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Local teams get respect in D&C polls

By Brian Hillabush

 The Democrat & Chronicle released its newest polls today and several of our local teams are listed.

The Batavia boys basketball team is ranked ninth in the large school poll while Oakfield-Alabama is ranked No. 10 in the small school version.

The Elba girls basketball team received a spot at No. 9 in the small school poll with Notre Dame also getting votes, but not making the list. Jasper-Troupsburg is one spot ahead of the Lancers, even though Elba is currently the No. 1 ranked team in Class DD with J-T coming in second.

Attica is tied with Letchworth at No. 4 in the small school wrestling poll, with Batavia coming in at six and Holley coming in at eight.

Batavia's hockey team did not crack the top 10, but did receive votes in this week's poll.

HS girls highlights for Wednesday

By Brian Hillabush

Nichole Hart and Liz Geandreau had big games in Monday's win over Pavilion and duo continued its hot play in a 61-49 win over Lyndonville Wednesday.

Hart dropped in 18 points and Geandreau had a double-dobule, scoring 12 points while pulling down 10 rebounds.

Brittany Morelli also scored 12 points for the Fighting Irish (13-3) and Trisha Pike added seven points.

Ashleigh Mahoke scored 12 points and Taylor Hrovat added 11 points for the Tigers (7-9). 

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Anna Dominick and Anni Lehtola split up the scoring duties in Alexander's 53-30 win over Holley.

Each scored 14 points to lead the Trojans, who improve to 10-4 and hold on to the top spot in Class C.

Rachel Pettys had a solid all-around game with seven points, six rebounds, eight steals and four assists.

Julie Brooks had 14 points and Emily Troupe added 12 for the Hawks (5-10).

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As always, Elba spread the scoring around and picked up a victory. The Lancers were actually outscored 12-4 in the first quarter, but had a 20-7 run in the second and never looked back in picking up a 51-33 win over Kendall.

Meg Stucko led the Lancers with eight points and 13 rebounds with Katie Newton scoring seven points and Sarah Schwartzmeyer and Racheal Cook getting six points apiece.

Meghan Fahy led the Eagles (5-10) with 10 points.

The Lancers improve to 14-2.

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Nicole Sharick scored a game-high 13 points to lead Pembroke to a 43-31 win over Attica.

Laura Moser pitched in eight points, six rebounds and two steals as the Dragons improve to 9-7.

Jackie Algier and Margaret LaFleur had eight points apiece for the Blue Devils.

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Le Roy falls to 1-15 after Geneseo outscored the Oatkan Knights 15-0 in the first period and cruised to a 40-31 victory.

Allison Macomber had 13 points with 12 rebounds to lead Le Roy, with Jenna Merica scoring eight points and Megan Lowe grabbing 13 boards with five assists. 

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Byron-Bergen and Oakfield-Alabama evened up records as the Bees walked into Oakfield and left with a 43-40 win.

Both squads are now 8-8.

Elba and Notre Dame get a bump in Class D state rankings

By Brian Hillabush

 Both Elba and Notre Dame got small bumps in the NYSSWA girls polls for Class D this week.

The Lancers are 13-2 and jump from No. 9 in the state to No. 7 while the Fighting Irish are 12-3 and move up from No. 20 to No. 19.

Jasper-Troupsburg is 16-1 and ranked ninth.

It appears those three squads will be fighting for the Class DD championship as they are top three seeds.

Both Elba and Notre Dame have games tonight and we will have scores as soon as possible.

Five area hoopsters earn Player of the Week honors

By Brian Hillabush

Andrew Hoy had a huge week and earned Player of the Week for Monroe County Division III.

He was the leading scorer in both Batavia games last week. Hoy dropped in 24 points in a 75-69 win over Pittsford Mendon, then had 26 in a 67-62 victory over Penfield on Saturday.

Andrew Wright of Pembroke won the award for Genesee Region League Division I. He scored 18 points and had seven rebounds in a win Wheatland-Chili and had 18 points, with eight rebounds and two assists in a victory over Eden. 

Elba's Sonny Giuliano is the Player of the Week for GR Division II because of his performance in a win over Holley. Giuliano had a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the game.

Oakfield-Alabama's Lindsay Chatt had a career-high 18 points and four steals in a victory over Lyndonville this week to earn the girls honor for Genesee Region League Division I.

Kendall's Samanthat D'Agostino hit three points and scored 15 points against Attica and then scored six points in overtime, for a total of 16, to beat Byron-Bergen. She earned the honor for GR Division II.

Updates on local stars at Keuka

By Brian Hillabush

 Missy Thurston was known for her defense when she played at Batavia High. She's definitely brought that to the Keuka women's basketball team.

The Storm won its sixth game in a row, including two over the weekend.

Keuka beat Penn State-Berks 61-46 on Saturday and Penn State-Harrisburg 71-38 on Sunday.

Thurston had five steals and 10 points on Saturday while scoring 14 points with three steals on Sunday.

She also had a total of 12 rebounds and seven assists over the weekend.

Thurston has started all 15 games for the Storm, which has improved to 8-7 because of the win streak. It is the first time the team has been above .500 all season long.

She is averaging 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. She leads the team with with 57 steals - more than double the player that is second on the team - and is second on the squad with 30 assists.

The men's team is 7-8 but has two locals in Attica's Rob Crowley and Elba's Ian Woodworth.

Crowley, a junior, has played in 11 points and is averaging 4.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He also has five assists and six steals on the season.

Woodworth, a freshman forward, has played in just four games and is averaging .5 points per game.

NYSPHSAA cuts approved; high school seasons are shortened

By Brian Hillabush

 

As many people feared, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association cuts that we wrote about earlier in the month were approved.

According to the NYSPHSAA Web site, there are going to be a lot of changes.

The biggest of which is the reduction in the number of regular season games that teams are allowed to play each season. Sports that currently play 24 games, will now only play 20. Sports that play 20 games will be cut to 18 and sports that play 18 games are now only going to play 16. 

The will be cuts in wrestling and football will be reduced from 10 to nine games. That means a team that makes sectionals and loses in the first round will not get a chance to go into Pool Play. 

The only way a football team can play 13 games is to play in the state finals.

The amount of scrimmages teams for all sports are allowed to play have also been reduced.

Centralized sites will be considered for state tournament games if it will save the state money. 

Here is the announcement on the NYSPHSAA Web site:

 

 

1. Support the use of telephone conference calls and video conferencing for NYSPHSAA meetings to reduce the travel reimbursements costs for the NYSPHSAA and Sections. APPROVED

2. Support the use of officials from the host Section at all NYSPHSAA regional contests, except when the Sections involved mutually agree to use neutral officials. Effective with the 2009-2010 season and continuing to 2010–2011 school year. APPROVED

3. Support a moratorium on the expansion of existing NYSPHSAA tournaments as it pertains to participation. APPROVED

4. Centralized sites should be considered as part of the bid process for state tournament site selection when it can be proven that cost savings outweighs other criteria. APPROVED

5. Support the reduction of the maximum number of contests permitted during the regular season. Sports with 24 contests will be reduced to 20, sports with 20 contests will be reduced to 18 and sports with 18 contests will be reduced to 16. Wrestling will be reduced to 20 points. Football will be reduced from 10 to 9. The 9th game is permitted, with section approval, for teams who do not qualify for sectional play. For the teams involved in the sectional tournament the maximum number of contests shall be 10. For the sections involved in the state championship three additional games are permitted for a total of 13 games for the season: 1 game for regionals, 1 game for semifinals, and 1 game for championships. Effective for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. APPROVED

6. Support the reduction of the number of classes and divisions in team and individual NYSPHSAA Championship competition. REFERRED TO CHAMPIONSHIP ADVISORY COMMITTEE

7. Support the reduction of participants in NYSPHSAA Championships in individual and combination (team/individual) sports. REFERRED TO CHAMPIONSHIP ADVISORY COMMITTEE

8. Support the reduction of tournaments (multi-school competition) for team and individual sports.NO ACTION

9. Support the establishment of a maximum number of scrimmages permitted by a team to: Varsity, JV and freshmen – 2 scrimmages and Modified – 1 scrimmage. NO ACTION

10. The Executive Committee will meet three times per year with one meeting at the site of the Central Committee meeting. APPROVED

11. Support the establishment of a team travel restriction for all member schools limiting out of state team travel to competition with bordering states only. NO ACTION

12. Support the establishment of a moratorium eliminating mandated attendance beginning with the 2009-2010 school year at the following NYSPHSAA workshops: Safety, Life of an Athlete, Sportsmanship and Chemical Health workshops. APPROVED

13. Support eliminating participation in the NFHS Student Leadership Conference. DENIED

 

Notre Dame joins Elba in Class D state rankings

By Brian Hillabush

 It has been a few weeks since we've had more than one local girls basketball team ranked in the state, but we finally have two.

Both are in Class D and the two teams are the biggest rivalry in GR girls hoops. 

Elba bumped up a notch from No. 10 to No. 9 in this weeks state rankings and is joined in Class D by Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were not ranked last week but is ranked No. 20 this week, tied with Canaseraga.

Defense leads Alexander over Elba

By Brian Hillabush

The Green Monster, as the Alexander cheering section likes to be known, chanted "defense, defense" for the entire game.

Maybe that chant pumped the players up, but Alexander played some wicked D in beating an Elba team that had just knocked off Oakfield-Alabama by a score of 56-38.

One quarter totally made the difference.

The Trojans shut out the Lancers, 17-0, to take a 29-17 lead that Elba could never come back from.

Trailing 17-12 after a period of play, Alexander came out in the second quarter focused on defense 100-percent, forcing Elba into tough shots and grabbing every rebound.

Ryan Wilson kicked off the second quarter with two offensive rebounds that he turned into baskets. Mike Galletti then knocked in a pair of 3-pointers and Alexander had a firm 12 point lead at intermission.

The Lancers cut the deficit to seven points as Dan Ramsey and and Sonny Giuliano hit both hit two foul shots.

Wilson had a bucket and an and-1 to get the lead back up to 10 points, 40-30.

Elba made an attempt to come back late in the fourth quarter and couldn't score. The Trojans scored the final seven points off rebounds of Elba misses.

Kyle Woodruff led the Trojans with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists, with Stephen George adding 11 points.

Wilson had seven points and 10 rebounds and Jared Quinn (5) and Troy Shelnut (4).

Alexander has won three-straight games by double figures and have improved to 5-7.

Elba falls to 7-6.

Check out a huge collection of photos from the game here.

Elba girls prove themselves against good Alexander squad

By Brian Hillabush

 Two of the top three teams in the Genesee Region League squared off in Elba Thursday night. 

It was the host Lancers that battled back from a huge early deficit to beat Alexander 61-53, improving to 12-2.

They keys to the win again was solid pressure defense, fresh legs ... and holding Alexander star Anni Lehtola in check.

The Trojans opened up a fast 9-1 lead as Rachel Pettys scored four of those points and Lehtola drained a 3-pointer.

The first basket for Elba came from Chelsie Pangrazio, and the Lancers closed the lead to 13-9. But Alexander went on another run, with three free throws and were ahead 17-10.

Meg Stucko had a bucket to end the first quarter to make it 17-12.

Elba quickly took the lead for good in the second quarter as eighth grader McKenzie Bezon went off.

Bezon hit a free throw, then dropped in a 3-pointer, stole the inbounds pass and scored again, making the score 20-18. Rachael Cook had consecutive rebound put-back baskets and all of a sudden a 9-1 lead turned into a 25-18 deficit for Alexander.

Cook had another bucket, Julie Marshall scored and Bezon hit one of two foul shots to make it 30-20 at the half.

The Lancers came out hot in the third quarter with Sarah Schwartzmeyer, Cook and Bezon scored three-straight baskets. 

Lehtola had her best quarter, scoring six of her 13 points before fouling out in the third quarter. 

But Elba had taken control with a 47-36 lead going into the final frame.

Midway through the final period, Alexander made a run. Anna Dominick scored, Rachel Pettys hit two free throws, and Dominick hit two more foul shots to cut the lead to 52-47.

Pettys hit a foul shot and Katie Kochmanski scored and the score was 52-50 with just over two minutes left.

Schwartzmeyer scored before there was an intentional foul called on the Lancers, giving Schwartzmeyer a chance to hit one of two free throws. 

Cassy Engle scored and then hit a free throw and the lead was back up to 10 points with about a minute left to play.

Cook scored 12 points with 10 rebounds and Stucko added 10 boards to go with her three points. Bezon had 11 points with Chelsie Pangrazio added seven points. Schwartzmeyer had six points and Missy Call added six points and four assists.

Dominick had 12 points and Pettys added 11 for the Trojans (9-3)

Elba only local girls state ranked

By Brian Hillabush

 In the latest edition of the girls state rankings, released today, we only have one local team.

That team is Elba, which has a 10-2 record. The Lancers moved up from No. 11 to No. 10 in this week's rankings.

Elba will be tested against 9-2 Alexander tonight, which will be covered by The Batavian, with full a story, video and photos.

Lancers dominate second half against Oakfield-Alabama with fresh bodies and press

By Brian Hillabush

 The Elba girls basketball team has the potential to go a long way this season. They showed that Tuesday night with a solid 45-36 victory over host Oakfield-Alabama.

The Lancers had a slim 23-19 lead at the half, but coach Tom Nowak's strategy of subbing in five at a time to keep bodies fresh, and pressing his opponent like crazy worked.

The Hornets were getting to the foul line - a lot - in the first half, especially Brynn Perfitt, who scored a game-high 19 points with nine rebounds.

Perfitt kept O-A in the game with seven of those points coming in the first half and a constant scoring effort in the second.

Cassy Engle had a 3-pointer before  Meg Stucko and Julie Webster had consecutive baskets. After Oakfield-Alabama had one of its three shot clock violations, Sarah Schwartzmeyer hit a shot at the third quarter buzzer to put Elba up 34-25.

Engle hit another 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter and after Webster scored and had an and-1, Elba had a 43-25 score.

Oakfield-Alabama had a little run at the end to make the score respectable, but Elba mostly dominated the second half for the victory.

Hillary Bates also had 11 points with four assists for the Hornets, who fall to 6-7.

Engle led Elba with 10 points with Webster adding seven Chelsie Pangrazio had five points and had over five assists.

Elba is 8-0 in Genesee Region League Division II, one game ahead of Notre Dame as we head down the stretch run. The Lancers are 12-2 overall and will be watching Jasper-Troupsburg (11-1) and Keshequa (10-2) as the three are fighting it out for the top seed in Class DD.

News from the Elba Historical Society

By Philip Anselmo

From the Historical Society of Elba:

The Historical Society of Elba has removed the Christmas display at the Pinehill Fitness Center on Main St. in Elba.  In it's place is a display of all the items that the Society has for sale.  Many of them are at discounted prices.  The maroon and blue Elba throws are now $35.00 including tax.  T-shirts $5.00 and sweatshirts $10.00.  "Give a Gift of Elba History" for birthday, anniversary, graduation, shower, wedding or any occasion that you may have to celebrate.  The Walk Way Bricks originaly were sold to raise money to move an 1842 home(the Griffin-Hill house)into Elba.  It was set next to the Museum that was erected in the 80's.  In 2008, the Society was able to build a barn to add to the Museum complex.  We are using the money from the current sale of the bricks to help offset the cost of the barn. These are great for a permanent memorial for a loved one, organization, family etc.

The Museum is closed now for the winter but will reopen on Memorial Day following the services at the Maple Lawn Cemetery in the morning. Coffee and donuts are served at the Museum.

If anyone is interested in any Historical Society of Elba memorabilia please call Ann at 585-757-9356 or June at 585-757-2791 for more information.

NYS Agriculture Society 177th Annual Meeting

By Jan Beglinger

 

The New York State Agricultural Society was organized in 1832 to “foster, promote and improve the New York State Food and Agriculture Industry”.   The Society’s Mission is to improve the condition of agriculture through education, leadership development and recognition programs. The NY State Agricultural Society continues to serve the changing needs of New York State’s food and agricultural industries. In case you didn’t know -  farming is a $3.6 billion industry vital to New York’s economy.
 
On January 8th the NYS Ag Society held its 177th annual meeting in Syracuse, NY. This year’s theme was "Planning for the Future – with a Smile". Break-out sessions were offered in generational transfer, strategic planning and risk management. One take home message – “Long term success requires unconventional thinking.”
 
One of the highlights of the annual meeting is recognizing those people who have had a positive impact on the industry over the past year. The Harold L. “Cap” Creal Journalism Awards recognize journalists who promote an understanding of New York agriculture. Tom Rivers received the award for “General Media – Print Series” for his outstanding series on farm jobs that we all read in The Daily News last year. In case you missed them, Tom spent the growing season working on area farms. He endured lightening storms, lots of mud, ladders and giant cabbage to bring us articles on how our food is produced. Tom also received special recognition for his series and was presented with a Carhartt jacket and a gold pitch fork for being a super reporter.
 
Another highlight is the Century Farm Awards which honor farms that have been in continuous operation on the same land by the same family for 100 years or more. This year two Genesee County farms were honored – Cottonwood Farms and Norton Farms.
 
Cottonwood Farms is located in Pavilion and was established in 1880 by Frank A. Tillotson. The farm is named for the two cottonwood trees that the founder brought back from Kansas and planted in 1880. One of the trees has been judged the third largest cottonwood in New York State. Today this farm is operated as a father-son partnership of 4th & 5th descendents of Frank A. Tillotson. The farm is operated as a 300-cow organic grazing dairy. The farm was certified organic in 2000.
 
Located in Elba, the Norton Farm/Oak Orchard Dairy was established by Charles Bloom in 1906. His son-in-law, Elmer Norton purchased the farm in 1923 and ran a livestock business and raised sheep. In 1947 the farm changed to dairy. The first herd was Guernseys but they later switched to Holsteins for higher milk production. The farm was a pioneer in the area being one of the first to install a milking parlor. The farm has continued to grow to 1,000 acres and 900 cows. They have received numerous production awards.
 
Congratulations to all of the award winners.
 

 

Locals doing well at Keuka

By Brian Hillabush

 

Batavia grad Missy Thurston is having a huge year for Keuka College.

She was the only player from the Storm in double figures with 11 points in a 71-47 loss to the University of Rochester in the opening round on Tuesday.

 The 5-foot-5 junior guard has started all eight game for the women's team. She is second on the team in scoring at 8.8 points per game and is actually grabbing 5 rebounds per game.

Thurston also has 18 assists for Keuka (2-6).

Attica grad Rob Crowley is a junior and had a key basket that kept Keuka close, but the Storm ended up losing to No. 1 seed Rochester 65-54 in the opening round on Wednesday.

Crowley is averaging 5 points per game in four games of action, while hitting 5-of-9 3-point attempts.

Ian Woodworth from Elba - who has a famous YouTube video from last year's sectionals - is just a freshman and has only played in three games, but is averaging .7 points per games.

The Storm is currently 3-5.

 

 

Notre Dame cheerleaders take top prize - Updated with photo and video

By Philip Anselmo

Thanks to Lindsay Warner for submitting the following info on the Genesee Region League Cheerleading Tournament. We would love to have some color to go with this recap, so if you've got photos or video of this event, please post it to the site or contact me by e-mail so we can get it posted.

This weekend the JV and varsity cheerleading squads of the Genesee Region League gathered for their annual tournament. The competition travels to a different host school every few years and this year was the first for Elba High School and Michelle Merrill, their head coach.

The competition is run much like Winter Cheerleading Sectionals in that each team performs twice on the mat- once in a cheer only round and than again using the tradition cheer/dance routine. Grand Champion is determined by the squad who carries the highest total score. Since the inception of this competition that score belonged to the Holley Hawks- that is until this weekend.

Notre Dame has competed in this tournament for years and since Coach Lindsay (Rapone) Warner began coaching, grand champion was set as the ultimate goal. Holley High School, who is class B2 with nearly twice as many squad members, doesn’t make for much of a fair fight. This year Notre Dame has 14 members, 6 of which are new additions to the varsity team from last year. Nevertheless, Notre Dame was able to top Holley’s squad of 27 by 6 points in Round One which was very exciting for the squad as a last second decision was made to throw out the original cheer and learn a completely new one less than a week before the day’s performance. Overall the Irish stole grand champion by 4 points.

“My team was aware that the odds were against us in our goal to get grand champ. Holley is a great competitor and is well known for their themed routines, which this year, was Legally Blonde,” coach Lindsay Warner. The squad worked very hard to prepare for this competition, including two full practices before each of their games this week. The girls wanted it and their efforts certainly paid off. Assistant coach, Sheri Girvin, who is an alumni of Holley High School and former recipient of Grand Champion as a Hawk joined the Irish last year and was thrilled to receive Grand Champion again, now as a Notre Dame coach.

Squad captains are Stacy Squire, Kristen Francis, and Lauren DiFante, two of which are seniors and are very hopeful that this is just the start of a very successful final season for them at Notre Dame.



Scores:

JV CHEER DI- Holley 177, Attica 173, Alexander 170; DII- Kendall 137
JV CHEER/DANCE DI- Holley 179,Attica 169, Alexander 156; DII Kendall 150
Varsity CHEER DI-Holley 184, Attica 179, Alexander 174, Oakfield 109; DII Notre Dame 190, Elba 173, Kendall 157, Lyndonville 150
Varsity CHEER/DANCE DII- Notre Dame 185, Kendall 166, Elba 164, Lyndonville 146

HS highlights for Friday

By Brian Hillabush

Peanut butter and jelly - words you hear together a lot. Add Andrew Hoy and box-and-one to that mix.

Teams are figuring out his ability to score and are trying to take him out of games. Other players stepped up and Batavia beat host Eastridge 55-43 Friday.

"Other guys need to step up," said coach Buddy Brasky. "More teams are going to focus on Andrew. It took some time, but kids stepped up."

Andrew still scored a game-high 15 points, but brother Marcus was the star as he helped the Blue Devils turn a 34-31 halftime lead into a big win.

Marcus scored all 14 of his points in the second half and also had seven assists and five rebounds.

"They were taking away Andrew and Robert (Hoy) so Marcus started going to the basket and scoring. He got some and-1s and some threes. He came up big," Brasky said.

 Batavia improves to 8-1.

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Kevin Francis went off for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish whooped Byron-Bergen 75-46.

The senior had 24 points with 10 dimes and eight steals as ND improves to 7-1.

Greg Barr added 17 points with Vinny Zambito chipping in 10.

Bryan White reached double figures with 12 points for the Bees.

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A tight game turned into a blowout as Andrew Wright scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead Pembroke to a 57-41 victory over Elba.

Ken Babcock had 13 points, Steve Moser had 12 and Kyle Stocking had nine for the Dragons (5-4).

Phil Ostroski and Sonny Giuliano had 10 each for the Lancers.

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Tate Westermeier led the way with 14 points as Attica beat Lyndonville 43-31. Bryan Thompson had 13 and Shawn Dupuis added eight. Matt Sheffield had 11 rebounds.

Nobody reached double figures for the Tigers.

Attica is now 5-3.

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Notre Dame thumped Byron-Bergen 59-39 in girls action as Jill Marshall scored 20 points with 14 rebounds and five dimes. Brittany Morelli added 10 points for the Fighting Irish.

Krista Lougheed had 11 points for the Bees.

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Elba rebounded from a tough loss to Geneseo with a 53-42 win over Pembroke.

Rachael Cook had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards and Sarah Schwartzmeyer added 11 points. Julie Marshall had eight points for the Lancers (8-2).

Kelsey Lewis had 12 points for the Dragons (5-4).

Boys state rankings out

By Brian Hillabush

 The newest boys basketball state rankings are out.

Batavia is the 20th ranked team in the state in Class A with a 7-1 record. The Blue Devils have big a game at Eastridge tomorrow then big games  with Greece Odyssey and Brighton next week.

Oakfield-Alabama fell to 15th in Class C after a loss in the opening round of the Cal-Mum Tournament.

Notre Dame is 5-1 - with a loss to Batavia in the Lions Club finals - and received a No. 6 ranking in Class D.

Elba gets state ranking

By Brian Hillabush

 There is only one area team ranked in the state for girls basketball at this point.

Elba is 7-1 and playing some fantastic basketball, and because of that the Lancers are ranked fifth in the state in Class D by the New York State Sportswriters poll. 

Elba's only loss came against Class A Batavia - also 7-1 - in the second game of the season.

Elba's press helps Lancers win fourth quarter, and game

By Brian Hillabush

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.

HS highlights for Friday

By Brian Hillabush

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).

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Sophomore sensation Liz Geandreau scored a career-high 18 points to lead Notre Dame to a 64-33 win over Kendall. She also pulled down eight rebounds.

Nichole Hart had 16 points and Trisha Pike pitched in 12 for the Fighting Irish (2-0).

Meghan Fahy had 20 points to lead the Eagles.

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Paige Golden scored 14 points to lead Albion to a 41-25 win over Lyndonville.

Casey Button scored seven points and had 15 boards for the Purple Eagles (2-1).

Molly Burgess dropped in 10 points with six boards to lead the Tigers (1-3). Samantha Skryp and Miranda Feller had five points with six boards each.

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The Elba girls basketball team jumped out to a 20-7 lead and never looked back in thumping Wheatland-Chili 71-37.

Rachael Cook had 14  points and Chelsie Pangrazio pitched in 11 for the Lancers, who improve to 1-1. Katie Newton was also in double figures with 10 points, and Meg Stucko had 11 boards.

Lauren Drago scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats.

 

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Kayleigh Puma and Kat Palmer combined for 9 of 10 first quarter points as Byron-Bergen jumped out to a 10-6 lead and cruised to a 38-24 win over Attica.

Kaylee Amesbury had eight points with Mary Cocking adding seven.

Jackie Algier scored 10 points for the Blue Devils.

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The Batavia hockey team was outshot 35-17 in losing to Fayetteville-Manilius 6-2.
Goalie Brandon Corcoran made 29 saves with Pat Finnell and Corey Kocent each scoring for the Blue Devils (2-3).
Finnell also had an assist.

 

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