One team is making a sectional final appearance in its first official season. The other is in the championship for the third time in the last four years. Allegany County Division I runner-up Andover/Whitesville and Steuben County runner-up Avoca/Prattsburgh will meet Friday to decide the 2022 Section V Class D2 Girls’ Basketball Championship. Here’s the breakdown:
No. 2 seed ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE PANTHERS (18-3/Allegany County Division I) vs. No. 4 seed AVOCA/PRATTSBURGH VIKINGS (16-6/Steuben County)
Scoring offense: Andover/Whitesville (59.6 PPG), Avoca/Prattsburgh (44.7 PPG)
Scoring defense: Andover/Whitesville (29.2 PPG), Avoca/Prattsburgh (35.9 PPG)
Current streak: Both teams have won eight straight.
How they got here: Andover/Whitesville defeated No. 7 Lima Christian, 89-30, in the quarterfinals before downing No. 3 Elba, 45-43, in the semis.
Avoca/Prattsburgh beat No. 5 Houghton by a 46-16 score in the quarterfinals and took down No. 9 Jasper-Troupsburg, 57-39, in the semis.
Players to Watch
Andover/Whitesville: Vanessa Hall 5-foot-9 Jr. F/G 29.9 PPG; Rachel Jackson 5-foot-5 Sr. G 7.1 PPG; Maria Riloba 5-foot-4 Jr. G 10 PPG
Avoca/Prattsburgh: Kamryn Edwards So. F/G 7.2 PPG; Kendra Pinckney Sr. G 9.1 PPG; Marissa Reid So. F 6.3 PPG; Riley Stowe Sr. F 13.6 PPG
Coaches: Jacob Bannerman/Aaron Rawady (Andover/Whitesville), Jeff Gilbert (Avoca/Prattsburgh)
History 101: Andover/Whitesville has advanced to the sectional final in its inaugural year of the schools combining their basketball teams. Before this year, Andover had appeared in the Class D2 sectional final in 2020 and fell to Elba, who had advanced to regionals before the cancellation of winter sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Avoca/Prattsburgh is making its third sectional final appearance in what is the fourth year of the schools combining their basketball teams. In both of their championship appearances, the Vikings came up short to the top seed: Fillmore in Class D1 in 2019 and Elba in D2 last year.
A 6 p.m. tip off Friday is scheduled at Letchworth High School.
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