By PAUL GOTHAM
ONTARIO CENTER, N.Y. — Earlier this season, Petra Hunt matched the Pittsford Sutherland Girls’ Basketball single-game 3-point mark.
Tuesday night with a spot in the Section V Class A championship on the line, the sophomore guard did one better.
Hunt connected eight times from distance as part of a 29-point effort, and teammate Lucy Bush added 28 as No. 4 Sutherland knocked off top-seeded East in wire-to-wire fashion, 74-54.
“Those two feed off each other really well,” said Sutherland head coach Dan Judd. “They’ve been playing together since they were little kids.”
Hunt hit back-to-back triples to open the game when Bush led her on the break. Taylor Hamilton followed with a layup and Sutherland had an 8-2 lead.
“Lucy does a great job finding me,” Hunt said. “The shots were falling. No one was near me, so I was going to keep shooting.”
Hunt added three treys in the second quarter and Bush poured in 15 to pace a 31-8 effort as Sutherland grabbed a 24-point effort heading into halftime.
“We shot it well,” Judd said. “When you shoot it well, let’s face it there’s a lot of strategy and other things, shooting makes up for a lot of things. We moved the ball really well in general, and that ball movement creates pretty good shots. Today we made them.”
Hunt hit three more times in the third quarter, and the Knights took a 66-41 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Petra Hunt has eight, count ‘em EIGHT 3-pointers. @SutherlandBball 61-33. Waiting to hear from the @PCSDAthletics SID as to where Hunt’s effort stands in the Knights’ annals. pic.twitter.com/krZNTT8nOn
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 5, 2025
Lucy Bush gets ahead of the defense for a layup. @SutherlandBball 33-18. pic.twitter.com/BGplFLC4cO
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 5, 2025
Petra Hunt feeds Lucy Bush for two. pic.twitter.com/jf4RSxrh1L
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 5, 2025
“We always want to win the ‘inside eight,'” Judd said. “We want to win the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter. We didn’t win the first four minutes (of the third). We stayed even. We traded punches a little bit. We weren’t great. We were a little bit tentative.”
The win was the eighth straight for Sutherland (17-6). The Knights entered play averaging 59.0 points per game. Tuesday’s offensive output marked the fourth time this season Sutherland topped the 70-point mark and first since an 82-29 win over Batavia on January 24th.
“They’ve been like this for a while,” Judd said. “They’re really locked in. I’m really proud of them. They’ve been ready to go.”
Hunt also holds the Sutherland single-season mark for 3-pointers made with 71.
East’s Darianna Weathers came off the bench and scored seven of her team-high 15 points in the first quarter to help the Eagles keep pace. The ninth-grade hit a three and then scored off a pass from teammate Gabby Brown-Sturdviant. She converted a steal and layup to close the first quarter with East trailing 18-17.
Semaj Jackson gets @GoEastEagles on the board. @SutherlandBball 8-2 early. pic.twitter.com/9pQZXoZzgM
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 5, 2025
Darianna Weathers, steal and layup, but after 1 @GoEastEagles trail @SutherlandBball 18-17. @SecVGBasketball pic.twitter.com/lpcgejFZHL
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 5, 2025
Brown-Sturdviant finished with 13 points. Semaj Jackson added 11 for East (17-5).
Nevaeh Grisham (7), Ali’Yana Robinson (5), Antwanette Coleman (2) and Ji’Asia Norris (1) also scored for the Eagles.
Maddy Littlefield (6), Taylor Hamilton (5), Lena Gilbertson (2), Mackenzie Dermody (2) and Payton Hamilton rounded out the scoring for Sutherland.
With the win, Sutherland clinched its fourth straight sectional final appearance. The Knights, looking for their first championship since 2014, will face No. 6 Newark.
“We definitely want revenge from last year,” Hunt said referring to Sutherland’s loss (43-41) to Aquinas. “We’re going to come out hungry.”
PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND (17-6)
Payton Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Taylor Hamilton 2 1-2 5, Lucy Bush 8 9-11 28, Gabby Lyons 0 0-0 0, Imarys Frank 0 0-0 0, Sydney Bryant 0 0-0 0, Grace Prasad 0 0-0 0, Maddy Littlefield 2 1-2 6, Petra Hunt 10 1-2 29, Signe Tempest 0 0-0 0, Ella Pisanelli 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Dermody 1 0-0 2, Lena Gilbertson 0 2-2 2 TOTALS 25 12-19 — 74
EAST HIGH (17-5)
Ali’Yana Robinson 2 0-0 5, Gabby Brown-Sturdviant 5 1-6 13, Nevaeh Grisham 2 1-2 7, Ji’Asia Norris 0 1-2 1, Semaj Jackson 5 1-4 11, Sinayah Abney 0 0-0 0, Antwanette Coleman 1 0-0 2, Journe Caliz 0 0-0 0, Yarielys Lopez 0 0-0 0, Darianna Weathers 6 2-6 15 TOTALS 21 6-19 — 54
PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND 18 31 17 8 — 74
EAST HIGH 17 8 16 13 — 54
3-point goals: PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND 12 (Bush 3, Littlefield 1, Hunt 8); EAST HIGH 6 (Robinson 1, Sturdviant 2, Grisham 2, Weathers 1).
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