By JOHN LIKANJE
Saniaa Wilson led Bishop Kearney in scoring and lifted the Lady Kings to their third consecutive sectional title. Arayana Young led Dansville to a 22-2 record, a sectional title and a spot in regionals.
The junior centers were named the Section V Players of the Year as announced by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York.
Wilson averaged 15.6 points, 16.0 boards, 4.6 blocks, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals to earn large-schools honors. The junior center tallied 18 double-doubles this season, her best performance coming on January 25th in a 75-73 win over St. Mary’s (VI) in which she had 34 points and 17 rebounds.
Wilson, who has received scholarship offers from Syracuse, Georgetown, West Virginia, Florida, Clemson, St. Bonaventure, Canisius, Buffalo and Old Dominion among others, paced a Lady Kings squad which averaged 61.5 points and held opponents to 47.9 en route to a 20-3 record. The 6-foot center was named the Private-Parochial Division I Player of the Year.
Young poured in 376 points (16.4 PPG), corralled 287 rebounds (12.5 RPG), swatted 78 shots (3.4 BPG), handed out 50 assists (2.1 APG) and swiped 40 steals (1.7 SPG) to be named the BCANY All-Section V Small Schools Player of the Year. The junior center paced a Dansville squad which averaged 57.6 points and held opponents to 42.3.
Wilson’s teammate, Marianna Freeman, joined her on the All-Section V Large Schools team. Freeman was third on the squad in scoring at 14.1 points and added 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals to be named to the first team.
Young’s teammate, Grace Rittenhouse, joined her on the Small Schools team. Rittenhouse was second on the Lady Mustangs in scoring at 15.6 points along with 3.7 assists, three rebounds and 2.4 assists to earn first team honors.
Penfield’s leading scorers and the Monroe County Division I Co-Players of the Year, Nyara Simmons and Baylee Teal, earned Large Schools honors. Simmons led the Lady Patriots with 17.1 points to be named to the first team. Teal returned from an ACL injury with 11.3 points in 15 games played to earn second team honors. The Fordham University commit scored the 1,000th point of her career in the first game after returning from injury.
Pittsford Mendon’s leading scorers, Katie Bischoping and Lexi Green, were named to the Large Schools team. Green scored 19.7 points per game to earn first team honors. The junior guard was named Monroe County Division III Player of the Year as well. Bischoping averaged 13.5 points to earn a spot on the second team.
India Jordan (School of the Arts) and Alahna Paige (Irondequoit) rounded out the list of the BCANY All-Section V Large Schools first team. Jordan paced the Lady Silverhawks with 24.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists. The senior guard was named Rochester City Athletic Conference (RCAC) Co-Player of the Year. Paige was Section V’s leading scorer with 658 points (28.6 PPG) and added 4.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals in 23 games played. The senior guard was named the Monroe County Division II Player of the Year.
Chanel Alexander (Aquinas), Emma Laureano (Brockport) and Chloe Whittier (Victor) rounded out the list of the Large Schools second team. Alexander netted 23.0 points, swiped 3.6 steals and collected 3.2 rebounds per game. Laureano netted 11.2 points and collected 2.8 boards. Whittier led the Blue Devils in scoring at 12.0 points.
Palmyra-Macedon senior Andra Savage was named to the Small Schools first team. The 5-foot-9 forward averaged a double-double of 17.9 points and 13 boards along with 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals and one block.
Livonia freshman Kylie Buckley earned first team honors. Buckley led three players in double figures with 20.1 points per game for the Lady Bulldogs.
Oakfield-Alabama senior Brianna Smith and Elba junior Leah Bezon rounded out the list of the BCANY All-Section V Small Schools first team. Smith led the Lady Hornets with 15.2 points and 10 boards per game. Bezon was second on the Lady Lancers in scoring with 258 points (10.8 PPG).
Paige Burley (Keshequa) and Giavanna White-Principio (Waterloo) were named to the Small Schools second team. Burley led the Lady Indians with 13.1 points. Principio contributed 9.9 points.
Kristen Kershner (Dansville) and Kevan Sheppard (Bishop Kearney) earned Coach of the Year honors. Sheppard and the Lady Kings ended the season on an 11-game win streak after back-to-back losses in mid-January. Kershner and the Lady Mustangs opened the season with seven consecutive victories and win streaks of eight and seven games, respectively.
Leave a Reply