Bears Prevail
Frewsburg Rallies Past Randolph For 52-37 Win In Class C Semis
Teghan Trocki didn’t have a great first half Wednesday.
None of the Frewsburg Bears did.
But they found their way in the second half and now their season will continue.
Trocki hit a pair of 3-pointers after halftime as No. 3 Frewsburg outscored No. 2 Randolph 35-15 over the final 16 minutes en route to a 52-37 victory in the second Section VI Class C semifinal at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.
“This is huge. We knew we could do it. Honestly, it was more of a mental game,” Trocki said. ” … I just think we executed really well in the second half.”
“The girls wanted this. I wanted this,” Frewsburg head coach Sierra Beaver added. “The whole team wanted it, so it’s a really good feeling.”
The teams, who both found themselves highly ranked by the New York State Sportswriters Association at various points this season, split a pair of regular-season matchups, but the Bears rallied to win the rubber match and eliminated last year’s Section VI and Far West Regional champions in the process.
“It’s 100% going to be us and Frewsburg,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said postgame while already looking ahead to next season. ” … We told the girls that next season starts tomorrow. … We’re going to use this as motivation and hopefully be back next year, and take care of it.”
Randolph led 10-2 early and 22-17 at halftime, but the game turned in the early minutes of the third quarter.
On its first possession of the second half, Frewsburg ran a set for Teghan Trocki and the junior found herself open for a 3-pointer in the corner that made it 22-20.
“It was huge. That’s a play that we’ve been working on all week,” Beaver said of Trocki’s shot. “We tried it a couple of times in the first half. … At halftime we said we were going to do that first play out … and it paid off.”
“I was off. When (Coach Beaver) said we were running that play, I was a little bit hesitant. I knew she was running it for a reason. She had confidence in me so I had to have confidence in myself,” Trocki said. “I think that was big. It got our momentum started and once we started, it was hard to stop us.”
Two possessions later, junior Taytum Jimerson knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Bears their first lead of the game.
“We came out of halftime feeling really good and they stuck two 3-pointers to start the third quarter,” Pihlblad said. “I think that really changed a ton of momentum in the game.”
Another two possessions later, Frewsburg found itself with an astounding eight shots at the basket after dominating on the offensive glass, and Trocki made it count when she knocked down another 3-pointer to make it 26-22.
The Cardinals eventually tied the game at 26-all, but the Bears got out of the quarter with a 30-28 lead.
“We were just so rattled at the beginning so we didn’t really know what to do,” Trocki said. “Once we settled down, we knew what we needed to do.”
Frewsburg then went on a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer from freshman Jadyn Trocki and a transition bucket from sophomore Abery Harvey assisted by Jadyn Trocki, and the Bears’ lead grew to 11 with 5:31 remaining.
“We moved her from the wing to the point today just to see if she could generate more shots,” Beaver said of Jadyn Trocki. “Taytum knocked down a bunch of big 3s on the wing and Jadyn was able to facilitate and get the ball to a bunch of people.”
Randolph got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Taytum Jimerson led a group of four Frewsburg players in double figures with 14 points, while junior Ava Jimerson had 12. Teghan Trocki and Jadyn Trocki each chipped in 11.
Junior Quinn Pence led Randolph with 15 points, but freshman leading scorer Skylar Herington had just 3.
“She’s a great player. She has the right mindset. Good players are off,” Pihlblad said of Herington. “They definitely focused on taking her away. … That starts getting in your head … but I thought Skylar played great defensively. She’s going to have some big nights here in the future.”
The Bears will play for their second sectional crown in the past three seasons and sixth overall when they take on No. 4 Ellicottville at 2 p.m. Saturday back at JCC.
“We’re taking it one game at a time, but I really feel like we can make a little bit of a run here,” Beaver said. “We’ve been working all year with a tough nonleague schedule … for a playoff push. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
NOTES: Ava Jimerson had 11 rebounds and two steals; Jadyn Trocki had nine rebounds and six assists; Taytum Jimerson had eight rebounds; and Harvey had seven rebounds for Frewsburg, which shot 17 of 58 from the field, including 5 of 26 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 16 times. … Pence had four rebounds and four assists; sophomore Gianna Bowles had seven rebounds; and Herington had three steals for Randolph, which shot 15 of 49 from the field, including 3 of 20 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 10 times.
FREWSBURG (52)
JTrocki 2 6 11, TTrocki 4 1 11, Conlan 0 0 0, TJimerson 6 0 14, Harvey 2 0 4, AJimerson 3 6 12, Whippo 0 0 0. Totals 17 13 52.
RANDOLPH (37)
Smith 0 0 0, Bowles 1 0 2, Pence 6 1 15, Herington 1 0 3, Bushey 0 0 0, Steward 4 0 8, Dickerson 3 3 9, Olofson 0 0 0. Totals 15 4 37.
3-point goals–JTrocki, TTrocki 2, TJimerson 2, Pence 2, Herington.
Frewsburg 4 13 13 22 — 52
Randolph 12 10 6 9 — 37