halftime.
More:Section 3 girls basketball scores for the 2022-23 season
Logan Cookinham, Poland's career and season leading scorer, netted eight of her team-high 12 points in the second quarter but hurt a knee. She came back out for the second half but left the game with the injury in the third quarter. Cookinham also had a team-high seven rebounds.
Landree Kenyon, Hammond's all-state junior, scored 18 of her game-high 26 points in the second half and Ava Howie had 14 of her 22 while the Red Devils outscored the Tornadoes 36-18 after the break.
"She tried to will her way though it," Poland coach Jason Potempa said of Cookinham. "She went down again in the third after making a basket."
Hammond had gone unbeaten through the regular season and its sectional playoffs before suffering its only loss in the finals of Section X's tournament of champions against Class B Gouverneur. The Red Devils have won four Class D playoff games by an average of 28 points and head to Troy next weekend for state Final Four play at Hudson Valley Community College. Hammond plays the opening game March 18 at 9 a.m. against the winner of Saturday's regional between Section V Keshequa and Section VI Panama.
The other regional finalists include Section II Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons from the Western Athletic Conference, Section IV Oxford Academy, Section VII Plattsburgh-Seton Catholic and Section XI Smithtown Christian. The state championship game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start on March 19.
Poland, a first time sectional champion ranked third in the state, had won 10 consecutive games entering Friday's contest. The Tornadoes had won their four sectional playoff games by an average of 28.5 points.
Sophomore Maddison Haver scored seven points for Poland and senior Sydney Tabor had six with six rebounds.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: First Final Four spot filled for Class D girls basketball
