HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL — SECTION FOUR CLASS D CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

By Cara Rosenberg

Contributing Writer

Downsville and South Kortright will play the match game for the fourth time this winter at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Broome County Arena.

The jackpot this time, though, is a Section Four Class D championship.

"Two teams can’t be any more evenly matched than these two are," said 25th-year South Kortright coach Harry Nissen, whose second-seeded squad lost a tiebreaker to the Eagles for the top spot in the Delaware League’s Mountain Di[an error occurred while processing this directive]vision.

"It’s rare when you play a team three times in a season and it’s extremely rare when you play a team four times," Nissen continued. "We had great games with them this season and we want to get another crack at them."

Delaware League champion Downsville’s 2-1 advantage over the Rams this season contributed to the Eagles’ top seed for this tournament, which they exited last winter in the final with a 53-47 loss to Afton.

"It’s a whole new game," said first-year Downsville coach Christine Baldauf, whose 21-2 team fell to the Rams, 53-47, on Jan. 5 before beating SK, 64-62, on Feb. 1. The Eagles won the Mountain Division with a 45-41 tiebreaker victory over SK on Feb. 8.

"It’s a different day in a different spot," Baldauf continued. "It’s all going to come down to who wants it more."

In Tuesday’s semifinals at Delhi Tech, Downsville beat No. 4 Davenport, 49-26, in a rematch of the DL title game. SK (19-3) needed double-overtime to advance to the championship with a 62-57 defeat of No. 3 Milford, the reigning Tri-Valley League champion.

"We had an exciting game Tuesday," Nissen said. "The girls were on an emotional roller-coaster in that game and they knew what they had to do. The same thing will be expected for Saturday."

Juniors Alexa Henderson and Courtney Hoyt lead the Eagles with 14.5 and 13.9 points per game, respectively, this winter. Junior forward Linnea Mattson adds 12.1 points per game. All were members of last season’s sectional finalists. Henderson was a Daily Star First-Team All-Star.

"We have quite a few weapons," Baldauf said. "If we have all our people firing, we can put four girls in double figures.

"We don’t have to depend on just one person," she continued. "One of the girls can always pick up the slack for someone else."

South Kortright’s main weapon is junior Jessica Laing, the area’s second-leading scorer at 21.5 points per game. Laing, a Daily Star first-teamer last winter, tied her season high with 32 points in the semifinal.

"Each time we’ve played them, I’ve told the girls she is going to score. You can hold her to fewer points, but she’s going to score," Baldauf said. "The key is to shut down the other girls."

Laing and senior forward/center Karyn Tucker have had a taste of sectional-championship success. Both were junior varsity call-ups when the Rams won the Section Four Class D crown in 2002.

"Both saw limited action," Nissen said, "so this is pretty new to everyone."

Nissen and Baldauf agreed that limiting turnovers and ball-control will be key to winning Saturday.

"It’s just a matter of basic defensive fundamentals of basketball," Nissen said. "If you can limit a team to just one shot on each possession, you can consider that good defense."

Said Baldauf: "We have to focus on doing all the little things. If we play smart, don’t allow a lot of turnovers and control the boards, we’ll do well. We need to slow down, execute on offense and play good defense."

An added bonus for Saturday’s winner is Delaware League bragging rights, which Downsville has held for a little more than two weeks since winning the tiebreaker.

"It’s really turned into a very good rivalry," said Nissen, whose team has been studying game film from the first three meetings with Downsville this winter. "We both should know each other pretty well, so there shouldn’t be any surprises."