OBSERVER Photo by Jason Bower Frewsburg will take on Dundee/Bradford in the Class C Far West Regional on Saturday at Finger Lakes Community College.

Four points kept Southwestern from advancing to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B girls basketball final four back in 2005.

Waterloo beat the Trojans 51-47 at Erie Community College’s Burt Flickinger Athletic Center in downtown Buffalo before going on to lose the state championship game to Section XI’s Elwood-John Glenn at Hudson Valley CC in Troy.

Some of the names playing for Southwestern that winter were Katie Landy, Brooke Guichard and Jen Thorpe.

The Trojans’ head coach was a more familiar name to current Southwestern fans: Kay Beaver.

While Beaver has since married and is now Kay Sirianni, her goal as the Trojans’ head coach remains the same heading into Saturday’s 2 p.m. Far West Regional as it was 19 years ago: lead Southwestern to the first state final four in program history.

Senior Reece Beaver, Sirianni’s niece, has been a member of five Trojans’ sectional titles in the past six years, but has yet to reach a state quarterfinal, losing in the Section VI crossover game each year.

That changed Wednesday night when Beaver — Chautauqua County’s all-time leading scorer — led Southwestern (17-7) with 18 points in a 58-43 win over Portville at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Beaver leads Southwestern with 26.7 points, 4.7 assists and 3.8 steals per game to go along with 2.9 rebounds. Junior Bella Sirianni is second in scoring at 10.3 points per game, while senior Maddie McIntyre is the Trojans’ leading rebounder at 8.0 rebounds per game.

The Trojans, ranked No. 9 this week by the New York State Sportswriters Association, will take on No. 3 Hornell (21-3) on Saturday at Finger Lakes Community College.

The Red Raiders advanced to regionals by beating Dansville 44-36 in the Section V championship game last weekend at Finger Lakes CC.

Leading-scorer Jordan Dyring got injured early in the game, but Selena Maldonado sparked Hornell with a game-high 25 points en route to the victory.

The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the 9 a.m. state semifinal next Friday at Hudson Valley CC.

CLASS C

SATURDAY, 4 P.M.

FREWSBURG (20-3) vs. DUNDEE/BRADFORD (23-1)

Two years ago, Frewsburg advanced to the Class C Far West Regional where the Bears lost 60-57 to East Rochester at Rush-Henrietta High School.

Gracie Conlan was a sophomore on that team, while Teghan Trocki, Ava Jimerson and Taytum Jimerson were all freshmen.

They’ll all be on the bench Saturday when Frewsburg returns to the state quarterfinal round against Section V champion Dundee/Bradford.

Freshman Jadyn Trocki leads the Bears with 20 points, 5.9 steals and 5.7 assists per game, while Teghan Trocki averages 14.6 points per game. Ava Jimerson leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game.

The Bears, ranked No. 2 this week by the New York State Sportswriters Association, beat Ellicottville 71-36 in last Saturday’s Section VI championship game to advance to the regional at Finger Lakes CC.

Dundee/Bradford beat Keshequa 51-47 in last weekend’s Class C1 title game for the Rochester area. The Bravescots, ranked No. 8 this week, then overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to beat Bloomfield 57-50 in their crossover game Tuesday.

The winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal will advance to the 6 p.m. semifinal next Thursday at Hudson Valley CC in Troy.

Frewsburg, which has six sectional titles in program history, has never advanced to the final four.

CLASS D

SATURDAY, 6 P.M.

PANAMA (9-13) vs. ELBA (20-4)

Panama came into the 2023-24 season as Class D’s defending Section VI and Far West Regional champion.

But after losing Post-Journal/OBSERVER Player of the Year Mandy Brink to graduation and head coach Dennis Hinsdale to retirement, expectations were low entering the year.

An 0-10 start to the season seemed to confirm those expectations.

But the Panthers have turned it around, winning seven straight games, including playoff victories over North Collins, Clymer and Sherman to claim the program’s sixth sectional title in the past 10 years.

Senior Kaitlyn Horton leads Panama at 9.5 points to go along with 6.8 rebounds per game, while junior Kylie Morgan averages 9.5 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game.

Up next for first-year coach Nicole Peterson and the Panthers, ranked No. 11 in this week’s New York State Sportswriters Association poll, is Saturday’s regional against Section V champion Elba at Finger Lakes CC.

The Lancers, ranked No. 7 this week, claimed their sixth sectional title in the past seven years last weekend with a 56-54 victory over C.G. Finney.

The winner of this Saturday’s game advances to the 12:30 p.m. semifinal next Saturday at Hudson Valley CC in Troy.

Panama has advanced to four state final fours, but has never won a state title.