Pavilion rallies to nip Kendall in C2 semi

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Libby Snyder

Rebounding from a 12 point first half, top seeded Pavilion rallied in the second half to edge past No. 4 Kendall 44-40 in the Section V Class C2 semifinals this evening at Honeoye Falls-Lima.

Karlee Zinkievich scored 15 of her game high 19 points and Lauren Kingsley 12 of her 14 in the second half to lead the comeback for Pavilion which will now face No. 6 Gananda in the Class C2 title game on Saturday at Rush Henrietta. Gananda upended No. 2 Clyde-Savannah 55-53 in the other semifinal.

Libby Snyder led Kendall with 17 as T’Mia Kitchings added 9, Kailie Regan 6, Grace Levett and Alezya Brown 3 and Julia Szczepanski 2.

Trailing 19-12 at the half, Pavilion got back in the game by putting together a 10-0 run early in the third period to rally into the lead at 22-21. Back-to-back threes by Paige Landers and Zinkievich ignited that rally.

The lead change was the first of six in the period which ended with Pavilion holding a slender 34-33 lead on a late three by Zinkievicch, her third of the period.

Zinkievich had a total of 11 in the period and Kingsley 8 while Snyder had 6 including two late jumpers which gave the Lady Eagles brief leads of 31-29 and 33-31.

Another jumper by Snyder and a three by Kitchings, her third of the evening, put Kendall back up 38-36 early in the final period.

Pavilion though answered with jumpers by Landers and Kingsley to regain a 40-38 lead.

Kendall did pull even at 40-40 on a jumper by Snyder with 2:48 remaining but the Lady Eagles could not score again as a late rash of turnovers proved costly.

Four clutch free throws by Zinkievich were the only points over the final minute and a half. She first hit two clutch free throws with 1:30 remaining to put Pavilion back on top to stay at 42-40. She then added two big insurance free throws with 26 seconds to go to round out the scoring and close out the win.

Kendall led 8-7 at the end of the first period on a three by Kitchings and a jumper by Snyder.

The Lady Eagles increased their advantage to 19-12 at the half ad Snyder had two baskets and Levett a three in the second period.

However, Pavilion answered back with a big 22-14 third period scoring surge to key the comeback win.

Pavilion advances to the title contest with an 18-2 record while Kendall finishes the season at 16-6.