Avoca-Prattsburgh and Jasper-Troupsburg fight for a loose ball. Mark Mahoney photo.
By JOHN ANDERSON
DANSVILLE — The #4 Avoca-Prattsburgh girls’ basketball team had their hands full on Tuesday night with #9 Jasper-Troupsburg, holding on to a slim 22-17 lead at halftime.
Forget the regular season. J-T is for real. Coming in as the #9 seed, they had to win a play-in game on the road at #8 Scio-Friendship.
After that victory, J-T (6-17) then stunned #1 Northstar Christian on the road.
Playing a suffocating defense, they were poised for upset No. 3 against A-P.
That’s when the crowd arrived.
The #1 A-P boys also had a scrappy, low-seed underdog opponent in Marion, but a strong second half propelled the boys team to an 82-62 victory over #5 seed Marion (10-12).
When the game ended in Penn Yan, the bus and the fans from the boys game arrived in Dansville and filled the bleachers behind the Avoca-Prattsburgh bench.
Behind the loud crowd, A-P outscored J-T, 35-22 in the second half on the way to a 57-39 victory.
The A-P girls will now face #2 Andover/Whitesville who defeated #3 and defending champion Elba, 45-43. Vanessa Hall scored 34 to lead Andover/Whitesville.
For A-P (16-6) Laura Moreara led the team with 10 rebounds, three steals and three assists and Kendra Pinckney had 13 points, two three pointers, four rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Riley Stowe scored a team-high 16 points and had five steals and three reboounds.
Also for A-P, Kamryn Edwards ripped down six rebounds and scored 15 points while Marissa Reed had three rebounds, a blocked shot and an assist, Emma Carlton had four points and three rebounds and Makenna Schlesing added a steal and Susan Moore had two assists.
For Jasper-Troupsburg, Lauren Ross scored a team-high 16 points while Kanley Stewart had nine and Natalie Cornell scored eight.
In the boys win, Macoy Putnam scored a game-high 25 points while Sawyer DeVoe had 23. Pacey Hopkins scored 19 and Haden Abbott had 16.
GIRLS BOXSCORE (both games)
Avoca/Prattsburgh 9 13 15 20 — 57
Jasper-Troupsburg 4 13 6 16 — 39
J-T: Kanley Stewart 3 1-1 9; Kayla Atherton 5 2-2 16; Lauren Ross 1 0-0 2; Natalie Cornell 4 0-0 8; Reagan Miles 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 15 3-3 9.
A/P: Breanna Jorritsma 1 0-0 3; Emma Cartlon 2 0-0 4; Makenna Schlesing 0 0-2 0; Kamryn Edwards 6 2-3 15; Kendra Pinckney 3 5-8 13; Riley Stowe 5 5-7 16; Laura Moreara 1 0-0 2; Marissa Reid 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 20 12-20 57.
3-pointers: JT 6 (Atherton 4, Stuart 2). AP 5 (Pinckney 2, Stowe, Edwards, Jorritsma)
Total fouls: JT 16, AP 10. Fouled out: Atherton (JT)
Boxscore: Andover/Whitesville 45, Elba 43
Elba 10 9 15 9 – 43
Andover/Whitesville 18 8 8 11 – 45
ELBA: Sydney Reilly 5 2-2 13, Adrianna Long 3 3-4 9, Kennedy Augello 1 0-0 2, Laci Sewar 3 1-4 7, Dakota Brinkman 4 2-4 12. Totals: 16 7-13 43.
ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Vanessa Hall 12 9-10 34, Serena Ainsworth 0 1-2 1, Rachel Jackson 2 0-0 5, Maria Riloba 2 0-2 5. Totals: 16 10-14 45.
3-point goals: Elba 3 (Brinkman 2, Reilly), A/W 3 (Hall, Jackson, Riloba).
Total Fouls: Elba 14, A/W 11. Fouled out: None.
Marion 20 13 15 14 – 62
Avoca/Prattsburgh 22 11 31 18 – 82
MARION: Liam Phelps 1 0-0 3; Cole Restrey 4 0-1 8; Mike Phillips 3 0-0 8; Gabe Guttalaurio 1 0-2 3; Logan Evans 3 0-0 8; Brandon Short 2 0-0 4. Totals: 14 0-3 34.
AVOCA/PRATTSBURGH: Sawyer DeVoe 11 1-1 23, Evan Campbell 1 0-0 2, Macoy Putnam 10 3-3 25, Tucker Gerych 2 1-3 5, Caleb Johnson 2 0-0 5, Hayden Abbott 7 0-1 16, Aiden Schlesing 2 0-0 5, Pacey Hopkins 8 2-3 19, Jamel Crowder 1 0-0 2, Jamie Reagan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 40 9-15 96.
3-point goals: Marion 6 (Gruttaclaurio, Phillips 2, Evans 2, Phelps), A/P 6 (Putnam 2, Abbott 3, Campbell).
Total Fouls: Marion 14, A/P 8. Fouled out: None.
