Collmer’s Section V finals preview: Canisteo-Greenwood girls looking to make history; for Bloomfield looking for three-peat
By Bill Collmer, Hornell Sun Senior Sports Writer, Photo by JC’s Photography
CANANDAIGUA — The Class C1 Sectional Championship will take place today at noon (Saturday March 7), at Finger Lakes Community College. This is the 54th Section V Girls Basketball tournament. The No. 4 Seed Canisteo-Greenwood Lady Chargers are looking for their first Sectional Championship in School History. Their opponent the No.2 Seed Lady Bombers from Bloomfield are looking for their third straight sectional Championship.
Canisteo-Greenwood has been working towards this game all season.
“A sectional championship has been our goal since the girls started working at the end of last season. A semi-final loss last year didn’t sit well with this group, and they wanted to get to this point all season long,” Canisteo-Greenwood Coach Collin Button said. “We have worked very hard to improve each day in practice. We have been battle-tested, and the girls have stepped up time and time again. We will not take Bloomfield lightly and know our work is cut out for us. I am very confident they will give everything they have in pursuit of the first ever Canisteo-Greenwood girls sectional championship.”
AT A GLANCE
What: Section V Class C1 Sectional Championship
Who: Canisteo-Greenwood to battle Bloomfield
Where: Finger Lakes Community College
When: Saturday March 7, noon
Records: Canisteo-Greenwood (21-2) vs. Bloomfield (18-4)
S.O.S (Strength of Schedule) C-G challenged themselves with their non-league schedule this season scheduling AAA Schools Corning and Jamestown, Corning plays Elmira in the AAA Championship game Friday March 6th. They split with AA Canandaigua who playing in the AA Sectional Championship game at FLCC Friday March 6th. Their only other loss was to AA Horseheads from Section IV who plays in AA Championship game Saturday March 7th. C-G picked up wins during the season against their opponent Bloomfield, along with Class D Finalist Elba, C.G Finney, Fillmore, Wellsville, Avoca-Prattsburgh, Wellsville and Penn Yan.
UPDATE on their strength of schedule: Corning won the Section IV Class AAA title over Elmira, 58-48 and Canandaigua won the Section V Class AA title, 43-34 over Pittsford-Sutherland.
Bloomfield moved up to the Finger Lakes East last season to play larger Schools during league play like Class B Waterloo and Penn Yan and Class A Schools Geneva, Wayne, Palmyra-Macedon, & Newark. Waterloo just won the Class B Sectional Championship. Their losses this season were to Newark twice, Waterloo and Canisteo-Greenwood. Newark finished the season 20-3 and lost in the Class A Semifinal 52-50 to HFL. Waterloo plays Leroy tomorrow in the Class B State Qualifier.
Canisteo-Greenwood defeated 50-39 Bloomfield in the season opener for both schools back on December 4th.
“Bloomfield is tough and as the season progressed, I knew there would be a good chance we would meet again. They have solid guard play with the Falsones, as well as a very strong post player in Calla McCombs. We played in the first game of the year, so this feels like a whole separate season at this point. They have grown a solid defensive identity and are a very well-balanced team. With that being said, I feel we match up well with them size wise and with our pace of play. It will be a challenge for sure, as both teams are playing good basketball at the right time,” Button said.
Both teams feature All-State players and 1,000-point scorers, Canisteo-Greenwoods only Seniors Payton Bentley and Bailey Mullen were both named All-State in Class B last season while Bloomfield Senior Calla McCombs was named All-State in Class C last season. Mullen entered Sectionals with 1,214 career points.
McCombs scored 32 points in a win over Marcus Whitman on February 9th giving her a new school record 1,668 career points which passed the previous Bloomfield record held by Jill Hammond. Entering Sectionals McCombs had 1,714 career points.
Players to Watch: Canisteo-Greenwood Bailey Mullen Sr. (9.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2.3 SPG), Payton Bentley Sr. (7.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 2.0 BPG), Kara Mahany 8th (16.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.8 SPG), Gracen Mahany Fr. (7.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.0 APG), Paris May Fr. (4.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.5 APG), Mackenna Mullen Fr. (7.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.0 APG)
Players to Watch: Bloomfield Calla McCombs Sr. (22.0 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 3.4 SPG), Addison Falsone So. G (10.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.4 APG), Sydney Falsone So. G (5.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.3 APG), Sadie Kachmaryk Sr. F (5.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG).
Bombs Away: Canisteo-Greenwood has some shooters and have been nailing 3-pointers at a record pace hitting 205 3-pointers so far this season. 8th grader Kara Mahany broke the single Season School record earlier and has hit 77 3-pointers this season. The Section Five Single season record is 90 set by Izzy Wilbur from Red Creek in 2019.
Road to the Finals: No.2 Bloomfield defeated No. 15 Red Jacket (59-33), No. 7 Geneseo (53-37) and No. 3 Lyons (49-41) to reach the final.
No. 4 Canisteo-Greenwood topped No. 13 Alexander (68-19), No. 5 Gananda (85-38) and upset No. 1 Letchworth (46-36) to reach the championship game.
History Lesson: Bloomfield is looking to add a 15th sectional championship trophy to its case. Canisteo-Greenwood wants to win a first as a merged program. Greenwood won championships in 1987 and 1988. Coached by C-G Senior Payton Bentley’s Grandfather Brian Bentley.
PPG: Canisteo-Greenwood 64.8, Opponents 34.4
Bloomfield 48.6 Opponents 34.6
The winner will play the C2 Champion Keshequa or Oakfield-Alabama in the State Qualifier.
