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ROTARY CLUB CHAMPIONS: The Batavia High School Varsity Girls Basketball Team with Rotary Club Tournament trophy, from left, Bella Houseknecht, Kennedy Kolb, Meghan Houseknecht, Ryann Stefaniak, Emma Krolczyk, Jenae Colkey, Bryn Wormley, Mackenzie Reigle, Tess Barone and Haylee Thornley.

It was only fitting that senior Meghan Houseknecht dropped in the winning basket in Batavia High’s exciting 59-57 victory over Wellsville in tonight’s championship game of 30^th annual Rotary Club Tournament at Genesee Community College.

Houseknecht was a freshman in the Lady Devils’ basketball program in January of 2016 when her father, well-known Batavia businessman Michael Houseknecht, died at the much-too-young age of 38.

With her mother, sister, grandparents, relatives and friends looking on during the closing moments of a hard-fought battle, Houseknecht, a 6-foot center, gathered in a pass from tourney MVP sophomore guard Bryn Wormley and laid the ball over the rim and through the hoop with :06 on the clock.

When teammate Kennedy Kolb broke up Wellsville’s last attempt to tie the game, Batavia had escaped with its seventh win in eight outings this season.

Batavia Coach Marty Hein relished taking the Rotary Club trophy but said he was doubly proud of the way his squad handled the adversity of losing three starters, including their top scorer, senior guard Ryann Stefaniak, who departed with her fifth foul at the 5:12 mark of the final quarter.

“Looking on the bench, we had a lead, I’m thinking we need defense,” Hein said. “ 'OK, Tess (Barone) go in'; Tess plays hardnosed defense and she did a nice job for us to finish the game. And Kennedy Kolb came through.

“I would have rather had Ryann and Kenzie (Reigle) in the game but it turned out that it was a nice win where everyone contributed down the line.”

He also spoke of the way Wormley has stepped up her game this season – “she’s blossoming and it’s fun to watch,” he said – and called Houseknecht’s late heroics “just rewards.”

“Remembering three years ago, it (her father’s passing) was heartbreaking,” he said. “Meg’s an awesome girl; I love her to death and it’s kind of fitting that she makes the shot to win the game.”

The game was close throughout as the teams were never separated by more than seven points.

Wellsville, now 7-2, was up by seven with two minutes left in the third quarter before Batavia ended the period on an 11-1 run with key hoops by Wormley, Reigle and Stefaniak.

Batavia grabbed its biggest lead, 48-43, on a basket by Wormley to open the fourth-quarter scoring, but Wellsville, which kept Batavia off balance with accurate long-distance shooting, pulled ahead 51-50 with 3:45 to play on a three-point shot by senior guard Taylor Adams.

Wellsville made it 53-50 on a pair of free throws by senior guard Jana Whitehouse, but Wormley responded with a three-pointer at the 2:55 mark to tie it at 53-53.

After a free throw by Wellsville’s freshman guard Marley Adams, Batavia scored four straight on a driving layup by sophomore guard Reigle and two foul shots by Wormley to take a 57-54 edge with 1:06 to play.

A pair of free throws by Adams on separate trips down the floor pulled Wellsville within a point and a free throw by senior guard Quincy Buckley with 15 seconds left made it 57-57.

Batavia inbounded the ball, with senior forward Jenae Colkey managing to escape pressure to get the ball to Wormley, who drove down the left side of the lane before lobbing it in to Houseknecht for the decisive bucket.

“The play was to get the ball to Bryn because she was the facilitator at the point in the game – the person who could either make the right pass or get into position to score,” Hein said.

Houseknecht said she was able to get free underneath by virtue of a screen from Kolb and was able to complete the play.

“When I cut through I saw I had a mismatch as the girl was shorter, and Bryn made a good pass to me,” she said. “I knew when I got the ball that I had to shoot it (right away), and fortunately it went in.”

Ironically, the basket was Houseknecht’s only two points of the game and touched off a wild celebration from the Batavia fans.

“All week we were super-excited to play in the tournament and then after winning on Wednesday (against Caledonia-Mumford) to play in the championship game,” Houseknecht said.

Stefaniak led the Batavia scoring with 19 points – five of them in the closing seconds of the first half to pull her team within two at 29-27 at intermission.

Wormley tallied 16 while Reigle and junior forward Emma Krolczyk, who both fouled out in the game’s closing minute, added 13 and nine points, respectively.

For Wellsville, Buckley led the way with 17 – including four three-point baskets -- and junior center Regan Marsh added 13. All told, Wellsville sank eight three-pointers.

We knew that they were an outside shooting team, we were worried more about Winehouse – and Buckley was popping them,” Hein said. “We knew what we were up against … We didn’t close out soon enough – they were popping.”

Stefaniak, Adams and Buckley made the all-tournament team along with Notre Dame’s Callie McCulley (ND defeated Cal-Mum in the consolation game) while Reigle earned the Sportsmanship Award.

 Photos by Thomas Ognibene. To view or purchase photos, click here.

 

There will be no rematch of last year's final between Cal-Mum and Notre Dame for the Rotary Championship after both teams fell in first-round games on Wednesday at Genesee Community College.

Notre Dame fell to Wellsville in the first game and Batavia notched a convincing 55-28 win over Cal-Mum, who lost to Notre Dame last year, but won the championship in 2017.

Bryn Wormley scored 15 points and Ryann Stefaniak scored 14 to lead the Blue Devils. Kenz Reigle added 10 and Emma Krolczyk and Jenae Colkey added six each.

For Cal-Mum, Elyse Van Auken scored 12 points.

Batavia Coach Marty Hein said he's been working with his team on their defense, which needs to improve for the team to advance and will be key if the team is to win Friday against Wellsville.

"They (Wellsville) have some outside shooters," Hein said. "They have people from the outside and they can also drive and penetrate. Our defense has to be, somebody has to play shutdown on the ball and we've got to steer it one direction and the other. People have to be willing to jump off and shut down driving lanes down as well as knowing who's the shooter and get out there them to close out them."

Game time Friday is 7:30 p.m. in the Anthony Zambito Gym at GCC.

Photos by Thomas Ognibene. To view or purchase photos, click here.

With Notre Dame down two starters, the Lady Irish could never quite get its offense in sync, giving Wellsville the chance to pull away with a 55-46 win in a round-one game of the annual Batavia Rotary Club Tournament at Genesee Community College.

With Stevie Wilcox and Emma Finch out, Wellsville was able to concentrate its defense of Callie McCully. Even so, McCully still came away with 26 points.

Amelia McCully scored nine points.

For Wellsville, Jana Whitehouse scored 19 points and Marley Adams scored 12 points.

Wellsville faces Batavia in the championship game Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Photos by Thomas Ognibene. To view or purchase photos, click here.

As a driver for his hometown Domino's Pizza, Batavian Gary MacDonald has made plenty of on-time, accurate deliveries.

He also is doing the same as a league bowler at Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia and Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen as indicated by his big scores last week.

MacDonald, a 36-year-old right-hander, recorded his first United States Bowling Congress-certified 800 series in the Wednesday Night Misfits League at Mancuso's, posting games of 299-229-279, and followed that up the next evening with a 699 series in the Thursday Owls League at Rose Garden Bowl.

Using a Roto-Grip Haywire ball he bought three years ago from pro shop owner Brian Green, MacDonald strung 11 strikes in the opener before leaving a solid 10-pin, came back with eight strikes in the 229 and added 11 more in the third game -- striking out in the 10th for the 807. A 9-pin on a high hit in the third frame was his only errant shot in the last game.

"I wasn't nervous at all and I wasn't keeping an eye on the score," said MacDonald, who rolled his only certified 300 game in December 2015 in Bergen. "I'm just having fun bowling in the two leagues."

The big series raised his average to 206 at Mancuso's.

For more high scores during an abbreviated Christmas week of league bowling, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Happy New Year!

It's a whole new ballgame for the Batavia Blue Devils now that the team's full squad is showing up ready to play on game night, and Friday Attica got a taste of what a healthy Batavia can put on the court.

After jumping out to a 10-1 lead to start the championship of the larger schools' bracket of Lions Club Tournament in the Anthony Zambito Gym at Genesee Community College, Batavia pretty much controlled the game the rest of the way for a 70-50 win.

Mason McFollins is back in the lineup and the difference is noticeable.

"He's offensively talented and so that helps us out because we were struggling to score while he was out," Coach Buddy Brasky said. "Now, by him scoring it opens up other things for us and it makes it easier for some of the other guys to score. He's a big piece of it because he's our number one option offense."

McFollins, the tournament MVP, scored 19 points against Attica. He hit three shots from beyond the arc.

Joe Martinucci continued his strong play in the painting, scoring 12 points.

Twin brothers Caeden White and Camden White also missed the start of the season but are back on the court causing problems for opposing defenses; Caeden always a danger to hit from the outside and Camden adding strength under the boards.

Caeden White scored eight points and was named to the All-Tournament team and Camden White scored six points.

They're very committed to basketball," Brasky said. "They come to everything we offer in the off-season. They are great kids, very coachable. And Caeden can really shoot it. Camden is a force inside. You wouldn't know they were twins just by looking at them. But it's kind of nice inside outside punch for us."

Camden White and Martinucci give the Blue Devils and nice inside rotation, Brasky said.

For the most part, Batavia was able to shut down Attica's big man, Dawson Nelson, except in the third quarter, when he scored 15 of his 19 points.

"We were trying to front them and trying beat them to across the lane not let them cut in front of us," Brasky said. "They like that high-low look where they flash the one forward up high and then he tries to dump it in low. We were trying to apply some more pressure to the passer to make the pass harder. I thought we did a decent job early, but in that third quarter we couldn't stop Dawson. He kind of took the game over in the third quarter."

McFollins, the Whites, Andrew Francis and Martinucci aren't all Batavia has going for them this season, Brasky said.

"Jake Humes is shooting the ball well for us," Brasky said. "Luke Grammatico is doing a lot of nice things for us. He hit a big three in the corner there when they're making a little bit of a run. So you know, they do some things on the court that don't maybe necessarily show up on the scoreboard but did their part.

"We've got like eight-man rotation going right now and they're part of their rotation and it's important that they can get (Andrew) Francis and Caeden and McFollins some rest."

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The Elba Lancers stepped on the gas in the final two minutes of their championship game in the Lions Tournament, smaller schools' bracket, against Oakfield-Alabama for a 69-61 win.

The intense play of Colton Dillon (top photo), tournament MVP, and Jon Boyce overcame a 30-point performance by Joey Burdick for the Hornets.

Dillon scored 18 points and Boyce scored 17. 

This was Dillon's third game back after missing the start of the season with an injury. He may have been the difference maker Friday night.

"He's such a dynamic athlete," Coach Ciaci Zambito said. "I mean the things that he can do you really can't coach. I'm super lucky to have a kid like that. The other thing is, he is one of the hardest working kids I've ever even been around or let alone coached. You've got to kick him out of the gym every day and on Sunday mornings. He will text me tomorrow morning asking to get in the gym. I can guarantee that."

Boyce, who has the big man on the court in Dillon's absence, said having Dillon back is one more piece of team chemistry that keeps the unit rolling.

"This is a team sport," Boyce said. "You can't do it by yourself. Every night, sharing the ball, taking care of each other you always. It's not just one person that can do it all. We're all fighting. We all know our role. Coach talked a lot about roles before the game. The whole season he's been preaching it. We all know our role."

Zambito gave O-A Coach Ryan Stehlar and the Hornets a lot of credit. He knew they would be a tough matchup and he had to have his guys ready.

"We really needed to match their intensity tonight," Zambito said. They play real hard and that's a testament to their coach. When we play Oakfield, we always know that we're going to get their best shot. He always has them ready to go.

"The second thing, as far as a scheme goes, we needed to get back in transition. They push the ball really well even after makes, which is rare for a high school team. They really get down the floor well. So we needed to come back and be ready to play defense."

Besides Burdick's big night (he hit five three-point shots), Travis Wiedrich scored 14 points for O-A.

Elba outscored the Hornets 22-13 in the final quarter. 

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Brynn Walczak had a big night for the Elba in girls basketball against Perry, leading a second-half rally that secured a 61-40 victory for the Lancers.

Walczak scored 23 points, hitting 10 of 15 shots and pulling down seven rebounds.

Coach Tom Redband said she "brought a lot of energy" in the second half.

Leah Bezon had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Maddie Muehlig scored eight points and also stole the ball from opponents seven times.

For Perry, Chelsea Pascoe also had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Lily Jaques scored 10 points and Auburn Milholien scored eight. 

“Our first two quarters were competitive," said Perry Coach Courtney Bell. "We executed and worked hard to keep it close. Once we lost steam it was hard to close the point gap. We played a good game and need to keep our level of play high.”

In other Friday games in girls basketball: 

• Alexander 50, Wilson 48
• Oakfield-Alabama 47, Cal-Mum 35
• Pembroke 60, Rochester Academy 35
• Le Roy 46, Byron-Bergen 43
• Pavilion 50, Barker 40
• No report available for the Notre Dame game.

Batavia ran away with its opening round game against Roy-Hart in the larger schools bracket of the Lions Club Tournament at Genesee Community College on Thursday night, winning 73-27. 

Mason McFollins, recently returned to the lineup, scored 15 points. Tyivon Ayala scored 13 points, all in the fourth quarter, and Caeden White, also recently cleared to play, scored 12 points. Camden White scored eight.

The Batavia Blue Devils tip off against the Attica Blue Devils in the larger school bracket at 8:30 tonight.

Photos by Steve Ognibene. To view or purchase photos, click here.

Oakfield-Alabama came back from a nearly game-long deficit late in the fourth quarter to tie its opening round game against Notre Dame in the Lions Tournament smaller schools bracket to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets went on to win in overtime, 73-68.

Joey Burdick scored 21 points for OA, with Travis Wiedrich scoring 17, Aiden Johnston, 16, and Ty Kornow, 15.

For Notre Dame, Gabe McDonald had a double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Spencer Misiti scored 12 points and Keith Szczepanski scored nine points.

In the smaller school bracket championship tonight at 7 p.m., the Hornets will play Elba.

Photos by Steve Ognibene. To view or purchase photos, click here.

At the half, it looked like anybody's game but over the final two quarters, Elba took over in its Lions Club Tournament opening-round game against Mount Morris in the smaller schools bracket.

The Lancers topped Mount Morris 63-53.

Colton Dillon scored 25 points and Jon Boyce added 20 for Elba.

For Mount Morris, Dylan Cicero and Collin Young scored 15 points each.

Elba will face Oakfield-Alabama in tonight's smaller school bracket championship at 7 o'clock.

 

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Le Roy kept things close against Attica in the first round of the larger school bracket of the Lions Club Tournament at Genesee Community College on Thursday but fell short, taking a 50-45 loss.

The Knights' Reece Tresco led all scorers with 15 points while Attica's Dawson Nelson scored 14 points. Tresco had seven rebounds and Nelson had nine.

For Le Roy, Ethan Smith scored 12 points and for Attica, Frankie Bisceglie, Devon Henderson, and Ayden Goll had eight each and Tyler Meyer scored seven points.

It will be Blue Devils vs. Blue Devils as Attica and Batavia battle it out for the larger school bracket championship at 8:30 tonight at the GCC Anthony Zambito Gym.

The Lions Club is offering several souvenirs for fans and players at the game for the first time. Below, LeeAnn Mullen and Hal Mitchell share what is being offered at the concession stand.

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Clutch long-range shooting by guards Ryann Stefaniak and Bryn Wormley and an inspired effort on both ends of the floor by forward Emma Krolczyk sparked the Batavia High Lady Devils to a 60-58 victory over visiting Honeoye Falls-Lima tonight in Monroe County Division 4 girls basketball action.

Batavia held a 23-9 led midway through the second quarter and looked like it might run away from the Cougars, now 3-6 overall. But HF-L, taking advantage of three fouls on Stefaniak and forward Jenae Colkey, finished the half on a 15-4 run to close within four.

HF-L's freshman center Teagan Kamm found the range from inside in the third quarter, scoring 12 of her game-high 25 points to offset eight points by Stefaniak, who sank a pair of three-point field goals.

Another three-pointer by Stefaniak gave Batavia a 44-41 lead early in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Devils stayed in front although HF-L closed within 53-52 with 2:30 to play.

At that point, Wormley drained a three-pointer and, following another basket by Kamm, Krolczyk hit a side jumper at the 1:02 mark to give the Lady Devils a 58-54 edge. Brown responded with another layup to make it 58-56 and, after a BHS miss, HF-L had a chance to tie it.

Krolczyk rebounded an errant shot, however, to give the ball back to Batavia and then Wormley sank a pair of free throws with 8 seconds left to make it 60-56. Brown’s layup at the buzzer closed the scoring.

Stefaniak, who played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls, led Batavia with 21 points – 16 in the second half -- while Wormley tallied seven of her 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Krolczyk scored 14 points and was active on the defensive and offensive boards, getting second-chance opportunities.

Senior forward Kara Oatman had 12 points and sophomore guard Hannah Selke eight for HF-L.

Both teams struggled at the foul line, with Batavia going 5-for-15 and HF-L making eight of 21.

Batavia’s next game is Jan. 2 against Caledonia-Mumford in the Rotary Club Tournament at Genesee Community College.

Ray Leach's list of records is impressive:

• Section V single season, rushing yards, 3,012;
• Section V single season, touchdowns, 49;
• Section V single season, points scored, 310;
• Section V career record, rushing yards, 6,023;
• Section V career touchdowns, 111;
• Section V career points, 720;
• State playoff record for yards rushing, 474;
• State playoff record for touchdowns, 8 (twice);
• State playoff record for points scored, 50.

So it's no surprise that Leach has been named Football Player of the Year for All-Greater Rochester by the Democrat & Chronicle.

Brennan Briggs, who coached his fourth team in the past five years to a Section V championship. This season was the first time a Briggs-coached team reached the state championship game. 

Also making first team: Joshua Barber and Ethan Biscaro. Taiyo Iburi-Bethel was named to the second team. Alex Rood, Joe Martinucci and Andrew Francis all received honorable mention.

Chris McClinic, Alexander, also made second team. Honorable mentions went to Terrez Smith, Ty Woods, Dylan Busch, Jake Jasen, Ethan Heineman and Hayden Walton.

Honorable mention for Notre Dame: Gabe MacDonald, Keith Szczepanski, Mason Randall, Tim Klotzbach, Tyler Totten.

Honorable mention for Pembroke: Theodore Pintabona, Colby Cerasani, Trent Smith, Trevor Vaughn.

Honorable mention in eight-man football for Oakfield-Alabama/Elba: Colton Dillon, Gage Dieterle, Ty Mott, Kyle Magliocco, Peyton Yasses, Seth Sepalla.

First team in other fall sports:

• Lukas Milligan, Pavilion, boys volleyball
• Maiya Reinhart, Batavia, girls swimming

The high scores keep rolling in at Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion.

In the Sneezy's Monday Night League last week, proprietor Randy Hanks recorded his second 300 game in four weeks -- 300-259-228--787, and in the Friday Night Mixers League, Curtis Foss posted 278-248-275--801.

At Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen, Chris Bardol registered a 299 game en route to a 780 series in the Tuesday G&W Vending League.

For a list of high scores from the Genesee Region, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Mike Pettinella's next Pin Points column is scheduled for this Thursday.

Merry Christmas to all!

Sophomore guard Bryn Wormley scored 17 points, including two key three-point baskets midway through the third quarter, to spark the Batavia High Lady Devils girls basketball team to a 47-38 victory tonight over host Greece Odyssey in Monroe County Division 4 action.

Batavia, 4-1 overall, led 26-12 on a layup by Wormley to start the third quarter before Odyssey, 3-4, scored six straight to cut the lead to eight.

That’s when Wormley found the range from three-point distance twice to put Batavia up 32-20.

The Lady Devils finished the quarter strong on a short jumper by senior forward Jenae Colkey and three-point shot and driving layup by sophomore guard Mackenzie Reigle to take a 39-22 advantage into the final period.

Odyssey outscored Batavia 16-8 in the fourth quarter, with junior forward Treanna Blenman tallying six of her 17 points.

For Batavia, senior guard Ryann Stefaniak added 12 points (all in the first half) and Reigle also had 12 (nine in the second half). Senior center Meghan Houseknecht rounded out the scoring with four.

Reigle had three steals, Stefaniak blocked three shots and junior forward Emma Krolczyk grabbed six rebounds.

Batavia returns home to face Honeoye Falls-Lima on Dec. 27.