Elmira girls cruise past Corning for Section 4 Class AAA basketball title
Elmira High School is headed to New York's girls basketball version of the Big Dance. So what better way to celebrate than a two-step from head coach A'Don Allen?
"I promised them a two-step if we won, so I had to do a two-step," Allen said after the Express rolled to a 51-38 victory over Corning in Friday night's Section 4 Class AAA girls final. "A coach can't go back on his promise."
Certainly not after the players more than lived up to their end of their deal. Following what he called possibly the best three practices Elmira has had all season, the Express' level of play stayed at a high level during a 51-38 victory in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Elmira closed the first quarter with a 14-2 surge and led by double-digits the rest of the night to claim the program's first sectional title since it won four in a row from 2017 to 2020.
"Being able to win for volleyball and adding on basketball, having two sectional titles my senior year, is honestly so amazing," senior guard Ellie Clearwater said. "And I got to do it with the best team and the best community. This environment tonight was literally amazing. The gym was packed and I’m so happy. It’s so surreal, it’s just amazing."
More: How Elmira boys rallied past Corning for a second consecutive Section 4 basketball title
Stars of the Game
Clearwater's final high school home game was one to remember from a team and individual standpoint. She led Elmira with 21 points, including three 3-pointers. All of her points came over the first three quarters and Elmira's 49-30 lead was big enough for Clearwater and other starters to view the last few minutes from the bench.
Freshman forward Mariah Matias added 14 points for top-seeded Elmira, which extended its winning streak to five.
"They've been doing it all year for us and in that big moment we needed them to carry us," Allen said of Clearwater and Matias.
Allen went on to praise the "great defense" of senior guard Laila Burchard, the play of Ashaya Wallace and the overall bench contribution.
Charlise Starns led second-seeded Corning (5-15) with 15 points.
Keys to the game
Allen pointed to St. John Fisher team camp last summer as a starting block for this year's championship. It took some time for Elmira's mix of experience and youth to reach its zenith, but a Section 4 championship was always the goal.
That mindset was evident as Elmira went more than two weeks between games following a 56-52 win over Auburn on Feb. 13. With only Elmira and Corning at the AAA level in Section 4, both had byes into the final. Allen gave his players four days off as part of preparation for Corning, which in 2022 beat the top-seeded Express in the sectional final on the way to the state final four.
"Two years ago I got outcoached, we got outplayed and we were the favorite," Allen said. "We wanted to make sure we didn’t do that this year. We really put them to work these last two weeks since our last game. We had two weeks of absolutely phenomenal basketball practices and the energy was great."
He applauded the leadership of Clearwater, Wallace, Burchard and Addison Taft.
"Those four and some of the other leaders really challenged everybody every day for the last two weeks to put the effort in," Allen said. "The last three practices leading up to today were probably the best three practices we've had all year."
By the Numbers
Elmira went 3-0 this season against Corning, winning all three by double digits. The other scores were 53-25 Jan. 13 and 54-39 Feb. 8.
Quotable
Said Matias of the mindset coming into the game: "I was very confident about it, but I was very anxious. I never shook this much before today."
Up Next
Elmira (12-8) will take on Section 9 champion Poughkeepsie Our Lady of Lourdes in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. March 5 at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie. Lourdes beat Pine Bush, 49-27, in Saturday's Section 9 final.
If Elmira wins, it would face the Section 1 champion March 9 at Yorktown High School for the right to play in the state final four the weekend of March 16 and 17 at Hudson Valley Community College.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira topped Corning for the Section 4 Class AAA girls hoops title
