Sports

There was a bigger crowd and more money raised than ever before by the Pembroke community in the Pembroke Girls Basketball Team's annual fundraiser for Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Shooting for a Cure, last night.

The event generated $18,635.12 in donations, bringing the total raised since the annual event started in 2012 to more than $40,000. UPDATE: Officials have revised last night's figure to $19,085.12.

“These girls are the driving force behind this fundraiser and it’s become the identity of Pembroke Girls Basketball," said Coach Ron Funke.

The annual event was founded to support Funke's wife when she was diagnosed with cancer.

"(The event has) continued to grow each season," the coach said. "This season was one for the record books! We were able to raise over $18,000 and I’m speechless. The girls on this team are incredibly compassionate individuals and believe firmly in service over self.”  

The players this year have also volunteered at the Carly’s Club Christmas party and also helped with the “Check Out Hunger” campaign at Tops Markets in Batavia.

Funke and the team will deliver the latest check to Rosewell today at 3 p.m.

“I have to say that the most meaningful part of Shooting for a Cure is always visiting Roswell to donate what’s been raised," Funke said. "The girls put their pink jerseys back on and travel to Roswell to present a check to hospital officials. Being there at the hospital, surrounded by people who are actually fighting their own battle against cancer never fails to inspire the girls. It’s a tangible reminder of how their efforts off the court are saving lives.”

DJ Jickster, of 97 Rock, a former Genesee County resident, was part of the opening ceremonies to help get the fans charged up.

A tradition during the half-time program is for Pembroke players to present flowers to cancer survivors. Mackenzie Jurek present a flower to Ann Bennett.

Ray Stoldt receives a flower from Aaron Brown. Stoldt is just out of treatment for throat cancer.

Part of the hallway activities was face painting.

The team presented a plaque to the family of Scott Humel, a former district employee, who succumbed to cancer during this past year.

In the basketball game, Notre Dame beat Pembroke, 33-27. For Pembroke, freshman MacKenzie Johnson had 12 points and Olivia Kohurst had nine. Margaret Sutherland led Notre Dame in scoring with 16 points. Callie McCulley had seven.

At halftime, winning tickets were pulled for several prizes. John Molnar won a bike.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Wednesday night the Batavia Blue Devils Boys Varsity Basketball (7-3) played a home game against the Canandaigua Braves (8-6). There was a lot of hustle from both teams early on in the game.

Canandaigua did a good job of moving the ball around on offense to create shooting opportunities by getting a man wide open for a two- or three-point jumper. Canandaigua led most of the first because of this ball movement on their offense. The game was tied at 10-10 at the end of one.

Going into the second quarter, Batavia’s defense started to figure out Canandaigua offense and made the time of possession a little more even, causing some turnovers on defense. At the half Batavia led 22-20.

The third quarter looked like a different game. Batavia’s defense continued to stop Canandaigua and their offense turned red hot. Half way through the third Batavia led by 10. At the end of three Batavia led 47 to 30. Batavia’s Naz Pratt #2, put the exclamation point on the quarter by hitting a nothing but net, at the buzzer, three-pointer from the other side of the court, he was almost in another ZIP code. It was a spectacular shot.

Batavia never lost control of the game in the fourth, but Canandaigua rallied a bit and put the pressure on slowly climbing out of their 17-point deficit to come within three points. Both teams increased their intensity for a hard played last few minutes with Batavia triumphing. Final score, Batavia 55 Canandaigua 49. Batavia’s double-digit scorers were Tee Sean Ayala with 20 and Antwon Odom with 12.

The Le Roy Boys Basketball Team had a tough assignment Wednesday night, traveling to Perry to play the undefeated Perry Yellowjackets, the #1 ranked Class C team in the state.

Perry combines size, speed, chemistry and scoring and though the Knights put up a fight, they were simply outmatched.

The Yellowjackets won 64-50, outscoring Le Roy in every quarter and holding the Knights to 12 or fewer points each quarter except the third, when Le Roy picked up 17 points (Perry scored 20).

Josh Laurie led Le Roy scoring with 18 points, hitting two three-point jumpers. Luke Stella had 16 points. Ryan Boyce and T.Y. Williams each had six.

For Perry, Tyler Cowie had 15 points, including two three-point buckets, Devon Mann, 14, and Austin Croll had 14. Owen Spencer added 10.

Le Roy's Maddie Kiester sunk two key foul shots and Bryn Luckey hit the game winner at the end to give the Lady Knights a narrow victory over the Perry Yellowjackets in Le Roy last night, 49-47.

Luckey scored 13 points. Erin Cappotelli had nine, Ceci Tillson, eight along with 14 rebounds, and Ava Horgan added six.

For Perry, Rachel Evans had 18 points, Chelsea Pascoe, 11, and Diana Chisholm, 10.

Le Roy is now 5-5 on the year and Perry is 2-7.

Cal-Mum won the annual Rotary Basketball Tournament at Genesee Community College on Friday night with a 51-34 win over Notre Dame.

Gillian Flint of Cal-Mum was the tournament MVP. She scored 20 points in the final.

For Notre Dame, Callie McCulley scored 14 points and Natalie Thornton scored 11 points.

In the consolation game, Batavia beat Attica 61-55 in overtime. For the second game in a row, Ryann Stefaniak scored a season-best point total, after getting 26 on Wednesday; she scored 31 last night.

Stefaniak, along with Notre Dame's McCulley and Margaret Sutherland, were named to the All-Tournament Team.

To purchase prints, click here.

Notre Dame’s Lady Irish met Attica at Genesee Community College for the second game of the Batavia Rotary Club Girls Basketball Tournament. Coming into the game, Notre Dame was the favorite, but very quickly the game was in doubt for them as Attica came off the bench and started strong. By the end of the first quarter, Notre Dame had scored just two points on free throws and Attica led by 13 to 2. 

The second quarter was not that much better, even though Notre Dame tripled the amount of points they scored in the first quarter. Half time began with a score of Notre Dame 6 Attica 17.

Notre Dame's Head Coach Tom McCulley had a short meeting with his team in the locker room and they returned to the court to get ready for the second half. Whatever he said must have been effective because Notre Dame quickly took control of the game at both ends of the court. They were able to score consistently and shut out Attica’s offense. At the end of three quarters, Notre Dame led 23 to 17. 

Callie McCully (pictured above) led the scoring in the third for Notre Dame and continued the trend into the fourth quarter, ending the night with 15 points. Attica threatened to come back with a few nice plays but was not able to sustain a rally. Final score: Notre Dame 33 Attica 25.

Notre Dame moves on in the tournament to face Cal-Mum Friday. More pictures of the game are here.

For coverage of the Batavia -- Cal-Mum game, click here.

Ryann Stefaniak scored 26 points and Taylor Stefaniak added 15, but it wasn't enough to overcome an experienced an athletic Cal-Mum team in the opening round of the annual Rotary Tournament at GCC.

Cal-Mum moved to 8-1 with the 59-53 win.

Batavia drops to 2-8.

The Lady Devils rallied in the 4th quarter, closing a double-digit deficit and at one point pulling within three points of the Red Raiders. In that quarter, Ryann hit three three-pointers along with a pair of two-point goals and two free throws.

Taylor also hit a pair of threes in the 4th quarter. Melissa Mountain scored six and Bri Janes 6, including adding a three in that 24-point fourth quarter.

For Cal-Mum, Gillian Flint scored 19 points and Isabella Slocum had 13.

For coverage of the Notre Dame - Attica game, click here.

Press release:

Saturday, Jan. 28^th will be all about basketball at Notre Dame High School.

All four basketball teams will play against Le Roy, starting with the JV Girls team at noon, followed by the JV Boys team at 1:30 p.m. Varsity teams tip off at 5 p.m. with the girls' game followed by a ceremony around 6:30 p.m. honoring Coach Mike Rapone, Section V Basketball Hall of Famer and winningest coach in Section V Boys’ Basketball history. Then Coach Rapone and the Boys Varsity team take the court at 7 p.m.

A tour of the renovated school is scheduled for 4 p.m. and there will be a gathering after the Boys Varsity game in the cafeteria to congratulate Mike.

Coach Rapone was inducted into the Section V Basketball Hall of Fame in November, 2016. He has led Notre Dame Basketball to an incredible 30 Genesee Region League Basketball Championships, capturing nine Section V titles, six Far West Regional Championships and two New York State Championships. He has been honored as Section V Coach of the Year three times and Genesee Region Coach of the Year four times.

Notre Dame's Hannah Bowen, Gillian Flint, Cal-Mum, Emily Weber, Attica, and Melissa Mountain, Batavia, are all ready for the annual Rotary Basketball Tournament, which tips off tonight at Genesee Community College at 6 p.m.

Notre Dame's Head Coach Tom McCulley, pictured below, said the annual tournament is a great showcase for girls' basketball.

"It's a great atmosphere," he said.

Marty Hein, Batavia's head coach, said he and his players always look forward to the tournament. 

"It’s just nice to do it right here at GCC," Hein said. "Big gym, big floor, big crowd. It’s just a good time."

Batavia enters the tournament at 2-7, Notre Dame is 4-2, Attica is 4-4 and Cal-Mum is 7-1.

A 300 game by Medina's Scott Allis and three big series by members of the Luce family at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen highlighted last week's league bowling action around the Genesee Region.

Click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page to see all the high scores, and watch for another Pin Points bowling column by Mike Pettinella on Thursday of this week.

Submitted by Peter Beuler from Oakfield-Alabama High School.

Junior Cole O'Donnell has been named the 2016 Genesee Region League Male Cross-Country Runner of the Year.          

Cole is a two-time Genesee - Livingston League Cross-Country All-Star and a one-time Genesee Region League Track and Field All-Star. He helped lead his team to their fourth consecutive division championship and the program's first sectional championship since 2008 this fall.

At Sectionals, he finished fifth and came in 28th place out of 122 runners at the State Meet.

In a game that was never really close, the Batavia Blue Devils won the annual Lions Tournament at GCC, beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 60-29.

Tee Sean Ayala scored 19, despite a cold hand in the first half. He hit four three-pointers over the course of the game.

Antwan Odom, the tournament MVP, scored 14. He hit three threes. 

It was another big game for Notre Dame's Ryan Moffat, who hit three threes on his way to 15 points.

About 50 students from Batavia High School, Batavia Middle School, Byron-Bergen Central School, Albion Central School and Medina Central School took part in a recreational field trip this afternoon (Thursday) at Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia. They participated in the Liberty Partnership Program, which is coordinated by Genesee Community College in conjunction with the NYS Department of Education.

Mary Ann Bowman, program director, said the outing provided an opportunity to "keep the students connected" while school is in recess. The students bowled two or three games and enjoyed pizza and pop during their time at the East Main Street facility.

The Liberty Partnership Program, in its 28th year, provides service to students in public and non-public schools grades five through 12 in an effort to maximize high school graduation and to encourage them to pursue higher education or post-secondary vocational training.

The Program promotes collaboration between colleges and universities, community based organizations, school districts, parents, volunteers, businesses and industry in providing comprehensive services for students to enter the workforce prepared with the necessary skills to be successful.

Liberty Partnership provides the following services: Academic/Personal Advisement, Homework Assistance, Career Awareness, Cultural and Enrichment Activities, Family Casework, Mentoring, Home Visits, Parental Involvement, Service Learning Projects/Civic Duty, Preparedness and College Tours and Summer Programming.

Photos -- From the top: Batavia High School students; Novalee Pocock, B-B fifth-grader; Batavia Middle School students with caseworker Kristen Calarco-Gomez; Jayden Doyle, B-B eighth-grader. 

Press release from Notre Dame High School:

“After considering the information presented to the Section V Executive Committee at the administrative hearing held on Dec. 19, the Executive Committee has ruled that there has been no violation of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (“NYSPHSAA”) sport standard #24 -- RECRUITMENT AND UNDUE INFLUENCE by Notre Dame of Batavia High School.”

Notre Dame is relieved for these three students, their families, and our hockey coach, Mr. Marc Staley.

It was unfortunate that our students, families, and staff, had to face these unfounded allegations of wrongdoing. Whether in the classroom, on the ice, or through community service, Notre Dame remains committed to instilling in our students the faith, knowledge, and confidence they will need to succeed in an ever-changing world. We are thankful for the thoughtful deliberation and time the Section V Executive Committee gave Notre Dame in making this decision.   

Batavia and Notre Dame will meeting in the Lions Tournament final on Thursday at Genesee Community College after the Fighting Irish knocked of Roy-Hart 47-41 and the Blue Devils topped Albion 60-43.

For the Irish, Nico Zambito scored 14, including a pair of threes, Ryan Moffat had 13 points, including three triples, and Anthony Gugino hit a pair of threes for six total points.

In the nightcap, Tee Sean Ayala dropped seven three-point shots for 21 points on the night and Antwan Odom added 16 points.  

For Albion, Lamar Chambers had 19 points.

Several bowlers cracked the 700 mark at area bowling centers during the week of Dec. 19.

To see who was hot on the lanes, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Batavia running back and linebacker Ray Leach is the only sophomore to be named to the All Greater Rochester First Team in football.

Leach finished the season with 1,888 yards rushing. He scored 28 touchdowns. He made 62 tackles as a linebacker.

Leach isn't alone on the first team. Also named from Batavia Anthony Ray, a junior, who was Section V Class B Defensive Player of the Year and has been on all three of Batavia's Section V championship teams. He made 82 tackles and nine sacks.

Named to the second team was quarterback Jerry Reinhart.

The other top honor for a Genesee County athlete went to Maggie Cecere, Batavia, who was named to second team in girls soccer.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

On Saturday (Dec. 17), the curtain came down on the 70^th anniversary season of racing at Batavia Downs. America’s oldest lighted harness track’s meet that began on Monday (July 25), ran two days longer than originally scheduled after racing was extended for an extra weekend.

As usual, the stake season was highlighted by eight divisions of the New York Sire Stake series, which featured the best state bred horses and Grand Circuit horsemen. The series featured visits from the likes of John Campbell and Andy Miller and produced two new track records.

On Saturday (Sept. 3) Pointomygranson (Marcus Miller) toured the facility in 1:53.2 and set a new standard for 2-year-old pacing geldings and on Wednesday (Sept. 14) Zack’s Zoomer (Marcus Miller) trotted a mile in 1:58.1 and established a new track record for 2-year-old trotting colts.

Racing under saddle (RUS) made its debut at the Downs on Wednesday (Sept. 7) and that produced a new track record as well. Admirable Hanover who was ridden by Vanessa Karlewicz won the $4,000 event in 2:03.4.

On Saturday (Oct. 9), Batavia Downs signature stake, the $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial trot saw the $7 million man, Foiled Again (Kevin Cummings) come from well off the pace to win by a length in 1:52.2 on the strength of an exciting stretch drive at 9-1. That win marked the 90^th trip to the winner’s circle for the richest standardbred in the history of the sport.

For the first time ever, Batavia Downs offered a new claiming series that ran throughout the whole meet. Claimers of both gaits accrued points month to month in order to make finals worth between $15,000 and $20,000. On Saturday (Nov. 13) trotters Love U Forever and Chrome Finish, and pacers Outoftexas, War Front, Vals Jett, Big Unit and Can U Be Fun won the finals in their respective divisions.

In September, Batavia Downs hosted a new owners' seminar in conjunction with the United States Trotting Association and the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State. Twenty-six people took part in the workshop that took them from the classroom to the paddock and provided them with everything they needed to learn in order to make informed decisions about standardbred ownership.

On the track, one of the best driving colonies in some time put on quite a show. Perennial local favorite Jim Morrill Jr. put in another stellar effort that was highlighted by a seven-win night, two six-win nights and four five-win nights.

But it was 22-year-old Drew Monti who eventually won the dash driving title with 116 wins for the meet. Monti also registered a seven-win night and two five-win efforts as well. It was the first ever driving title won by Monti.

Jim Morrill Jr. did set a new single meet earnings record at the Downs after he banked $849,024 in purses from July to December.

JD Perrin “three-peated” his training crown, finishing first again this year with 47 wins. Perrin’s meet started off strong before many of his horses fell ill. But after a trying middle stretch, the stable got back on track over the last month and Perrin was able to defend his title again.

The winningest post position was post one with 231 wins followed by post two (151), post four (138) and post three (126). Post one also made the board 63 percent of the time.

Also, the favorites won the race 46 percent of the time during the course of the meet.

“We had a very exciting year at Batavia Downs this year. The product on the track was very competitive and having drivers like Jim Morrill Jr., Drew Monti, Shawn Gray and newcomer Larry Stalbaum joining the fray, the competition was fierce every night” said Todd Haight, GM/Director of Live Racing. “Despite our handle being down 5 percent for the meet, we paid out a record $5.9 million in purse money and we look forward to doing that again next year.”

Pending approval from the New York State Gaming Commission, the 2017 live racing meet at Batavia Downs will start on Wednesday (July 26).  

The management and horsemen of Batavia Downs would like to wish everyone in the industry a very happy Holiday Season and the best of luck in the upcoming new year.