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Collmer’s Corner: Preview of Section V Class D1 and D2 boys basketball sectionals

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The Section V Class D1 and D2 tournament are starting this week, and it appeared to be the race to see who plays Avoca-Prattsburgh to go to the Far West Regionals and take on Section 6 in states.

But this past week, coaches voted for Wheatland-Chili’s Scott Lund as Coach of the Year in Class D1 and then Alex Brasky, a sportswriter and sports broadcaster for the Batavia Daily News, predicted W-C would upset Avoca-Prattsburgh in the finals (Story HERE).

Here is a bracket breakdown by Bill Collmer, our Section V sports guru and contributing writer:

Boys Sectional Bracket Breakdown

By Bill Collmer 

Class D2 

Top Seed: Batavia Notre Dame 

Defending Champion: Avoca-Prattsburgh 

Contenders: No.2 Elba, No.4 Romulus 

Sleeper: No. 6 Jasper-Troupsburg

Outlook: Batavia Notre Dame (17-3) is looking to send Coach Mike Rapone out in style this is his 42nd and final Season Coaching the Fighting Irish Rapone’s resume is renowned. He’s guided nine teams to section  Five titles across four classes and won 32 Genesee Region crowns. Rapone has five Far West Regional titles under his belt and captured state championships in 1992 and 2001. Notre-Dame enters Sectionals on a ten-game winning streak. Notre-Dame has a lot of weapons, Junior Jordan Welker (15.9 PPG), Sophomore Ryan Fitzpatrick (14.8 PPG) Junior Jimmy Fanara (14.1 PPG) Senior Cody Henry (12.1 PPG) and Senior Collin McCulley (11.5 PPG). No. 2 Seed Elba (13-7)  also from the Genesee Region enters sectionals with a record of 13-7 but don’t be fooled by their record The Lancers are battle tested, with those seven losses coming at the hands of Avoca-Prattsburgh (20-0) twice to Notre-Dame (17-3) twice to Oakfield-Alabama (19-1) Wheatland-Chili (17-3) and a triple Overtime loss to Byron-Bergen. They also defeated Wheatland-Chili. The Lancers are led by a pair of Sharpshooters in Seniors Zach Marsceill and C.J Gottler and Junior Forward Connor Scott. No. 6 Jasper-Troupsburg (9-9) has had an injury plagued season that forced them to drop out of the Steuben County League tournament, however Senior forward Colby Cornish was just named a Steuben County League First Team All-Star for the second straight season and Junior guard Cash Bouten was selected to the All-County Second team. J-T and Elba met in the Hall of Fame Showcase earlier this season with Elba winning 57-50. If J-T defeats Belfast they would meet the Lancers in the Semifinals. No.4 Romulus (11-9) played bigger teams all-season but a potential game versus Notre-Dame might be more than they can handle. 

Class D1

Top Seed: Avoca-Prattsburgh 

Defending Champion: Wheatland-Chili 

Contenders: No.2 Wheatland-Chili, No. 3 Fillmore 

Sleeper: None 

Outlook: Avoca-Prattsburgh (20-0) is currently on a thirty-one-game winning streak, only four teams in the bracket have a record of .500 or better. A-P is led by Senior Pacey Hopkins (16.3 PPPG), Junior Sawyer Devoe (15.9 PPG) Sophomore Macoy Putnam (15.5 PPG), Senior Caleb Johnson (10.0 PPG) and Junior Haden Abbott (11.6 PPG) Devoe leads the team in rebounding with 9.4 per game while Putnam is the Playmaker with 7.6 Assists per game. They’re averaging 86.3 points, 25.6 Assists and 19.5 Steals per game. No.2 Wheatland-Chili (17-3) are the defending champs and played a brutal schedule, victories over Class B1 number one seed Northstar Christian and Class C2 number two seed Oakfield-Alabama in the final week of the season shows that the Wildcats are a serious threat to repeat. No.3 Fillmore (15-4) played Avoca-Prattsburgh back on December 21st with A-P winning 112-74. 6-foot-8-inch Senior Center Will Roeske give the Eagles a significant Size Advantage, he scored 29 points versus A-P the first time they played. Losses to Class B Wellsville and Section VI Class A Champion Pioneer along with two wins over Class C contender Bolivar-Richburg will have Fillmore Battle tested and ready for a sectional Run. 

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