After her Cherry Valley-Springfield girls basketball team put the finishing touches on a 42-35 upset win over Milford, Garretson hugged most of her players, then she and the players joined arms and skipped across the court toward the CV-S fan section.

The 11th seed Lady Patriots, 11-7, advance to play at third seed Davenport Friday night at 7 p.m.

``This was our championship,’’ Garretson said of Tuesday’s win. ``I don’t even care about Davenport. We’re going to celebrate this win.’’

Milford has been the dominant Tri-Valley team during Garretson’s six year coaching tenure, and Tuesday night’s win was her first over Milford.

``The monkey’s off our back,’’ Garretson said. ``We wanted this game badly. I told my team before the game not to be afraid of Milford, and that this was our time to win. And they came through, I’m so proud of them.’’

But it wasn’t easy.

The fourth seed Lady Wildcats, who end the season with a 14-7 record, jumped out to an 11-6 lead late in the first quarter, but senior guard Corinne Ketzlick picked up her third foul of the game with 1:50 left in the period. Ketzlick is Milford’s only senior starter.

``I probably shouldn’t have left her in the game with two fouls, but I didn’t want to leave all of our decision making in the hands of freshman and sophomores,’’ said Milford head coach Jim Weir.

Milford freshman center Chandler Prouty, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, also picked up two first quarter fouls.

With those two players on the bench, CV-S slowly started chipping away at the lead, taking their first lead at 20-19 when Morgan Shuster scored her only points of the game on a driving lay-up. Senior guard Kim Daley (8 points) scored off a steal to give the Lady Patriots a 22-19 halftime edge.

Milford scored the first five points of the second half to take a 24-22 lead, and the score remained close throughout the rest of the quarter. CV-S’s Morgan VanAlstine (10 points) hit a three-point shot with 15 seconds to give her team a 27-26 lead, and Prouty banked in a 10--footer at the buzzer to put Milford back in front.

The fourth quarter was extremely physical, with seemingly every shot, dribble and pass contested. Ketzlick fouled out with 4:23 remaining, and CV-S dominated the offensive boards down the stretch. Sophomore Courtney Van Brink had eight of her 16 rebounds in the final quarter, and CV-S hit seven fourth quarter foul shots to seal the win.

VanBrink finished with 13 points, and senior gaurd Megan Shirey scored six of her seven points in the final four minutes. CV-S outrebounded Milford 44-25 in the game.

Milford sophomore Emily Brigham was the lone offensive bright spot, scoring 13 points. Ketzlick had eight, and Prouty seven.

``We return everyone but Corrine, and we’ll regroup and be back next year,’’ Weir said.

{"CC Byline"/}Milford falls to Morris in T-V final

{"CC Body Text"/}Weir summed up Saturday’s 46-32 loss to Morris in the girls Tri-Valley Championship at Oneonta State Saturday night in one word.

``Experience,’’ Weir said. ``They have big game experience and we don’t, and it showed.’’

Morris wrapped up a perfect Tri-Valley season with the victory, adding a 13th win to go with a 12-0 regular season mark; and they did it in style, leading from start to finish.

The Mustangs led by three, 16-13, midway through the second quarter, when Milford freshman center Chandler Prouty picked up her third foul of the game.

Morris scored the next six points to take a 22-13 lead before Milford’s Rachel Schultes hit two free throws and Ketzlick one to make it 22-16 at halftime.

``We kept hanging around,’’ Weir said. ``They were never really able to blow it open until the end.’’

Milford cut the lead to 31-26 after three quarters of play, but Prouty picked up her fourth foul.

The key sequence came midway through the fourth quarter with Milford trailing 37-30.

The Lady Wildcats forced two straight turnovers but missed wide open lay-ups, and after another turnover Corinne Ketzlick was called for a charge while driving to the basket. Her shot went in, but was disallowed.

Morris took over behind senior Bobbi-Jean Bryden and Brandee Decker, who had a number of steals and combined to hit 5-6 foul shots to seal the win.

``We’re still young,’’ Weir said of his team, which starts only one senior. ``We have a chance to be back next year and we’ll have this experience under our belts.’’

Campbell finished with a team-high 11 points, while Ketzlick had 10 and Prouty nine points and 13 rebounds in limited action.

Notes:Morris and Milford have met twice in the T-V title game, with Morris winning both times. In the boys T-V final, Worcester defeated Edmeston.