A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
Photo from earlier in the season: Claire Turner. (Photo from The Cortland Voice’s photo files).
The No.2 seeded Cortland Lady Tigers survived a back and forth battle against No.6 seed Jamesville-Dewitt in the semifinal round of the Section III Class A playoff tournament. Cortland won the game with a score of 41-40 at Phoenix high school Tuesday night.
With the game on the line and up 39-37, Cortland senior Claire Turner went on to score two free-throws, giving Cortland a 41-37 lead with only a few seconds to go.
Jamesville-Dewitt’s Ava Sandroni hit a quick 3-pointer to make it a one point game (41-40).
Cortland tried to run out the rest of the clock by inbounding the ball quickly, but it was stolen by Sandroni, who had a clean look to make a game-winning shot. Turner was quick to get in front of Sandroni’s shot, and blocked it to help Cortland survive and come up with the win.
Cortland Girls Basketball beats Jamesville-Dewitt in the sectional semifinals. (Photo provided by Dionne DePuy).
Here is a score breakdown of the game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Cortland | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 41 |
| J-D | 10 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 40 |
Cortland was led by Claire Turner (16 points), Valerosa Gambitta (11 points), Lily Yang (11 points), and Kendall Mack (3 points).
Jamesville-Dewitt was led by Ava Sandroni (14 points), Sadie Withers (8 points), Savannah Schnorr (6 points), Lindsay Parker (5 points), Samantha Wheeler (5 points), and Merris Kessler (2 points).
Cortland, who won the Section III Class B championship last year, will now look to repeat as sectional champions in Class A, as they take on No.1 seed Indian River in the championship game this Friday (March 1st). The game will be played at Onondaga Community College at 5:30pm.
A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
