For the fourth time in four meetings this year, Elba beat Notre Dame in Girls Basketball, this time to send the Lancers to the Class D championship game against Filmore on Saturday at Finger Lakes Community College.
Elba won 52-36 to stay undefeated on the season.
The Lancers are the #1 seed in Class D and will face the #2 at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
On the doorstep Jameson Motyka gets stopped by Victor's goalie. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Sometimes, the puck does not bounce your way, and last night, everything clicked for Victor Blue Devils as they defeated Batavia Notre-Dame by a score of 6-3.
Victor’s Simon Kowal scored early and took a 2-0 lead after the first period. Jameson Motyka had a chance early on when he had the goalie beat on the right-side post but could not get the puck in the net.
BND scored on the power play by Motyka early in the second to cut Victor's lead to one.
Victor answered back shortly after.
Two minutes later, a nice pass to Chase Cummings on a breakaway led to a goal, reducing the deficit again to one, Victor leading 3-2.
However, on a key power play BND failed to connect, and Victor went on the power play a short time later and scored, then added two more before the end of the period to lead 6-2.
In the third period, with nine minutes left, Sam Pies passed the puck to Motyka to give BND’s last goal.
Janessa Amesbury during a recent game. File Photo by Jennifer DiQuattro
Press release:
On February 20, 2025, Janessa Amesbury broke the 38-year-old Byron-Bergen Girls Basketball single-game scoring record with 41 points. Amesbury, a senior, has been playing basketball since 5th grade. She also takes part in Varsity Soccer and Softball.
“What she has done this year has been absolutely amazing,” said Varsity Girls Basketball Head Coach Richard Krzewinski. “She didn’t come up to varsity until halfway through her sophomore year. Last year she averaged 18 points a game. Going into sectionals she is averaging 26 points per game. She is closing in on 1,000 career points. She would be the fifth B-B girls basketball player to hit 1,000, joining her mother Tammy (1984) and sister Julianna (2020).”
"I would like to offer my congratulations to Janessa," said Athletic Director Rich Hannan. “She loves the game of basketball and plays with reckless abandon. She plays her heart out each night and her passion for the game is evident each and every time she laces up her shoes. Breaking a long-standing record like this is quite the accomplishment.”
Of this new record, Amesbury said, “I would like to thank my coaches and my mom for pushing me to be the best I can be.”
After averaging 13 points per game in 2023/24 for Oakfield-Alabama, Gavin Armbrewster had high hopes for his senior hoops season, says his coach Ryan Stehlar.
Then he suffered a complete tear of his ACL during the 2024 football season.
Rather than undergo surgery, Armbrewster decided to tough it out, try to help his team and compete in 2024/25.
"Although this injury happened, he still wanted to end his basketball career on his own terms, trying what he could," Stehlar said in an email calling attention to the point guard's efforts this season for the Hornets.
"He missed four total games out of 22 due to his leg giving out at practice and needing time to recover to play again," Stehlar said. "This happened a night before a game, and he still elected to play the next game in a ton of discomfort because he didn't want to let the team down."
Here are the highlights of Armbrewster's senior season, Stehlar said. p
Points Per Game: 10.7 (2nd leading scorer on our team and came off the bench the majority of the year)
Rebounds Per Game: 1.9
Assists Per Game: 2.2
Steals Per Game: 1.6
"In his last six games, including sectionals, he averaged double digits in points, averaging a PPG of 16.8," Stehlar said. "He hit 30 total 3-pointers and even had a game where he hit 6. He was our leader in this category for the season and one of our best free-throw shooters."
Stehler called Armbrewster "a great kid."
"(He) did something I have never seen in my 17 years of coaching. He showed amazing poise each night, learned how to play differently, never wanted to let his teammates down, but, more importantly, persevered under extremely difficult circumstances. "
After jumping to an early lead, East High dominated the Batavia Blue Devils through four quarters of the Section V Class A semifinal at Finger Lakes Community College on Monday.
Oakfield-Alabama beat Arkport-Canaseraga 54-40 in the Class C2 Girls Basketball quarterfinal on Saturday.
Scoring for the Hornets:
Alea Groff, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Alexa Clark, 11 points, 8 rebounds
Piper Hyde, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Allie Williams, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks
Jessica Sosnowski, 7 points
Allison Harkness, 2 points
"I can't begin to describe the defensive effort our kids came through with today," said O-A Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "Our team defense was incredible, and Alexa, Piper and Alea were tasked with some challenging defensive assignments as they are a high-powered offensive team. We showed great discipline and composure. I am incredibly proud of our kids. A total team effort."
The Hornets are the #5 seed in Class C2 and next face #1 seed Keshequa in the semifinal on Wednesday at Avon at 7:45 p.m.
Notre Dame defeated Andover Whitesville 41-16 in a Class D quarterfinal game in Girls basketball on Saturday.
Sofia Falleti led the Irish with 10 points and eight rebounds. Also scoring was Emma Fitch with six points and four steals, PennyJo Thompson with six points and five rebounds and Gianna Falleti with four points and four steals.
“The whole team played an equal amount today and was able to contribute on both ends of the floor. I was so proud of all our girls' defensive efforts and how hard they played,” said Coach Vinny Falleti.
The win for the Irish sets up a finals match-up in Class D between arch-rivals Notre Dame, the #4 seed, and Elba, the undefeated #1 seed. That game will be at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday at Mount Morris.
Ty Gioia sinks a 3-point bucket with 5.6 seconds left in regulation to give Batavia the victory 54-52 Friday evening at Batavia High School. Photo by Steve Ognibene
With 5.6 seconds left and the Blue Devils down by a point, 52-51, Ty Gioia sank a three-pointer to give the #4 seed Batavia a win in a Section V Class A quarterfinals game on Friday.
Batavia beat the #5 seed, Pittsford-Sutherland 54-52.
"I can take no credit for that last shot," said Coach Buddy Brasky. "I mean, Ty just stepped up, got the ball, and he's a kid who hasn't been getting a lot of playing time a sophomore, and Brady (Mazur) fouled out, and he stepped up and did it. So I can't take any credit for that. But you know what I was telling them, basically, is to follow our principles, follow our defensive principles, get stops, and we can win this game. We got some key stops down the stretch."
Don Santini, a Section V football coaching legend who coached the Le Roy Oatkan Knights early in his career, died Wednesday.
He was 85.
Santini was the head coach in Le Roy from 1966 through 1974 before returning to his alma mater, Fairport High School (1957).
He led the Knights to the program's first-ever undefeated season (8-0) in 1966. The team won four league championships with Santini at the helm.
He was the first coach in Section V history with 200 wins, finishing his career with 2004, which now ranks fourth on the all-time list.
He compiled a 57-15 -2 record at Le Roy.
Santini started his coaching career in 1963 in Morrisville.
After returning to Fairport, Santini became rooted in the community and led the Red Raiders to seven Section V titles. His Fairport teams also won two state titles.
Even though Santini spent only eight years in Le Roy more than five decades ago, he is fondly remembered by Le Roy's football faithful.
Ed Henry wrote on social media, "Don Santini stressed his athletes to stay focused on game day as they were playing for pride and tradition. He was the ultimate motivator who inspired excellence in his teams. He was enthusiastic, excitable, fiery, and had a work ethic with no equal."
Jim Bonaquisti, who started his playing career a year after Santini returned to Fairport, said the former Knight's coach was still a coach he and other Le Roy players wanted to impress.
"We scrimmaged Fairport my junior and senior season," Bonaquisti wrote on social media. "I know I played a little bit harder because even though he wasn't my coach, I didn't want to let him down. Coach always showered you with praise for the great effort."
Santini was inducted into the Section V Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
BND United bench excited from the third goal scored in the first period. Photo by Steve Ognibene
In the quest to go to the Section V hockey finals two years in row is not an easy task. #2 seed BND United did this last evening at The McCarthy by a score of 5-3 over #3 seed Webster Schroeder.
Batavia Notre Dame United beat Webster Schroeder 5-3 on Saturday in the Section V hockey semifinals.
United, the #2 seed in the tournament, scored three goals in the first five minutes.
Chase Cummings scored on the power play; then Chase added another goal after Sam Pies shot one near the faceoff dot deep in Webster Schroeder's zone.
Webster Schroeder scored two quick goals before the period ended.
Both teams battled back and forth in the second period, and United caught themselves on a penalty with two minutes left in the second.
Down by one man, Jameson Motyka found himself on a breakaway to score a short-handed goal past goalie Connelly Springer to lift United ahead 4-2 after 2.
In the last period, United’s Chase Cummings scored his third goal for a hat trick at 20 seconds in to extend the lead by three, 5-2. Schroeder answered to score four minutes later to make it 5-3.
The win gives United a shot at winning back-to-back Section V titles, which Coach Marc Staley said has been the goal since the first face-off of the season.
"It's hard to go back to back. It's hard to coach a team the year after you win everything," Staley said. "And you know, we went through some months. We went through some learning curves earlier this year. We had to realize you don't have the (Ivan) Milovidov off on the bench and the (Joe) DiRisio on the bench and (Noah) Whitcomb and all those great players, right? So it's like, we got other guys who can step up. It took us some time, but you can see right now, I think, seven, zero and one over our last eight games. We're moving in peak, and I think, at the right time. So it's exciting, I mean, to be back with a chance to bring home another championship."
Point totals for BND United:
Chase Cummings, 3 goals
Jameson Motyka, 1 goal, 2 assists
Sam Pies 1 goal, 1 assist
Brady Johnson, 2 assists
Jake Hutchins, 1 assist
Rhys Tanner stopped 40 of 43 shots on net
#2 seed BND United plays #1 Victor at RIT on Monday March 3rd at 730pm for the Section V Class B Championship
"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.
Coach Vinny Falleti and Sofia Folleti. Submitted photo.
Sofia Falleti set a new school record for Notre Dame on Wednesday night, scoring 46 points against Hinsdale as the Lady Irish picked up a first-round sectional win 88-12.
She also had 11 rebounds.
Ali Haitz set the previous record in 2001 with 42 points in a game.'
Shirley Thompson scored 14 points and had 11 steals. Gianna Falleti scored 8 points, and Harper Ferris, 8 points.
