The Frewsburg girls basketball team celebrates after defeating Tuckahoe in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C semifinal at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy on Thursday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

TROY — The whole goal of the Frewsburg girls basketball season has been to get back to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championships.

The Bears accomplished that and were in a semifinal matchup against Section I’s Tuckahoe on Thursday at Hudson Valley Community College. It was time to prove themselves.

Frewsburg did exactly that, scoring the first eight points of the game, but in the state final four there is no easy matchup and Tuckahoe was going to put the Bears to the limit all game. Chipping away at the Frewsburg lead, Tuckahoe received a big triple in its final possession of the first quarter from Ava Rogliano to make it a one-score game.

However, Frewsburg sophomore Jadyn Trocki was left with too much time as she used the final 11 seconds efficiently, running to a spot where she could hit a 3-pointer of her own at the buzzer. That lift of confidence led to a big second quarter and Frewsburg controlled the game all the way to a 69-45 victory and a date with Section II’s Stillwater in the Class C final at 7:45 tonight.

“Anytime you get a win in the state semifinal that’s a good feeling,” Frewsburg head coach Sierra Beaver said. “I think this one took a lot out of us, so we’re going to have to go and get some good sleep tonight and get some rest tomorrow and get our legs back under us. Hopefully we can have another good showing tomorrow.”

While Trocki set up plenty of her team’s buckets in the first period, her buzzer-beater was the only points she scored in the frame. The sophomore star proceeded to score the first 8 points for the Bears in the second quarter with a pair of triples that made sure the Bears stayed in front of the Tigers.

“She does a great job creating separation,” Beaver said about Jadyn Trocki. “Especially when we need a big shot, just finding a way to get a little bit of space so she can get a shot off. It doesn’t take a lot because she has a pretty quick release.”

Frewsburg was able to hit shots beyond the arc, including 2 of Teghan Trocki’s four on the evening, while Tuckahoe found itself settling for two and the Bears built a double-digit lead at halftime 37-24.

“Both times I felt we came out and played well, but this time our defense kind of gave us the edge,” Beaver said comparing this year and last year’s semifinal. “We were up 6 or 8-0 at the beginning whereas last year I feel it was kind of back and forth the entire time. We knew they were going to come out fast with intensity, and to be able to meet that was good.”

With the speed of Tuckahoe, Frewsburg knew that the game was far from over at halftime and would need to continue matching that fast tempo.

The Frewsburg answer was senior Ava Jimerson, who was looking for one last chance at a state title.

“It started off with my coach yelling at me to shoot,” Ava Jimerson stated. “I was not shooting the whole first half and I listened to her. I shot one and it fell, then I shot another one and it fell again.”

Jimerson took heed of the advice from Beaver and started taking it to the basket scoring 9 of her game-high 19 points in the third quarter.

While the second quarter saw the Trocki sisters hit four 3-pointers, it was the Jimerson twins taking over in the second half. Ava scored 16 points in the final half and Taytum Jimerson finished the game with 12 assists, 7 points, seven rebounds and a block.

“Ava is always able to get to the rim against anybody,” Beaver said. “She does a really good job when she gets inside and to be able to finagle her body to get shots off when there’s taller girls. Taytum had 12 assists. She just made a lot of mature senior passes tonight. When she got into trouble in a double team, she just pivoted her way out of it and was able to find people.”

Tuckahoe brought height and athleticism under the basket, but it was unable to get the better of Ava Jimerson when she was attacking the glass, finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Abery Harvey was also dominant in the post, attacking and showing some range with 13 points and five rebounds.

Frewsburg had four girls finish with double figures as Jadyn Trocki provided 14 points, eight boards and a block and Teghan Trocki had 12 points and five rebounds. Senior Kaylee Cappa was also the Sportsmanship Award recipient for the Bears.

“It means everything,” Ava Jimerson said about advancing to the state title. “We have four seniors on this team with me being one of them and I just wanted to win as a senior.”

The Bears will have to collect themselves and get ready to switch gears against a more patient Stillwater squad in the Class C championship.

“Defensively, we did our job,” Beaver stated. “They’re really fast, so they’re tough to keep in front. I feel like in the full court they got too many full transition buckets and a few too many offensive rebounds, but when you’re playing that fast it’s hard to get bodies on people. I think that together we did a really good job of not allowing them to penetrate and get easy looks.”

In the first semifinal, Stillwater grinded the Cooperstown offense to a halt, limiting the Hawkeyes to single-digit scoring in the first three periods and earned a comfortable 59-37 victory.

Stillwater was led by the trio of Addison Thornton with 18 points, Andie Luskin with 16 and Maddie Chatt had 11.

The state’s top-ranked team completely took Cooperstown’s top scorer out of the game as seventh-grader Emma Johnson scored just 2 points and the Hawkeyes only received double digits from eighth-grader Lanie Nelen with 13.

“I think they’re the exact opposite of what Tuckahoe likes to do,” Beaver said about Stillwater. “They like to get more into the halfcourt, they’ll take their transition points and they got a few of those tonight for sure against Cooperstown. But I think they really like to get the ball in the halfcourt and run a set offense and so we’ll have to talk about how we’re going to defend some of those plays.”

SEMIFINAL 2

FREWSBURG (69)

JTrocki 5 0 14, TTrocki 4 0 12, JJimerson 0 0 0, TJimerson 3 0 7, Cappa 2 0 4, Harvey 5 3 13, AJimerson 7 2 19, Gruber 0 0 0. 26 5 69.

TUCKAHOE (45)

Rogliano 1 2 5, Matarazzo 2 0 4, Rodgers 0 0 0, Doherty 5 1 11, Maris 0 0 0, Maganelli 4 1 9, Devito 0 0 0, Kern 1 0 3, Carinci 0 0 0, Angello 5 0 11, Shepis 0 0 0, Gerkin 1 0 2, Wright 0 0 0, Lee 0 0 0. Totals 18 4 45.

3-point goals–JTrocki 4, TTrocki 4, TJimerson, AJimerson 3, Rogliano, Kern, Angello.

Frewsburg 19 18 19 13 — 69

Tuckahoe 13 11 14 7 — 45

SEMIFINAL 1

STILLWATER (59)

Thornton 7 1 18, Benoit 0 0 0, Parella 1 0 2, MiPrice 1 1 3, Thompson 0 0 0, Chatt 5 1 11, Luskin 6 4 16, MyPrice 1 0 2, Patenaude 3 1 7, Powers 0 0 0. Totals 24 7 59.

COOPERSTOWN (37)

EJohnson 1 0 2, Nelen 5 3 13, Kaltenbach 2 0 4, Crippen 0 0 0, SJohnson 0 0 0, Badgley 0 0 0, Seamon 3 1 7, Kennedy 2 5 9, Reich 1 0 2, Hill 0 0 0. Totals 14 6 37.

3-point goals–Thornton 3, Chatt, Nelen 3.

Stillwater 18 9 20 12 — 59

Cooperstown 8 8 4 17 — 37