Now that the program’s third all-time leading scorer has graduated, a new crop of Cardinals is stepping up.

Freshman Payton Morrison scored 24 points, junior Kyra Pence added 19 and seventh-grader Skylar Herington chipped in 14 as Randolph beat Southwestern 62-46 on Thursday to split the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West title.

“I thought our effort was phenomenal. Both teams came out and played really hard from the start,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “I was a little nervous that we would kind of lose our legs and run out of gas. Our girls battled and grinded all the way until the end.”

The Cardinals (17-3, 9-1) also clinched the No. 1 seed for the Class C2 postseason with the victory, but will now have to wait until March 2 to play in a semifinal at Jamestown Community College because only seven teams are taking part in the playoffs.

Randolph’s Payton Morrison (12) attempts to get by Southwestern’s Reece Beaver during Thursday’s CCAA Division 1 West girls basketball game in Randolph. Photo by Mike Frame

“The atmosphere was unbelievable. Both teams knew what was on the line,” Pihlblad said. “It’s really good going into the playoffs. That’s about as good of a team as we could ask for to play down to the wire.”

The Trojans, who beat Randolph 45-42 on the second night of league play back on Jan. 14, fell to 13-5 overall and 9-1 in the league to share the crown.

“The game tonight was important to both of us because we were going for that league title,” Southwestern head coach Kay Sirianni said. “For them, it makes a difference in the playoff ranking. For us in the playoffs, it doesn’t really matter.”

The Cardinals led 31-29 after a first half that featured 11 lead changes and three ties. Kira Ricker gave Southwestern a 29-28 lead late, but Pence’s 3-pointer with four seconds left sent Randolph into the locker room with the two-point lead.

A 15-3 run to open the third quarter helped put the game away for the Cardinals. Morrison opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and Katelyn Storer found Pence open for a bucket before another Morrison basket made it 38-29.

“The first two years she was a shooter,” Pihlblad said of Morrison. “This year, she’s filling in that role that Sydney Hvizdzak was. She’s got every best defender on her, double teams taking her away, and she struggled a little bit early in the year. … The last half of the season, she’s really stepped up.”

Southwestern’s Reece Beaver — who finished with a team-high 18 points — then hit a 3-pointer, but that was the Trojans’ lone field goal of the quarter.

“We just, offensively, didn’t have as many open shots as we did in the first half,” Sirianni said. “They did a great job defensively.”

Pence added a 3-pointer and another bucket to make it 43-32 before she picked up her fourth foul with 2:42 left in the period. Herington then hit her first of three second-half 3-pointers to push Randolph’s lead up to 14.

“When she goes out, we have to play differently. … It wasn’t as fluid as maybe it was before,” Pihlblad said of Pence’s exit. “We had to rely on our defense.”

The Cardinals took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and Southwestern got its deficit down to six when Ellie Lawton found Maddie McIntyre open for a bucket inside.

“Maddie McIntyre played great for us tonight,” Sirianni said. “We had some other players who usually contribute 8 or 10 points, and they didn’t tonight. That adds up and all of a sudden you’ve lost the game.”

Ricker then answered another Herington 3-pointer with one of her own, but that came with around five minutes remaining and the Trojans didn’t make a field goal the rest of the way.

“I’m lucky we have a seventh-grader that’s really, really good. She’s figuring out her role now too,” Pihlblad said of Herington. “She’s a phenomenal shooter. Being a seventh-grader that’s really, really good. She’s grown up a ton in the last couple of weeks.”

NOTES: Randolph finished 22 of 48 (45.8%) from the field, including 10 of 26 (38.5%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 13 times. … Southwestern was 18 of 56 (32.1%) from the field, including 6 of 30 (20%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 13 times. … Morrison had nine rebounds and six assists; Pence had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals; and Mya Abrams had three steals for the Cardinals. … Ricker led the Trojans with seven rebounds, Lawton had six assists and Beaver had four steals. … Thursday’s game was supposed to be played Feb. 3, but a snow day forced it to be rescheduled. … Southwestern won the jayvee contest 49-37. Addie Lawton led the Trojans with 14 points while Breah Beaver and Lexi Beckerink each had 13. Sadie Steward led the Cardinals with 17 points and Gianna Bowles had 15.

SOUTHWESTERN (46)

Cobb 0 0 0, Beaver 5 5 18, Lawton 1 0 2, Sirianni 0 0 0, Riley 0 0 0, McIntyre 6 0 12, Cotter 0 2 2, Ricker 4 0 12. Totals 16 7 46.

RANDOLPH (62)

KPence 8 1 19, Adams 0 0 0, QPence 0 0 0, Herington 5 1 14, Morrison 7 6 24, Storer 1 1 3, Rosengren 0 0 0, Abrams 1 0 2, Bunker 0 0 0, Dickerson 0 0 0. Totals 22 9 62.

3-point goals–Beaver 3, Ricker 4, KPence 2, Herington 3, Morrison 4..

Southwestern 14 15 7 10 — 46

Randolph 16 15 15 16 — 62

Jayvees: Southwestern won 49-37.