Win a league title.

Win a sectional title.

Win every game.

Randolph’s girls will have a chance to complete all three Friday evening.

Chautauqua Lake’s Lily Woodis, pictured with Thunderbirds coach Bill Persons, scored her 1,000th point during the third quarter of Wednesday’s Section VI Class C semifinal against Randolph in Mayville. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

Sydney Hvizdzak had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven steals as the third-seeded Cardinals beat No. 2 Chautauqua Lake, 53-40, in a Section VI Class C semifinal Wednesday evening.

“I have to trust Sydney,” Randolph coach David Pihlblad said postgame. “She’s going to take us to the promised land, hopefully.”

The victory gives undefeated Randolph — the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 East champion — a somewhat unexpected home sectional championship game Friday after No. 5 Frewsburg went on the road to upset No. 1 Holland, 51-47, in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

“We have some really good guards,” Pihlblad said of the expected pressure from Frewsburg. “Chautauqua Lake pressed us and I thought we handled it pretty well.”

Due to COVID-19, Section VI has eliminated neutral-site playoff games and is only allowing home spectators into games.

“We played at home Monday, and it brings so much atmosphere,” Pihlblad said. “Even though there’s 50 fans or whatever, it feels like there’s 2,000 in there. The girls are hopefully going to thrive off of that.”

The Cardinals never trailed and kept the Thunderbirds at a distance for most of the game Wednesday, but did run into an uncomfortable period late in the third quarter and early in the fourth after both Hvizdzak and eighth-grader Payton Morrison picked up their fourth fouls.

“That’s not the way we drew it up. Luckily, we had a nice lead there,” Pihlblad said. “When they both went out, we kept telling the girls, if you get stops on defense, we’re going to win this game.”

Hvizdzak was assessed her fourth foul with 3:02 left in the third quarter and Randolph leading, 39-25. Morrison hit a 3-pointer the next trip down the floor and sophomore Kyra Pence answered a Rebecca Henry basket with one of her own as the Cardinals maintained a 17-point lead.

“Kyra Pence is barely able to walk. … She is the hardest worker I’ve ever had in any coaching that I’ve done,” Pihlblad said. “She gets all of those little plays that you need to win games. She has so much heart out there.”

Chautauqua Lake junior Lily Woodis made a free throw with 8 seconds remaining in the third quarter that gave her 1,000 points for her career, but the Thunderbirds still trailed by 16.

Morrison then picked up her fourth foul on a charge with 6:35 left and Chautauqua Lake went on a mini 4-0 run that included a pair of Randolph turnovers, prompting Pihlblad to quickly send Hvizdzak and Morrison back into the game.

“I’m not going to tell them to not drive,” Pihlblad said. “Chautauqua Lake did a good job of taking charges. … I’m never going to tell Sydney and Payton to not attack.”

The Thunderbirds continued to crawl back with an 8-3 run that included Hvizdzak fouling out with 1:49 remaining and Henry making it a seven-point game with 1:34 left, but Morrison went 6 for 6 from the free throw line down the stretch to put the game away.

“We tried to hurry them up and get them to shoot early in the possession,” Chautauqua Lake coach Bill Persons said. ” … We didn’t get the turnovers I thought we would in the half-court press.”

The biggest reason for Randolph’s success was its defense.

The Cardinals held Chautauqua Lake to 14-of-53 (26.4%) shooting from the field, including 1 of 25 from 3-point range.

“To Randolph’s credit, they were really fast. They covered a lot of ground,” Persons said. “Even when we could get to the gaps, it was a split-second decision whether to shoot or pass. If we hesitated at all, they were in our face.”

Randolph also forced the Thunderbirds into 18 turnovers and scored 13 points off those possessions.

“From the first practice of the year, it was defense, defense, defense. We worked really, really hard on getting these girls to play the right way and fundamentally sound defense,” Pihlblad said. ” … That’s the hardest they’ve played all year. They were flying all over the place.”

NOTES: Randolph was 17 of 54 (31.5%) from the field, including 5 of 18 (27.8%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 16 times. … Rebecca Henry led Chautauqua Lake with 14 points and nine rebounds; Woodis had 10 points and nine rebounds; and Hailey Roush had 9 points and eight rebounds. … Morrison had 10 of her 15 points at the free throw line and grabbed seven rebounds while Kyra Pence had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Cardinals.

RANDOLPH (53)

KPence 4 2 11, Adams 2 0 4, QPence 1 0 3, Hvizdzak 8 2 20, Morrison 2 10 15, Storer 0 0 0, Philp 0 0 0, Frink 0 0 0. Totals 17 14 53.

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (40)

Obert 0 0 0, Henry 5 4 14, Roush 4 0 9, Alfa 1 0 2, Keefe 0 0 0, Wiemer 0 0 0, Lindsey 0 0 0, Jacobson 1 2 4, Weise 0 1 1, Woodis 3 4 10. Totals 14 11 40.

3-point goals–KPence, QPence, Hvizdzak 2, Morrison.

Randolph 16 9 19 9 — 53

Chautauqua Lake 9 7 12 12 — 40