It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Not for the Randolph girls.

Not after the Cardinals won a boys state championship Saturday night.

Section IX Millbrook shot 50% from the field and a blistering 8 of 13 from 3-point range to win its second straight New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championship 59-45 over Randolph on Sunday afternoon at Hudson Valley Community College.

For the Cardinals, the loss capped an emotional roller-coaster of a weekend that included watching the boys win a semifinal Friday night, themselves win a semifinal Saturday morning and experiencing the boys capture the school’s first basketball state championship Saturday night before Sunday’s disappointing finish.

“There was this feeling all year that this was a special group. The boys always played before us. Sectionals, they played the day before. Regionals, they played the morning before. … They were kind of like leading us. We were following their way,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “We were thinking this would be fantastic if we could both get it. It’s still fantastic. This season was amazing.”

While the Blazers feature a pair collegiate prospects in senior Emily Grasseler and junior Natalie Fox, it was senior Ella Wilson who carried them offensively on their way to the title Sunday.

Wilson finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, knocking down 5-of-6 3-point attempts, including her first five of the game.

“Their bigs are really tough. That’s why they’ve won back-to-back state championships. Our focus today was to limit their bigs. We did that,” Pihlblad said.

“(Wilson) hit a bunch of 3s. We didn’t … expect that. She pretty much won them a state championship today.”

Randolph was led by sophomore Payton Morrison with 18 points while senior Kyra Pence had 9 points. The Cardinals appeared to have a good game plan to attack Millbrook’s size, but 15-of-45 shooting, including just 9 of 29 from 3-point range, was their undoing.

“We were getting open looks for a good chunk of that first half. They were in and out, weren’t falling. We said ‘Just keep shooting.’ We have good shooters on this team,” Pihlblad said. “Quinn (Pence) hit a couple. Payton hit a couple. We had some momentum there in the third quarter. A couple of things didn’t go our way and I think we ran out of gas at the end.”

The Blazers jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but Randolph answered with a 7-0 run of its own that included Kyra Pence knocking down a 3-pointer to open the scoring. Eighth-grader Skylar Herington buried a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the period to pull the Cardinals within four after eight minutes.

Millbrook got hot again to start the second quarter on another 7-0 run, but Quinn Pence made a 3-pointer with 5:34 remaining to make it 24-15. The Blazers eventually went ahead 31-19, but Quinn Pence’s 3-pointer with 1:16 left made it 31-22 at halftime

“The crowd was into it. The girls were into it,” Pihlblad said. “We hit a couple of big shots.”

Herington’s 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the third quarter started a 10-0 Randolph run that made it 34-32 with 4:15 left in the frame, but Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Millbrook advantage back up to eight.

“The film we watched, she hits a couple. We were OK with the shots she was getting. That was something we were going to give up by us pinching and taking away the high post,” Pihlblad said. ” … If she hits them, she hits them. … She hit some shots in the big moments.”

The Blazers started the final quarter with a 44-37 lead that went to just five on Cardinals senior Katelyn Storer’s only bucket of the game, but Randolph would get no closer the rest of the way, turning the ball over four straight times as Millbrook went on another 7-0 run.

“This was a tough weekend for us traveling back and forth to the boys games. I was worried coming in, were we going to have enough in the tank in the second half?,” Pihlblad said. “It’s not that the girls didn’t work hard. They beat us up inside toward the end, got some offensive boards. They beat us. They are back-to-back state champs. They are a fantastic team.”

While Kyra Pence, Storer and Harper Smith will be lost to graduation, the Cardinals will return an impressive nucleus as they look for their first state title in three trips to the final four.

“These girls have worked for a long time at this. They’ve played together since they were little,” Pihlblad said. ” … We want to come back. We want this not to be just a one-time thing, this should be the expectation going forward for the next several years. … We want to get over that hurdle of winning a state championship.”

NOTES: Randolph turned the ball over 11 times. Kyra Pence had six steals and three assists; Quinn Pence and Storer each had five rebounds. … Millbrook turned the ball over 17 times. Grasseler had 14 points and nine rebounds; Fox had 7 points and 10 rebounds; and Beth Bosan had 9 points and four assists. … Section I’s Walter Panas beat Section V’s Canandaigua 61-51 in the Class AA final; Section V’s Webster Schroeder beat Section I’s White Plains 49-41 in Class A; Section V’s Waterloo beat Section I’s Putnam Valley 58-48 Class B; and Section X’s Hammond beat Section IV’s Oxford 61-37 in Class D.

RANDOLPH (45)

SSmith 0 0 0, KPence 5 0 9, QPence 2 2 8, Storer 1 0 2, Morrison 5 4 18, Herington 2 0 6, Dickerson 0 0 0, Steward 1 0 2, Bowles 0 0 0, HSmith 0 0 0. Totals 15 6 45.

MILLBROOK (59)

Heitmann 3 0 7, Bosan 3 2 9, Fox 3 1 7, Wilson 6 2 19, Grasseler 4 6 14, Moore 1 0 3. Totals 20 11 59.

3-point goals-KPence, QPence 2, Morrison 4, Herington 2, Heitmann, Bosan, Wilson 5, Moore.

Randolph 10 12 15 8 – 45

Millbrook 14 17 13 15 – 59

SATURDAY

RANDOLPH ADVANCES TO FINAL

TROY — Randolph can play offense with the best of teams.

On Saturday, the Cardinals clinched a spot in the state title game with their defense.

The Section VI champions turned Section IV’s Union Springs over 22 times and held the Wolves to 16-of-40 shooting from the field en route to a 45-40 victory in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C semifinal at Hudson Valley Community College’s McDonough Sports Complex.

“Our defense has been our staple for three years since I took over the program,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “That was probably the best defensive game we’ve had all three years.”

The win sent Randolph into Sunday’s title game against Section IX’s Millbrook, which beat Section II’s Greenwich 70-52 in Saturday’s second semifinal.

“Millbrook is the defending state champion. They have some size. They have good guards,” Pihlblad said. ” … We’re going to watch film … probably not going to sleep at all … put together a game plan and be ready to go in the morning.”

The Cardinals led by a point midway through the fourth quarter when eighth-grader Skylar Herington drove along the baseline and made a turnaround shot to give her team a 37-34 lead.

“She’s an eighth-grader. It’s unbelievable,” Pihlblad said. “There were a couple of times … the spin move and that little floater … eighth-graders don’t do that stuff, and they don’t that stuff in the state championship semifinal game. She’s special.”

After Herington made a free throw on each of Randolph’s next two possessions, Payton Gilbert pulled Union Springs within three on a bucket in the lane.

Cardinals senior Kyra Pence then hit the biggest shot of her career. With the shot clock winding down, Pence lined up a 3-pointer from the top of the arc that found nothing but net and gave Randolph a 42-36 advantage.

Randolph’s Quinn Pence (1) and Zoelle Dickerson (24) fight a Union Springs player for a rebound during their NYSPHSAA Class C semifinal Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College’s McDonough Sports Complex. Photo by Mike Frame

“She’s incredible,” Pihlblad said. “This playoff stretch, it seems like end of quarters, end of games, she’s hitting that big shot.”

“I was missing so many layups. I got in my head. I knew I needed to step up,” Pence added. “I looked up at the shot clock and it was at 6 seconds. I thought ‘Maybe this is my time. I have to do something on offense.’ It went in. That was totally a momentum changer. I’m glad I shot it.”

A bucket from Union Springs senior point guard Kailey Kalet – who has a full scholarship at NCAA Division I Loyola (Md.) waiting for her in the fall – pulled the Wolves within three with 1:04 left, but Pence deflected a ball to Morrison for a steal on Union Springs’ next trip down the floor before Pence made it a four-point game with a free throw.

“I love defense. It’s my passion. I get deflections all the time,” Pence said. “Up top, Payton (Morrison) and I work phenomenally together. We always push them to that side. When they went to pass it back, I got the deflection and Payton was right there.”

A missed 3-pointer on the Wolves’ final possession ended up in Pence’s arms before she capped the victory with one final free throw.

“We got our stops on defense,” Pence said. “We preach defense every day.”

The Cardinals took a 5-4 lead early in the first quarter and maintained a 26-19 halftime advantage, thanks in part to Morrison’s 15 first-half points.

“You could tell this morning she was ready to go. … She wanted it bad,” Pihlblad said of Morrison. ” … The last three weeks, she’s played like we’ve expected her to play.”

Randolph led for most of the third quarter before Kalet converted a three-point play with 49 seconds left in the period to give the Wolves a 32-31 lead.

“She’s built, she can drive,” Pence said of Kalet. “She’s a phenomenal point guard. She can shoot, pull up, get to the rim. … She’s a great player, but we played better on defense and got the stops.”

Herington made a pair of free throws 11 seconds later as the Cardinals took a one-point lead into the final eight minutes.

“I’m so confident in these girls. They are gamers. They stay level-headed. They stay composed,” Pihlblad said. “I have the utmost confidence in all of them. Somebody is going to be open and somebody is going to hit that shot in crunch time. They’ve been true to it so far this year.”

Gilbert gave the lead back to Union Springs on the first possession of the fourth quarter before Herington gave it back to the Cardinals with 4:58 remaining.

They would never trail again.

“It’s unreal. We’ve talked about this moment with the girls since day one,” Pihlblad said. ” … It’s a dream that everybody is hoping to get to.”

NOTES: Randolph shot 14 of 46 (30.4%) from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 18 times. Morrison finished with 15 points and three rebounds; Herington had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists; and Pence had 9 points and six steals. … Union Springs shot 2 of 12 from 3-point range. Kalet had 12 points and four rebounds; Gilbert had 12 points and five rebounds; and Ella Johnson had 9 points and three assists.

RANDOLPH (45)

KPence 3 2 9, QPence 2 1 6, Storer 1 0 2, Morrison 5 1 15, Herington 3 6 13, Dickerson 0 0 0, Steward 0 0 0. Totals 14 10 45.

UNION SPRINGS (40)

Gilbert 4 4 12, Johnson 4 0 9, KKalet 5 2 12, Waldron 0 0 0, MKalet 1 0 3, Casler 1 0 2, Daum 0 0 0, Evener 1 0 2, Scholz 0 0 0, Jones 0 0 0. Totals 16 6 40.

3-point goals–KPence, QPence, Morrison 4, Herington, Johnson, MKalet.

Randolph 14 12 7 12 – 45

Union Springs 8 11 13 8 – 40

SATURDAY

PANAMA LOSES IN SEMIS

TROY — Panama had no answer for Ava Howie and Landree Kenyon on Saturday morning.

Howie, Hammond’s sophomore guard, scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out four assists, while Kenyon, the Red Devils’ junior forward, scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out six assists, picked up three steals and blocked two shots as the Section X champions beat the Panthers 78-56 in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D semifinal at Hudson Valley Community College.

“We didn’t have an answer for (Kenyon) and when we did try to double down low, they kicked it out to (Howie),” Panama head coach Dennis Hinsdale said. “(Howie) hit some 3s from the top of the key. I watched four games and she made maybe four total in four games.”

Section X has become a nemesis for the Panama girls basketball program. From 2015-17, Heuvelton – led by three-time Class D Player of the Year Paige McCormick – ended the Panthers’ season at the McDonough Sports Complex.

“I always said when I left Clymer that I always wanted to come back,” said Hinsdale, who won a state title as the Pirates’ head coach in 2010. ” … I got my chance this year, we just couldn’t make it work. There’s no shame in losing to that team. I’m proud of my girls. I thought they gave me everything they had. They played hard, but Hammond played a little harder.”

On Saturday, Hammond went 35 of 64 (54.7%) from the field, outrebounded the Panthers 41-19, and turned the ball over just five times before the Red Devils went to their reserves late in the fourth quarter.

“On film, they looked slow. They didn’t shoot like that,” Hinsdale said. “I knew we’d have trouble on the boards, that was my biggest fear.”

Senior Mandy Brink gave it all she had in the final game of a stellar career at Panama, scoring 26 points while handing out four assists.

“I’m not going to judge her career on one game,” an emotional Hinsdale said of Brink. “She’s a hell of an athlete. She still has my vote for Player of the Year in Western New York and New York state. … She basically carried this team. She made coaching really easy.”

Hammond went up 11-2 with 1:49 left in the first quarter, but Panama was able to survive with seven of the final nine points of the period, including a banked 3-pointer by Brink just before the buzzer.

But the Red Devils – whose only loss this season was to the Section X Class B champion Gouverneur – began to pull away in the second quarter, thanks to eight second-chance points, and led 38-26 at halftime.

“I’m not sure how you defend a fadeaway jump shot. I give that girl a lot of credit … that is one tough shot to make consistently,” Hinsdale said of Kenyon, who scored 11 points during the second quarter. “You might be able to get one out of seven or eight, but she shot it consistently. We didn’t have an answer for it.”

A 9-0 Hammond run to open the third quarter, including five points from Howie, made it 47-26 before Panama sophomore Kaitlyn Horton stopped the run with a pair of free throws.

Brink twice made it a 16-point game, first with a 3-pointer and then with an old-fashioned three-point play, but the game was already getting away from the Panthers.

“I thought we looked awfully slow,” Hinsdale said. “I thought we were too reliant on Mandy.”

Howie scored 13 straight points for her team near the end of the third quarter as Hammond led by 22 entering the final eight minutes.

“If you see how many loose balls there were, we didn’t get any of those,” Hinsdale said. “One time I called timeout and said ‘We had four girls laying on the floor and nobody came up with the ball.’ That’s heart. Their hearts were bigger than ours today.”

Now the Red Devils will have to deal with Section IV champion Oxford Academy, which beat Section II’s Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 75-54 in Saturday’s second semifinal.

The Red Devils will be seeking their first state title since winning back-to-back championships in 2007 and 2008.

“I thought if we got past Hammond,” Hinsdale said, “we’d have a really good shot against Oxford.”

NOTES: Panama shot 20 of 58 (34.5%) from the field, including 3 of 18 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over six times. Junior Kylie Morgan had 11 points and six rebounds, while Horton had 8 points and six rebounds.

PANAMA (56)

Brink 9 5 26, Schauman 1 0 2, Morgan 4 3 11, Horton 2 4 8, Odell 3 0 6, Range 1 0 2, Greene 0 1 1, Markham 0 0 0. Totals 20 13 56.

HAMMOND (78)

Cunningham 0 0 0, Sprabary 5 0 11, Manning 4 0 8, Kenyon 11 1 25, Howie 12 2 28, Woodcock 1 0 2, Vinch 2 0 4, Tulley 0 0 0, Jones 0 0 0, Downs 0 0 0. Totals 35 3 78.

3-point goals–Brink 3, Sprabary, Kenyon 2, Howie 2.

Panama 9 17 17 13 – 56

Hammond 13 25 27 13 – 78