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Genesee Region League girls MVPs

By Brian Hillabush

 I believe that the MVP of a league should usually be the best player on the best team, but picking that player for Division II of the Genesee Region League is impossible this year.

Elba didn't lose a league game all season long and were obviously the best team in both divisions. Picking an MVP from that squad is not so obvious.

Coach Tom Nowak has used a unique style of play for his squad this season where he rotated two groups of five players and they pressed the heck out of their opponents. It worked, but there was no one player that stands out as the MVP of that squad.

It would not be fair to vote Cassy Engle or Sarah Schwartzmeyer as the top player when girls like Chelsie Pangrazio, Julie Marshall and Rachael Cook were also just as important to that team.

So with that being the case, the MVP award for Division II is deferred to the best player on the second place team. Notre Dame has several stars as well, but I'd give the division MVP award to Nichole Hart.

Hart is a pure shooter that had many big games for the Fighting Irish. With Liz Geandreau and Brittany Morelli providing a solid inside presence, Hart's ability to hit long jumpers and 3-pointers makes Notre Dame a tough team to defend.

The Division I MVP is a much easier call as Alexander's Anni Lehtola was a scoring machine. The addition of the foreign exchange student from Finland turned a very good team into a great team. 

There was little doubt this season that the Trojans were going to win Division I, and the team is the top seed in Class C.

Who is the overall girls MVP of the Genesee Region League?
( surveys)

Oakfield-Alabama rolls to win over Alexander on senior night

By Brian Hillabush

 After blowing a lead and the game against Akron in the Genesee Region League/Niagara-Orleans League Showdown on Saturday, the Oakfield-Alabama boys basketball team was looking to end the season on a positive note before going into sectionals.

It was obvious that it was going to happen as the Hornets jumped out to a 17-3 lead in beating visiting Alexander 73-41 on senior night.

Senior stars Noah Seward and Brad Riner got O-A off to a 9-0 start right off the bat as Riner had five points and Seward four, just a couple of minutes into the contest.

Tim Smith scored seven straight points and all of a sudden the Hornets were ahead by 14 points with just 3 1/2 minutes gone off the clock.

Troy Shelnut ended the fierce O-A scoring with a 3-pointer, but Sam McCracken had four points and Seward added another bucket late in the opening frame to give the Hornets a 27-13 lead after a period of play.

McCracken had two quick baskets in the second quarter and Seward had four points, but Oakfield-Alabama played its worst of four quarters. Josh Athoe also hit a 3-pointer in the frame and O-A actually extended the lead to 38-19 despite not being happy with the way they played in the frame.

The "big 3" of Seward, Riner and Smith were able to rest for most of the fourth quarter, but all three contributed in the third.

Seward had six points, Smith had five and Riner hit a 3-pointer late in the quarter and the game was officially a blowout after the third quarter with Oakfield-Alabama leading 61-28.

Athoe had four points in the fourth quarter and O-A rolled to the 73-41 victory.

Seward had yet another double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, with Riner helping out with eight points and 11 assists.

Smith scored 15 points and A.J. Kehlenbeck had 10 points with 13 boards. McCracken finished with 13 points and Athoe chipped in nine.

Kyle Woodruff had 14 points for Alexander, which ends the season with a 7-12 record.

Oakfield-Alabama improves to 17-3 and will be the third seed in the Section 5 Class C1 tournament and should be hosting Canisteo-Greenwood in the first round.

HS girls highlights for Monday

By Brian Hillabush

The Genesee Region League Division I champion Alexander girls basketball team wrapped up the regular season and clinched the top seed in the Section 5 Class C tournament with a 54-28 win over visiting Oakfield-Alabama Monday.

Anni Lehtola led the way for the Trojans (14-4) with 24 points, four steals and five rebounds with Katie Kochmanski finishing with a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Brynne Perfitt had 11 points to lead the Hornets (10-10).

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Nichole Hart scored 24 points - including five 3-pointers - as Notre Dame thumped visiting Wheatland-Chili 57-24.

Jill Marshall had eight points and Trisha Pike added six for the Fighting Irish (16-4).

Lauren Drago had 10 points to lead the Wildcats (4-16).

Genesee Region/Niagara-Orleans Showdown live blogging - Alexander/CSAT

By Brian Hillabush

2:20 p.m. - We are about 15 minutes from tip-off and it looks like Alexander is going to have its hands full with the Charter School of Applied Technology (CSAT). There is an obvious advantage in terms of size and athletic ability going to CSAT. I just talked to the Eagles' scorekeeper and he says Randall Billups and Ryan Pace are big-time, so we are going to see what Kyle Woodruff and Co. can do to represent the GR.

2:44 p.m.  - Alexander played a great first quarter. CSAT played a very up-tempo and aggressive type of game, but the Trojans did a good job of slowing down the game and getting off good shots. Woodruff got things going early for the Trojans with a basket and a 3-pointer. Stephen George had six points in the opening period as well and Woodruff finished with seven. Alexander leads 19-13.

3:04 p.m.  - CSAT is way more athletic than Alexander, and it has shown in the turnovers and rebounding. But the Trojans were in control and kept a level head, leading 27-24 at halftime.

The second quarter saw Jared Quinn scored twice and CSAT miss many open looks.  Alexander is going to be in good shape if the game can stay like this. I'd expect to see the Trojans look for some early 3-pointers to extend the lead and force the Eagles to play from behind in the second half.

3:26 p.m. - Alexander has finally switched to a zone defense and CSAT can't hit a shot, but the Trojans are also turning the ball over a lot and lost the lead.

Ryan Pace hit a basket and Randall Billups had a score with an and-1 to give CSAT a 29-27 lead early in the third. But Quinn gave the Trojans back the lead with a pair of buckets.  The score changed hands a couple of times but consecutive baskets by Desmond LaMar and DeMarius Billups gave CSAT the 36-35 lead heading into the final frame.

 3:53 p.m. - With the Trojans in a zone and the Eagles not hitting a shot, LaMar changed the entire outlook of the game at the start of the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-8 freshman guard hit two medium-range jump shots and forced Alexander back into a man defense.

The Trojans had been keeping up through three quarters but running up and down the floor finally took its toll in the final period. CSAT had a huge edge in turnovers and was finally getting down the floor fast enough to get open looks, knocking the shots down and turning a close game into one in which nearly ended up in double figures.

Pace scored nine of his game-high 20 in the fourth quarter.

The CSAT lead wound up getting to as high as 12 points, but Alexander made the final score respectable as Woodruff nailed an NBA 3-pointer with 15 seconds left and 2-of-3 free throw attempts with five seconds left.

Woodruff was held to just 13 points with Quinn chipping in 12 and George 9 for Alexander.

Final score 56-48, CSAT. Albion and Attica are coming up.

HS girls highlights for Thursday

By Brian Hillabush

Byron-Bergen nearly pulled off a major upset Thursday night in a game against Alexander, having a 9-1 advantage in the fourth quarter.

But the Trojans held on and won the game 51-49 to improve to 15-4.

Katie Kochmanski scored 12 points with Anni Lehtola adding 11 and Chelsea Turcer pitching in nine.

Kizzy Heale had 15 points and Rori Partridge added 12 for the Bees (9-10).

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Trisha Pike scored a team-high 15 points to lead Notre Dame to a 69-31 thumping of host Lima Christian.

Nichole Hart had 14 points and Liz Geandreau pitched in 12. Brittany Morelli finished with 10 points.

Laurel Clark had 17 for LC.

Notre Dame is 15-4.

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Meghan Fahy nearly dropped in 25 points as Kendall downed Wheatland-Chili 56-41.

Fahy ended up with 24 points with Samantha D'Agostino finished the game with 19 points.

Lauren Drago had 24 points to lead the Wildcats (4-13).

Kendall is 5-12.

HS girls highlights for Tuesday: Elba clinches division crown over rival ND

By Brian Hillabush

The Elba girls basketball team has  been a second half team all year, with several comebacks on their resume.

You can add another one as the Lancers had a very large fourth quarter to beat rival Notre Dame 53-48 Tuesday. The win wraps up the Genesee Region League Division II title for Elba, which is 13-0 in the league and 16-2 overall.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter and had a 24-14 advantage at halftime. The Lancers chipped four points off the deficit with a 20-16 edge in the third quarter.

But as always, Elba's depth and pressure defense helped the squad to come from behind for the win. The Lancers scored 19 points while holding the Fighting Irish to just eight points.

"Our press just takes its toll on people as the game goes on," Elba coach Tom Nowak said. "We just have a lot of players and the ability to keep running them in and out and keep them fresh."

Missy Call hit two 3-pointers in the final period. Those six points were all she scored in the game.

Free throws have been the one weak spot for Elba this season, but the Lancers went 5-of-7 in the fourth quarter. Katie Newton hit a pair late and Rachael Cook put them up by 5 to ice the game with two at the end of the game.

Newton scored six of her eight points in the fourth and were led in scoring by Cassy Engle, who poured in 12. Cook had nine points with Katie Newton scoring eight and Sarah Schwartzmeyer pitching in six.

Jill Marshall led the Fighting Irish (11-2, 14-4) with 15 points, with Nichole Hart adding 12 points. Trisha Pike had 11 points and Liz Geandreau added eight points.

The Lancers also maintain the top seed in the Class DD sectionals. Jasper-Troupsburg is 16-1 and trailed Elba by just two seeding points coming into the game.

The Wildcats host Arkport Wednesday and should win, after thumping that team 67-31 earlier in the season. Elba has games with Lyndonville and Lima Christian remaining on the schedule.

"If we want to end up No. 1 we have to win out the rest of our games," Nowak said. "If we slip in a game, we could certainly fall to No. 2 or No. 3. If we would have lost tonight we would have fallen to third. But it was nice to come out and win the league. We were at that point and we wanted to do that tonight."

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Pembroke had the edge in every quarter and dropped visiting Oakfield-Alabama 57-39.

Katie Hackett and Nicole Sharick each had a big game, with Hackett scoring a game-high 18 points with five dimes, three steals and a block. Sharick had seven boards and three assists to go with her 10 points. 

Brynne Perfitt had 10 points with Hillary Bates and Sarah Scarbrough scoring nine points apiece for the Hornets (9-9).

The Dragons are now 10-8.

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The Trojans keep holding on to that top seed in Class C with a 57-32 victory over host Attica.

Finnish exchange student Anni Lehtola had a monster game, scoring 24 points with 11 boards and three steals. It was a big rebounding game for Alexander as Katie Kochmanski had 10 rebounds to go with her 10 points and three rebounds.

Chelsea Turcer was also in double figures with 10 points and Anna Dominick was close with nine.

Breanna Hummel had nine points and 10 rebounds to pace the Blue Devils, who fall to 1-18.

Margaret LaFleur pitched in seven points.

Alexander is now 12-4 and maintains a slim lead over Perry in the Class C sectional bracket. The Yellowjackets whipped Mount Morris 68-24 Tuesday.

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Holley trailed by a point when Emily Troup dropped in a 3-pointer with about a minute left, giving the Hawks a 51-47 win over Byron-Bergen.

Corrine Vanschoick had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Troup ended the day with 14 points as well.

Julie Brooks had 13 points for the Hawks (6-12).

Rory Partridge had 13 points for the Bees (9-8). Kayleigh Puma had 10 points and Kaylee Amesbury pitched in eight.

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Lyndonville disposed of Wheatland-Chili 51-32 as Molly Burgess scored 16 points and Ashley Mahnke had seven points and 13 boards for the Tigers (8-10).

Lauren Drago scored a game-high 18 points for the Wildcats (4-11).

Notre Dame and Alexander each get two Players of the Week

By Brian Hillabush

Alexander's Kyle Woodruff and Oakfield-Alabama's Tim Smith shared the Players of the Week honors this week for Genesee Region League Division I.

Woodruff averaged 15.5 points, seven rebounds and two blocks as the Trojans beat Holley 65-62 and lost to Pembroke 75-37.  Woodruff reached the 30-point plateau in the win over the Hawks.

Smith had solid games in both of Oakfield-Alabama's victories last week. He had 14 points and four steals in a 65-43 win over Byron-Bergen and followed with a seven point, three steal effort in a 68-23 win over Holley. Smith totaled 21 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and seven steals in the victories.

Notre Dame's Kevin Francis had a huge scoring week to earn the honors for Division II.

The senior guard had 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and seven steals in a win over Lyndonville and followed with a 27-point, six rebound, six assist, nine steal performance in a victory over Kendall.

Notre Dame also had the Player of the Week on the girls side in Division II. 

Sophomore Liz Geandreau averaged a double-double in wins over Pavilion, Lyndonville and Kendall. She averaged 11 points and 10 boards in the victories.

Alexander's Anna Dominick wins the award for Division I as she scored a combined 27 points with seven assists and eight steals in wins over Pembroke and Holley.

Alexander comes from behind to beat Pembroke

By Brian Hillabush

When Chelsea Turcer noticed that nobody was bothering to guard her and her, she figured that it was time to put the nail in the coffin.

Alexander had already overcome a nearly double-figure deficit in the third quarter to take the lead and she wanted to put the game away.

She did just that as she chucked up and made a 3-pointer to wrap up the Trojans 53-48 win over Pembroke in a great Genesee Region League game Friday.

 A lot of things happened before Turcer drained the trey that most will remember from this game.

Alexander was up 10-5 early on before Danielle Smith scored and hit a pair of foul shots to cut the lead to 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Alexander's Anni Lehtola opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and had another bucket early on as the Trojans kept the lead around two points.

But the tide changed in the final minute of the half.

Jackie DuBois scored two consecutive baskets to give Pembroke a 26-25 lead - their first of the night - with 37 seconds left in the half.

That burst of momentum took a little bit in the third quarter as the Trojans regained the lead on a free throw by Lehtola, but by the midpoint the lead had grown to nine points.

Kelsey Lewis hit a long jumper, Nicole Sharick dropped in a basket and then a 3-pointer to give Pembroke a 36-29 advantage.

Katie Hackett extended the lead with a basket and then added another score with about a second left in the third quarter to give Pembroke a 42-35 lead going into the final frame.

Alexander has had issues in the third quarter this season, but always seems to right things in the fourth.

Again, the Trojans stepped up to the challenge.

Nicki Laird and Rachael Pettys had baskets before Lehtola hit a 3-pointer to get within two points.

Sarah Herman tied the game with a basket and Alexander wound up taking a 48-46 lead when Pettys scored. Katie Kochmanski added another basket to make it a four point game.

The Dragons did score with 40 seconds left, but Turcer's 3-pointer with seconds left ended the game.

Lehtola had 15 points to lead the Trojans, with Pettys adding eight points, 15 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Anna Dominick had 13 points with three boards and four steals as Alexander improves to 11-4.

Sharick led the Dragons (9-7) with 11 points, but Lewis chipped in nine points and Pettys had eight.

Pembroke rolls past Alexander 75-37

By Brian Hillabush

Early in the season, there were issues with the Pembroke boys basketball team.

The roster only had seven players, there was some infighting with the players, they had no true point guard and the wins weren't coming. But the Dragons have now blown out four straight teams because of a 75-37 win over visiting Alexander Thursday.

Part of that problem was solved when Steve Moser showed up very early in the season as a transfer from St. Joe's in Buffalo, and the rest of the problem was solved with time.

Now, Pembroke is ready to wrap up the season with some wins, take on the first Genesee Region/Niagara-Orleans Tournament and then sectionals.

The Dragons improve to 10-6 and did it by thumping a team that isn't bad and did it in big-time fashion.

The game was never a question as Pembroke jumped out to a 19-7 lead in the first quarter with Ken Babcock dominating inside the paint. He owned the boards and scored two baskets, and got help from Andrew Gabbey, who dropped in two 3-pointers in the opening frame.

The Trojans went blow-for-blow in the second quarter, with both teams scoring 14 points., but it was still 33-21 Pembroke at the half.

Babcock had six points in the third quarter and Andrew Wright started taking over the game. Wright had just four points in the frame, but was big on the boards and was getting steals. The Dragons had a 20-7 advantage in the third.

Wright scored seven points in the fourth quarter and Pembroke had a 22-9 advantage in the fourth quarter for the huge victory.

This is a team that got off to a really ugly start and is now playing some solid basketball. Oakfield-Alabama wrapped up the Genesee Region League Division II title with a win tonight, so Pembroke is now focusing on the sectional playoffs.

The addition of  Moser was huge. Wright was out of position and had to bring the ball up the floor. That took his inside presence out of the mix.

Moser is a solid point guard, scoring nine points with six assists in the game.

Wright scored a game-high 19 points with 11 rebounds and seven steals and Babcock pitched in 13 points and 10 boards.

Eric Leffel also had nine points for Pembroke.

Alexander (6-9) was led by Zach Burke, who scored 10 points.

HS boys highlights for Wednesday

By Brian Hillabush

In the spotlight match in all of Section 5 today, Greece Olympia's John Veltre upped his season record to 49-0 with a pin over Batavia's Ryan Darch in 3:12 at 160 pounds.

Olympia went on to win the dual meet at Batavia 35-21.

Anthony D'Aurizio pinned Zack Beauregard in just 1:02 for the Blue Devils with Josh Mase getting a tech fall victory over D.J. Bentley in 5:30 at 103.

Troy Ireland also had a win for Batavia (18-6).

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Jordan Kiessling picked up his 100th career win as Byron-Bergen beat Alexander 58-24.

The 171-pounder topped Dustin Say 11-1 in leading the Bees.

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Kendall's Devin Iqbal had a quick pin to lead Kendall to a 48-39 win over Pembroke.

Iqbal pinned Dean Culinan in just 37 seconds at 96 pounds.

NYSPHSAA cuts approved; high school seasons are shortened

By Brian Hillabush

 

As many people feared, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association cuts that we wrote about earlier in the month were approved.

According to the NYSPHSAA Web site, there are going to be a lot of changes.

The biggest of which is the reduction in the number of regular season games that teams are allowed to play each season. Sports that currently play 24 games, will now only play 20. Sports that play 20 games will be cut to 18 and sports that play 18 games are now only going to play 16. 

The will be cuts in wrestling and football will be reduced from 10 to nine games. That means a team that makes sectionals and loses in the first round will not get a chance to go into Pool Play. 

The only way a football team can play 13 games is to play in the state finals.

The amount of scrimmages teams for all sports are allowed to play have also been reduced.

Centralized sites will be considered for state tournament games if it will save the state money. 

Here is the announcement on the NYSPHSAA Web site:

 

 

1. Support the use of telephone conference calls and video conferencing for NYSPHSAA meetings to reduce the travel reimbursements costs for the NYSPHSAA and Sections. APPROVED

2. Support the use of officials from the host Section at all NYSPHSAA regional contests, except when the Sections involved mutually agree to use neutral officials. Effective with the 2009-2010 season and continuing to 2010–2011 school year. APPROVED

3. Support a moratorium on the expansion of existing NYSPHSAA tournaments as it pertains to participation. APPROVED

4. Centralized sites should be considered as part of the bid process for state tournament site selection when it can be proven that cost savings outweighs other criteria. APPROVED

5. Support the reduction of the maximum number of contests permitted during the regular season. Sports with 24 contests will be reduced to 20, sports with 20 contests will be reduced to 18 and sports with 18 contests will be reduced to 16. Wrestling will be reduced to 20 points. Football will be reduced from 10 to 9. The 9th game is permitted, with section approval, for teams who do not qualify for sectional play. For the teams involved in the sectional tournament the maximum number of contests shall be 10. For the sections involved in the state championship three additional games are permitted for a total of 13 games for the season: 1 game for regionals, 1 game for semifinals, and 1 game for championships. Effective for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. APPROVED

6. Support the reduction of the number of classes and divisions in team and individual NYSPHSAA Championship competition. REFERRED TO CHAMPIONSHIP ADVISORY COMMITTEE

7. Support the reduction of participants in NYSPHSAA Championships in individual and combination (team/individual) sports. REFERRED TO CHAMPIONSHIP ADVISORY COMMITTEE

8. Support the reduction of tournaments (multi-school competition) for team and individual sports.NO ACTION

9. Support the establishment of a maximum number of scrimmages permitted by a team to: Varsity, JV and freshmen – 2 scrimmages and Modified – 1 scrimmage. NO ACTION

10. The Executive Committee will meet three times per year with one meeting at the site of the Central Committee meeting. APPROVED

11. Support the establishment of a team travel restriction for all member schools limiting out of state team travel to competition with bordering states only. NO ACTION

12. Support the establishment of a moratorium eliminating mandated attendance beginning with the 2009-2010 school year at the following NYSPHSAA workshops: Safety, Life of an Athlete, Sportsmanship and Chemical Health workshops. APPROVED

13. Support eliminating participation in the NFHS Student Leadership Conference. DENIED

 

Players of the Week

By Brian Hillabush

 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.

Newark Varsity Tournament Results

By Chad Flint

Alexander played in the Newark Varsity tournament on the Sunday before MLK day and came away with a solid performance.  Alexander started the day with a 2-1 win over Gananda with goals from Anna Dominick and Julia Pettys with Gabby Kwiatek picking up an assist.  Alexander then beat North Rose Wolcott 1-0 on a goal from Dominick.  In the final game of the round robin Alexander fell to Pal-Mac 1-0.  Alexander was the 2nd seed from their group and Pal-Mac was the top seed with a 3-0 record.

In the other bracket Addison cruised to a 3-0 record and the top seed while Newark was 2-1 with their only loss a 3-0 beating from Addison.

Alexander and Addison played in the semi-finals and Addison jumped out to a 1-0 lead.  Dominick tied it at one but Addison took the kickoff and went right down the floor and fired a shot in to go ahead 2-1.  Alexander was unable to come back again and feel 2-1.  Newark then beat Pal-Mac 1-0 in the other semi-final and in the rematch from the earlier in the day Addison won 1-0 in OT.

Alexander's roster was Sopomore keeper Hannah Wilson, Junior defender Jamie Neth, Sophomore defender Savannah VanSon, 8th grade defender Gabby Kwiatek, Sophomore midfielders Autumn Atkinson and Tessa Bigelow, Junior forward Anna Dominick, Sophomore forwards Megan Schmieder and Morgan Mattice, and 9th grade forward Julia Pettys.

Alexander's Anni Lehtola enjoying American hoops

By Brian Hillabush

 Anni Lehtola has mad game.

She is 17 years old and has been playing club basketball in her home town of Tampere, Finland for a decade. But she loves to travel and wanted to spend a school year in America, specifically New York.

She was placed at Alexander, which was a great surprise for coach Marcia Hirsch. Out of the blue, a solid returning group got a superstar. Lehtola has average just under 17 points with six rebounds and two assists per game as the Trojans are currently 9-3.

Many teams that return four quality seniors and a few juniors that can put in serious minutes and contribute would be mad that somebody comes in and takes a starting position away.

But that is definitely not the case with the Trojans. The girls all play well with Lehtola, who fit in right away, and Hirsch has developed a good relationship with her. The two spend most of their time together busting each other's chops. There is tremendous team chemistry with the entire Alexander squad.

In Finland, you don't play for a high school team, so Lehtola and other people that want to play basketball must try out for club teams, which is very competitive. She was one of the top players on her team.

There are high school teams, kind of.

Each high school will develop a team that gets together three times per week (in addition to her five days a week of club) that practices three times per week. And club goes on all year round. 

Lehtola was placed with Keith and Wendy Jensen and has enjoyed being with her adopted family. 

The girl that loves to travel had a chance to visit New York City, which has been a highlight of her visit to America.

There is one drawback for Lehtola, but she doesn't mind. Because she went to the U.S.A for a year, she loses a year of high school in Finland. So she'll go back to her home country and have two more years of high school. 

She will continue to play with her club squad and practice with her high school team. Then she will either go to college, and she's thinking about coming back to America for school. She might also stay in Finland, where she wants to earn a law degree.

There is also the potential of her playing professional basketball in Finland, Spain or Italy.

But that is not what she is thinking about right now. She wants to lead the currently top-seeded Trojans to a sectional championship and bring that patch back home.

Defense leads Alexander over Elba

By Brian Hillabush

The Green Monster, as the Alexander cheering section likes to be known, chanted "defense, defense" for the entire game.

Maybe that chant pumped the players up, but Alexander played some wicked D in beating an Elba team that had just knocked off Oakfield-Alabama by a score of 56-38.

One quarter totally made the difference.

The Trojans shut out the Lancers, 17-0, to take a 29-17 lead that Elba could never come back from.

Trailing 17-12 after a period of play, Alexander came out in the second quarter focused on defense 100-percent, forcing Elba into tough shots and grabbing every rebound.

Ryan Wilson kicked off the second quarter with two offensive rebounds that he turned into baskets. Mike Galletti then knocked in a pair of 3-pointers and Alexander had a firm 12 point lead at intermission.

The Lancers cut the deficit to seven points as Dan Ramsey and and Sonny Giuliano hit both hit two foul shots.

Wilson had a bucket and an and-1 to get the lead back up to 10 points, 40-30.

Elba made an attempt to come back late in the fourth quarter and couldn't score. The Trojans scored the final seven points off rebounds of Elba misses.

Kyle Woodruff led the Trojans with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists, with Stephen George adding 11 points.

Wilson had seven points and 10 rebounds and Jared Quinn (5) and Troy Shelnut (4).

Alexander has won three-straight games by double figures and have improved to 5-7.

Elba falls to 7-6.

Check out a huge collection of photos from the game here.

Elba girls prove themselves against good Alexander squad

By Brian Hillabush

 Two of the top three teams in the Genesee Region League squared off in Elba Thursday night. 

It was the host Lancers that battled back from a huge early deficit to beat Alexander 61-53, improving to 12-2.

They keys to the win again was solid pressure defense, fresh legs ... and holding Alexander star Anni Lehtola in check.

The Trojans opened up a fast 9-1 lead as Rachel Pettys scored four of those points and Lehtola drained a 3-pointer.

The first basket for Elba came from Chelsie Pangrazio, and the Lancers closed the lead to 13-9. But Alexander went on another run, with three free throws and were ahead 17-10.

Meg Stucko had a bucket to end the first quarter to make it 17-12.

Elba quickly took the lead for good in the second quarter as eighth grader McKenzie Bezon went off.

Bezon hit a free throw, then dropped in a 3-pointer, stole the inbounds pass and scored again, making the score 20-18. Rachael Cook had consecutive rebound put-back baskets and all of a sudden a 9-1 lead turned into a 25-18 deficit for Alexander.

Cook had another bucket, Julie Marshall scored and Bezon hit one of two foul shots to make it 30-20 at the half.

The Lancers came out hot in the third quarter with Sarah Schwartzmeyer, Cook and Bezon scored three-straight baskets. 

Lehtola had her best quarter, scoring six of her 13 points before fouling out in the third quarter. 

But Elba had taken control with a 47-36 lead going into the final frame.

Midway through the final period, Alexander made a run. Anna Dominick scored, Rachel Pettys hit two free throws, and Dominick hit two more foul shots to cut the lead to 52-47.

Pettys hit a foul shot and Katie Kochmanski scored and the score was 52-50 with just over two minutes left.

Schwartzmeyer scored before there was an intentional foul called on the Lancers, giving Schwartzmeyer a chance to hit one of two free throws. 

Cassy Engle scored and then hit a free throw and the lead was back up to 10 points with about a minute left to play.

Cook scored 12 points with 10 rebounds and Stucko added 10 boards to go with her three points. Bezon had 11 points with Chelsie Pangrazio added seven points. Schwartzmeyer had six points and Missy Call added six points and four assists.

Dominick had 12 points and Pettys added 11 for the Trojans (9-3)

Lancers top Alexander 3-1 to win Medina Tournament

By Chad Flint

The Genesee Lancers (Chilano) took hom the Medina U19 tournament title with a 3-1 win over Alexander in the final game.  The Lancers scored seconds into the final to take a 1-0 lead.  Alexander scored a few minutes after that to knot the score at one a piece.  The Lancers would score just before the midway mark to make the score 2-1.  Just after the mdiway mark the Lancers scored a 3rd goal to go ahead 3-1 which was the final score.  It was a very competitive final game with some great soccer to watch.  Both teams moved the ball well and had some great chances on goal.

During the earlier games of the tournament Alexander clinched the top seed with a 3-0 record with a 1-0 win over the Lancers (Hein), a 3-1 win over the YMCA/ND team and a 1-0 win over Gananda.  The Lancers (Chilano) earned the #2 seed with wins over GVBBSC and Attica and a loss to Albion.  Albion was the #3 seed with a win over the Lancers (Chilano), a tie against Attica, and a loss to GVBBSC.  The Lancers (Hein) earned the 4th seed with a loss to Alexander, a tie against Gananda, and a win over the YMCA/ND team.  Gananda had a solid day as well with a tie against the Lancers (Hein), a win over YMCA/ND, and a loss to Alexander.  The Lancers (Hein) earned the 4th seed thanks to a slight tiebreaker advantage over Gananda.

In the 1st round of the playoffs the Lancers (Chilano) avenged their loss to Albion with a 3-0 win in the 1st semi-final game.  Alexander knocked off the Lancers (Hein) 2-0 to earn their spot in the final.

Alexander's roster included sophomores goal keeper Hannah Wilson, sophomore defenders Savannah VanSon, Summer Bliss, and Claire Hartl, sophomore midfielders Tessa Bigelow and Autumn Atkinson, sophomore forwards Kylie Bank, Amber Finan, and Ashley Szymanski, and 8th grade defender Gabby Kwiatek.

Weather causing scheduling problems, especially for ND

By Brian Hillabush

The Notre Dame girls basketball team is scheduled to play at Wheatland-Chili today. But like every other team in the area, they are getting the day off due to the weather.

Scheduling conflicts are always a pain in the butt this time of year and right now coach Dave Pero's squad is not overly thrilled with missing out on this game.

Pero tried to reschedule the game for Tuesday with Wheatland-Chili coach Todd Grimes, but that wasn't possible.

The two are trying to set something up for Friday at this point and the Fighting Irish really need the game.

"This is awful," said Pero, whose team is just 2-1. "We haven't played two games in a week yet and we have no rhythm. We played Elba and we just weren't ready. We haven't played enough."

The Lancers beat Notre Dame 54-51 last Tuesday, Some area teams have played as many as eight games, but the Fighting Irish have played just three games, and with the Christmas break going on this week the team isn't even getting much practice time.

If the Wheatland-Chili game can't be rescheduled for Friday, that means Notre Dame will not take the court again until Monday, Dec 29 in the opening round of the Byron-Bergen Christmas Tournament. The consolation and finals are on Dec. 30.

The next games are at the Rotary Tournament on Jan. 5 and 7.

"We have the Christmas Tournament and then the Rotary Tournament coming up. I hope we are ready for it," Pero said.

Pero does think that there is some advantage to his team playing so few games so far in the fact that they Fighting Irish will be playing a lot of games late in the season, which will hopefully have them ready for sectionals.

But he is ready for his squad to get into some kind of rhythm right now.

"Somewhere down the road the teams that have played eight games will be having the same lull we are having right now," Pero said. "Our philosophy is that we want to be better at the end of the year. Hopefully that will pay off by us not playing games right now, but we want to get into a flow."

Notre Dame is not the only school that will probably not get to play its athletic contests. The Elba boys are supposed to be playing at Albion, but Elba is closed.

There are plenty of girls games on tap for tonight, including Alexander at Kendall and Medina at Lyndonville. But odds are, they won't be played either and will be made up at a later date.

Hs highlights for Tuesday

By Brian Hillabush

The Batavia girls basketball team pulled off an upset Tuesday, surprising visiting Pittsford Sutherland 55-54.

"I hope this gives us (confidence)," Batavia coach Bill Wade said. "I told them after the game that we would be enjoying the game until 3:30 tomorrow, then we start getting ready for Brighton on Friday. I think the confidence started coming after winning the Attica Tournament and then beating Elba in overtime. I hope this takes us to the next level."

Batavia trailed 13-9 after the opening period, but Brittany Wormley scored eight of her 10 points, keeping the Blue Devils in the game.

Michelle Jordan took over the second half and scored seven of her 11 points.

Batavia wound up taking a 55-50 lead with moments left in the game when Kayli O'Keefe hit a 3-pointer to make it a two point game. She was then fouled and hit one of two free throws.

Jaycee Shirk had 16 points and 10 rebounds with Brittany Mazurkiewiecz and Stacey Hein dishing out five assists each.

Sutherland falls to 4-3.

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Nicole Sharick had five of her nine points in overtime to lead Pembroke to a 43-42 win over host Oakfield-Alabama.

Sharick went 3-of-3 from the charity striple down the stretch and had six steals in the game.

The Hornets actually had a two point lead but Danielle Smith scored with two seconds left to force the extra session.

Kelsey Lewis scored 13 points with seven boards for the Dragons (3-2).

Brynn Perfitt had 10 points and four steals and Dani Sage grabbed 24 rebounds for the Hornets (3-2).

 

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Anni Lehtola had 13 points and Nicki Laird added six points with 18 rebounds to lead the Trojans to a 56-32 win over Attica.

Rachel Pettys had nine points, eight boards and four assists for Alexander (4-1).

Margaret LeFleur had nine points to lead Attica.

 

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Byron-Bergen thumped visiting Holley 48-29 behind Mary Cocking's 13 points. Kaylee Ashbury had nine points and Kayleigh Puma chipped in eight points.

Julie Brooks scored 16 points for the Hawks.

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Haley Alexander and Lucy Norton were double winners as the Notre Dame swim team beat Wheatland-Chili 95-79.

Alexander won the 200 IM in 2:30.88 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:19.80. Norton won the 100 butterfly in 1:15.29 and the 100 freestyle in 1:03.11.

Jennifer Wilson won the 100 backstroke in 1:18.21 for the Wildcats.

The Wheatland-Chili boys won 110-67 as Ben HOgan (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle), Dave Chamot (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) and Nick Westrich  (200 IM, 100 breaststroke) were all double winners.

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Jason Harasimowicz and Ivan Madaferri each had a goal and an assist to lead the Notre Dame hockey team to a 3-1 win over Bishop Kearney/Eastridge.

Tyler Kessler also had a goal with Luke Calla and Dylan Versage adding a helper apiece.

 

 

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