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Batavia defeats Midlakes 2-1 in second shootout

By Steve Ognibene

Last evening at Van Detta Stadium the Batavia Girls Varsity Soccer Team defeated Midlakes in a thriller three-hour Section V class B1 quarter final game by a score of 2-1 in two shootouts.

Batavia jumped to an early 1-0 lead eight minutes before halftime on a tip in goal by Olivia Halpin. In the second half, 13 minutes later Midlakes score off a corner kick tip in by Batavia's goal keeper to even the score at 1.

Both teams were evenly matched and shots ending the regular play was 11-10 in Batavia's favor. Batavia's Ava Reinhart had a chance in the second overtime to win the game with a miss in the top right corner crossbar. 

In the third overtime Batavia's next best chance was on a pass from Olivia Halpin to Piper Harloff that just missed in front of Midlakes' goalkeeper.  After the fourth overtime, the game went unchanged to a fifth overtime shootout. Both teams scored three goals and missed two.

Then a final sixth overtime decided in a single round robin play. Isabella Walsh scored for Batavia and goal keeper Maddie Barone stopped Midlakes on her attempt to end the game by a 2-1 win to advance Batavia to the class B1 semifinals versus eight seed Greece Olympia this upcoming Monday evening.

Greece Olympia won by forfeit to undefeated number one seed Pal-Mac because of their school is shutdown due to COVID-19.

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Photos by Steve Ognibene.

Batavia Notre Dame stunned in closing second loss to Genesee Valley 59-54

By Steve Ognibene

Third-seed Batavia Notre Dame led the entire game to suffer a loss in the final seconds to Genesee Valley 59-54. The Irish was ahead the first half 23-18 led by Junior Mark Sanders, who sunk three three-point buckets, and Gabe McDonald and Colin McCulley added points for the Irish.

Controlling the ball and defense carried the Irish through the next quarter with Sanders, MacDonald and Cody Henry adding to Notre Dame’s lead 46-35 after three periods of play.

Genesee Valley kept chipping away at the deficit in the fourth quarter and defense stepped up their game. Senior Cody Schneider led the team with 10 in the quarter and 27 points overall in the game.

The Jaguars took the lead 51-50 with 3 minutes left to gain momentum on the Irish. Senior Evan Windus and Trevor Clark added points in the seesaw battle for the lead. 

With 22 seconds left, Genesee Valley was up by two but a personal foul and technical was called on Notre Dame with 3.3 seconds left, which ended the game 59-54. Batavia Notre Dame junior Mark Sanders finished with 19 points and senior Gabe MacDonald 14 points. 

Second-seed Genesee Valley will play number one-seed Avoca for the class D1 boys final this Sunday at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester; game time is 3 p.m.

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Batavia boys lose heartbreaker in OT to visiting Newark, 63-58

By Mike Pettinella

The second-seeded Batavia High Blue Devils rallied from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime before dropping a 63-58 decision against visiting Newark tonight in the quarterfinals of the Section 5 Class B1 boys’ basketball tournament.

A long two-point basket by junior guard Zach Gilebarto with 6.6 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 48-48 and, following a miss at the buzzer by Newark’s Josh Green, the teams moved into the four-minute OT.

The Blue Devils took a 50-48 lead in the opening seconds of the extra period on a layup by senior center Camden White, but it was short-lived as senior guard Dustin Case nailed a three-pointer to put the Reds up 51-50.

Newark went ahead 53-50 on a put-back by senior forward Devin Agosto before Gilberto came through again with another three-pointer to knot things up at 53-53.

Two free throws and a short jumper by Agosto gave the visitors a 57-53 edge but White sank a layup at the 1:20 mark to pull BHS within two.

The Reds made it 59-55 on a pair of free throws by senior forward Blade Case, before Gilberto responded with a three-point play on a driving layup and foul shot to make it 59-58 with 12.9 seconds to play.

Batavia fouled Case who calmly made two free throws to put Newark up 61-58 and, following timeouts by both teams, a three-point shot by senior guard Caeden White bounced off the rim.

A pair of free throws by Green with 1.6 seconds left closed out the scoring and enabled Newark to avenge a 48-47 regular-season loss to Batavia on Feb. 11 in Newark.

In tonight's rematch, Newark took a 14-10 lead after the first quarter -- Camden White scored seven of his game-high 17 points to keep Batavia within striking distance – before Batavia responded to take a 26-22 halftime advantage behind five points each from junior guard Alex Hale and junior forward Stone Siverling.

A pair of three-point shots by Blade Case in the third quarter sparked the Reds to a 36-31 lead as Batavia struggled from the field, hitting just two baskets in the period.

The Newark lead ballooned to 45-35 with 4:22 left in the final stanza before the home team staged a furious comeback.

A free throw by Gilberto and two by Camden White after an offensive rebound made it 45-38. A steal resulted in two more free throws by Gilberto, before Green sank two free throws for Newark to put the score at 47-40 with only 1:06 on the clock.

Batavia wasn’t finished, however, as Gilberto sank a three-pointer from the top of the key to pull his team within four. A free throw by Blade Case made it 48-43 but a corner three by Hale with 25 seconds left gave Batavia life.

Hale committed his fifth foul to stop the clock and the strategy worked when Newark missed at the foul line, giving Batavia another chance and setting the stage for Gilebarto’s clutch basket just inside the three-point line to tie the score at 48-48 and push the contest into overtime.

Gilebarto scored 16, Hale 14 and Siverling nine for Coach Buddy Brasky’s squad, which finished its season at 14-7 and played the final game on the BHS gymnasium floor as a new one is scheduled to go in on July 1.

For Newark, Green led the way with 16 while Blade Case had 14, Agosto 14 and Dustin Case 12.

The seventh-seeded Reds, 12-10, advance to the semifinals against No. 3 Waterloo. The other semifinal match pits No. 1 Geneva against No. 5 Hornell. The semis are scheduled for Tuesday night.

Top photo: Batavia's Zach Gilebarto launches a game-tying long shot with 6.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.

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

Below,​ Camden White scores inside for Batavia.

Below, Max Rapone fights for a loose ball.

Below, Newark's Devin Agosto drives to the basket.

Below, the Blue Zoo cheering on their Blue Devils.

Below, Alex Hale gets ahead of the field for a layup.

Below, faces tell the story as time runs out after a hard-fought game.

Luckey, Condidorio and Tresco help Le Roy advance to second round of sectionals

By Steve Ognibene

Last evening at Le Roy High School the Oatkan Lady Knights advanced to the Class B2 quarter finals with a win over Attica Blue Devils 69-57. The Knights jumped out to a 12-point lead 27-15 led by Bryn Luckey and a three-pointer from each Hailey Johnson and Jillian Curtis. 

Through the second quarter, Attica held better defense and juniors McKenna Jarnot and Mary Weber both added three-point buckets to keep the Blue Devils in the half only down by 10 points.

The Knights held a strong defense keeping Attica’s top scorer McKenna Jarnot scoreless in the quarter, which kept the momentum scoring points from Luckey, Condidorio and Logsdon.  Score 52-37 after three quarters.

Attica, backed against defeat, did not give up and Jarnot hit four three-pointers in the final quarter to bring the Devils within six points. But the Knights sophomore guard Kailyn Tresco answered back with two three-point buckets of her own. 

Le Roy’s Brynn Luckey finished with 25 points; Amara Condidorio and Kailyn Tresco each had nine points. McKenna Jarnot scored 21 points, Weber 13 points for the Attica Blue Devils.

The Le Roy Knights play this Friday against second seed Avon on their home court, game time 7 p.m.

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Sectional softball: Blue Devils deliver 10-5 win over HFL, advancing to semis

By Steve Ognibene

Batavia Lady Blue Devils delivered 17 hits to lead them to victory yesterday afternoon and defeat host Honeoye Falls-Lima 10-5 in the class A2 quarter final matchup.

Batavia jumped out to a big 6-0 lead before the Cougars scored four runs of their own to make it a two-run lead for the Lady Devils through four innings, 6-4.

Batavia answered with four big runs in the fifth inning to take control of the game. Combined pitching efforts carried Batavia to victory. Katie Ange pitched the first three innings and Irelyn Curry the final four innings to close out the game for the Lady Devils. 

Ryann Stefaniak went four for five including an RBI, while Taylor Stefaniak (double, RBI), Bri Janes, and Bryn Wormley each stroked three hits. Janes also knocked in three runs as well, and Ryann Stefaniak scored three times. Maiya Reinhart singled in a run for Batavia. 

Lady Devils will play School of the Arts in the class A2 semi-finals at SUNY Brockport College at 4 p.m. this Friday.

Batavia loses a close game in final minutes to HFL 45-40

By Steve Ognibene

A tightly matched game #6 seed Batavia Lady Devils came out playing with heart and soul to the end versus #3 seed Honeoye Falls Lima last evening at Penfield High School. 

Batavia came out flat down by five points but Freshman Kenzie Reigle helped drive them to a 9-9 after the first quarter.

Second quarter Batavia went up on top leading by as much as four points 17-13 but HFL came to tie it before junior Jenae Colkey sunk a two-pointer to give Batavia a lead at the half 19-17.

Batavia came out of the locker increasing the lead by five points 23-18 but Freshman Hannah Selke hit four three-pointers in the quarter to help HFL carry a big lead 30-25 going into the fourth.

Batavia and HFL both exchanged fouls, lead changes and tied the game 36-36 until under two minutes left where Batavia came up short losing 45-40. 

HFL will play #1 seed Aquinas Friday at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.

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Alexander Girl's Move Into Semi-Finals

By Chad Flint

The Alexander girl's soccer team made their way back into the semi-finals for the 6th time in the last 7 years last night with a 2-1 win in overtime over Caledonia-Mumford Friday night in Caledonia.  Alexander entered the game as the 5th seed and Cal-Mum was the 4 seed.

Alexander ran out to a 1-0 lead early in the game as sophomore forward Julia Pettys scored a goal off a cross from freshman midfielder Abby Shilvock to put Alexander up 1-0 with the strong wind at their back in the 1st half.  The wind was blowing from one end of the field to the other and gusting an estimated 20 miles and hour throughout the game.  The score remained 1-0 at halftime.

In the 2nd half Alexander would have to go into the wind and preserve the lead.  Caledonia wasted little time knotting the game at 1 as they scored on one of their many corner kicks in the 2nd half 9 minutes into the half.  Alexander struggled to clear their defensive 3rd the entire half and worked incredibly hard to keep the score at 1-1.  Junior goalkeeper Hannah Wilson made a fantastic leaping save late in the 2nd half to keep the score 1-1 and send the game to over time.

Alexander again had the wind at their backs in the first half of overtime.  Alexander went right to work and put pressure immediately on the Cal-Mum net.  3 minutes into the 1st half of overtime senior forward Anna Dominick received a ball 40 yards from goal and went to work dribbling past the entire Cal-Mum defense and getting inside the 18 yard box.  Passing up an average shot she drew the sweeper in and cut the ball to her left around the sweeper and beat a diving keeper in the lower right hand corner to make the score 2-1.  Alexander had a couple chances to make it 3-1 but didn't find the net.

In the 2nd OT Alexander would again have to protect a 1 goal lead going into the wind.  This time they made that lead stand up as the defense and midfield worked incredibly hard and limited Cal-Mums chances.  Alexander's forwards held possession of the ball and helped kill the final minutes off the clock.

With the win Alexander moved to 14-3-1 on the season and has a matchup Tuesday night against 8th seeded Nazareth who upset the top seeded Bloomfield Bombers in the quarter finals.  Alexander and Bloomfield met in the quarterfinals 2 years ago with Alexander winning that game.  Very few players are left from that team but it is sure to be a great battle.

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