Centaurs advance

City Honors earned a place in the Section VI Class B- 2 championship game for the third time in four years with a 52- 47 victory over Seneca on Monday night at Fredonia State.

Led by Abram Miller, who had eight of his 15 points in the period, the Centaurs opened a 38- 27 lead after the third quarter, then held off their Yale Cup rivals. City Honors led by only two, 24- 22, at the half.

Miller also had 11 rebounds and two steals. Marcus Smith had 13 points and Erik Prophet had 12, 10 in the first half.

A pair of free throws by Smith put the Centaurs in front, 51- 44, with 11.2 seconds left. Brandon Collins, who led Seneca with 11 points, hit a three to make it 51- 47 with 5.9 seconds before Prophet put it out of reach by making one two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

City Honors will meet Wilson in the B- 2 championship game at noon on Saturday at Buffalo State.

Olean coasts in B- 1

Olean coach Jeff Anastasia was concerned because his No. 1 seeded Huskies had to travel to Fredonia’s backyard, Steele Hall at Fredonia State, for their Class B- 1 sectional semifinal Monday night. Not to worry.

Olean, the defending section champion in Class B, rolled to a convincing, 84- 54 victory over the Hillbillies to earn a place in the B- 1 final against Akron on Saturday afternoon at Buffalo State.

Chris Weidt led the Huskies with 22 points, who took a 32- point lead into the fourth quarter. Sam Moore, Olean’s usual high scorer, had only 11 but he contributed 15 rebounds and five assists for Olean.

Pine Valley’s back

Pine Valley, the defending Class D championship, will face 2005 winner Clymer in the sectional title game on Saturday at Jamestown Community College. The Panthers upset No. 1 seed West Valley, 44- 40, at JCC in the semifinals. Robert Lindquist ( 10 pointds, five rebounds), Kenny Armstrong ( 8 points, 8 boards, 5 assists) and Codi Vanzile ( 10 rebounds) led PV.

Clymer defeated CCIAC III rival Brocton for the third time this season, 59- 45, in the first game of the semifinal doubleheader at JCC despite 27 points by the Bulldogs’ Marcus Kaiser, who hit five three-point shots.

Pericozzi sets vault mark

Ryan Pericozzi of Lancaster finally achieved the record he’s been working for all season — the Section VI Indoor mark in the pole vault.

Pericozzi cleared 15 feet, 2 inches on Sunday in the Varsity Select Meet at Fredonia State to erase the Andy Hillburger record of 15- 1z, which the former Sweet Home athlete set in 1979.

On Feb. 9 at Fredonia, Pericozzi, the 2007 Empire State Games scholastic pole vault gold medal winner, missed three attempts to break the 29- year- old Sectional indoor mark.

O’Brien leads Gators

Erin O’Brien scored nine of her 11 points in the fourth quarter and also had eight assists in leading Nardin past Niagara Catholic, 45- 41, in a Monsignor Martin girls basketball quarterfinal playoff at Canisius College’s Koessler Center. Niagara Catholic’s Emily Bird scored seven in a row in the final three minutes to tie the game again at 41, but Alicia Jancevski hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to break the tie. Bird finished with 17 points. . . . Mary Kate Kubera’s 21 points led four double- figure scorers for Mount Mercy i na 61- 50 win over Holy Angels in the other quarterfinal at Koessler.