No. 1 Thousand Islands (17-2) vs. No. 3 Syracuse Academy of Science (19-3)

When: 1:45 p.m, Sunday

Where: Onondaga Community College's Allyn Hall Gymnasium

What's at stake: Winner has a bye into the state tournament regional on March 11 at Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden. It will play Section IV champion, eitherBainbridge-Guilford (22-0) or Watkins Glen.

How they got here: Thousand Islands rolled over defending Section III Class C champion Cooperstown 57-44 in one semifinal. Science dispatched with No. 2 seeded Little Falls 64-55 in the other semifinal.

Storyline: First time the two schools have played one another. Science played in last year's sectional final where it lost to Cooperstown. Both schools are seeking their first-ever sectional championships. This is the second sectional final for Thousand Islands, which won its ninth straight Class C championship this season in the Frontier League.

Thousand Islands key players: Anna Hoover is averaging nearly 17 points per game. She's been in double-figures in every game this season but one. Courtney Evans-Eppolito had a season best 19 in the victory over Cooperstown and is averaging 12.4 points a game.

SAS key players: Lyrik Jackson is a junior and one of the top players in Section III. She's averaging 23.6 points and 12.8 rebounds a game. Diammone Harris is averaging 13 a game. Senior Reyanah Brown broke out for 18 in the win over Little Falls.

Coachspeak:

SAS's Reggie Pickard: "We watch film and watch them play. Sometimes, film doesn't show it all. It never measures your heart. Watching them play, they're a really good basketball team with a lot of heart. They play really hard. They've got great team chemistry. They play together. We're not going up against one or two good players. They have five good players, eight good players. We can't take them lightly. They're a great team."

Thousand Islands' Pete Pettit: "Unfortunately for us, they've played a really tough schedule and done really well. They're tough kids and seen some good competition. I've played some schools as well above my class. I feel they've stood out better. I'm not really a fan of playing non-public schools in the finals (TI lost to Notre Dame in the 2010 sectional finals). Seems like every time we get there, things are not adding up. I just told the kids this is what we're doing. We're going to do our thing. The kids have a great attitude. We hope to shock everybody."

Here's a video of him at the tournament seeding meeting discussing his team.

The skinny:Both posted impressive tournament semifinal victories. Both ran into walls this year when they stepped up into Class B, arguably Section III's deepest group. The Vikings lost to South Jeff. The Atoms lost to Westhill and Grimes. However, with the exception of the loss to Grimes, SAS has averaged 73.4 points per contest over its last six games. Can its firepower overcome the tenacity and chemistry of Thousand Islands? Key for Vikings is how well it handles the SAS press or the pressure of the game.

Go here to read the rest:

Class C girls basketball final: SAS, Thousand Islands seeking first section title - Syracuse.com