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ND boys advance to Class D1 finals

By Nick Sabato

Notre Dame head coach Mike Rapone will find himself in a familiar place on Saturday evening…in the Class D1 sectional finals.

The Fighting Irish earned Rapone his 18th trip to the finals, the second most in Section V since the start of the open tournament in 1975, with a 59-37 win over Fillmore.

This trip may be one of the most gratifying however.

Notre Dame started the season 4-2, but since the New Year they have gone 13-1. They clawed their way to a share of the Genesee Region League title; earned the top seed in Class D1 and now they will play for a sectional championship.

“They have really come together as a team,” said Rapone. “They’ve grown as individuals, learned what their roles are and they have been rewarded with a chance to get to this game. Now hopefully they can close the deal.”

The Fighting Irish got off to hot start, closing the first quarter on a 13-3 run, with Tim McCulley notching 11 points in the frame.

The second quarter saw much of the same, as Notre Dame would go into halftime with an 18-point lead.

The third quarter was a struggle, though.

Fillmore came out of the locker room fast, starting the second half on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 33-25. In fact, Notre Dame would not score their first points of the quarter until 2:58 to play.

“I thought we played well in the first half,” said Rapone. “The worst thing that could have happened was halftime. I think they thought they thought the game was over. It took us awhile to get back, but eventually we got things moving a little better. We played well defensively, but the offense wasn’t there.”

While McCulley finished with 27 points, he struggled to find his rhythm all night, shooting just 9-of-26 from the field.

“I think he pressed a little bit in the second half,” said Rapone. “He missed a shot or two and they made that little spurt at the start. He took a few shots he usually doesn’t take. But, he’s the guy who got us here and you live through those.”

Notre Dame made up for their lack of offensive production on defensive and on the boards. The Irish out-rebounded Fillmore 38-30 and compiled 10 offensive rebounds.

In particular, Charlie Herbert cleaned the glass all night.

The senior, who is playing in his first season of competitive basketball, grabbed 9 caroms, with 3 coming on the offensive end.

“Charlie has really come so far,” said Rapone. “He’s such a strong, athletic kid on the boards. He really works hard on the defensive end and on the boards. Even the ones he doesn’t get, he keeps them alive.”

Alec Covel continued to play well also, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Josh Johnson had a strong all around game with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

While McCulley struggled shooting the ball, he was solid in other areas with 7 steals and 5 assists to go along with his game-high 27 points.

Kyle Redman led Fillmore (15-6) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jordan Mullen scored 12 points.

If Notre Dame (17-3) can win on Saturday night, Rapone will tie former Lyons Hall of Fame coach Dean Schott for most sectional championships since 1975 with 9.

Defense and big game by Fagan carry Blue Devils past Newark in Section V playoff game

By Howard B. Owens

Memo to Brian Miller, head coach of the Geneva Panthers: If you want to beat Batavia in Sunday's Section V Class A2 Finals, you better figure out how to stop Justice Fagan and Jeff Redband.

Good luck with that.

Teams have been trying all year and stopping the Blue Devil's two standouts just gets harder and harder.

The Newark Reds tried Tuesday night at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester and found themselves on the losing end of Fagan's biggest game of the year.

The senior captain scored 28 points as the Blue Devils punched their ticket for the finals with a 45-41 win over the #2 seed.

And by all accounts, Redband had an off night, with defenders constantly in his face, but he still managed 15 points.

"That's been happening all year (tight defensive coverage)," Redband said. "I didn't do the best with it this game. We had plays to get me the ball, I just wasn't making shots. I'll make them other games. We rode Justice because he was having the greatest game of his season tonight."

Fagan just took the game over in the closing minutes and with under two minutes left, the Blue Devils grabbed the lead and the Reds' fate seemed sealed.

As important as Fagan's big game was, it was really Batavia's defense that secured the victory.

Head Coach Buddy Brasky teaches his players, hold the opponent to less than 52 points and you will always have a chance to win.

The Blue Devils opened sectional play with a 56-37 win over Honeoye Falls-Lima three days ago, and against a Reds team that has put at least 60 points on the board nine times this season, Batavia pinned Newark down at only 41, holding them to 13 in the second half.

Brasky's team switched to a 3-2 zone defense and the Reds never got a handle on how to penetrate it.

"We've hardly played a 3-2 all year," Brasky said. "They (the Blue Devils) just picked it up on the fly and executed it well."

With the Reds left with few inside scoring opportunities, it also meant there were fewer opportunities for Batavia to draw fouls.

In the closing minute and a half, Batavia was shooting bonus free throws and had only committed four second-half fouls themselves. 

"We went to the zone and they didn't attacked it," Brasky said. "There was a lot of pass on the perimeter. They stopped going to the basket, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity for us to foul. They took a lot of outside shots. That's what the zone forced them to do. Justice started attacking. Jeff started attacking. We were going to the basket where they stopped going to the basket. That's the foul differential right there."

Redband went to the line twice and hit all four shots, while neither late-game foul by Batavia resulted in free throws for the Reds and Fagan made a crucial free throw to take away any hope of a three-pointer to tie the game.

"Jeff and Justice are 70-, 80-percent foul shooters," Brasky said. "They come to the school every morning before class and shoot 50 free throws. Every morning. When we've got them at the foul line at the end of games, I'm very confident."

The foul differential was a huge strategic advantage, especially when Batavia could afford another foul with 4.5 seconds left. In that situation, a quick three-pointer would have given Newark a slim hope for a steal and another score. Instead, two seconds were lost and Newark had to inbound the ball again. A desperation three missed the basket wide and short by three feet and went out of bounds with 0.8 seconds left. A simple Batavia inbound and the game was over.

Brasky said Fagan's confidence has been soaring since a big game against Lockport on Senior Night, and Tuesday night, he just took the team on his back and carried it to victory.

Fagan said that's his job.

"I'm the senior captain," Fagan said. "I didn't want this to be my last game of the year, or ever, actually. I just wanted to win this game. I kind of figured I needed to take over a little bit through the game because we were struggling a little bit offensively. Somebody's got to take over."

The only other Blue Devil to score against the Reds (who don't wear red, but maroon) was Jerret Lasket, who had two points.

A low-scoring affair is exactly the kind of game the Blue Devils like to play -- battle for 30 minutes and close it out at the end.

"In our games, we never do get down by a lot, usually, because we play good defense," Brasky said. "We've been in close games all year, so they have confidence in close games."

For Newark, Jaymee Rosser had 17 points. Tyler Collins, an outside shooting threat, tried, but was 1-6 from beyond the arc and was held to 10 points. Rosser was the top rebounder for the game with nine.

For Redband, Tuesday's visit to Blue Cross was his first since a season ago when he sent his team to the State's Final Four with a three-point buzzer beater.

The junior guard walked out to the same spot during warm ups and admitted taking a moment to reflect on the shot and later hit a practice shot from the same spot. He said he likes playing in the big gym.

"I'm comfortable playing here," Redband said. "With a lot of the new people, I just said it's a normal game. It doesn't matter that it's in this big stadium. You've just got to play basketball."

He also wasn't surprised his team is about to play for the Class A2 championship. The Blue Devils are where they're supposed to be.

"We've beat good teams all year so we knew all year we could be right here at sectionals in the finals," Redband said.

Game time Sunday at Blue Cross is 5 p.m.

To purchase prints, click here.

Pembroke advances to first title game since '87

By Nick Sabato

It has been a long time since Pembroke was a factor in Section V girls basketball.

The Lady Dragons can now say that they are, as they punched their ticket to the Class C2 finals for the first time since 1987 after defeating Clyde-Savannah, 45-39.

“We’ve put in a lot of time these last four years,” said Pembroke Head Coach Mike Wilson. “We’ve spent a lot of long hours in the gym. For a group of kids to step up and play the way they are playing right now is extremely special.”

One of the biggest reasons for Pembroke’s success is senior Breanna Johnson, the school’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

Johnson came out fast, scoring 16 of the Lady Dragons’ 23 points in the first half for a seven-point lead at the break.

However, Clyde-Savannah threw a wrench into the plan, as they switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone in the second half, causing Pembroke to go cold in the third quarter.

Pembroke would only manage to connect on one shot from the field in the frame, and the Lady Eagles would hold Johnson without a point in the third.

“We didn’t really move the ball as much as we should have,” Johnson said. “We weren’t cutting and we weren’t getting to the basket.”

While Johnson was unable to get anything going, Clyde-Savannah was taking it to the Dragons on the glass, out-rebounding them 38-25 for the game.

In particular, Ally Fenton had a monster game for the Lady Eagles taking advantage of Pembroke’s 2-3 zone, scoring 17 points and grabbing 15 rebounds (six offensive).

“We wanted to keep our girls out of foul trouble,” Wilson said. “We tend to play too aggressive in man-to-man and zone preserves our players.”

Leading just 27-24 going into the fourth quarter, Johnson came back to life. She made her first basket of the second half with on a three-pointer with just 1:58 left in the game.

In total, she scored 12 points in the last frame, racking up nine from the foul line to guarantee the victory.

“To have a kid like [her] play as well as she is,” continued Wilson. “Mel Taylor and Kelsey Bezon get a lot of press in the league, and they deserve it, but tonight Breanna Johnson showed that she deserves to be in the conversation. She does everything she can to help the team.”

Clyde-Savannah (12-6) was unable to answer the call, and the Lady Dragons escaped with the win.

Pembroke (15-5) already garnered their first sectional win since 2007, and now they return to the sectional finals for the first time in 27 years. The school has never won a sectional championship in girls basketball.

The Lady Dragons will take on top-seeded Lyons on Saturday at Rush-Henrietta High School. Tip-off will be 5 p.m.

Hornets stung by Wheatland-Chili

By Nick Sabato

The clock has struck midnight on Oakfield-Alabama’s Cinderella run.

After upsetting third-seeded Dundee in the Class C3 quarterfinals, the Hornets were blown out by Wheatland-Chili, 62-32.

In last Friday’s victory over Dundee, Hunter Spiotta scored 29 points and both teams knew that his success would be the key to victory.

Spiotta started off the contest hot, hitting his first two three-point field goals and scoring 9 points in the first quarter as Oakfield-Alabama only trailed by two.

The second quarter was a different story for Spiotta and the Hornets.

Wheatland-Chili clamped down defensively and Rodney Roberts, who had only scored 3 points in the first quarter, came alive with 8 in the second.

The Wildcats used a 10-2 run to end the first half and took a 27-15 lead into halftime.

“We got out of the flow of our offense,” said Oakfield-Alabama head coach Ryan Stehlar. “Playing from behind, you get the tendency to take quick shots. When they get up on you, they’re a tough team to play with.”

The third quarter was much of the same as the quarter started with back-to-back steals and lay-ups by Tyler Roberts, and the Wheatland-Chili took off on a 14-3 run to open the second half.

Roberts scored 10 of his 21 points in the quarter to help the Wildcats pull away to a 45-24 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Roberts’ combined for 43 points in the game, as the Hornets keyed in on big man Andre’ Gulley, who only managed 5 points on 1-of-4 shooting.

“They were packing it in,” said Wheatland-Chili head coach Scott Lund. “We realized that and we are glad we got some stops defensively and were able to beat their zone up the floor for some easy looks.”

After making his first two shots of the game, Spiotta only managed to shoot 3-for-15 for the rest of the game. He would finish with 15 points and 6 rebounds.

“Hunter did a great job in the first quarter of getting separation and getting his shot off,” said Lund. “In the second quarter we brought in Justin Clark and he matched up with him the rest of the game. We felt like if we could limit Hunter’s looks then we would be in good shape.”

As a team, the Hornets only managed to 3-of-14 behind the three-point arc.
Nate Nadolinski had a strong game inside for Oakfield-Alabama, finishing with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in his final high school contest.

Oakfield-Alabama finishes 13-8.

“I love this team,” said Stehlar. “These boys gave me everything. I’ve had the luxury of coaching them for four years. It’s going to sting and they’ll remember it, but we’ve also had a very productive season. We got to this point and they just set the bar higher for Oakfield basketball.”

Rodney Roberts continued his great season, finishing with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals, as Wheatland-Chili will play for their first sectional championship since 1985.

“It’s big,” said Lund. “We ended up in a tie with Notre Dame for the league title, but that was a milestone. Last year we lost in the semifinals by a point, so we’ve looked forward to this game for the last 12 months to get back.”

Wheatland Chili (17-3) will play top-seeded Perry on Saturday at the Blue Cross Arena for the Class C3 championship. Tip-off is 11 a.m.

 

Batavia shuts down HF-L

By Nick Sabato

The saying is that defense wins championships, and if that’s true, Batavia could be raising another sectional trophy next Saturday.

The Blue Devils’ defense was in full lockdown as they defeated Honeoye Falls-Lima, 56-37 in Class A2 action.

Batavia got off to a fast start offensively and defensively, as Justice Fagan scored the first seven points of the game as part of a 14-0 run to open the game. In fact, the Blue Devils held HF-L without a point until Evan Quackenbush knocked down a free throw with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

“We had almost ten days to prepare for them,” Batavia Head Coach Buddy Brasky said. “We stressed our man-to-man defense all week. We saw, scouted them well, and we were pretty familiar with some of their sets. I thought we played great defensively.”

Quackenbush would score five more quick points to cut the lead to eight to end the opening frame.
Batavia would get back to their stifling defense at the start of the second quarter though, holding the Cougars to just 11 points in the first half.

“We got off to that good start, but then we struggled scoring,” Brasky said. “But, I preach all year that when the shots aren’t falling, your defense keeps you in it.”

One player that did not struggle in the second quarter or throughout the game, was sophomore forward Malachi Chenault. He scored eight of his 18 points in the frame to propel the Blue Devils to a 24-11 halftime lead. He also would add nine rebounds for the game, as Batavia dominated the glass 34-16.

“Malachi had a monster game,” Brasky said. “We’ve been waiting for a game like that from Malachi. If he can play like that then we will be a tough team to beat.”

The third quarter saw a familiar face get hot, as Jeff Redband picked up the scoring load coming out of halftime. The junior forward scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter as Batavia extended their lead to 39-23 heading into the fourth.

Until the final quarter, the Blue Devils had not allowed a three-point field goal the entire night.

Finally, HF-L was able to break through, knocking down four from beyond the arc.
The lead was cut to nine with just 3:53 to play, but every time the Cougars made a push, Batavia had an answer.

Justice Fagan countered with his own three-pointer on one occasion and Redband knocked in another basket to extend the lead.

In fact, only three Blue Devils found the scoring column, but Redband (20), Fagan (18) and Chenault (18) accounted for 56 points.

“We’d like to have more, but all year long that’s kind of what the deal is,” Brasky said. “We’d like to have more, but we’ll do whatever it takes to win. We’re trying to play really good defense. We try to get the ball to our go-to scorers, have our role players play their roles, but as long as we win we’re fine with it.”

Redband also added 12 rebounds and three blocks, while Fagan pitched in five rebounds.
Quackenburg finished with 10 points and six rebounds for HF-L (7-12).

Batavia (13-5) will play second-seeded Newark (17-2) on Tuesday at the Blue Cross Arena. Tip-off will be at 7:15 p.m.

Pembroke survives in overtime

By Nick Sabato

It’s not quite March yet, but that madness has begun in Western New York.

Second-seed Pembroke survived a nail-biter, defeating seventh-seeded Cuba-Rushford, 55-49 in overtime of a Class C2 quarterfinal game.

The win ends a drought in which the Lady Dragons hadn’t won a sectional game since 2007, something that narrowly slipped through their hands today.

“We have a special group of girls,” said Pembroke Head Coach Mike Wilson.

The Rebels held the lead for the majority of the game, despite the fact that their leading scorer, Whitney Kent, spent much of the second quarter on the bench with three fouls. Meanwhile, their second-leading scorer, Jade Joseph, couldn’t find her scoring touch all night.

“They have two great players,” Wilson said. “We went to a triangle and two in the second quarter and I thought it worked well. We made them work for everything and it created havoc for them.”

Cuba-Rushford led by one and at halftime, but Kent came alive in the second half.

She scored 13 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to keep her team in the lead.

The Lady Dragons finally came through in the fourth quarter, getting offense from an unlikely source.

Senior Chance Alexyn, who had been pulled 10 seconds into the third quarter, returned to knock down three straight baseline jumpers to give Pembroke the lead.

“I wanted to get her attention,” Wilson said. “I wanted her to see the mistakes she had made, and she came through in a huge way for us.”

Aralyse Johnson connected on two free throws to extend their lead to three with just 12 seconds remaining in the game.

The Rebels weren’t quite ready to give up just yet as Kent was fouled shooting a three with just 5.4 seconds remaining.

After making the first, she missed the second, meaning she would have to intentionally miss the third.

She did.

And Mikayla Moshier grabbed the offensive rebound and laid it in with just three seconds remaining for her first points of the game.

The overtime was just like much of the game, tight throughout, but disaster struck for Cuba-Rushford.

Just after Morgan VanDerHorst made a turnaround jumper to give the Rebels a 49-48 lead with under two minutes to play, both Kent and Joseph would foul out of the game.

Johnson would drive the Dragons to victory, dominating inside during the extra frame.

The sophomore scored five of Pembroke’s eight points in overtime, including the game winning basket with under a minute to play.

She was not just strong in overtime, but for the entire day. Johnson would finish with a team-high 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.

Rylee Moser also had a big game, scoring 14 points, while Breanna Johnson added 12 points and five rebounds for Pembroke.

Kent was outstanding all night in defeat, whether it was scoring, rebounding or finding an open teammate. She would add seven rebounds to go with her 21 points.

While Joseph struggled to score, she did pull down 14 rebounds to go along with her five points. VanDerHorst was a terror on the backboards all game, pulling down 20 rebounds to go with her 12 points for Cuba-Rushford (13-7).

Pembroke (14-5) will play the winner of Clyde-Savannah and Dundee on Tuesday night at Honeoye Falls-Lima. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m.

McCulley shoots Batavia girls past HF-L

By Nick Sabato

Much has been written about Notre Dame’s Tim McCulley this year, but Batavia has their own McCulley…Madison.

The sophomore has become one of the best girl’s basketball players in Section V, and she showed why as the Lady Blue Devils defeated Honeoye Falls-Lima, 59-39 in a Class A2 quarterfinal matchup.

McCulley connected on six three-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points in the win.

Batavia got off to a sluggish start, making only one basket in the first quarter and HF-L led by two after the first quarter.

However, the start of the second quarter was all Batavia. The Blue Devils scored the first seven points of the frame and Essence Williams hit a three-pointer just as time expired to take a 23-18 lead into halftime.

“We’re kind of a second half team,” said Batavia Head Coach Marty Hein.

The first year head coach turned out to be right as his team used a 12-4 run to start the second half, behind nine-straight points by McCulley. HF-L continued to battle though, and they trailed by 11 at the end of the third quarter.

Batavia would come out fast once again, using a 12-2 run to finally pull away from the Cougars.

In total, McCulley scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half to give Hein his first sectional victory. Sam Cecere had another strong outing, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, while Tiara Filbert added 10 points, seven steals, four rebounds and four assists. Taylor Reed scored 15 points to lead HF-L (3-16).

Batavia will play the winner of Newark and Geneva on Monday night at Pittsford-Sutherland. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.

Late free-throws send Cougars past #10 Tribunes; GCC women fall in regular season finale

By Andrew Crofts

Alex Morris was the hero on Thursday night, converting two free-throws with 2.2 seconds left in the game to send the Genesee Community College men's basketball team past visiting #10 Monroe Community College, 87-86.

Up two at the start of the second half, GCC gave up an 18-4 Tribunes run and fell behind 56-43 five-minutes in.

The Cougars clawed back and got to within five after Morris converted a basket and a free-throw with 6:30 remaining.

Redell Freeman kept GCC close, answering an MCC three-point basket with an old school three-point play of his own to make it 77-72 Monroe with under five-minutes to play.

After a Morris layup, Ervin Mitchell tied the game at 81 apiece with a three-point play with 3:00 left. GCC then came up with a defensive stop and with under 2:30 to go, Morris hit one of two free-throws to give Genesee an 82-81 lead.

Monroe answered and went on a 5-1 run in a span of a minute to take back the lead.

Down 86-85 with less than 30-seconds to play, Genesee came up with the defensive rebound after a missed MCC free-throw and turned it over to Morris, who drove to the basket and was fouled with 2.2 seconds left. The sophomore hit both free-throws and a last second MCC attempt from mid-court was unsuccessful, giving Genesee its 21st win of the season.

Morris ended the night with a game high 24 points and he also collected nine rebounds. Mitchell added 21 points and four assists, Alastair Cole chipped in 17 points, Naquil Jones finished with 11 and Freeman added eight points and four rebounds.

With the win, Genesee (21-7, 6-4) locks up the number three seed for the Region III playoffs and will host Jamestown Community College next Tuesday night at a time to be announced.

 

 

Thursday night marked the final game of the regular season for the Genesee Community College women's basketball team and the Cougars ended the season on a losing note, falling to Monroe Community College, 82-28.

Genesee grabbed an early lead after Breana Gleaton converted a three-point play and Hillary Rivera scored two of her five points in the first half to put GCC in front, 5-2.

MCC would then use a 30-6 run to take the lead for good and went into the locker room at the half up 44-20.

Genesee managed just eight points, all coming from Dashawna Jenifer, and three field goals in the second half, and the Tribunes outscored the Cougars 38-8 in the final period.

Jenifer's eight points were a team high and she also collected 11 rebounds. Gleaton finished with seven points and eight boards, Shanell Glover chipped in six points, Rivera finished with five and Macey McCulley added two points.

Genesee ends the regular season 5-21. The Cougars will take the court in the Region III play-in round next Wednesday night at a time and place to be determined.

Muckdogs Hot Stove Dinner announced for March 22

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Genesee County Baseball Club will hold its annual Batavia Muckdogs Hot Stove Dinner and Auction on Saturday, March 22nd, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Clarion Hotel at 8250 Park Road in Batavia. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under.

The evening will begin with a cocktail hour followed immediately by dinner. The Hot Stove Dinner is a time for good food, friendship and baseball talk. The night also features silent and live auctions of baseball-related memorabilia (including signed bats and balls), work by local artists, and gift certificates from a variety of local businesses. This year’s dinner will also benefit the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit.

Tickets may be purchased in Batavia at Dwyer Stadium, Gerace’s Hair Care, the Williams Law Firm, and the office of Dr. Alan Barcomb.

Alexander opens sectional play with a bang

By Nick Sabato

Sectional play is under way and it is now win or go home for local area high school teams.

Alexander got off to a strong start, defeating Marion 59 to 27 in the first round of the Class C2 bracket.

The sixth-seeded Trojans overwhelmed 11th-seeded Marion, who only brought five players to the contest.

“We prepared for a few more players,” said Alexander Head Coach Josh Bender. “Before the game started we found out that they were shorthanded, but it was business as usual for us. We brought the right intensity from the start and it was a good overall team victory.”

The Black Knights kept things within striking distance until midway through the second quarter as Alexander was just too much and too deep.

They took a 33-14 lead into halftime and never looked back, extending that lead to 25 at the end of the third quarter before the starters exited for the final time.

Seniors Johnny George and Zach Laird had strong nights in the last home games of their careers, scoring 12 points apiece. Another senior, Zach Dunbar pitched in nine points.

Preston Crego scored a game-high 14 points for Marion (4-15).

Alexander (12-7) will travel to third-seeded Cuba-Rushford on Friday evening in hopes to advance to the Class C2 semifinals.

The Rebels are 15-2 on the season and boast two star guards.

Carl Holmes is averaging 24 points per game on the season, while Caleb Edwards is averaging 20 points per game and both are lethal beyond the three-point arc. In their last contest, Cuba-Rushford made 17 three-point field goals as a team.

“They’re a tough team,” Bender said. “They run and gun; they look to shoot the three. It should be a good battle. They’re a good offensive team and I consider us one of the best defensive teams in the G-R League. It should be a good matchup for us.”

Tip-off will be 7 p.m. Friday at Cuba-Rushford.

Batavia boys and girls track teams win Section V champions along with Le Roy boys

By Howard B. Owens

Both the boys and girls track teams from Batavia High School won Class C Section V championships in a meet at RIT last night.

Le Roy boys won the Class D title and the Le Roy girls came in second.

Batavia boys finished with 117.50, edging out Aquinas Institute, 74.50. The girls had 113 points and Wayland-Cohocton came in second with 110.

Le Roy boys beat UPrep Rochester 86-79, while the girls came in behind Marion, 71-60.

Individual event winners from Genesee County:

  • Kimmy Lovett, Byron-Bergen, girls 600 meter run
  • Batavia girls, 4x800 meter relay
  • Kristyn Mott, Batavia, girls pole vault
  • Julianna Lauricella, Le Roy, girls 600 meter run
  • Becca Schwan, Le Roy, girls 1000 meter run
  • Raelynn Moskal, Alexander, girls 1500 meter run
  • Le Roy girls, 4x400 meter relay
  • Le Roy girls, 4x800 meter relay
  • Alex Egeli, Batavia, boys 55 meter dash
  • Alex Egeli, Batavia, boys 55 meter hurdles
  • Batavia boys, 4x200 meter relay
  • Batavia boys, 4x400 meter relay
  • Devon Koepp, Batavia, boys shot put
  • Ryan McQuillen, Le Roy, boys 55 meter dash
  • John Woordworth, Le Roy, boys 1000 meter run
  • D.J. Ohlson, Alexander, boys 55 meter hurdles
  • Le Roy boys, 4x800 meter relay
  • D.J. Ohlson, Alexander, boys high jump
  • Ryan McQuillen, Le Roy, boys long jump
  • Ryan McQuillen, Le Roy, boys triple jump

Photos submitted by Nicholas Burk

Notre Dame Boys Basketball Team honored as #1 seed entering sectional play

By Howard B. Owens

The Notre Dame Boys Basketball Team was honored last night in Rochester at the Section V banquet. The award was for finishing the season as the #1 seed in Class D1. The Fighting Irish open their sectional play at home Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m. and ND will play the winner of a round one match between Elba and Finney.

Photo submitted by Shelley Falitico.

Laurie Call, first player in Notre Dame history with 400 steals in basketball

By Howard B. Owens

We were remiss earlier this week in not posting about Laurie Call of Notre Dame reaching a significant basketball career milestone -- her 400th steal. She's the first player in Notre Dame history -- boys or girls -- to reach 400 steals. Pictured with Laurie are her parents Tim and Dawn.

Photo submitted by Tim Call.

Knights give Cal-Mum a fright but let game slip away in closing seconds

By Howard B. Owens

Le Roy almost pulled off an upset against archrival Cal-Mum on Wednesday night.

But there's no almost in basketball. And there are no moral victories.

"They played good," said Rick Rapone, Le Roy's first-year head coach. "But you've got to play 32 minutes. You can't play 31 minutes and 50 seconds. You've got to play it the whole way out."

With the score knotted at 57, the Red Raiders took possession of the ball with less than 20 seconds left on the game clock.

It only took a couple of passes to get the ball to a wide open Chris Wilson just beyond the arch. His three-point swoosh gave Cal-Mum the lead with only 4.8 seconds left.

Three points is a big deficit to erase with only a few ticks to go and the Oatkan Knights were forced to settle -- no matter how well the game was played for 31 minutes and 50 seconds -- with a 60-57 loss.

"I told the kids I'll feel good when we finish one of these games off," Rapone said. "We've got to play 32 minutes."

Le Roy finishes the regular season with a 7-11 record and will open sectional play Feb. 18 against Bath-Haverling (8-10).

An upset over the 17-1 Red Raiders would have given Rapone's program a nice boost, but he still feels good about his team heading into the championship rounds.

The Oatkan Knights under Rapone play a fast-paced offense and pressure defense that should give a lot of teams fits.

"You really don't want to play us," Rapone said.

"Our program is going in the right direction," Rapone said. "We have gotten better every single week since I started and we're hoping now this catapults us into the tournament."

The Knights certainly had Cal-Mum's Dan Dickens pulling at his collar in the second quarter and the Raider's fans on the visitors' side of the bleachers grumbling, "we're better than this."

With the Raiders down by a dozen points in the second period, Dickens called a time out, sat his starters down and gave them a good tongue lashing.

A Raider's fan told another, "they deserve it."

But it's hard to stop a hot hand and Knights certainly had that going for them in the first half, dropping six three-point shots (compared to none in the second half).

As the second quarter wound down, Cal-Mum cut Le Roy's lead to two points and the second half would be a battle with neither team gaining a clear advantage until those fateful closing seconds.

"We held them to 60 points," Rapone said. "I don't think they've been held to 60 points very many times this season."

Zack Moore led the Knights with 20 points, including two threes, and going four of six from the foul line. Nick Egling had 10 points, including a pair of threes in the first quarter. Mike McCullen was four of five from the foul line and finished with six points. Ethan Witkowski and Kody Lamkin had seven points each.

Kurtis Haut and Will Van Auken had 18 points each for Cal-Mum and Chris Wilson scored 13.

For Le Roy, Lamkin had eight rebounds and Moore had seven. Steve Cappotelli and Moore each had three assists.

For Cal-Mum, Van Auken was a monster on the boards with 13 rebounds. He also blocked four shots.

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Notre Dame tops Wheatland-Chili for eighth-straight Genesee Region League crown

By Nick Sabato

Around Christmastime, things were looking bleak for the Notre Dame basketball team.

In a span of 10 days, the Fighting Irish had their 70-game Genesee Region League winning streak snapped by Wheatland-Chili, and then they were beaten by Batavia in the Lions Club Tournament final.

Chances of winning their eighth consecutive G-R League title looked to be slipping away. But since the new year, Notre Dame has gone 9-1 and a win on Senior Night against the very same Wildcat team that had pounded them earlier in the season would give them a share of the league championship.

Just like in the past 10 games, Notre Dame responded to adversity and defeated Wheatland-Chili to tie them for the league crown, 74-57.

“We are playing better now,” said Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Rapone of his team’s progress. “At that time we were still struggling as a team, but now I think we have found our identity.”

The first quarter was marred by fouls, as both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively.

Wildcats star guard Rodney Roberts managed 11 points in the first quarter, nine of which came from the foul line, but it was Notre Dame who led 17-15.

The Fighting Irish came out hot to start the second quarter, scoring the first seven points of the frame.

Tim McCulley began to go to work at that time, scoring eight Notre Dame points in a row.

“He just takes what’s there,” said Rapone of McCulley. “If you give it to him he takes it, if not he gives it to somebody else. He just does so many things well.”

Wheatland-Chili managed stay close, using the three-point line to their advantage and knocking down four triples in the quarter to cut the deficit to five at halftime.

The third quarter started as a shoot-out between stars.

McCulley scored 13 of his game-high 36 points in the quarter, while Roberts matched him with 13 of his 30 points on the night.

Then toward the end of the quarter McCulley got some help from his friends.

The Fighting Irish finished the quarter on a 10-2 run to pull away. A big factor was senior Alec Covel, who scored eight of his 13 points in the second half to give the Irish a second scoring punch.

“Alec is real good ball player,” Rapone said. “In the last couple of games he’s really found himself. That’s what we need going forward.”

One factor in the early season win by Wheatland-Chili was the play of forward Andre’ Gulley, who dominated with 18 points and 24 rebounds.

Notre Dame also played without big man Caleb Nellis in that contest, and first-year senior Charlie Herbert had little experience at the time.

Two months seemed to do the trick, as Nellis scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Herbert added four points and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Gulley was held in check all evening, managing only four points and six rebounds before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

McCulley was also superb in every aspect of the game, adding 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks to go with his 36 points as Notre Dame (15-3) appears to peaking as they head into sectionals.

“I told them before the game that starting tonight, it’s about winning,” Rapone said. “The rest of the time it’s about getting better, but now it’s about winning. We needed to win to win the league tonight. Now we need to win to keep playing.”

Roberts added six rebounds to go along with his 30 points, while cousin Tyler Roberts connected on four three-pointers and scored 16 points for Wheatland-Chili (15-3).

Vescovi drops 37 as Le Roy shocks Cal-Mum

By Nick Sabato

It’s a game every athlete dreams of.

It’s senior night on the road against your big rival, with sectional implications on the line.

That’s what Le Roy was facing against Cal-Mum…and Montana Vescovi responded by pouring in a career-high 37 points and leading the Oatkan Knights to a comeback victory, avenging an earlier defeat to the Lady Raiders, 62-45.

In their first contest this season, freshman Gillian Flint went off for 25 points in a 5-point Cal-Mum win, and the start of this game appeared as if she was picking up where she left off.

Flint, who has been averaging 20 points per game over her last four contests, scored 11 points in the first quarter as Cal-Mum raced out to a 9-point lead.

Every aspect of Le Roy’s game seemed to be sputtering, as Vescovi only attempted one field goal from the field (a miss) and went 5-of-12 from the foul line in the first frame.

The second quarter was a different story however, as the Knights scored the first nine points to tie the game at 17.

Vescovi also came alive, scoring 10 points in the period, including eight in a row at one point.

“It was a hostile crowd, I told them to just settle down and relax,” said Le Roy Head Coach Brian Herdlein. “I just told my girls that they were going to have a run and they needed to just keep doing what they were doing.”

The Knights clamped down on Flint, holding her scoreless in the quarter, but Cal-Mum junior Hannah Anderson took charge, scoring six points in a row, and Adrianna Molisani buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 28-25 lead into halftime.

But, Vescovi came out firing in the third quarter, scoring 11 points in the frame.

“She’s an exceptional player,” Herdlein said of Vescovi. “She’s always been a scorer, but she’s added to her game. I tell her all the time that there aren’t a lot of people that can stop her. Mentally she came to play and she didn’t want to lose tonight.”

The Knights took a 39-37 lead with 2:39 remaining in the quarter and never relinquished it.

Le Roy held Cal-Mum just four points, and Vescovi scored 11 more points to vanquish their rivals eight miles up Route 5.

Even more impressive, Flint was held to just seven points after her monster first quarter.

“Flint came out on fire,” Herdlein said. “We really needed to have a girl stay on her the whole time and deny her the ball. I think we did a better job of that as the game went along.”

The Knights also got a strong game from senior Alicia Conte, who finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

Vescovi’s 37 points puts her just 32 shy of 1,000 for her career, but she was solid in every facet of this game, adding nine rebounds and three steals to her stat line.

This win was not just important because of the rivalry, but because the win guarantees Le Roy (9-8) the fourth seed in Class B2 and one more home game.

“This was huge for us,” Herdlein said. “Any time you can play in this kind of environment, it gets you ready for that sectional environment. It’s always rough, you have to play four quarters and that’s what we had to do tonight.”

Flint finished with 18 points and six rebounds for Cal-Mum (11-7), while Anderson added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Baseball sign-up dates announced for Batavia Minor Leagues

By Billie Owens

Registration for Batavia Minor Leagues baseball will be inside the Batavia Country Mall, outside of Sunny's Restaurant, on the following dates:

  • 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday Feb. 28th
  • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday March 1st
  • 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday March 7th

Registration fee is $50 due at time of sign-up. The fee will increase to $75 for any player registered after March 7th.

Batavia Ramparts win silver medals at Empire State games

By Howard B. Owens

The T.F. Brown's Squirt III Batavia Ramparts Hockey Team garnered silver medals at the Empire State Winter Games held Olympic Center in Lake Placid this weekend.

Batavia was the #1 seed going into the final rounds after winning their first three games. They lost the gold medal round to the Rye Rangers.

Pictured are Head Coach Jeff Bower, Assistant Coach Brian Frieday and players Drew Bower, Vincent DiRizio, Matthew Frieday, Levi Grimm, Zachary Howard, Austin Hunt, Collin Kratz, Chase Pangrazio, Dominic Peracciny, Connor Peterson, Eric Pfalzer, Sean Pies, Jace Rademacker, and Max Tenney.

Photo and information submitted by Robert Grimm.

Le Roy track star signs with University of Arkansas

By Howard B. Owens

Le Roy track and field standout Ruben Owens, front row center, signed a national letter of intent yesterday to attend the University of Arkansas on a full scholarship.

Owens has won Section V titles in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. In all, for both winter and spring seasons, Owens holds 11 Section V titles.

He holds the school records in the high, long and triple jump.

Information and photo submitted by Tim McArdle.

Ramparts representing Western Region in tournament at Lake Placid

By Howard B. Owens

The T.F. Brown's Batavia Ramparts Squirt III Hockey Team is participating in the Empire State Winter Games, being held Feb. 6 through 9 in Lake Placid. The team posed for a picture prior to lining up for the opening ceremonies at the Olympic Center. They will play four games with a chance to win gold, silver or bronze medals. The Ramparts are the Western Region representative in this invitational tournament.

Information and photo submitted by Robert Grimm.

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