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NY STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL: NEWARK VALLEY LOOKING TO RETURN TO FINAL 4 (2023-03-10)

Tioga County Sports Report
SYRACUSE — Newark Valley may be wondering if its going to experience a little deja vu in the NYSPHSAA Class B Girls Basketball playoffs this season.

Last year, the Syracuse area went through a snowstorm, forcing NV to play its Class C regional game against Waterville on the Indians’ home court. The Cardinals still won, 55-30.

Another winter storm struck the Syracuse area Friday, but as of this post, there has been no postponement. Therefore, the Cardinals will face Section III champion Cortland at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

Once again, NV (22-0) comes in ranked No. 1 in the state. The Purple Tigers (20-4) are No. 16 and hold a 3-1 record against Section IV opponents. They defeated Chenango Valley, Susquehanna Valley and Whitney Point, but did drop a 48-46 heartbreaker to Chenango Forks, which lost to NV by 15 in the Section IV final.

Cortland, the second seed in its sectional tournament, defeated Marcellus in the semis and Westhill in the finals. Westhill, the four seed, upset No. 1 General Brown.

“Cortland is very disciplined on both ends of the court,” NV coach Greg Schweiger said. “They play solid ’D’ in the half-court. Very active and athletic. On offense they are balanced with inside and outside scoring. Very good passing team and very unselfish.

“We are going to need to work hard on the defensive end, rebound well, and shoot the ball well. The team that executes the best will come out on top.”

The Tigers have three players scoring in double figures. Junior guard Val Gambitta averages 14.6 points per game while senior guard Mallory Turner and junior guard Kendall Mack average 11.7 and 11.2, respectively.

Gambitta’s numbers also include 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals; Turner’s include 3.3 steals and 35 3-pointers; and Mack’s include 5.3 boards, 3.8 assists,2.5 steals and 25 treys.

Junior forward Claire Turner is the team’s leading rebounder, hauling down 11.3 per contest. She also averages 8.7 points, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks.

She will have to deal with NV’s 6-foot-3 junior forward, Cha Gardner. She averages 14.5 points and 13.6 rebounds per game, as well as 3.5 blocks, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals.

Senior point guard Hayley Beebe is coming off a big game in the sectional final. She averages 14.5 points per game, including 53 3-pointers and 78-percent free throw accuracy (62-for-79). Beebe also averages 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.4 steals.

Senior Jasmine Graham averages 9.7 points, 5.1 boards, 2.7 steals and 2.0 assists.

Kalyna Graham, a senior guard, averages 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing.

Sophomore guard Adrianna Finta averages 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.2 assists.

Schweiger is also very familiar with Tigers head coach Janice Meyer.

“I have been coaching against the Cortland coach for over 10 years in the AAU ranks and it is our friendship that led to us scrimmaging a month ago,” he said. “I was trying to help her beat General Brown and she was trying to help me beat Waverly. Pretty neat that we are ending up facing each other in the regional.”

Tip-off is 2:45 p.m.

NOTE: Digital tickets are required for entry and can be purchased at https://section3.org/.../2021/4/29/hometown-ticketing.aspx (Children 12 and under are free).

The game will also be live-streamed on the NFHS Network ($11.99/month, $79.99/year): https://www.nfhsnetwork.com

You can also follow the games digitally in other ways — https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/ways-to-watch

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