"A nice way to start sectionals," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "The girls got off to a great start and never looked back. All 13 players got involved and played well."
The Hornets, the #5 seed, take on #4 Arkport-Canaseraga at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Canaseraga for the quarterfinal game.
Photo of conference championships at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island courtesy of East Coast Conference.
By Connor Beagle
This past weekend saw Roberts Wesleyan University Senior Zachary Hall defend his East Coast Conference title in the 5000 meter run with a time of 15:54.00. Hall would go on to earn 1st-Team All-Conference honors in the 5000 meter run, and 2nd-Team All-Conference honors for his 4th place finish in the 3000 meter run.
Despite battling injuries earlier in the season Hall was prepared to take on any challenge he needed to for his team who ended up placing 2nd overall at the conference championships. Prior to the East Coast Conference Indoor Championships in Staten Island, New York Hall had only raced three times throughout the indoor season, following a successful final cross-country season, in which he won the East Coast Conference Championships. Hall opened his season at Grand Valley State University with a sub 15 min 5000 meter run (14:59.41) before heading into the holiday break.
It wouldn’t be until January 30 until Hall would return to action for the Redhawks. At the RIT Thursday Invitational Hall would win the mile with a time of 4:36.21. The following week Hall would race at the Brockport Multi Invitational and take 7th in the mile, running 4:29.87 in preparation for a busy weekend at the Ocean Breeze Complex where the indoor conference championships would be held.
Last season Hall won the 5000 meter run and placed 2nd in the 3000 meter run at the indoor conference championships. Hall also won the 5000 meter run and placed 2nd in the 1500 meter run during the outdoor season.
With the goal of winning a team conference title this indoor season, Hall’s speed would be needed on the track for the Redhawks. Hall would follow behind John Ray of Queens College (NY) for most of the 5000 meter run, before overtaking him in the final 100 meter of the race to defend his title and earn 10 points for the Redhawks.
Next up for Hall was the 3000 meter run, where again he would finish ahead of John Ray of Queens College (N.Y.) and behind fellow Redhawks Trevor Heitkamp (2nd place) and Owen White who would end up winning the event. Despite Hall’s 14 points, the Redhawks would finish 2nd overall behind Holy Family University.
Hall will look to take his successful Senior season into the outdoor season and hope to lead his team to a third straight outdoor conference title. Hall and his co-stars on the Redhawks distance squad have managed to be nationally ranked in the top 25 of the 5000 meter run event squad rankings that USTFCCCA puts out each week, coming in at the #25 spot this past week.
This season the Redhawks have been ranked as high as 14th in the 5000 meter event squad rankings. Hall has also been recognized this season by the East Coast Conference, being named to the ECC Honor Roll earlier in the season.
Hall and the Redhawks will look to finish out their season at Houghton University on February 22 and Boston University on March 2 before the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in mid March.
"This was a great opportunity for my team to see a very good opponent on the college floor at GCC," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "It's great preparation as we prepare for Sectionals next week.
"This is the 2nd year of the GR/NO Showcase. It is a great event. Many thanks to GCC for hosting the girls' event."
Allie Williams scored a career-high 21 points as Oakfield-Alabama beat Wheatland-Chili 69-23 in Girls Basketball on Thursday.
Williams also had 16 rebounds.
Remaining O-A stats:
Piper Hyde, 14 points, 4 steals, 3 assists
Raine Denny, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Allison Harkness, 8 points
Emma Moeller, 5 points
Rylee Denny, 4 points, 5 assists
Alea Groff-- 4 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals
Aimee Demmer-- 2 points
Alexa Clark 1 point, 7 rebounds
"This was a great win and a wonderful way to celebrate our three seniors (Piper Hyde, Jess Sosnowski and Alea Groff) on Senior Night, said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "They have meant so much to our program The girls played a really strong final 3 quarters at both ends of the floor.
He added, "Coach Annis had his girls ready to play. They are a very young group that will be a very good team in the near future."
The Hornets overcame a slow offensive start to eventually beat Lyndonville in Girls Basketball on Tuesday.
After scoring only 13 points in the first half, to 11 for the Tigers, Oakfield-Alabama put up 19 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth for a 43-29 win.
"While we struggled offensively in the first half, we played outstanding defense from start to finish," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "Our offense got going in the 3rd quarter, and the good defense continued. Lyndonville is well-coached, and I was pleased with how my kids responded after two very tough games last week."
Notre Dame beat Oakfield-Alabama in overtime in Girls Basketball on Thursday 53-51.
The Hornet's Piper Hyde hit the game-tying three with 2 seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime.
Sofia Falleti led the Irish with a team-high 19 points and five rebounds. Also contributing for the Irish were Shirley Thompson with 9 points, six rebounds, Lucia Fiorentino with 8 points, six rebounds, and Gianna Falleti with 7 points and three steals.
Scoring for O-A:
Piper Hyde, 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals
Alea Grof, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals
Allie Williams, 10 points, 9 rebounds
Allison Harkness, 6 points, 3 assists
Alexa Clark, 3 points, 9 rebounds
“Tremendous GR win for us tonight in overtime," said Coach Vinny Falleti. "It was a battle the whole game back and forth with a very well-coached, balanced OA team. Our girls never gave up and kept fighting on offense and defense. The whole team contributed."
At Wednesday's basketball game between Notre Dame and Oakfield-Alabama at O-A, a song with crude language was apparently played during a break in the action.
Videos provided to The Batavian indicate some sort of confrontation between a couple of adults who attended the game and O-A Superintendent John Fisgus. One video is blurry with no discernable audio, and the other is very short with no significant statements, so it's hard to say what happened.
A person who complained to The Batavian about the incident said the song contained racial slurs.
Fisgus issued the following letter to members of both school communities and in response to a request from The Batavian for a comment on the incident, provided it to The Batavian.
Dear Notre Dame High School and Oakfield-Alabama School Communities,
On behalf of the Oakfield-Alabama School District, I sincerely apologize for an event that occurred during the Varsity Men's Basketball game on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, in our gymnasium. After the game concluded, I was approached by some concerned parents who brought to my attention the inappropriate lyrics of a song played during the contest.
Upon further investigating this situation, I confirmed that the song contained very inappropriate lyrics and language and should never have been played. Please know that this song's selection was unintentional, and I am utterly embarrassed that this occurred.
Again, my sincerest apologies to all the attendees and fans who showed up to root for their children and respective teams that evening. Our school and its environment is a place where everyone should feel respected, valued, and safe. Please know that we will have extra measures in place to prevent this situation from occurring again.
My sincerest apologies to anyone affected or hurt by these actions. We look forward to having the Notre Dame School Community at future events on our campus.
The Girls Basketball squads for Elba and Oakfield-Alabama played with a purpose on Tuesday in memory of Jordyn Torrey Augello.
The "Playing with a Purpose" "game is a fundraiser that honors Augello, a 2005 graduate of Elba remembered to her contributions to the community as a basketball player, coach, and advocate for the community's youth. She passed away in 2017.
The Lancers beat the Hornets for the second time this season. The score was 54-42.
It was a big night for O-A's Alea Groff, however, who scored 16 points and became the program's all-time leader in three-pointers, sinking her 127 shot from beyond the arch. Kylie Schlagenhauf was the former record holder.
Scoring for Elba:
Sydney Reilly, 18 points
Brea Smith, 11 points
Lydia Ross, 9 points
For O-A:
Alea Groff, 6 points, 5 steals
Piper Hyde, 8 points, 7 rebounds
Alexa Clark, 5 points, 7 rebounds
Jessica Sosnowski, 5 points
Rylee Denny, 3 points, 5 rebounds
"I'm Really proud of my kids' effort tonight," said O-A Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "Elba is an excellent basketball team. We were able to cut the lead to 42-40 with about 4 minutes to go. They made a few more shots down the stretch, but I can't say enough about how hard my girls competed tonight."
The Jordyn Torrey Augello Memorial Foundation supports individuals with cancer and their families, as well as local youth athletic programs.
A great team win from start to finish," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "We were able to force a number of turnovers that led to some easy baskets in the first half."
"Great team win with balanced scoring and contributions from all 10 players," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "We played well offensively in the second half, and defensively, we played well for 32 minutes."
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."
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."
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."
