Grand Valley beats Springfield to advance in playoffs
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ORWELL -- Grand Valley hasn't had to play from behind very often this season. Finishing the regular season with a program-best 19-3 mark, that's a good problem to have.
A tournament-tested Springfield program pushed the Mustangs in the third quarter, but once Grand Valley composed itself, they pushed back, fending off the Tigers in a 44-34 victory in a Division VI, Northeast 3 sectional bracket final.
"They did well," Mustangs coach Zach Sirrine said. "They were a little flustered, obviously, in the third quarter, but they stayed composed. I think they got to see some shots go in, got a little bit of good momentum, and we're able to get that coming (into the fourth). Then we were able to finally get some stops, and it led to some offense for us."
The 16th-seeded Tigers limited the Mustangs to one point in the third quarter to hold a 28-25 advantage going into the final frame, but the sixth seed's offense came alive, scoring 19 points to get the win.
"It shows some maturity and some growth," Sirrine said. "I think we haven't played a ton of close games this year, so the fact that they were able to turn it around (was great). We played Perry, and we were down 17, and came back and won that game. Hopefully, having that kind of experience built a little bit of a background for us to be able to come back tonight and kind of hold them back at bay, and then finally, get some stops defensively."
Junior Reese Nims led the way for Grand Valley, finishing with 13 points. Sophomore Sophia Thirion added 11.
With no seniors on the roster, there's been a bit of a learning curve in these tough moments, but the Mustangs have found a way to deliver.
"They're a great, great group of girls," Sirrine said. "And the really good thing is we have no seniors. So we're looking for everybody running it back next year, but we're not really worried about next year right now. We're just worried about going 1-0 in each game."
Regan Roganski paced the Tigers with 13.
Springfield's season ends with a 10-13 mark. Despite losing six of their last seven regular season games entering Thursday's matchup, the leadup to the game was arguably the Tigers' most productive week.
Entering the postseason on a skid is never a position a coach wants to be in, but from top to bottom of the program, the positivity never waned.
"We were just very positive all week of practice. This might have been our best week," Tigers coach John Matisi said. "We feel like we did a great job, and we had time to prepare, and we executed just tremendously well for a big part of that game. It really is a credit to the girls."
Grand Valley (20-3) continues its campaign. Its next test will be Tuesday when the Mustangs play host to Mapleton.
"They're a really tough team," Sirrine said. "They're gonna come out and be physical, which is good. We like to play a physical game. It'll be a good test. They're obviously a tremendous team. I'm looking forward to going out to get to compete again and see what we've got."