Sherman holds off Franklin, advances to Class D State Final

Jackson Lawrence/Special to WNY Athletics

The Sherman Wildcats Girls Basketball team is now one win away from making history.

Sherman held off a fourth quarter surge from Section IV’s Franklin Central Purple Devils, 49-43, in the NYSPHSAA Class D semifinals at Hudson Valley Community College Friday.

The Wildcats will take on Copenhagen of Section III, who beat Hartford 51-40, in the NYSPHSAA Class D Championship game Saturday at 8:45 p.m.

Sherman has never won a state title in Girls Basketball. The last Class D Girls Basketball State champion was Franklinville (2019).

The Wildcats, who stormed out of Section VI as the No. 3 seed, jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Franklin Central tied things at nine to end the opening quarter.

Led by junior Hayden Fisher – the Wildcats took control of the game in the second quarter. Fisher scored 11 of her 25 points in that quarter giving Sherman a 28-17 lead at the half.

The Wildcats’ dominance continued out of the locker room taking a 38-22 lead at the end of three quarters. That was followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Hayden Fisher which gave her team an 18-point advantage early in the fourth.

However, Franklin Central wasn’t going away that easily. The Purple Devils went on a 9-2 run in a two-minute span that was capitalized by Jenna Fisher fouling out.

Franklin hit a three-pointer with under 30 seconds left to come within four, however freshman Teagan Gratto blocked a shot on the final procession to seal the victory.

Saturday’s state championship game will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.