basketball

You may remember a story we did on the five former Batavia High players that are playing college basketball a few weeks back. I figured with the teams on Christmas break, now is a good time for an update.

 Michael Chmielowiec scored 19 points in the University of Rochester's final game before the Christmas break on Dec. 9. The former Batavia star and UofR senior helped his team beat Hobart 73-67.

Rochester is now 6-2 and Chmielowiec is averaging 20.3 points per game. He has been the leading scorer in all but one game this season.

Kevin Saunders scored 15 points and and had a team-high seven rebounds to lead his Fredonia basketball team to a 69-61 win over Medaille in Fredonia's final game before the break. The Blue Devils are 7-2 and is second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game.

Roberts Wesleyan recently knocked off two Division II schools at the Mercyhurst Classic. The Raiders are 8-2 and Anderson is averaging 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

Geneseo is off to a 5-2 start and Mike Hoy is averaging 18 points per game as a freshman, scoring 2.1 points per game. He also has nine assists and six steals.

Adam Brasky and his KIng's College team went into the Christmas break with a 66-54 loss to Miseri. Brasky scored eight points in the game as the Monarchs fall to 4-5. Brasky is averaging 2.9 points per game and has dished out 13 assists this year.

The Pembroke girls basketball team had an impressive win over a Livonia team that has had a rough go at the start of the season, earning a 43-36 home victory.

Nicole Sharick had a huge game for the Dragons, scoring 13 of her season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, while grabbing seven rebounds with three steals.

Laura Moser hit all four free throw attempts in the fourth quarter - and went 8-of-8 in the game - while snagging six steals.

Jackie Dubois added six points for the Dragons (5-2).

Kassie Pope had 16 poins and Jackie Minnnehan added seven for Livonia (1-4).

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Mike Humphrey dropped in 23 points to lead Le Roy to a 66-32 drubbing of Warsaw.  He scored all 15 Oatkan Knight points in the first quarter.

Travis Fenstermaker and Cody Niccloy had eight points apiece for Le Roy (3-2).

Travis White had 12 points for Warsaw (0-6).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Channel 13 has an excellent video talking about coaches Jim Burke of Prattsburgh and Mike Rapone of Notre Dame.

The two matched up against each other on Saturday, and we had some pretty solid coverage on The Batavian.

I would recommend checking out the two videos at the end of my post because I have the complete pregame presentation and interviews with both coaches about the great rivalry.

But if you are interested in this topic, make sure you check this story out. 

Another cool angle to this piece is that the anchor is Chuck Wade, who is the son of Batavia girls basketball coach Bill Wade and a Notre Dame grad.

Chris Suozzi sent me an e-mail with some exciting news for the young basketball players in the area.

The St. Joseph's fifth grade team is 5-1 while playing in the Rochester CYO league, a very impressive start to the season when you consider the level of competition those kids are playing.

Suozzi is the head coach and is assisted by Larry Hale and Tony Gallo.

Here are some results from some recent games.

St. Joseph's 44 Nazareth 20

Every scored for St. Joseph's 5th grade team.  CJ Suozzi and Case Midwick had 12 points each,, Tyler Hale and Trevor Sherwood had 6 points each., Anthony Gallo, Connor Logsdon, Jacob Hale, Anthony Sweet and Steven Ognibene each had a basket to help the team on to victory.


St. Joseph's 37  Peace of Christ Gates 36 OT

Tyler Hale made his first basket of the day count as the 5th grader scored the key bucket in overtime.  Also, scoring for St. Josephs;s was Casey Midwick game high 14, CJ Suozzi 13, Anthony Gallo 6, Trevor Sherwood and Alex Canty 2 pts each.


St. Joseph's 35 Holy Cross 23

Trevor Sherwood lead the way with 8 points, followed by CJ Suozzi with 7 points, Tyler Hale with 6 points, Alex Canty, Jacob Hale and Anthony Gallo with 4 points each, and Casey Midwick 2 points.

St. Josephs 30 vs St. Margeret Mary 29.

This was a Hoosiers story.  St. Margeret Mary had the height and the lead every quarter up until the last 3.2 seconds.
St. Joe's called the "picket fence" play. Alex Canty placed a perfect pick, Casey Midwick placed a perfect pass to CJ Suozzi who came off the pick,  he took a couple of dribbles to free himself, let the shot go from the top of the key, the buzzard sounded and the ball swished through the basket for a bench clearing win!  CJ Suozzi lead St. Joes with 12 points, Tyler Hale 6 points, Cassey Midwick and Trevor Sherwood - 4 points each,  Jacob Hale and Anthony Gallo 2 points each.
 

 The first edition of the New York State Sportswriters rankings are out today and some of our teams are getting some pretty impressive rankings. 

The two Genesee Region League squads with state rankings are really up there. Oakfield-Alabama and its 5-0 record has earned the fourth-seed in Class C. The latest win for the Hornets was an impressive 76-43 win over a very good Pembroke team.

Notre Dame handled Prattsburgh 60-53 on Saturday night and are also ranked fourth, in Class D. The Fighting Irish are 4-0.

Batavia is coming off a loss to Pittsford Sutherland on Wednesday, 69-57, and are ranked 19th in Class A. Sutherland is 13th. Batavia has a 4-1 record.

 Tate Westermeier continues to be one of the top guards in the Genesee Region League, and he delivered a huge win for his Attica boys basketball team over their biggest league rival, Alexander.

Westermeier scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter and added 6 rebounds in the game as the Blue Devils won 42-36.

The win helps Attica improve to 3-0 in the league - keeping them right with Oakfield-Alabama at the top of Division I - and 4-2 overall.

Craig Wolfley added eight points for Attica.

Troy Shulnut led the Trojans (2-4) with eight points, with Kyle Woodruff and Andy Bittner adding six each.

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Pat O'Keefe dropped in 15 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter as Pittsford Sutherland outscored Batavia 25-17 to take home a 69-57 win.

Wayne Dillworth had 12 boards and eight assists to go with his four points and Dylan Sherwood added 20 points for Sutherland (4-0).

Andrew Hoy had 24 points and Josh Budlong added 11 for the Blue Devils, who fall to 4-1.

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The Lancers gave Notre Dame its stiffest test of the season so far, but the Fighting Irish still came away with an impressive 65-41 win on the road.

Kevin Francis had 20 points and Matt Thompson added 12, including three 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Fighting Irish had a 22-11 advantage.

Gregg Barr added 10 points for Notre Dame (3-0).

Phil Ostroski had 12 points and Sonny Giuliano added nine points with eight boards for the Lancers (2-3).

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Brian Mitchell guided his Holley basketball team to its first victory of the season with 24 points and four blocked shots, giving the Hawks a 50-36 victory over Byron-Bergen.

John Wharram and Chad Barhytt did the work on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds apiece.

Kurtis Fannon had 11 points for the Bees (1-4).

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In what Batavia coach Rick Stewart called the battle for the league title, his Blue Devils fell short.

Brighton beat host Batavia 35-28 in Batavia to knock the Blue Devils out of the ranks of the unbeatens.

Josh Mase, Nick Lazarony, Joe Muoio, Troy Ireland, Anthony D'Aurizio and Ryan Darch had the Batavia wins, but it wasn't enough.

 With Pembroke and Oakfield-Alabama as the talks of Division I in the Genesee Region League at the start of the season, Wednesday's early season contest was obviously a key one.

The Hornets have established themselves as the team to beat after thumping the Dragons 76-43 to improve to 5-0.

They keys to the win were as simple as playing an up-tempo style of defense designed to keep Pembroke's Andrew Wright from getting good looks and limiting Andy Gabbey's 3-point attempts.

Mission accomplished.

Wright was held to just 12 points and Gabbey did not connect on a basket in the contest.

After Ken Babcock and Wright had consecutive baskets early in the game, O-A's Brad Riner hit his second 3-pointer to tie the score at 8.

Babcock and Noah Seward exchanged buckets, then Seward added a couple more before Tim Smith scored seven points to give the Hornets a 23-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Riner hit another 3-pointer and then A.J. Kehlenbeck dropped in a basket to make it 30-20 midway through the second quarter.

Pembroke got within six, but Seward had consecutive baskets and Smith hit another 3-pointer to give O-A the 37-24 lead at intermission.

The Hornets quickly made the game a 50-26 blowout in the third quarter with Chris Bucceri, Smith and Riner having big periods.

Smith had 14 points and Seward added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets, who are 3-0 in the league and 5-0 overall. Riner had 13 points and Chris Bucceri pitched in eight points and seven dimes.

Babcock had 11 points and Steve Moser added 10 points for the Dragons (4-3).

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sutherland falls to 4-3.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Margaret LeFleur had nine points to lead Attica.

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

Julie Brooks scored 16 points for the Hawks.

A huge third quarter run helped the Notre Dame girls basketball team take a 10-point advantage, which they held on to for a long time.

But there is never any quit in the Elba girls team.

The Lancers pressed their way to a comeback victory in the fourth quarter, stunning the host Fighting Irish 54-51.

Notre Dame had a 10-point advantage with 4 1/2 minutes left when Jill Marshall - an Elba transfer - scored a basket.

But the Lancers chipped away as Cassy Engle and Julie Webster hit consecutive baskets.

After Sarah Schwartzmeyer dropped in a pair of free throws, Notre Dame's lead was cut to 47-43.

It became even tighter when eighth-grader McKenzie Bezon drained a 3-pointer to get the Lancers within a point. Notre Dame traveled on the their next possession and Elba took the lead for good on a Julie Marshall two-pointer.

Webster followed with a put-back basket and a free throw and another foul shot.

Webster scored again, but the Fighting Irish were not about to quit at this point, in front of their home crowd.

Jill Marshall had a steal and a basket, then stole anouther inbounds pass with 12 seconds left on the clock.

She hit both free throws and Elba led 54-51.

Notre Dame's defense caused a turnover with 5.4 seconds remaining, but Nichole Hart chucked up a long 3-pointer that hit the back of the rim and bounced out, giving the Lancers the huge victory over their biggest rival.

Bezon's 3-pointer was one of the biggest baskets of the game, but she had a whole bunch of them. It's safe to say that without her game-high 18 points, Elba does not improve to 3-1.

Webster had 10 points and Schwartzmeyer added nine.

Notre Dame's Jill Marshall outscored her sister Julie 13-4, but her squad falls to 2-1 with the defeat.

Brittany Morelli led the Fighting Irish with 14 points with Liz Geandreau adding 10 points.

The Batavia boys basketball team will be holding its annual alumni game on Saturday, Dec. 29 at the high school.

The game will begin at 4 p.m. with a player, family and friends social at Ri-Dans Sports Park following the game. 

Anybody interested in playing should contact Mike Glow at 585-813-8819 or by e-mail at michaelglow21@hotmail.com.

 Yes, the season is very early. But the current Genesee Region League standings are out and the top teams are getting their due.

Oakfield-Alabama already has a big lead in Division I, with a 4-0 record. Pembroke and Attica follow with a 3-2 record.

Notre Dame is 2-0 and lead Division II. Elba is in second at 2-2.

There is a ton of basketball left to be played, but the Hornets and Fighting Irish have impressive leads early on.

I was just checking out the first edition of the Democrat & Chronicle polls for winter sports, and I'm very confused by the small school boys basketball one.

This is the poll in question.

Small schools
Rank/team
1. Bishop Kearney
2. Finney
3. Letichworht
4. Wellsviell
5. Oakfield-Alabama
6. Penn Yan
7. Dansville
8. Gananda
9. Dundee
10. Livonia
(tie) Marion

(not typos, this is directly from the D&C Web site)

I think the D&C does a great job with high school sports coverage, but I'm one of the first people to always question the lack of small school athletes that make the All-Greater Rochester teams. There is proof that they focus on the larger schools with these rankings.

First off, Letchworth is 4-1 and has a very good basketball team. I have the utmost respect for coach Tim McMullen. But how do they get a No. 3 ranking?

The Indians have a loss and are one of four Livingston Conference teams to make the top 10. Livingston is a decent basketball league, but the Genesee Region League is probably much stronger this season.

The only GR squad to make the list is Oakfield-Alabama at No. 5. The Hornets are stacked this season and are off to a 4-0 start. Surely the Hornets deserve to be ranked higher than Letchworth.

And I don't see how Notre Dame can be totally left off this top 10 list.

The Fighting Irish have only played two games, but have won both in blowout fashion and are a very talented and deep team. Notre Dame is also one of the best teams in the history of Section 5, so I don't see how they can be left off.

The other glaring exception is Batavia, which is ranked sixth in the small school wrestling poll. If Batavia is considered a small school, then they should be right near the top of this list. As good as the top teams on that list are, if they have to play the Blue Devils, they are probably going to lose. Batavia plays schools like Pittsford Sutherland, Pittsford Mendon and Victor, and just won a tournament with two defending state champions.

D&C does a lot of things well, but these rankings basically forget that Genesee County is on the map.

Stacy Hein hit four critical foul shots in the last two minutes and scored eight points to lead the Batavia girls basketball team to a 42-38 win over host Victor Friday, recovering from its first loss of the season earlier this week.

Brittany Wormley led the squad with 13 points and Brittany Mazurkiewicz followed with 11 points and seven assists.

Jaycee Shirk had six points and eight boards for the Blue Devils (5-1).

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 Anni Lehtola, the foreign exchange student from Finland, had another big game for Alexander, scoring 19 points to lead the Trojans to a 57-47 win over Pembroke.

Katie Kochmanski pitched in 11 points while Anna Dominick and Nicki Laird added eight points apiece.

Kelsey Lewis led the Dragons (2-2) with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. Nicole Sharick scored a team-high 15 points.

Alexander is 3-1.

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Brynn Perfett was the leading scorer for Oakfield-Alabama with 11 points as the Hornets improved to 3-1 with a 46-28 win over Holley.

Dani Sage had seven points and 11 rebounds and Lindsay Chatt pitched in seven points.

Julie Brooks had 11 points for the Hawks (1-3).

 The Democrat & Chronicle released its Monroe County League girls basketball previews this morning, and took a little shot at the Batavia girls basketball team.

Wade will try to build a winner not far from his last head coaching job at Batavia Notre Dame, which he guided to the 1999 state title. He has some pieces to the puzzle, as evidenced by a 4-1 start, but the Blue Devils still aren't good enough to challenge the elite, such as Pittsford Mendon, which beat them 77-49.

The previews are quick and to the point, but gives you the basic information you need if you are interested in learning about the teams the Blue Devils will play during the regular season.

Wow.

The Notre Dame boys basketball team has only played two games so far this season, but they are looking like a major force in the Genesee Region League.

The Fighting Irish opened the season on Tuesday with a 92-36 romp over Lyndonville, and then followed it up with an 80-42 blasting of host Kendall Thursday night.

Senior Kevin Francis went off for 28 points and Matt Thompson added 19 points. 

Josh Laureano led the Eagles (1-2) with 21 points and eight assists.

The Fighting Irish improve to 2-0.

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Oakfield-Alabama is still perfect, improving to 4-0 with a 70-39 thrashing of Holley.

Noah Seward dropped in 13 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had five blocks and Brad Riner added four points and five dimes. Tyler Tamblin had 13 points and Chris Bucceri added 12.

Brian Mitchell had 12 points and Jeff Lutes added 11 for the Hawks.

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Pembroke rebounded from its crushing 52-48 loss to Attica earlier in the week with a 56-52 win over Alexander.

Ken Babcock scored 16 points and Steve Mosier added 15.

Troy Shelnut scored 18 points and Kyle Woodruff added 13 for the Trojans.

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Attica had a 20-6 advantage in the fourth quarter and came from behind to beat host Byron-Bergen 54-47.

Tate Westermeier, who sealed Tuesday's thrilling 52-48 win over Pembroke with a pair of free throws, poured in a game-high 19 points to pace the Blue Devils (3-2).

Brad Clark had 16 points and Bryan Thompson added eight.

Tyler Sass scored 20 points with Dan Madziarz adding eight rebounds and six points for the Bees (1-2).

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Sonny Guiliano scored a game-high 18 points and Phil Ostroski added nine as Elba evened up at 2-2 with a 46-38 win over Wheatland-Chili.

Garhett Varin had 12 points and Andy Lund added six points and 12 boards for the Wildcats (1-4).

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The Brighton/East Rochester/Honeoye Falls-Lima hockey team eased past Notre Dame's hockey team 5-1 as Trevor Hills scored twice and handed out an assist.

Jason Boike had three helpers and Kyle Van Thof added a goal with two assists.

Dylan Versage scored the only goal for the Fighting Irish, who fall to 2-2.

Brighton/ER/HF-L improves to 2-3.

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Jake Kuhn had a pin at 152 and Jon Casper had one at 215, but the Le Roy wrestling team lost to Albion 42-30.

Joe Blair (160 pounds), Mike Blank (189), Ryan Wells (96) and Colton Beecher (119) had pins for the Purple Eagles.

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The Notre Dame boys and girls swim team both suffered a loss to Harley-Allendale-Columbia.

The H-A-C boys won 100-70 as Henry Weaver won the 200 IM (2:18.05) and 100 backstroke (1:02.73).

The H-A-C girls won 90-77 as Megan Dens won the 500 freestyle (6:23.71) and the 200 freestyle (2:21.41).

 Andrew Hoy showed the maturity that a scoring leader needs to have, and Dakota Irvin continued his hot play as the Batavia boys basketball team came back from one of the biggest deficits the team has had in years to beat host Pittsford Mendon 51-50 Wednesday night.

"This is a group that had never really been behind like that, ever," Batavia coach Buddy Brasky said. "We were down 18 points and (assistant coach) Gene Cairo said that he's been with us for five years and he can't remember a game when we were down double figures before the half. To fall behind 18 points and believe we can win; that's why we are champions. We have the heart of champions."

Mendon had actually opened up a 28-10 lead in the first half before Hoy overcame a rough first half shooting the ball and hit a 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds left in the half to get Batavia to within 15.

Batavia only scored 13 points in the first half and went just 5-of-26 from the field. The Blue Devils only hit 3-of-18 3-point attempts.

"We knew we had to live or die by the jump shot and we were dying by it today," Brasky said. "We had wide open shots and couldn't knock them down. Our defense kept us in the game."

Hoy hit two 3-pointers early in the third quarter and Batavia wound up cutting the deficit to two points with four minutes left.

But Mendon opened it back up to a 10-point edge seconds later.

Brasky had went away from the full court press, but went back to it, and it paid off as Batavia had three straight turnovers that led to six points.

Irvin scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and is a big reason why the Blue Devils won the game.

"He's been a pleasant surprise," Brasky said. "He had a good offseason. He was playing well in the fall, but I didn't know if he'd be a starter. He earned it in the scrimmages. For him to come up so big early in the season has been a pleasent surprise."