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Section III boys filling spots in basketball finals this week

jon rathbun, herkimer times telegram
·5 min read

SYRACUSE - The 12 spots in Section III's championship lineup at SRC Arena will be filled over the next two days in semifinal play at six sites around the section. Four pairings will be filled Tuesday and the other two Wednesday.

Locally, Class A Central Valley Academy, Class B Clinton, Holland Patent and Little Falls, and Class C Hamilton, Waterville and West Canada Valley play Tuesday, and Class AAA Proctor and Rome Free Academy, and Class D New York Mills play Wednesday.

Classes AAA, A and C all come down to their top four seeds.

Proctor senior Marc Simmons shoots amid a trio of Bishop Ludden defenders during the fourth quarter of Saturday Section III quarterfinal in Utica.
Proctor senior Marc Simmons shoots amid a trio of Bishop Ludden defenders during the fourth quarter of Saturday Section III quarterfinal in Utica.

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The AAA games will be played at Fayetteville-Manlius Wednesday with No. 4 Proctor (17-4) playing early against Liverpool (19-2), the top seed coming off back-to-back AA championships; Proctor's last two seasons ended with losses against Liverpool. Rome Free Academy (17-4), seeded third, plays the second game against No. 2 Cicero-North Syracuse (19-2), a team the Black Knights beat 97-78 at home in January; Cicero-North Syracuse has won each of its six games wince the loss in Rome. Uzziah Grimes, Rome Free Academy's top scorer at 25.8 points per game, scored 29 against Cicero-North Syracuse while junior classmate Deandre Neal had 26.

Class A has No. 1 Westhill (19-2) and No. 2 Jamesville-DeWitt (15-5) squaring off against No. 4 Chittenango (14-7) and No. 3 Central Valley Academy (18-2), respectively, at East Syracuse-Minoa Tuesday. Central Valley Academy has won 16 of its last 17 games, losing only to Class AAA semifinalist Rome Free Academy by four points; senior Deacon Judd, now the merged district's career scoring leader, has his scoring average up to 28.8 points per game, trailing only Chittenango junior Ryan Moesch (37.1) within Section III. Moesch had 51 points in the Bears' playoff opener.

Central Vally Academy's Deacon Judd shoots the ball Friday against then Syracuse Academy of Science.
Central Vally Academy's Deacon Judd shoots the ball Friday against then Syracuse Academy of Science.

Two-time defending sectional and regional Class A champion New Hartford with a 56-44 loss to Jamesville-DeWitt Friday, but Westhill and Chittenango won the last two five-class B titles in Section III.

In Class C, top seed Waterville (16-6) plays No. 4 Tully (17-5) and 2023 Class D champion Hamilton (19-3), the No. 2 seed coming off a run to the state semifinals last winter, squares off against 2022 Class C champion West Canada Valley (17-5), the No. 3 seed also up from Class D in 2023.

Waterville has won its last four games and its last four in Class C since a Jan. 23 loss at Hamilton, a team the Eagles had beaten earlier this season. Top scorers Jackson Ruane (17.2 points per game) and Hayden Dumas (16.9 points per game), combined for 42 points in Friday's three-point win over Cato-Meridian; Dumas hit four foul shots in the final 30 seconds after the lead had been cut to two points.

Hamilton Emerald Knight Luke Jackson goes up for a shot against Frankfort-Schuyler's Maroon Knights Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Hamilton, New York,
Hamilton Emerald Knight Luke Jackson goes up for a shot against Frankfort-Schuyler's Maroon Knights Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Hamilton, New York,

Hamilton puts its nine-game winning streak on the line against West Canada Valley's seven-game streak. Hamilton has beaten West Canada Valley twice already this season, 50-47 at home in November and 74-64 on the road in January. Senior Luke Jackson (15.1 points per game) and juniors Dew Baker (18.9 points per game) and Bryce Wright (14.1 points per game) all average double-digit scoring for Hamilton while West Canada Valley is led by senior Camerohn Ludwig (19.0 points per game) and junior Jayden Smith (15.7 points per game).

Jace Bartlett congratulates West Canada Valley teammate Camerohn Ludwig after Ludwig (left) scored the 1,000th point of his varsity career and helps him up after landing against the wall against Hamilton Jan. 11. West Canada Valley and Hamilton meet for the third time this season Tuesday in Section III's Class C semifinals in Whitesboro.
Jace Bartlett congratulates West Canada Valley teammate Camerohn Ludwig after Ludwig (left) scored the 1,000th point of his varsity career and helps him up after landing against the wall against Hamilton Jan. 11. West Canada Valley and Hamilton meet for the third time this season Tuesday in Section III's Class C semifinals in Whitesboro.

Tuesday's Class B doubleheader at Jamesville-DeWitt has the top two seeds, No. 1 Marcellus (21-1) and No. 2 Little Falls (20-2), squaring off against nos. 5 Holland Patent (14-8) and 6 Clinton (16-6), respectively.

Little Falls Mountie Coltan Frederick goes up for a shot against Holland Patent Golden Knights Jacob Hart (10) and Jeffrey Dewar (5) during a Dec. 28 Downtown Classic game at the Nexus Center in Utica.
Little Falls Mountie Coltan Frederick goes up for a shot against Holland Patent Golden Knights Jacob Hart (10) and Jeffrey Dewar (5) during a Dec. 28 Downtown Classic game at the Nexus Center in Utica.

Little Falls has won 13 games in a row since a 60-50 loss at Clinton to start the new year. Clinton, meanwhile, comes in with five in a row to match its longest streak this season. Seniors Coltan Frederick of Little Falls (24.6 points per game) and Tega Igho of Clinton (24.5 points per game) have joined their schools' 1,000-point clubs this season. Junior Dom Izzo is Little Falls' second-leading scorer at 10.4 points per game while senior Andre Jackson averages 13.8 for Clinton.

Holland Patent's Andrew Jones (3) approaches the basket with Clinton defender Tega Igho in pursuit Dec. 29 at the Nexus Center in Utica.
Holland Patent's Andrew Jones (3) approaches the basket with Clinton defender Tega Igho in pursuit Dec. 29 at the Nexus Center in Utica.

Holland Patent has won twice in the postseason after losing three of its final five games during the regular season. The section's fourth highest-scoring team (70.1 points per game) features its own 1,000-point scorer, senior Jeffrey Dewar (22.1 points per game), with junior Andrew Jones chipping in at 15.1 per game. Marcellus, ranked first in the state, has won 12 games since its only loss against West Genesee, the No. 1 seed in Class AA.

New York Mills (13-9), seeded third, plays the late game in Class D at Jefferson Community College Wednesday against No. 3 Faith Heritage of Syracuse (19-3); both teams travel north coming off back-to-back wins. No. 1 Sackets Harbor (21-1) plays the first game against No. 12 LaFargeville (14-8) which is coming off a 55-46 come-from-behind win at Poland that saw senior Nate Wyatt score 15 of the team's 17 first-half points and finish with a season-high 37; Sackets Harbor, ranked No. 1 in Class D by the New York State Sportswriters Association, has won 13 in a row since its only loss of the season at the Nexus Center over the holidays.

Leading scorer Tim Kirilko (15.3 points per game) scored 21 points in New York Mills' quarterfinal win over Copenhagen, while David Goodfriend (14.7 points per game) had 13.

The AA games will be played Tuesday in Liverpool with the top four seeds hitting the floor. West Genesee (19-2) is the top seed, competing for the title won the last two years by Liverpool, the host school which is now competing in Class AAA. West Genesee plays No. 4 Fulton (15-6) in the first game - West Genesee was a four-point winner at home earlier this month - while No. 2 Syracuse Academy of Science (15-4) and No. 3 Nottingham (14-7) play later. Syracuse Academy of Science won by four at Nottingham in December.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: NYSPHSAA Section III basketball playoff results