SECTION IV GIRLS BASKETBALL: NEWARK VALLEY SEASON ENDS AGAINST STATE-RANKED SUS VALLEY (March 3, 2026)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CONKLIN — Top-seeded Susquehanna Valley took advantage of an early 16-0 run to pull away from Newark Valley, 80-52, in the Section IV Class B girls basketball semifinals here Tuesday evening.

Trailing, 3-2, the Cardinals went ahead on Haven Aylesworth’s reverse layup, followed by a steal and layup from Aubrey Kwiatkowski to make it 6-3. Unfortunately for Newark Valley, the Sabers got hot and went on a 16-point run to build a 19-6 cushion with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter.

“That was what we wanted to avoid is a run,” coach Greg Schweiger said. “They shot the ball very well tonight, but they shoot the ball well almost every night so we knew that was going to be the challenge.

“We needed to score more points. We knew it was going to be a high score and for us to be in it, we had to put up a lot of points, but we couldn't find an answer defensively.”

Julia Clarke and Olivia Hughes highlighted the surge with a 3-pointer apiece while Aylesworth accounted for six NV points.

Sus Valley continued to stay hot in the second quarter to go ahead, 36-16, at the break as Clarke nailed two threes and Hughes added another. They hit one trey each in a 7-0 spurt to close out the half. Kwiatkowski had four of the Cardinals’ six points.

Sus Valley’s depth has made them a formidable foe throughout the season.

“Make an adjustment here and another kid would step up,” Schweiger said. “That's their team. They're very deep and they’ve got a lot of weapons.

Adriana Rich and Elizabeth Phillips knocked down back-to-back 3 pointers to make it 39-22, but a 12-0 run by the Sabers pushed the state’s No. 2 ranked team to a 51-22 advantage.

Kwiatkowski added a three and Rich wrapped a pair of treys around a Phillips field goal, but Sus Valley received three 3-pointers and five points from three different players as it cranked out 25 points to NV’s 18, giving the Sabers a 61-34 lead.

Rich canned a trio of treys and Phillips added six points to lead the Cardinal effort, then Rich hit two more from beyond the arc in the final frame.

“I thought we played well in stretches, played well in the second half,” Schweiger said. “Really proud of this group going up against a team like that and hanging around.

"Just another season where I'm real proud of the results. We don't have a superstar team, but they play well together and they play really hard, and proud to get back to the semifinals here in Class B, and hopefully we can build on that this year and go a little farther next year.

“That's the thing in Class B, certainly this year we had Sus Valley and (Chenango) Forks sitting at the top. We knew they were going to be waiting for us if we got this far, but again, we're proud that we did get this far and proud of the way they played tonight and represented us.”

Ella Kariam led all scorers with 18 points. Clarke and Hughes added 13 points apiece with four and three 3-pointers, respectively, as the Sabers drained 12 treys on the night.

Rich led NV with 17 points, including five threes, and also had seven rebounds and a steal. Kwiatkowski finished with nine points (one 3-pointer), six assists, two rebounds and one steal; Short chipped in with six points, seven boards, two blocks, two assist and a steal; Phillips recorded six points, six boards, two assists and a block; Aylesworth added six points and three rebounds;

Malloy Chapman contributed four points; Sarah Lamb had two points, a block, a rebound and an assist; Lilly Cornell scored two points; and Gabbi James tacked on a steal.

NV ends the season with a 16-5 record while Sus Valley improves to 20-1.

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IN PHOTO 1: Adriana Rich. IN TOP PHOTO: Cecilia Whitney (10) & Sarah Lamb. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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