The No. 1 Cincinnatus girls volleyball team stared down the exact same situation it faced on Jan. 15 –– down two sets to one to Fabius-Pompey on its own home court.
Just like 27 days ago, the Lions won the fourth and fifth sets to pull out a 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 15-10) win over the No. 4 Falcons Tuesday night at Cincinnatus Central School.
Cincinnatus will now face No. 3 Sandy Creek in the Section III Class D title game at noon Saturday at Central Valley Academy. The Lions are riding a 25-match winning streak dating back to last season.
Cincinnatus remained calm while facing elimination, taking time between the third and fourth sets to dance and let loose. For Cincinnatus head coach Becky Merihew, seeing the girls having fun, even in the toughest moments, keeps her calm and confident.
“The dancing and all that stuff just relaxes them, and they play better when they’re a little more relaxed,” Merihew said.
The girls knew what they were facing heading into the fourth and the senior-laden group wasn’t about to let Tuesday’s match be their last.
“I feel like, for at least me, knowing that could’ve been the last game and knowing the only way to keep going is to stay strong, stay happy and support your team is the reason I kept going and lifting everybody up,” senior Allyson St. Germain said.
“As long as we keep our energy up, I think we have it in the bag no matter if we win a set or lose a set,” senior Kaedance Latta added.
The Lions took control of the fourth midway through, ripping off a 14-4 run to turn an 11-11 tie into a do-or-die fifth.
Cincinnatus never trailed in the fifth, but led 8-7 when the teams switched sides. After taking a 9-8 lead, Maddie Pittsley stepped up to serve and made Fabius-Pompey uncomfortable. Cincinnatus turned that into a 12-8 lead, then St. Germain finished off the match just a few minutes later on her fourth hit of the final point.
“I looked at Kaedance and said, ‘Set me one more time,’” St. Germain said. “I knew I was going to hit that and I hit it. Our chemistry is just very good, so I knew as soon as she put it up for me I was smashing that down, no matter what.”
The fifth set featured lots of St. Germain and Pittsley hitting, but Lucy Finch had a critical kill late to help the Lions create some separation.
Fabius-Pompey appeared to be the more comfortable team early on. Cincinnatus made lots of unforced errors, specifically with communication, and the Lions were left scrambling to keep points alive.
“I think it’s nerves when we play them,” Latta said. “I don’t think they played any different. It’s sectionals, so if you lose you go home. It’s a lot, but we have heart.”
The Falcons hit toward the middle of the court early instead of tipping there, which caused Cincinnatus defenders to be a touch late or have uncontrolled passes. Merihew was aware Fabius-Pompey could do that, but felt her girls were a bit too defensive.
“We were kind of expecting it,” Merihew said. “We planned for a lot of cross-court stuff, not a lot of shallow stuff. We were sitting way too far back on our heels sometimes.”
Despite facing that early adversity again, Merihew was proud of her girls for battling through to remain unbeaten on the season at 14-0 and earn a chance for back-to-back Section III Class D titles.
“They are here to play, they’re here to have fun and they’re here to win,” Merihew said. “They just play Cincy volleyball and I love them for it.”
The girls are already ready to go, with Saturday’s game being a culmination of years of work.
“We’re just excited, we’re pumped,” Latta said. “We’ve worked for this. I’ve worked for this for three years, Ally’s worked for four. We’re ready, we want it and we worked for it.”
St. Germain went off for a career-high 29 kills to go with nine service points, a block, 26 digs and an assist. Latta added 48 assists, 10 service points, five kills, an ace and 10 digs, Cassia Schuyler recorded 23 digs, 16 service points and three aces and Payton Gerrard pitched in 20 digs and 13 service points. Hannah Ellerson (13 digs, six service points, three kills), Pittsley (10 kills, nine service points, three aces, three digs), Finch (seven kills, three blocks, five kills, two assists) and Ava Larrabee (six digs, five kills) also contributed for the Lions.
BOYS BASKETBALL
CORTLAND 48, HOMER 39
Cortland held Homer to just 10 first-half points as the Purple Tigers bounced back from a Monday loss and beat Homer for the third time this season. The Purple Tigers led 22-10 at the break. Iniko Abani paced the offense with 12 points, shooting 5-for-11 from inside the arc.
Owen Johnson added nine points for Cortland, Jaxson Gambitta and Zach Muir scored eight points apiece, Caden Albright notched six points, Owen Michales knocked down a 3-pointer and Tyler Thomas recorded two points.
Jack Brady topped Homer with 15 points, while Ryan Beard and Max Franco scored nine each. Kaden Durham scored four points for the Trojans and Benny Wilbur had the final two.
MCGRAW 52, MATER DEI 40
Brennan Wilson scored seven points in the first quarter to help McGraw open a 16-2 lead through eight minutes that it never relinquished. Wilson finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Mason Allen led the charge for the Eagles with a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double to go with two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
Calob Sutton added 12 points, one rebound, four assists and a steal, Riley Van Liew had seven points, nine boards, four steals and a block and Blair Mulcahy chipped in with four points, four rebounds and an assist. Owen Lea (three points, one assist), Easton Livermore (two points, four rebounds, one assist, three blocks), Xavier Whible (one point), Jacob Clark (one rebound), Deacon Linn (one rebound), Cody Ross (one assist), Thomas Lea (one assist) and Kamryen Randall (one assist) also contributed for McGraw.
CANDOR 64, GROTON 53
Conor Eldred’s 23-point effort wasn’t enough as Groton dropped the second quarter 23-5 and couldn’t recover. Eldred went for 11 points in the first quarter and 12 after halftime.
Lane Darling added 12 points for the Red Hawks, Jaiden Mitchell pitched in 10 points, Jerome Turner scored five points and Colson Slade had three points.
CINCINNATUS 54, BROOKFIELD 30
The trio of John Schuyler, Jack Stafford and Trevor Shevalier combined for 42 of Cincinnatus’ 54 points as the Lions won their third game in a row. Schuyler ended with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals, Stafford added 13 points, four boards, three assists and three steals and Shevalier contributed 11 points and seven rebounds.
TJ Walker also had four points and six rebounds, Zack Streichert notched four points, four rebounds and two steals and Bob Turshman and Mike Schifilitti both had two points for Cincinnatus.
DRYDEN 92, ELMIRA HEIGHTS 32
Dryden ripped off a 31-9 first quarter, headlined by nine points from Danny Murphy. Four Lions scored in double figures, with Murphy and Peter Nydam each scoring 15 points.
Jay Miles pitched in 13 points, Wyatt Gleason added 12 points, Joe Oliver netted nine points, Xander Scott scored eight points, Masyn Holmes had seven points, Luke Eshelman contributed five points and Carmelo Miles and Scott Baylor had four points apiece.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
HOMER 54, SOLVAY 30
Lauren Franco went for 24 points, including an 11-for-15 showing from the charity stripe, as Homer beat Solvay for the second time in four days. The Trojans pulled away with a 15-2 fourth quarter.
Anya Gofkowski poured in all 12 of her points in the second half, Lizzie McCloy added nine points, Kennadie Taylor contributed six points and Maddie Morgan’s two points rounded out Homer’s effort.
TULLY 68, ONONDAGA 49
Ella Polak and Gabby Flatt combined to make six 3-pointers for Tully as the Black Knights slowly pulled away. Polak knocked down two threes and scored 19 points, while Flatt connected four times from deep and had 16.
Anna Congelli netted 18 points of her own for Tully, Kameryn Meaney had seven points, Sydney Arnott and Anna Pierce both made a 3-pointer and Gwyn Wilbur had two points.
MORAVIA 45, UNION SPRINGS 37
Jessalyn Jones scored eight of Moravia’s 13 fourth-quarter points as the Blue Devils turned a 33-32 deficit through three into their 10th consecutive victory. Jones finished the night with 12 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Caraline Wasileski paced Moravia’s offense with 13 points and eight rebounds, Olivia Genson recorded eight points with a pair of 3-pointers, two steals and two blocks, Kendall Hess pitched in five points, five boards and three assists, Lily Heim added five points and five steals and Tarah Morris scored two points.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Southern Cayuga at Marathon, 7 p.m. today
OnTech Charter at Tully, 7 p.m. today
DeRuyter at Manlius Pebble Hill, 7 p.m. today
Cortland at Mexico, 6:45 p.m. Thursday
Homer at East Syracuse-Minoa, 6:45 p.m. Thursday
McGraw at Madison, 7 p.m. Thursday
Groton at Odessa-Montour, 6 p.m. Thursday
Cincinnatus at Faith Heritage, 6 p.m. Thursday
DeRuyter at Brookfield, 6 p.m. Thursday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Cortland at Mexico, 6:45 p.m. today
Onondaga at Homer, 7:15 p.m. today
Elmira Notre Dame at Dryden, 7:15 p.m. today
Phoenix at Homer, 6:45 p.m. Thursday
Weedsport at Tully, 7 p.m. Thursday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
No. 4 Tully at No. 1 Mount Markham, 6:30 p.m. today
