Carter Mullen going for two points last evening on Batavia's home court vs Marcus Whitman. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Batavia's offense sizzled against Marcus Whitman on Wednesday leading to a 63-36 win at home.
Casey Mazur scored 17 points for the Blue Devils, Gavin White, 15, Carter Mullen, 14, Justin Smith, 7, and Ty Gioia, 6.
Mazur hit five three-pointers.
"We're trying to become an inside-first team with Gavin and Justin," said Coach Buddy Brasky. "We normally have an advantage with at least one of them on the inside, so we're trying to play through the post, get them scoring early, and then when the other team makes an adjustment and tries to double down and sag in on them, we go inside out, and that leads to some open threes, and the guys are starting to get it, and it's working for us."
Batavia’s next home game is Friday at 7:15 p.m. vs. Eastridge
A win on Friday would be Batavia head coach Buddy Brasky’s 500th career win.
Genesee County girls basketball teams face one another at Batavia High School Tuesday night. Batavia picks up it's first win at home on the season. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Batavia's young team often struggles in the fourth quarter, said Head Coach John McCulley, but on Tuesday against Oakfield-Alabama, the Lady Devils battled through to help them secure a 54-50 victory.
"Our lack of experience and age has shown," McCulley said. "Tonight was a different story. The girls fought through a late run by O-A in the fourth quarter and held tough; they literally grew up in front of me."
Batavia held on despite being outscored in the fourth 17-14.
"Tonight was a very tough game from tip to horn," McCulley said. "I always enjoy playing Jeff (Schlagenhauf, O-A head coach) and his girls because I know it will be a battle. We had to keep mixing up defenses to keep the pressure up. We were successful at times but gave up a few too many three-pointers."
"I want to give a big shout-out to the JV girls that had to come up to varsity due to a lack of numbers," McCulley said. "This was the first week we were all together, and the way they pushed us in practice was a big reason we won our first game of the season."
Wind, snow and single-digit wind chills set the stage for racing at Batavia Downs on Monday (Jan. 20) afternoon. But despite those conditions, Magical Mistress delivered the goods in the $9,500 featured pace for fillies and mares.
Magical Mistress (Kyle Cummings) got away second behind the 49-1 Hurrikane Msrodine (Denny Bucceri) who left from post eight and led the field to the half in 1:01. Legal Jeopardy (Dave McNeight III) moved first-over and joined the fray at that point and momentarily took the lead at three-quarters, but never crossed over. At that same station, Magical Mistress vacated the pegs and followed Legal Jeopardy around the last turn, before tipping clear at the top of the lane. There, Magical Mistress dug hard and passed three peers in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length in 2:01.3.
Magical Mistress ($4.40) is owned by Michael Milazzo and trained by Candace Brandstatter-Hall, who also won with Flames Of Fire (2:02.2, $4.20) later in the card.
Drivers Brett Beckwith and Drew Monti and trainer Rachelle Mungillo all registered three wins apiece on the card during the proceedings.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Jan. 23) at 3:00 p.m. and there will be a carryover of $696 in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 15th race.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.
Alexander improved to 9-2 on the season with a 64-61 win over Oakfield-Alabama in Boys Basketball.
The Hornets, after trailing throughout the first three quarters, mounted a charge in the fourth, scoring 23 points to 11 for the Trojans, but still came up short.
Dylan Pohl scored 24 points for Alexander and Kingston Woods scored 18.
"I’m very proud of the fight the boys had tonight," said Hornets Coach Ryan Stehlar. "It was a great Friday night high-school basketball atmosphere. We need to learn from this loss and move on to the next game."
Notre Dame beat Attica in Girls Basketball on Thursday 44-23.
The Lady Irish improved to 8-4
The Irish were led by Sofia Falleti, who scored 18 points and had 9 rebounds. Shirley Thompson pitched in 8 points and 6 rebounds. Clairissa Milliman and Penny Jo Thompson had 6 points each.
Although he was a seven-time victor last year, Primo Uomo hasn’t visited the winner's enclosure since October 26 at Vernon Downs. But that all changed on Thursday (Jan. 16) at Batavia Downs as he lived up to his name as was truly the best man among his male pacing peers in the featured $13,000 Open Handicap feature on a night that was hampered by cold temperatures and heavy snow.
Those intense winter weather conditions would continue throughout the night and necessitate the cancellation of racing after the sixth race, out of extreme caution for the safety of the horses and participating horsemen and women.
Primo Uomo (Joe Chindano Jr.) got away seventh while Runrunjimmydunn N (Kevin Cummings) led the race and reached the half unchallenged in 1:00.4. Lip Reader A (Drew Monti) then came first-over from fifth and drew alongside Runrunjimmydunn N at three-quarters after a brisk :28.3 sprint up the backstretch, while Primo Uomo was tracking from fifth, third-over in the breeze.
With the leaders battling for control, Primo Uomo continued to gain ground in the final turn and was third and closing fast at the top of the stretch. As the race straightened for home, Runrunjimmydunn N and lip Reader A were still nose to nose, but Primo Uomo found room in the middle of the lane and powered by them both to win by 1-¾ lengths in 1:58.
It was the 25th career win for Primo Uomo ($14.20), who is owned by Chris and Dale Lawton and trained by David Dewhurst.
In the fourth race, the 13-year-old pacing gelding Silverhill Blaze (Dave McNeight III, $21,80) notched the 55th win of his career after crossing the line in 2:00 flat. That win was one of three wins on the abbreviated card for driver Dave McNeight III, who registered a natural hat trick in races two, three and four.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Monday (Jan. 20) at 3 p.m.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.
Oakfield-Alabama's 12-point fourth quarter, compared to just six points for Byron-Bergen, helped the Hornets to a narrow victory in Boys Basketball on Wednesday.
The Hornets were up 44-42 at the closing buzzer.
Stats for O-A:
Avery Watterson, 13 points, 7 rebounds
Jack Cianfrini, 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals (Had the go ahead basket with 40 seconds left in the game.)
Brady Williams, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Carson Warner, 8 rebounds, 2 steals
For B-B:
Andre White, 14 points
Noah Clare, 11 points
Cole DiQuattro, 9 points
O-A coach Ryan Stehlar said, "The team had to dig deep tonight multiple times during a tough battle. Coach Roxanne Noeth is a great coach, and her team plays hard. We had to try and match their intensity. We were fortunate to get big stops and make key plays to get the win. I’m proud of the guys for stepping up tonight when called on."
Oakfield-Alabama beat Byron-Bergen in Girls Basketball on Tuesday 50-46.
For the Hornets:
Alea Groff, 16 points, 3 steals
Allie Williams, 12 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks
Allison Harkness, 10 points, 6 rebounds 2 blocks
Alexa Clark, 5 points, 13 reb
Jess Sosnowksi, 4 points
Piper Hyde, 2 points, 6 assists
For the Bees:
Janessa Amesbury. 22 points
Olivia Senf, 11 points
Riley Shallenverger, 8 points
"A great high school basketball game between two very good teams playing at a high level," said OA Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "Rick (Krzewinski) always has his teams ready to play. They are so well-coached. It was a great win for our kids against a very good basketball team.
"Our defense really stepped up in the fourth quarter," he added. "We got some great contributions from Alexa Clark and Allison Harkness and Alea Groff. Allie Williams had a huge offensive fourth quarter for us."
Notre Dame improved to 7-4 on Tuesday with a 53-33 win over Kendall in Girls Basketball.
Sofia Falleti led the Irish with a 30-point and 15-rebound double-double while adding four steals. Also contributing was Shirley Thompson with 9 points and 7 rebounds and Lucia Fiorentino with 4 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals.
“This was a good bounce-back game for us. Everyone contributed both on offense and defense tonight. The team really worked well against a solid Kendall defense,” said Coach Vinny Falleti
