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
Cortland girls’ basketball team loses against Indian River in the Section III Class A title game. (Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
The No.2 seeded Cortland Lady Tigers took on the No.1 seed Indian River Warriors in the Section III Class A sectional championship game at Onondaga Community College Friday night.
The Lady Tigers, who won the Section III Class B championship last year, were looking to repeat as sectional champions in Class A but fell short against Indian River in the championship game with a score of 65-49.
Indian River was also the only team to beat Cortland during the regular season, as Cortland lost against them with a score of 48-26 on January 6th, 2024.
Cortland ended up having a good first half in the championship game, as they ended the half with a 30-23 lead.
The Warriors then made some defensive adjustments that forced Cortland to turn the ball over.
Indian River was quick to regain the lead, and made it 48-41 at the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Cortland was outscored 8-17, which led to Indian River securing this year’s Sectional championship crown.
“We knew what we were facing. We’ve been talking about it since January 6th (the last time Cortland played Indian River during the regular season)” said Cortland head coach Janice Meyer.
Meyer added, “They’re one of the best teams that we’ve seen in three years. We did our homework. We did the work. We came back a different team. We left it all on the floor. They pulled away at the end with some big shots. That would've only been like a six-point game right there if we would’ve taken away some of those big threes (three-pointers).”
“We would've loved to come away with it (the championship win). I think these girls will look back at all these years, and I hope they know how much they’ve done for this program.” continued coach Meyer. “
Here is a score breakdown of the game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Cortland | 16 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 49 |
| Indian River | 10 | 13 | 25 | 17 | 65 |
Cortland was led by Valerosa Gambitta (17 points), Kendall Mack (10 points), Claire Turner (8 points), Lily Yang (5 points), Gabby Brown (4 points), Aubree Larkin (3 points), and Kartyr Hubbard (2 points).
Indian River was led by Ravan Marsell (17 points), Isabella Davis (16 points), Keera LaLonde (14 points), Michaela Delles (9 points), Allison LaMora (7 points), and Laylah Whyte (2 points).
Cortland ended their season with an overall record of 21-2. Indian River will move on, and play in the upcoming Class A New York State Tournament.
Here are some photos from Friday night’s sectional championship game: (Photos provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice):
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
