No. 6 Mynderse has taken down a pair of streaking teams on the road to advance to its first sectional final since 2017. Meanwhile, Northstar Christian returns to the finals for the first time since 2018. Here’s the breakdown:
No. 1 seed NORTHSTAR CHRISTIAN KNIGHTS (14-1/Private-Parochial Division II) vs. No. 6 seed MYNDERSE BLUE DEVILS (9-5/Finger Lakes East)
Scoring offense: Northstar Christian (80.0 PPG), Mynderse (55.0 PPG)
Scoring defense: Northstar Christian (62.3 PPG), Mynderse (52.7 PPG)
Current streak: Northstar Christian has won five straight since its only loss of the season to C.G. Finney. Mynderse has won its last three games, but alternated wins and losses for the six games before that.
How they got here: Northstar Christian beat No. 8 Williamson 83-52 and No. 4 World of Inquiry 65-64.
Mynderse defeated No. 3 Wellsville 67-41 in its quarterfinal game, then took down No. 2 C.G. Finney 94-75 in the semifinals.
Last time they met: These two programs have not met in the regular season since 2017 and have not met in sectional play since at least 2000.
Players to watch for Northstar Christian: Ryan Garwood Jr. G 25.1 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 7.2 APG; Turner Harris Jr. G 22.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 5.1 APG; David Gueker 4 PPG, 6 RPG, 2 BPG
Mynderse: Troy Kabat Jr. G 14.5 PPG and 6 RPG; Jared King Sr. G 11.5 PPG and 4 RPG; Nick Jones Sr. F 8.5 PPG and 9 RPG
Coaches: JJ Garwood (Northstar Christian), Pat Prayne (Mynderse)
History 101: Northstar Christian won three consecutive Class C1 titles in 2018 and 2017 and C2 in 2016. Additionally, they were runners up in Class D2 in 2015 and 2010.
Mynderse won the Class B crown in 2017, the Class B1 title in 2011 and the Class C1 championship in 2010, 2013. The Blue Devils also lost in the 2008 Class C2 finals, but Mynderse’s last shot at a sectional title before that was in 1996, when it won a Class CCC championship.
The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Northstar Christian Academy on Friday, March 12.
Leave a Reply