Pine Plains’ Ashley Starzyk drives past an S.S. Seward defender during the Section 9 Class C final at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh on Feb. 25.
The Pine Plains girls basketball team won its first-ever Section 9 Class C title last year and in doing so, put together a postseason run which ended in the New York State semifinals.
On Friday the Bombers will be aiming to keep their season alive, with hopes of returning to the Class C final four.
What: New York State Class C regional finals
Who: Pine Plains (Section 9) vs. East Rockaway High School (Section 8).
Where: St. Joseph’s College, Patchogue.
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Records: Pine Plains 16-7; East Rockaway 11-10
Key players:Pine Plains — Frances Snyder, junior guard; Bella Starzyk, freshman forward/center; Haleigh Funk, senior guard; Michaella Lamont, senior forward; Ashley Starzyk, junior forward/center.
East Rockaway — Alessia Drevnyak, Brooke DeGiulio, Erica Acampora, Rachel O’Hagan.
How they got here: Pine Plains repeated as Section 9 Class C champion with a 64-34 win over S.S. Seward on Feb. 25. Snyder led the Bombers with 18 points, while Funk contributed 13. Pine Plains went on to beat Haldane 47-31 in the regional semifinals on Wednesday at the Westchester County Center in White Plains. Bella Starzyk and Frances Snyder each put up 11 points in the victory.
East Rockaway beat Carle Place to win the Section 8 Class C title behind 13 points from Drevnyak. The Rocks went on to beat Section 11’s Pierson/Bridgehampton 40-36 in the regional semifinals, as Drevnyak scored 15 points.
What’s next: Either Pine Plains or East Rockaway will face the winner of Saturday’s Cooperstown (Section 3) vs. Watkins Glen (Section 4) game in the state semifinals. The state semifinal game will take place on Saturday, March 12 at 2:15 p.m. at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
A.J. Martelli: amartelli@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4836, Twitter: @AJM_PoJoSports