Sports

 Basketball is a great spectator sport, especially at the high school level.

In Genesee County we have the classic small-school basketball atmosphere as most teams are Class C or D, with Batavia and Attica being the larger schools.

Kids and parents will get to the game and generally share positive cheers. And local students take pride in their cheering sections, which at times mimic college sections. Oakfield-Alabama has the "O-A Crazies", Notre Dame has the "Leprechaun Lair", Elba has the "Sherwood Shakers" and last year Attica had a great cheering section called the "Wolf Pack". These sections, along with those from the other area schools generally share positive cheers.

But there are always the times when a teacher or athletic director will have to tell them to watch what they are saying. Sometimes kids will get on the officials, the other team's cheering section or single out a player on the floor. But you rarely see something that crosses a line.

The most negative of cheers or taunts coming from the crowd generally comes from the rare parent that holds a grudge or wants to draw attention to him/her self.

But there is always that potential and Section 9 is dealing with fan problems this season. Kevin Gleason of Varsity 845 writes about some of the problems.

Nick Iannuzzi was so mad he considered going into the stands after the hecklers. The Minisink Valley guard had grown accustomed to hearing it from fans. But these rips from Monroe-Woodbury students dug deeply. Too deeply.

"FUMBLE!'' they shouted every time Iannuzzi touched the basketball. As Minisink Valley's quarterback in 2007, he had a costly fumble weeks earlier in the team's loss to Monroe-Woodbury for the Section 9 Class AA title. Iannuzzi grew more frustrated and the chants grew louder as he continued to struggle. "FUMBLE!'' He was eventually benched after drawing a technical foul for arguing with an official.

"Yeah,'' Iannuzzi says of going into the crowd, "that crossed my mind. My parents were sitting right in front of them, and that (ticked) me off more.''

I don't think many would say that there is a problem with negative cheering in this area, but the potential is always there. 

 Former Batavia Muckdog Ryan Howard cashed in big this weekend.

The 29-year old slugger that is one of the biggest names to ever have suited up for Batavia's New York-Pennsylvania League franchise inked a 3-year, $54 million contract extension on Sunday with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The two sides were far apart on contract negotiations so the move came as a surprise to many, and it looked like HOward was heading towards a second straight salary arbitration hearing on Friday of this week. 

But the Phillies bought out the final three years of Howard's salary arbitration eligibility and gave him the big contract.

"I'm happy to have this done and to know that I'll be in Philadelphia for at least another three years," Howard said in a statement. "Both sides are happy, and now I'm just focused on getting the season started and having fun."

Howard - the 2006 National League MVP - will make $15 million this season and his salary will jump to $19 million in 2010 and 2011.

The first baseman was a Muckdog in 2001 and hit six home runs in 48 games played.

 It looks like the Batavia wrestling team is ready for the post season.

The Blue Devils traveled to Section 6 territory on Saturday and captured first place in the Ken-Ton Tournament.

Batavia scored 148.5 points to top host Kenmore West, which scored 125.5 points. Pembroke took third with 86 points in the 12 team field with 86 points.

Dylan Goodsell of Batavia won the Aggregate Pin Award as he rolled to the title at 215 pounds. He pinned Alex Fumerella of Kenmore West in the finals at the 5:34 mark.

Ryan Darch and Troy Ireland also won titles for the Blue Devils.

Darch won a decision in the 160 pound finals and Ireland pinned Kenmore's Joe Amoia in 3:23 in the 171 pound finals.

Adam Hill (119 pounds), Colby Sanner (125) and Graham Jensen (189) had titles for Pembroke.

Brittany Wormley scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter as the Batavia girls basketball team jumped out to a 14-5 lead and went  on to beat Eastridge 63-41.

Brittany Mazurkiewicz scored 18 points with five steals to lead the Blue Devils (13-4) while Jaycee Shirk added 15 points and 10 boards.

Michelle Jordan added seven points.

Emily Piacentini and Kaela Trifiro had eight points each for Eastridge (7-8).

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Nichole Hart and Liz Geandreau were both in double figures as Notre Dame downed host Kendall 48-38.

Hart had 13 points and Geandreau added 11 for the Fighting Irish (13-3). Jill Marshall scored 10 points and Hannah Scott-McGrail added eight points.

Samantha D'Agostino had 12 points for the Eagles (5-11).

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Hillary Bates had a well-rounded game for Oakfield-Alabama as they thumped host Holley 44-16.

Bates scored 10 points and had six rebounds, four steals and four assists.

Brynne Perfitt was the leading scorer with 11 points and Christina Palillo added eight boards and five points for the Hornets (9-8).

Julie Brooks scored seven points for the Hawks (5-12).

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Byron-Bergen outscored Attica 14-4 in the third quarter and 13-2 in the fourth in picking up the 35-18 win.

Amanda Brown scored 10 of her 12 points in the third quarter and was assisted by Shannon Dilcher and Kayleigh Puma's seven points.

Nobody scored more than four points for Attica.

Byron-Bergen is 9-8.

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.

Andrew Hoy continued his hot play and Batavia picked up an easy win over visiting Eastridge Friday night in a Monroe County League clash.

Hoy hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points with seven assists to lead the Blue Devils to a 69-41 win over Eastridge.

Batavia had the advantage in all four quarters in the win and improves to 14-2. 

Marcus Hoy scored five points and handed out 13 assists and Joe Schlossel added 11 points.

Mike Lee pulled down seven boards and Robert Hoy added eight points for Batavia, which hit 11-of-23 3-point attempts.

Colin Sprague was the only double-digit scorer for Eastridge, scoring 10 points.

The Section 5 Tournament  starting in about three weeks, now is a good time to see where our local boys basketball teams are ranked with just a few games remaining on their schedules.

Notre Dame (13-3) is the only local team currently seeded No. 1 in their bracket. They are well ahead of Alfred Almond (13-4) in seeding points and should deliver coach Mike Rapone yet another top seed to go with the school's 27th GR title, which was wrapped up last night.

Elba (9-7) is currently the third seed in the classification.

Batavia (13-2) is a second-seed in Class A2, behind Aquinas (14-2). A good showing against the larger schools in the Monroe County League Tournament would help the Blue Devils have a shot at that prestigious top seed.

Oakfield-Alabama is 14-2, but just a third seed in Class C1, which is loaded. Pembroke is a 10-seed at 10-6 and all of the top 10 teams have over 10 wins. Byron-Bergen (3-12) is currently the 15th-seed.

The Hornets are behind 15-0 Avon and East Rochester (14-2).

Attica (8-8) is a sixth seed in Class B1, which means that the team is going to have to get some wins down the stretch in order to get a first-round home game. The top seed will get a bye and Hornell (7-9) is the fifth seed.

Le Roy (9-7) overcame some early season issues and currently has the third seed in Class B2. They will probably stay there because Bishop Kearney (13-2) and Wellsville 15-3) are well ahead of the Oatkan Knights and nobody else in the division has more than seven wins.

There are three Genesee Region League teams in Class C2 and only one of them is going to host a home game.

Kendall (9-6) is currently a fourth seed while Alexander (6-9) is at No. 12 and Lyndonville is 1-16 and last in the classification.

 The Democrat & Chronicle released its newest polls today and several of our local teams are listed.

The Batavia boys basketball team is ranked ninth in the large school poll while Oakfield-Alabama is ranked No. 10 in the small school version.

The Elba girls basketball team received a spot at No. 9 in the small school poll with Notre Dame also getting votes, but not making the list. Jasper-Troupsburg is one spot ahead of the Lancers, even though Elba is currently the No. 1 ranked team in Class DD with J-T coming in second.

Attica is tied with Letchworth at No. 4 in the small school wrestling poll, with Batavia coming in at six and Holley coming in at eight.

Batavia's hockey team did not crack the top 10, but did receive votes in this week's poll.

 National signing day was two days ago and all day on ESPN there were constant updates as to which star high school player was going to which big-time Division I school.

There are always talks about which local players have a shot to get a D-1 scholarship and when this talk is going on, nobody realizes how rare it is for a player from this area to get the big ticket.

There have been some football players from Section 5 that have received Division I scholarships, usually to the University at Buffalo. The biggest names locally that played this past season were Pembroke's Chris Lauzze (Buffalo), Pittsford Sutherland's C.J. Lee (Michigan), Hornell's, David Zapata (Navy), Churchville-Chili's Averin Collier (Syracuse) and Albion's Derek Kinder (Pittsburgh).

That is actually a pretty high number of local players that are in D-1 because most of the big-time high school recruits come out of states like Texas, Florida and California, where they can play year-round.

So you may ask yourself how many Section 5 football players signed Division I scholarships on national signing day. The answer would be zero.

This is the complete list of players from New York signing scholarships to play big-time college football next season, according to NYSSWA president John Moriello: 

• Oday Aboushi, OL, Xaverian (Virginia)

• Jamie Boyle, K, Monroe-Woodbury (Central Florida)

• Andrew Civil, DE, Sheepshead Bay (Rutgers)

• Fernando Diaz, OG, Cardinal Hayes (Pitt)

• Curtis Dukes, RB, Indian River (Penn State)

• Delano Fabor, CB, St. Francis (Buffalo)

• Nick Ferrara, K, St. Anthony's (Maryland)

• Jimmy Gordon, TE, Patchogue-Medford (Buffalo)

• Ben Jebb, DL, Cornwall (Army)

• Robert Joseph, FB, Poly Prep (Rutgers)

• Bunduka Kargbo, S, Bishop Maginn (Buffalo)

• Rob Lombardo, FB, Somers (Navy)

• Alex Neutz, WR, Grand Island (Buffalo)

• Stephen Obeng-Agyapong, S, Bronx JFK (Penn State)

• Andy Phillips, OL, Syracuse CBA (Syracuse)

• Torian Phillips, CB, Port Richmond (Syracuse)

• Dillon Quinn, DT, Trinity Pawling (Boston College)

• Shayne Skov, LB, Trinity Pawling (Stanford)

• Shamar Stephen, OG, Long Island Lutheran (Connecticut)

• Najee Tyler, QB, Xaverian (Purdue)

• John Urschel, DL, Canisius (Penn State)

• Jamal Wilson, OT, South Shore (Rutgers)

• Pat Wilson, OT, Canisius (Buffalo)

Most of these players are coming from big high schools from around the state - with none from Section 5 - and five of the 23 have signed at the University at Buffalo.

Oakfield-Alabama led a night in which the Genesee Region League didn't have a final score within single digits.

The Hornets destroyed visiting Holley 69-23 Thursday.

Noah Seward had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds with A.J. Kehlenbeck pitching in 14 points. and Tyler Tamblin finishing with nine. Sam McCracken and Tim Smith scored seven points each.

Holley didn't have anybody score more than Eddie Bauer's six points. 

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Kevin Francis must have had a good time proving that he is the top guard in the league. He scored 27 points and had nine steals as Notre Dame trounced host Kendall 80-46. 

Vinny Zambito had 12 points and both Greg Barr and Nick Wetherwax added 10 points apiece for the Fighting Irish (13-3).

Kendall star Josh Laureano only managed 15 points while getting help from Colt Tooley, who scored 13. 

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The first quarter was ugly, with both teams scoring just five points.

But Attica had a 13-7 second quarter lead and went on to beat Byron-Bergen 47-34 at home.

Tate Westermeier had 15 points and eight rebounds with Craig Wolfley adding six points and eight boards. Shawn Dupuis had nine points.

Byron-Bergen (3-12) was led by Tess Schramm, who scored six points.

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Phil Ostroski scored 18 points to lead Elba to a 55-44 win over visiting Wheatland-Chili.

Dan Ramsey and Sonny Giuliano both scored 15 points for the Lancers (9-7).

Andy Lund scored 12 points with eight boards for the Wildcats (3-12).

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.

 Last time we updated the University of Rochester men's basketball team and Batavia graduate Mike Chmielowiec, they took third in the Chase tournament and Chmielowiec had injured his ankle in the previous game.

Now the senior is back at 100-percent.

But even that wasn't enough as the Yellowjackets gave up 57 points in the second half and lost to Emory College 83-74. Chmielowiec hit a key 3-pointer in the game that got Rochester back within three points at 70-67, but that was the closest the Yellowjackets got in the game.

Chmielowiec finished with 20 points.

Rochester is 13-5 and Chmielowiec leads the team in scoring with 19.9 points per game.  He also has 20 assists and and 18 steals to go with his 4.9 rebounds per contest.

 When a team has a 3-17 record, that usually means that freshman get a chance to play a lot of minutes and they are building for the future.

The Rochester Institute of Technology basketball has that record and freshman Charley Scott-McGrail is definitely getting her minutes.

The freshman has played in all 20 games, getting one start, and is playing about 23.5 minutes per game.

McGrail - who was a two-time captain at Notre Dame - is scoring 5.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. She also has 16 assists, seven blocked shots and 10 steals.

Nichole Hart and Liz Geandreau had big games in Monday's win over Pavilion and duo continued its hot play in a 61-49 win over Lyndonville Wednesday.

Hart dropped in 18 points and Geandreau had a double-dobule, scoring 12 points while pulling down 10 rebounds.

Brittany Morelli also scored 12 points for the Fighting Irish (13-3) and Trisha Pike added seven points.

Ashleigh Mahoke scored 12 points and Taylor Hrovat added 11 points for the Tigers (7-9). 

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Anna Dominick and Anni Lehtola split up the scoring duties in Alexander's 53-30 win over Holley.

Each scored 14 points to lead the Trojans, who improve to 10-4 and hold on to the top spot in Class C.

Rachel Pettys had a solid all-around game with seven points, six rebounds, eight steals and four assists.

Julie Brooks had 14 points and Emily Troupe added 12 for the Hawks (5-10).

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As always, Elba spread the scoring around and picked up a victory. The Lancers were actually outscored 12-4 in the first quarter, but had a 20-7 run in the second and never looked back in picking up a 51-33 win over Kendall.

Meg Stucko led the Lancers with eight points and 13 rebounds with Katie Newton scoring seven points and Sarah Schwartzmeyer and Racheal Cook getting six points apiece.

Meghan Fahy led the Eagles (5-10) with 10 points.

The Lancers improve to 14-2.

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Nicole Sharick scored a game-high 13 points to lead Pembroke to a 43-31 win over Attica.

Laura Moser pitched in eight points, six rebounds and two steals as the Dragons improve to 9-7.

Jackie Algier and Margaret LaFleur had eight points apiece for the Blue Devils.

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Le Roy falls to 1-15 after Geneseo outscored the Oatkan Knights 15-0 in the first period and cruised to a 40-31 victory.

Allison Macomber had 13 points with 12 rebounds to lead Le Roy, with Jenna Merica scoring eight points and Megan Lowe grabbing 13 boards with five assists. 

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Byron-Bergen and Oakfield-Alabama evened up records as the Bees walked into Oakfield and left with a 43-40 win.

Both squads are now 8-8.

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.

 Both Elba and Notre Dame got small bumps in the NYSSWA girls polls for Class D this week.

The Lancers are 13-2 and jump from No. 9 in the state to No. 7 while the Fighting Irish are 12-3 and move up from No. 20 to No. 19.

Jasper-Troupsburg is 16-1 and ranked ninth.

It appears those three squads will be fighting for the Class DD championship as they are top three seeds.

Both Elba and Notre Dame have games tonight and we will have scores as soon as possible.

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.

 The new state rankings were just released and Oakfield-Alabama is back in the top 15 for Class C.

The Hornets (13-2) were in the top 15, but dropped out last week. They are back in the state rankings at No. 13 this week.

Batavia had dipped down into a tie for 25th last week but move up to No. 23 this week in Class A.

Notre Dame did not move up or down, remaining at No. 9 in Class D.

 Red Jacket sophomore captain Ryan Jennings did just what he was told to do, a very common thing in close games.

His team was trailing DeSales by two points after Jennings had dropped a 3-pointer with seconds left to play when coach Matt Nolan told his team to foul.

Jennings fouled the player receiving the inbounds pass but took a shot to his head with an elbow, knocking him out.

"Every time he sat up he kept passing back out, his father Todd told Alex Bauer of the Messsanger Post. 

Jennings was taken to the hospital where he received a CAT scan that showed he had a brain aneurysm. Without the elbow to the head, Jennings would not have known about the problem and would not be getting treatment for it.