SECTION 4 GIRLS' BASKETBALL: DEFENSE HELPS KEY ELMIRA AS THEY CLAIM BACK-TO-BACK SECTIONAL CROWNS (24 PHOTOS) (2025-03-07)
By Brian FeesSouthern Tier Sports ReportELMIRA — Coming out of the half, the Elmira girls came with a defensive intensity that left the Corning Hawks going over 10 minutes without a point.
A 25-19 lead at the half was 35-19 in the fourth before the Hawks got their first basket of the second half.
“When we went into the locker room we were like we have to keep up the defensive intensity,” Elmira sophomore Mariah Matias said. “We just started collapsing, trapping. We just denied them the ball at all cost.”
After Corning’s 6-foot, 5-inch standout Char Starns had seven points in the first half the Express made it hard for her to get the ball in that third quarter as they pressured the guards on every possession.
“It’s kind of hard, because I’m only so tall,” Matias said. “She’s (Starns) super tall. I was just trying to do anything to keep her out of that area (the paint), because that would be her most high percentage shot. I would rather play back a little so she feels like she has the shot and then come out immediately.”
Elmira felt like they had chances to extend the lead in the first half, so they knew coming into the third quarter they had to start strong and add to their lead.
“We felt like we left a lot of points on the board in the first half,” Elmira coach A’Don Allen said. “We felt like at the end of the second quarter we started to figure it out and we said, alright, the first three minutes are going to tell the tale. If we really kind of ratchet this pressure up we can really turn things our way and the bigger piece was I looked up and I was like, ‘I don’t think they’ve scored this quarter,’ and that’s what we built this on. We built this on get stops, get out in transition and do what we do and we did that in the third quarter and that was really the difference in the game.”
Elmira outscored the Hawks 10-0 in the third, and and Corning didn’t get on the board again until there was 5:34 left in the half when Starns hit a basket.
Corning made a bit of a run late as Starns then hit a three, and Aubrey Rose hit a three and was fouled, but Elmira went inside to Matias, who had nine points in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with a double-double of 20 points and 17 rebounds.
“Mariah is talented,” Allen said. “She is staying in line with what we’ve got. We have had some really, really great talent here, she’s one of those kids. She’s super talented, she works hard. I thought Allyvia Woodruff did a fantastic job today on the floor game. She controlled the tempo when we cut down our turnovers, we are a totally different team. I thought Ashaya Wallace did really, really good today. Meya Smith came back, she’s been out. We had four games without Meya Smith, we had three games without Lyv Woodruff and Mariah, she understands, she’s the focal point of the game plans and she understands she is the focal point of game plans and today she didn’t shy away from that.”
Corning keyed on Matias, and the sophomore just made sure to get others involved in the game.
“It was pretty good, I just tried to get my teammates involved every time they came and trapped me,” Matias said. “I was just trying to be a leader on the court.
“I just want to be the best version of myself I can be and help everyone around me.”
The game started quick for Corning as they got off to a 6-0 lead with Starns and Deanna Shadduck each scoring four points in the opening quarter.
Elmira answered back from long range with five first-quarter threes.
“That’s why I just kept trying to kick out, because I knew I could rely on them,” Matias said of the team’s shooters.”
Wallace had three threes in the opening quarter and Woodruff had two threes.
The outside shooting helped the Hawks against a Corning team with a lot of size.
“We understand their size is a problem,” Allen said. “Char is 6-5 and is talented, her sister is tall, the young, her name is Grace, so they have length. So, you have to be able to fight that. We had a great two weeks of practice. We understood we have to knock down shots. And, sometimes basketball is easy. If you knock down shots you do well and the biggest thing is we decided to press in the second quarter and that really made a difference for us.”
After Starns had four in the first quarter, the Express press limited her touches the next two quarters, as she was held to one three over the next 16 minutes.
“We understand Char is talented,” Allen said. “It really is a case of cut down her looks and not give her free looks. The couple times we missed her she knocked it down and we kept explaining, you can’d do that, you can’t let her stay open. She they did a great job.
“I was super proud of them. It is about putting numbers up on that banner (championships). Each lass we tell them it’s your turn, it’s your turn, it’s your turn. The 2025 class I think is only the third class to have back-to-back championships and it’s a big deal because that’s what the foundation was built on, that’s what the expectation was and they lived up to it.”
For Elmira winning another championship, especially in a year that was full of adversity, is special.
“It feels good to have a two-peat,” Matais said. “This is my first two times at sectionals and to win back-to-back. It’s a good experience, especially being a sophomore.”
Allen knows this year was challenging and it’s special to come out with another championship.
“It was an odd year with sickness and injuries,” he said. “It’s a weird combination. We have some seniors and we are young. WE are kind of all over the place. W felt like we hadn’t played a great game. Even though our record is pretty good, we felt like we hadn’t played a full, great game. Today what I liked is we kind of weathered that early storm and then we really turned it up and I’m really impressed.
“It’s a great team win. Our seniors led us and then Mariah and Meya did big things. Just a team win. This is what we do, we wanted to be able to continue the foundation we had, which is winning championships and getting into states. We made it really clear that even though our D1’s left (former Division I players Keira Fisher, Zaria Demember-Shazer and Morgan Gentile) they set the foundation and this class has done that. So we are excited, and proud of them.”
By the time the game ended Allen was dancing in the locker room again and getting sprayed by water.
“I was like, we should dump water on him, so we went in there and grabbed everyone’s water bottles,” Matias said.
Along with the 20 points from Matias the Express got 12 from Wallace and six each from Woodruff and Addison Taft, while Smith had two points.
Starns had six in the fourth quarter for Corning and finished with 13 points, while Shadduck had 11.
Rose had five points and MaKayla Evans, Grace Kio and Evelyn Starns finished with two points each.
The Hawks now head to states where they go to Yorktown High School on Wednesday to take on the Section 1 champion, either Roy Ketcham or Albertus Magnus. Magnus beat Horseheads last year in states and features 6-foot, 3-inch center Julia Scott, who has 35 Division I offers as a junior.
“At the end of the day you have to win this game (the sectional final),” Allen said. “And, we won the game and that’s what we have been telling them all year. Now we go to states and when you get there anything is possible. We’ll enjoy this today and tomorrow, hopefully the boys get one (a sectional title) tomorrow, and we’ll get back to work on Sunday and we played Wednesday, so we’ll be ready for that.”
After a loss to Lourdes in states last year, the Express have been ready to get back.
“They talked last year, the game against Lourdes last year didn’t end the way we wanted to,” Allen said. “So, the big thing they talked about last year and we talked about was we want to win a sectional championship then we want to get back to states to show we can play with those teams.
“We know it’s tough, we know what we have ahead of us, but we’ll get back in the lab and we know what we have to do and anything is possible. Any given day you can beat anybody.”
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:
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