Mar 14, 2025
Kelsey Wagner and the Sherman Wildcats will play Section V’s Elba in the NYSPHSAA Class D Far West Regional on Saturday at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. OBSERVER file photo by Jason Bower
There aren’t many girls basketball teams remaining in New York state that sport a better record than Sherman’s 21-1 mark.
One that does is undefeated Elba, which will be the Wildcats’ opponent in Saturday’s 6 p.m. New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D Far West Regional at Buffalo State University’s Sports Arena.
The Lancers (21-0) are the defending Far West Regional champions after beating 2024 Section VI champion Panama 58-47 in last year’s state quarterfinal at Finger Lakes Community College.
Elba’s season came to an end a week later with a 42-34 loss to Section II’s Northville in the state semifinals at Hudson Valley CC in Troy.
“At the beginning of the week we focused on things we need to do better no matter who we play,” Sherman head coach Emily Eckwahl said Wednesday evening, “and we dug into Elba the last couple of days.”
The Lancers — the New York State Sportswriters Association’s top-ranked team — graduated four girls from that team, but haven’t lost since.
The main components are back for Elba.
Senior Sydney Reilly is averaging 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game; senior Mariah Ognibene is averaging 10 points, five rebounds and a blocked shot; and senior Maddie Hall is averaging 6 points and three steals per game.
The Lancers also have a pair of contributing juniors in Lydia Ross (10 points, three assists, three steals per game) and Brea Smith (11 points, 10 rebounds per game).
“Sydney Reilly is a handful for everybody they play. She is a really powerful guard,” Eckwahl said. “They have a center, who plays a lot like Panama’s Kaitlyn Horton. She has a really solid inside-outside game. Overall, they have a really balanced attack.”
Elba has averaged 63.9 points per game offensively while allowing just 38.8 points per game en route to its unblemished record this winter.
“One of the obvious things you notice really quickly watching them play is that their experience is going to be a definite advantage,” Eckwahl said. “They’ve been in this game, they’ve won this game and they return four out of five starters with a six-man who is starting now.”
After winning Genesee County Division 2, the top-seeded Lancers had a bye into the Section V quarterfinals where they beat Avoca-Prattsburgh 71-36. In the semifinals at Mount Morris High School, Elba topped No. 4 Batavia-Notre Dame 52-36.
The Lancers then clinched the 17th sectional title in program history with a 54-36 win over Fillmore last Saturday at Finger Lakes CC. Elba won a state title in 2012.
Sherman — the state’s fourth-ranked team — has an equally impressive history as Elba.
The Wildcats rallied from 11 points down with 3:59 remaining Saturday at Jamestown CC to beat Panama 45-41 for the 13th sectional crown in program history.
“I think it was just the mindset the girls had. The girls themselves kept commenting, “I can’t believe how calm we stayed,” Eckwahl said about what she saw after rewatching Saturday’s game. “Looking back it really is unbelievable, down 11 in the fourth quarter they weren’t the least bit discouraged; they might have been the only 11 in the gym that felt that way.”
Senior Kelsey Wagner leads Sherman with 14.6 points per game to go along with 3.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.8 steals. Freshman Emmersen Crawford averages 11.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.3 assists per game; senior Teagan Gratto averages 9.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game; and freshman Baya Oehlbeck averages 9.0 points and 2.0 steals per game.
“We were banking on them being big contributors, but they’ve all certainly exceeded expectations in a lot of ways, not only in stats, but their attitude and willingness to learn,” Eckwahl said of the Wildcats’ underclassmen, which includes sophomores Carlie Gable and Madison Emory. “They all play a lot of basketball and put in hours, but we’ve asked them to think the game a lot sooner than freshman and sophomores. They’ve really risen to the challenge.”
Sherman advanced to the state final two years ago, beating Section IV’s Franklin 49-43 in the state semifinal before losing to Section III’s Copenhagen 47-39 in the championship game.
Wagner and Gratto were players on that team and are looking for a return trip.
“The beauty of Kelsey and Tegan having been in this game before, we can draw from their experience and the young ones can pull from their guidance,” Eckwahl said. “The young ones get to go out there fearless. They don’t have the sting of old losses haunting them. They go out fearlessly and play for the day because they don’t know any differently. … It’s a benefit for our team that we have a wealth of that on both sides.”
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