The Poland girls basketball team (22-2) won its first sectional title on March 4 with a 50-45 win against Hamilton (17-7) in the Section III Class D Championship at Onondaga Community College.

 

Senior Logan Cookinham led the way for the Tornadoes as she scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half.

 

Poland was seeded second in the sectional tournament and Hamilton was seeded fourth.

 

Coach Jason Potempa said the win is a testament to the girls’ character.

 

“They are an amazing group of girls who are intelligent, competitive, resilient, and determined,” Potempa said.

 

“I am beyond proud of this team and everything they have accomplished – especially the seniors who have excelled not just in basketball, but in other sports and the classroom. They have raised the bar for the next generation of student athletes at PCS,” Potempa said.

 

Up next for Poland is the regional round of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D tournament, where they will play Hammond Central out of Section X at 5 p.m. March 10 at SUNY Potsdam.

 

Poland saw more success this season as Cookinham set a new school record for all-time career points. Cookinham broke the record on Feb. 25 as she scored 27 points against Copenhagen in the sectional semifinal.

 

Heading into regionals, Cookinham has 1,610 career points.

 

Shiane Irwin set the previous school record of 1576 career points in 2017.

 

 

2022-23 Poland girls basketball roster and Section III Class D Champions

Seniors:

Logan Cookinham

Shelbi Haugues

Morgan Potter

Sydney Stewart

Sydney Tabor

Morgan Weigand

 

Junior

Emma Tabor

 

Sophomores

Madison Haver

Lily Martin

Alyssa Militello

 

Freshmen

Karyn Castellano

Grace Grems

Amelia Guarascio