Alexander picked up 2 wins over the last week with a 3-1 win over Attica last Thursday and a 2-0 win in Kendall Wednesday night.

In the win over Attica, Tessa Bigelow, Anna Dominick, and Kylie Bank had the goals with Dominick picking up 2 assists and Summer Bliss picking up the other one.  The score was 1-1 at the half before Alexander scored 2 unanswered in the 2nd half to win the game.

Last night Alexander had a great 1st half picking up goals from Megan Schmieder (from Anna Dominick) and Julia Pettys (from Amber Finan) to get out to a 2-0 halftime lead.  The 2nd half Kendall put on a ton of pressure but Junior Keeper Hannah Wilson made 7 saves in net picking up her 7th shutout of the season with the defense playing solid in front of her.  Savannah VanSon cleared a ball off the goal line after Wilson had made the initial save.

Holley and Byron-Bergen played to a 0-0 tie meaning that Friday night Alexander travels to Holley for a 6:30 contest that will decide the GR Division 1 (and GR League) champion.  Alexander enters the game 12-2-1 (11-2-1 league) while Holley enters the game 13-1-1 (12-1-1 league).  Holley needs only a tie to win the league title.  Alexander needs a win which would knot the teams at 12-2-1 in the league with a 1-1 record against each other and the league title would come down to divisional record where Alexander would then have the advantage.  The first time these two teams played Holley picked up a 2-1 win in Alexander.

Alexander found themselves in OT again and prevailed again thanks to a header by Junior Morgan Mattice off a corner kick from Junior Autumn Atkinson 2 minutes into the first over time to make the final score 2-1.

Alexander had scored first 28 minutes into the game when Mattice's cross found Sophomore Julia Pettys who settled the ball and finished in the top left side of the net to make the score 1-0.  Alexander had 2 breakaways that they failed to convert and also had another goal called back due to a questionable offsides call and lead just 1-0 at halftime.

Kendall tied the score midway through the 2nd half and Alexander was unable to go back on top.  Junior Goalkeeper Hannah Wilson had 10 saves in the game and was helped by a strong defensive game from Seniors Leah Johnson and Freshman Abby Shilvock as they shut down the top scorer on Kendall's team.

With the win Alexander continues to keep pace with Holley in division 1 and has a 5-1 record on the season.  Alexander's next game is Tuesday at home against Wheatland-Chili in what should be another close hard fought game.

There is some video out there from Kendall star Josh Laureano's historic 51 point night. Near the end you can see the game-winning 3-pointer he hit in the final seconds of the second overtime.

Notre Dame guard Kevin Francis was awarded the Genesee Region League Player of the Year award this week. Kendall's Josh Laureano and his coach, and brother, Justin both thought he deserved to share that honor.

You can call that a little added motivation as the fifth-seeded Eagles kicked off the Section 5 Class C2 playoffs with a 77-74 win over No. 12 Cuba-Rushford Tuesday.

Laureano scored 51 points with 10 assists and seven rebounds to lead the way.

"We were disappointed that Josh didn't get Co-Player of the Year in the GR," said Justin, the older brother and coach. "Josh and Francis are so much alike, very similar. I won't take anything away from Francis because he's a big-time player, but Josh is just as good."

 "I talked about it with Francis when we played them," Josh said. "There was a big fight on Section 5 Talksback saying I said all these things about him, and I didn't. He is a great player. But I just think people should give me as much credit as he gets."

Cuba-Rushford sat in a 3-2 zone, which basically played like man-to-man for Laureano because the guards were too wide. Justin knows that not many players can go one-on-one with his brother.

"I had to beg him to please go by (the defender) until they stop you," Justin said. "Everything he scored tonight was going to the basket. He went 17-of-19 from the floor."

 Laureano's night is going to go down as one of the best in Section 5 history, not just Kendall history. 

He hit a fade-away 3-pointer in the second overtime to clinch the win. He beat former Division I and professional player Roosevelt Bouie's school record of 47 points, and pulled a team and school together.

The 51 points is believed to be the second-highest in Section 5 history, only behind Matt Kerkey's 57 points for Mynderse in 1992.

"I enjoyed it because it made me happy to do what I was doing, and it was making everybody around me happier," Josh said. "Everybody that was in the gym was having fun, not just me."

Laureano is one of the most prolific scorers in the GR, but 51 is a number that is rarely seen in Section 5. And his teammates have no problem with their go-to option.

"If I would just let Josh go, he'd probably have some pretty high scoring games," Justin said. "I try to restrain him because as a coach, it is always team first. And we truly do have a team. There is zero infighting, zero jealousy and everybody is rooting for each other."

Colt Tooley added 14 points for the Eagles (14-9), who will play No. 4 Dundee (13-8) on Friday.

"We have talked about how winnable our bracket it and if we want to win it, we can," Josh said. "We didn't play our best game tonight because we had it in our head that we should have won because we were a higher seed. We shouldn't have been like that."

 (It was originally reported that Laureano scored 53. The results were later changed and the total was 51. Still amazing)

UPDATE: Laureano's total is actually third all-time in Section 5. Prattsburgh's Brian Putnam scored 51 points in 1991 for the second highest total in a game. 

The Kendall/Medina game is close to starting and this is looking like it should be a great game. Medina looks like a confident team with some good athletes, while Kendall has superstar Josh Laureano. I have seen Laureano play a couple of times and he is the type of player that can take a game over. He might have to in this one. 8:11 p.m. - here we go.

8:26 p.m. - Medina jumped out to a big lead in a hurry, gaining a 9-2 advantage in the first four minutes of the opening frame. Big man Levi Pace stepped out and drained a 3-pointer and four consecutive foul shots by Brad Balcerzak helped the Mustangs take the big lead. But Laureano and the Eagles battled back. Laureano distributed the ball and Matt Driesel scored with an and-1 and Philip Kludt drained a 3-pointer. Colt Tooley hit a basket at the buzzer to cut the Medina lead to 15-11 after a period of play.

8:42 p.m. - Medina has a lot of tall, skinny players and should have a big lead in this game. But the Mustangs are missing easy shots in the paint and the Eagles are taking full advantage and lead 25-24 at halftime. After Tooley hit a trey for Kendall, Medina scored seven straight points, including four straight by Nick Peterson. With a 24-19 lead for Medina, Laureano hit his first basket of the game when he swished a 3-pointer to start a run. Chad Bentley had a put-back basket and Kludt made a steal and scored. Bentley had the last basket of the half to cap a nine point run by Kendall.

9:08 p.m. - Laureano was looking to score in the third quarter and did, getting seven points. But Medina regained the lead, 34-32, as the 6-foot-6 pace scored a basket and hit two free throws, with Nick Peterson also scoring. Medina's height advantage is starting to take a toll on the Eagles, who are no longer winning the battle on the boards like in the first half.

 9:30 p.m. - This game was a classic.

Pace and Laureano went head-to-head for the fourth quarter, with Pace scoring 12 of his 25 points and Laureano scoring 13 of of his game-high 27 points. 

Medina was holding a four point lead for most of the period but expanded it to 48-40 with two minutes left in the game. There was no doubt that Laureano was going to get the ball. He hit a 3-pointer, then a two to cut the deficit to just three points. Laureano then drove with 59 seconds left and drew the defenders. The then kicked the ball out to a wide open Bentley, who hit a 3-pointer to tie the game. Pace then scored at the other end with 35 seconds left. Kendall was blocked at the other end, but caused a turnover with the press and had the ball with 11 seconds left. Laureano worked the clock, but was blocked when he attempted a 3-pointer with two seconds left.

Final score - Medina 50, Kendall 48

 We are about 10 minutes from tip-off of the first Genesee Region/Niagara-Orleans League Showdown at Genesee Community College. Tonight's games are Elba vs. Newfane and Kendall vs. Medina.

Stay tuned to The Batavian for live updates throughout the night in this thread.

6:33 p.m. - Lineups are being introduced. Elba has a significant size advantage. About to start the game.

6:48 p.m. - Newfane jumped out to a 17-6 first quarter lead because of speed. Elba has big guys, but they aren't keeping up with the Panthers, who are playing a full court press and attacking the basket on offense.  Adam Baily scored nine points for Newfane and Phil Ostroski scored all six for Elba, on two 3-pointers.

7:04 p.m. -  Wow. Elba stormed back into this game in a hurry and leads 27-23 at the half. Sonny Giuliano and Phil Ostroski hit back-to-back shots to start things off and then Dan Ramsey - who was called up from jayvee earlier in the season - got hot. Ramsey hit a 3-pointer and a long 2-pointer before Giuliano brought the game within a point with a 3-pointer.  Ramsey then hit a 3-pointer and two jumpers near the end of the period. Ramsey scored 12 points in the second quarter.

7:29 p.m. - The third quarter was extremely ugly. Both squads turned the ball over like it was going out of style. The Lancers went away from Ramsey for the most part and tried to get the ball inside, with Max Torrey scoring four points. But Ramsey did hit a long jump shot andBronson Cole came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer for the final basket of the third quarter. Elba leads 36-32 as we enter the fourth.

 7:53 p.m. - If this entire Showdown is going to be like the opening game, this is going to be a great weekend of basketball.

Newfane's Dan Hambruch scored twice at the start of the fourth quarter and a Ron Pierce basket and 1 gave Newfane a 41-40 lead midway through the final period. It was tight from that point on. Elba took back the lead on a Guiliano jumper and then Newfance captured it back moments later when Garth Seefeldt hit a 3-pointer, giving the Newfane a 46-45 lead with 1:07 left in the game.

Ostroski got to the foul line seconds later and hit both shots, putting Elba back on top 47-46. Newfane took the ball down to the other end of the floor and tried to set up a shot, but an errant pass at the top of the key sailed out of bounds and the Panters were forced to foul. Giuliano hit one of two foul shots, then Adam Bailey of Newfane chucked up a bad 3-point attempt.

Ostroski hit a free throw to put Elba up by three points and the Panthers missed three 3-point attempts in the last 12 seconds of regulation.

Elba wins 49-46.

The Notre Dame hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie with Brockport Tuesday night in a Monroe County League match.

Dylan Versage scored two of the Notre Dame goals while Thomas Dehr was busy in net, stopping 43 shots.

Dave Roberts scored twice for Brockport (10-9-4).

Notre Dame is  7-8-2.

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The Kendall boys basketball team was hanging with powerhouse C.G. Finney in the first half, but Finney had a huge scoring stretch in the third and fourth quarters to get a 65-44 victory.

Jamell Johnson scored 20 of his game-high 26 points after the break for the Falcons (19-0). Kendall was outscored 18-10 in the third quarter and 24-15 in the fourth.

Finney did a good job of holding Kendall star Josh Laureano in check as scorer as he managed just 13 points, but he did have a strong game with 15 rebounds and six assists.

Chad Bentley was the leading scorer for the Eagles (10-7) with 16 points. Colt Tooley added eight points.

It appears that Oakfield-Alabama and Notre Dame have the regular season titles wrapped up when you look at the standings and schedule of remaining games. 

I am going by what is on the Section 5 Web site and there may be make-up games I don't know about, but as of this point I think Oakfield-Alabama has won Division I and Notre Dame is the Division II champion.

The Fighting Irish are 12-3 and have a five games left to play. The only team in striking distance is Elba at 8-7. Elba has just four games left, including one against Notre Dame. So if my math is correct, Notre Dame has clinched the Division II title.

Oakfield-Alabama (13-2) has a four game lead over Pembroke (9-6) with four regular season games left on the schedule, with one of them being against the Dragons on February 11.

Pembroke has four games left, so that the Dragons still have a little bit of chance to sneak in there.

It will be interesting to watch and see if Notre Dame or Oakfield-Alabama finished with the overall GR title, with just a game between the two.

The Genesee Region League will also be hosting the Niagara-Orleans League in a tournament between the two leagues at Genesee Community College on Feb. 13 and 14.

Andrew Hoy had a huge week and earned Player of the Week for Monroe County Division III.

He was the leading scorer in both Batavia games last week. Hoy dropped in 24 points in a 75-69 win over Pittsford Mendon, then had 26 in a 67-62 victory over Penfield on Saturday.

Andrew Wright of Pembroke won the award for Genesee Region League Division I. He scored 18 points and had seven rebounds in a win Wheatland-Chili and had 18 points, with eight rebounds and two assists in a victory over Eden. 

Elba's Sonny Giuliano is the Player of the Week for GR Division II because of his performance in a win over Holley. Giuliano had a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the game.

Oakfield-Alabama's Lindsay Chatt had a career-high 18 points and four steals in a victory over Lyndonville this week to earn the girls honor for Genesee Region League Division I.

Kendall's Samanthat D'Agostino hit three points and scored 15 points against Attica and then scored six points in overtime, for a total of 16, to beat Byron-Bergen. She earned the honor for GR Division II.

 Notre Dame may have suffered a difficult loss, but guard Kevin Schildwaster was named Player of the Week for Genesee Region League Division II.

Schildwaster won two of three games this week, and has had a big week playing defense. He also had a season-high 13 points against Prattsburgh.

Byron-Bergen's 6-foot-6 forward David Garnish won the honor for Division I. He averaged 7.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and two blocks this past week.

Alexander's Rachel Pettys had a total of 18 points, 24 rebounds, eight assists, 12 steals and six blocked shots in a win over Lyndonville and a loss to Elba. She earned GR Player of the Week for Division I.

Kendall's Meghan Fahy scored 41 points and had 12 boards in two games last week. The Eagles lost to Oakfield-Alabama by just one point and her free throw shooting was a big reason why. Fahy hit 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Batavia Daily News Sports Editor Bill Bruton wrote a nice little piece on former Kendall star Roosevelt Bouie, which was a feature I was going to do when I had my wrist surgeries at the start of the summer.

Bouie won four consecutive Class C titles while at Kendall and conducts clinics (Bruton talked to him in Pembroke) and does radio broadcasts for the Rochester Razorsharks.

Bouie was a star in Section 5 in the mid 1970s and learned a lot from his old-school coach, Dick Reynolds.

That made an impact on the 6-foot-11 Bouie, as did something else his high school coach taught him. Reynolds expected his team to be ready to play from the opening tip-off.

"So don't go out there taking your time thinking you can get warmed up. You'd better be ready to go when the ball drops," Bouie told Bruton. "(Reynolds) said you'd better be dripping sweat or you're not warmed up."

Bouie was a recruit for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who has been with the Orange forever. Boeheim has a career record of 771-228 in 32 seasons as coach.

Bouie had quite a career at Syracuse, with this being his bio on the team's Web site.

A second-team Basketball Weekly freshman All-American in 1977…first-team USBWA, Citizen’s Savings Foundation and Medalist All-American in 1980…first team All-BIG EAST selection in 1980…holds the records for highest field goal percentage in a season and highest blocked shots average for a career (2.8 bpg)…12th all-time in career scoring (1,560 points), sixth in career rebounds (987) and second in career blocked shots (327)…holds the freshman blocked shots and blocked shots average records…has the most blocked shots in a game by a freshman with seven (vs. Harvard and Buffalo)…second round pick of the Dallas Mavericks in the 1980 NBA Draft.

Bouie never played in the NBA. He did not feel as if the Mavericks offered enough money, so he went to Europe to play. He played for 13 seasons in Italy (two for Scavolini Resaro, seven for Riunite Reggio Emilia and two for Clear Contu). He was a legend in Italy where he was a five time all-star and holds the league record for career field goal percentage. He also won a European Championship in the 1991-1992 season. 

Bouie wrapped up his career with one season playing in Oreste, Spain. 

 Pembroke's Ken Babcock earned Genesee Region League Division I Player of the Week for this past week.

The senior center had 22 points with six blocks against Byron-Bergen and 13 points, four blocks and 10 rebounds against Elba.

Josh Laureano earned the honor for Division II after scoring 24 points with five dimes and nine rebounds against Lyndonville and 27 points, 10 assists and nine boards in a win over Alexander.

Laureano had 15 points, five assists and eight rebounds in a loss against Wheatland-Chili.

The two squads played each other last night, with Kendall winning 59-56.

No girls players were nominated from the Genesee Region League.

 Holley's Ken Ryan and Kendall's Cody Lansberry were both stud wrestlers in the Genesee Region League for two of the more storied programs in the area.

Ryan, a freshman at Niagara County Community College, won a 16-4 major decision over Lansberry, a freshman at Alfred State, Thursday night  to help his team to a 42-3 victory.

NCCC coach Eric Knuutila earned his 356th career win, passing Iowa's Dan Gable on the all-time wins list by a college coach, at any level. He is the second all-time leader in wins at the NJCAA level. Dale Thomas of Oregon State is the all-time wins leader with 616 victories.

Ryan had a 168-50 career record for the Hawks and Lansberry went 112-48 for the Eagles.

It was a light night in area high school athletics, with only Kendall girls basketball playing in the Genesee Region League.

The Eagles hosted Medina and thumped them 45-25.

Meghan Fahy led Kendall with 12 points and seven rebounds with Samantha D'Agostino adding 10 points in Kendall's opener.

Brittani Reis also had seven points with six swipes and Lorna Brooks pitched in six points.

Kelly Pritchard had 10 points for the Mustangs, who fall to 0-1.

 The first Genesee Region League wrestling match of the season took place on Monday as Kendall downed Alexander 51-27.

The quickest victory of the match took place at 112 pounds as Kendall's Gabe Sobiersky pinned Kyle Shea in 1:49. Complete results of the match can be found here.

Kendall grad Christine Halter was named D'Youville Student Athlete of the Week after leading her team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

Halter had a team-high five kills against top-ranked Juniata College,  concluding her stellar four-year varsity career. 

Halter is the school's all-time leader in games played (404), second in blocks (286) and third in kills (1,028).

D'Youville went 24-11 and won the North Eastern Athletic Conference championship this season.

The Wheatland-Chili boys soccer team dominated the Genesee Region League, going 9-1, and also finished 16-3 overall and captured the league title.

For that, the Wildcats were rewarded with the Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and three first-team Genesee Region League all-star selections.

Coach of the Year Mike Skivington's squad finished three games ahead of Byron-Bergen in the GR standings.

Senior Garhett Varin easily won the league scoring title with 24 goals, he was tied for tops in assists with 10 and had a combined 58 points. He was an easy choice for the all-star team and Player of the Year.

Keeper Tony Pipitone had a goals against average of just .744 and gave up just 14 goals in 1,525 minutes played

Defender Steve Abbey also is an all-star from Wheatland-Chili.

Byron-Bergen also had three all-stars, led by senior Jordan Kiessling. Kiessling had a goal and an assist as a midfielder.

Junior Casey Longhini led the Bees in scoring with 10 goals and seven helpers for 27 total points.

Junior Dakota Longhini was recognized after scoring twice and dishing out eight assists.

Senior Jason Gaylord had five goals with two assists, for 12 points to lead the contingent of three Kendall players on the all-star squad.

Sophomore Brandon Moore had an assist and makes the team as well as junior Paul Brightly, who scored three goals and dished out three assists.

Lyndonville junior Joe Ianni was fourth in the league in scoring with 12 goals, four assists and 28 points and leads the group of three Tiger all-stars.

Aaron O'Connor had five goals and three helpers with Tyler Silversmith handing out two assists as a defender.

Four Holley players are all-stars.

Sophomore Nick Troup is going to have a great career as he already finished third in the GR in scoring with 11 goals, nine helpers and 31 total points.

Fellow sophomore Brandon Comden had 12 goals, three assists and 27 points with seniors Colton Orbaker scoring four goals with four assists and defender Eric Spychalski scoring once while passing off for three assists.

Senior forward Andy Hagen wound up second in the league in scoring with 16 goals, seven assists and 39 points to lead a pair of Attica players on the squad.

Brandon Reiner - a junior - had eight goals and four assists and is the other Blue Devil.

The second-team selections are:

Lyndonville - Jesse Follman, Aaron O'Connor.

Attica - Joe Wolak, Brandon Storch.

Kendall - Colt Tooley, Joel Mendoza.

Wheatland-Chili - Vince Rubert, Schuyler Johnston, Alex Stryker.

Byron-Bergen - Kody Weinert, Justin Barrett, Tyler Sass, Kevin Rickard.

Holley - Greg Knapp, Eddie Bower, Tim Pratt, Caleb Orbaker.