Sports

Gananda didn't score a goal until the second minute of Tuesday's Section V Class C2 semifinal in Girls Soccer at Pittsford-Sutherland, which sort of felt like an accomplishment to Byron-Bergen Head Coach Wayne Hill.

"Last year, we played them (in postseason) and they scored in the first 10 seconds," Hill said after the Bees' 4-1 win. "We knew they're going to be pressing hard and fast early. I felt good that we didn't get scored out in the first minute. But they banged in one in the second minute."

Despite the quick strike, the Bees held their composure.

"We stayed level-headed," Hill said. "We stayed true to our game plan and weathered a little bit of a storm and then we played our game, and we took control of the game."

It didn't take long for Mia Gray, who already has more than 100 career points through her sophomore year, to even the tally with a high, long lob, followed by a goal by Grace Diquattro (who also got the assist on Gray's earlier goal).

"They (Gananda) score a lot of goals," Hill said. "They're used to winning. They're used to scoring a lot, and I think that variable gave us a little bit of an advantage when they got down."

A penalty kick by Megan Jarkiewicz that just tipped off the fingers of Gananda's keeper, Olivia Moskal, as it arched over her head, gave Byron-Bergen a 3-1 lead and two goals up can be huge in soccer.

It seemed the Bees had increasing control of the game as it went on, though Hill said he thought Gananda had about a 55 to 45 percent advantage in control.

"We capitalized better," Hill said. "I thought it was a nice even game. I'm happy to see that kind of game."

In the second half, Libby Starowitz knocked in a bullet from about 30 yards out to give the Bees the 4-1 lead, which proved decisive.

Two of Byron-Bergen's goals sailed high over Moskal, and that was by design, Hill indicated.

"We watched some game film and thought maybe we could hit something high," Hill said. "We switched up a couple of our free-kick takers. Megan Jarkiewicz hasn't taken a free kick all year and scored on one tonight. That makes me feel good that, you know, she was able to step up and do what she needed to do at the right time."

Mia Gray, one of the team's top scorers, stayed back more in a defensive formation against Gananda and that was by design, Hill said.

"Grenada has two very, very good center mids (midfielders)," Hill said. We had to play a little bit more defensively in the middle of the field so that they just didn't start steamrolling us. So yeah, Mia and Libby were both back a little bit more, and that left our strikers a little bit more alone. So we weren't so striker-driven like we normally are. And we just needed to help out our defense a little bit."

Even though Gananda came in as the #1 seed and Byron-Bergen the #4 seed, this win wasn't an upset, Hill said. He noted that some observes have called C2 "the bracket of death" because of its depth.

"There were so many teams at the start of this C2 bracket that all realistically had a chance," Hill said. "In the last game, we played a number five seed that had 14 wins. That's incredible. Usually, the number five is about a .500 team. So there's a lot of quality teams in this. I don't know if at any point, there's an upset just because each league is tough. Each league exposes people to different situations. We see that this month. We see that the schedule that we played has prepared us for this. So to say that there were any upsets? I don't think so. I think everybody's pretty fair."

Next up for Byron-Bergen, the Section C2 final against #3 Keshequa on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Gates-Chili.

For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

Alexander football players got to step onto their own field for the first time this year on Saturday for a homecoming game, and the combined Attica/Alexander squad improved to 7-1 on the season beating Hornell 42-0.

No stats were submitted for the game.

Here is the sectional playoff schedule:

• Class B: #3 Batavia hosts #6 Geneva at 7 p.m. on Friday
• Class C: #1 Le Roy hosts #8 Penn Yan/Dundee at 7 p.m. on Friday
• Class C: #2 Attica/Alexander hosts #7 Livonia at 7 p.m. on Friday
• Class D: #1 York/Pavilion has a bye
• Class D: #4 Oakfield-Alabama hosts #5 Notre Dame at 3 p.m. on Saturday
• Eight-Man: #1 Pembroke hosts #4 Red Jacket at 7 p.m. on Friday

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish modified football team played its final game of the season on Saturday, winning 48-0 over Pavilion/York/Wyoming to complete a 6-0 run for the year.

The Irish squad typically won by 50 points or close to it in each game.

On Saturday, Chase Antinore and Bradley Gabehart each scored two touchdowns. T.J. Cepheus, Jr., Matthew McCulley, and Timmy Bartz each scored one TD each.

The head coach is Brett Hall.

Photos by Pete Welker

Press Release:

Notre Dame High School boys basketball Coach Mike Rapone (NDHS 1971) has not coached a game in well over a year, but that has not stopped the accolades from rolling in on his record-breaking career. 

The school was informed that the Basketball Coaches Association of New York Executive Board has selected Rapone for induction into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame. Rapone was previously inducted into the Notre Dame High School Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Section V Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. 

During his 42-year career at Notre Dame, he amassed a record of 728-212 with an eye-popping winning percentage of over 78%. To put that in perspective an average season over the entire span of his ND career ended with 17 wins and only 5 losses. 

He began his varsity career in the 1980-1981 season and promptly won his first Genesee Region Title and the school’s first-ever Section V Championship in Boys Basketball. The rest would be New York State basketball history as his teams would go on to win 17 consecutive Genesee Region titles to begin his career and 32 out of his first 34 seasons in total. 

During an 11-year span from 1992-2002, his teams would accumulate a record of 225-44 (84%), win 10 GR titles, appear in 9 Section V Championship Games, win 5 Section V titles, and 2 New York State Championships.

In addition to the 728 victories, Rapone’s career totals include 34 Genesee Region Titles, 10 Section V Championships, 5 NYS Far West Regional victories, and 2 New York State Championships (1992 and 2001). He is the current holder of Section V records in wins (728), championship game appearances (19), Section V Championships (10), Section V Tournament #1 Seeds (19), and championships in 4 different classifications (B, C, D, and DD).

The New York State Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in March 2024, and more details will be provided as they are made available. 

With only one loss, Batavia went into the postseason with one of its best -- perhaps its best -- seasons ever in Girls Soccer, as the #3 seed in Class A and hoping to advance.

The Blue Devils were 14-1-1 in the regular season, but Coach Roger Hume said he knew Palmyra-Macedon would be tough to beat, even though the Raiders finished up the regular season 10-5-1 and the #6 season in Class A.

The Blue Devils 2-0 on Saturday, then, was clearly disappointing to the Batavia squad.

Hume said he was proud of his team's effort and success over the course of the season.

"We had the best record in my 15 years (as head coach)," Hume said. "This group surprised me by how they weren't worried about anyone.  One game at a time. They came back and won two games in OT to keep their undefeated record.   We had five seniors who were all leaders with no drama. It was fun to come to practice.   They have set the bar high, but last year the bar was set for this group, and they crushed it.  Next year's group will be as strong, too."

Pal-Mac's forward, Lillian Boesel, scored both goals for the visiting team.

Batavia played hard through both halves of the match, firing 15 shots, but Pal-Mac keeper Marianna Hodgins came up with 10 saves against shots-on-goal.

The Blue Devils have had five chances to score on corner kicks.

The Raiders took 13 shots, with five on goal saved by Ava Higgins.

"We had enough to beat them," Hume said, "but they took advantage of their opportunities.

The Batavia soccer program -- boys and girls -- has been on the upswing since the move into Van Detta Stadium. The boys finished the season 8-7-1 with a first-round sectional loss to Pittsford Mendon, 9-1.

Girls Sectional Summary:

• Class B: #8 Le Roy lost to #1 Haverling 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
• Class C1: Oakfield-Alabama beat Letchworth in quarterfinals 3-0. The #3 seed will play #2 Williamsville on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Cal-Mum.
• Class C2: #12 Alexander lost to #5 Dundee/Bradford in the pre-quarterfinals 2-1. #4 Byron-Bergen beat #13 Bolivar-Richburg in the quarterfinals 9-0 and next face #1 seed Ganada on Tuesday at a time and location to be determined.
• Class D: #10 Notre Dame beat #7 Mount Morris 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals and lost 1-0 to Northstar Christian Academy in the quarterfinals.

Boys Sectional Summary:

• Class B: #7 Le Roy lost to #2 Livona 1-0 in the quarterfinal after beating #10 Attica/Alexander in the pre-quarterfinal 4-0.
• Class C: #13 Pembroke lost #4 Keshequa 8-0 in the pre-quarterfinals.  #5 Pavilion/York lost on penalty kicks to Avon after a 2-2 tie in regulation time in the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, #2 Byron-Bergen beat #10 Holly 5-0. On Wednesday, the Bees face #3 Addison at 5 p.m. at Geneseo High School. 

To view more photos from Batavia's game and to purchase prints, click here.

Oakfield-Alabama beat Letchworth on Saturday in the Class C sectional quarterfinal, 3-0.

No scoring summary is available for the game.

The Hornets (#3) will play a semifinal game Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Williamson (#2) at Cal-Mum.

Photos by Debra Reilly.

More and more students in the Genesee Region are finding their athletic niche by participating in Unified Bowling, a component of the Special Olympics Unified Sports program.

About two dozen schools – including Batavia, Pavilion, Le Roy and Perry -- are participating in the Section V Unified Bowling League this season.

Matches get underway this coming week, with the Batavia team opening against Churchville-Chili at Spencerport Bowl and the Perry team taking on the combined Pavilion/Le Roy squad at Perry Bowling Center. Both of those matches are set for 4 p.m. Tuesday.

What makes Unified Bowling (and Unified Sports, in general) unique is that it combines students with intellectual disabilities and students without intellectual disabilities to produce interscholastic sports teams for practice sessions and competition.

“It’s all about creating a team atmosphere,” said Jamie Masters, the first-year head coach of the Batavia squad. “Whether they have disabilities or not, they're all working together as a team.”

She said that the matches consist of three games, with two games of doubles competition and the last game as a team competition. Local bowling centers scheduled to host matches over the next several weeks are Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia, Le Roy Legion Lanes and Perry Bowling Center.

Masters, a physical therapist for the Batavia City School District, said the program also aims to increase friendship both on the playing field – or lanes, in this case – and in school.

“A goal is to build camaraderie in the school, such as sitting with each other during lunch or having conversations during the school day. It’s goes beyond bowling,” she said.

The Unified Sports initiative fosters inclusive activity as a way to tear down stereotypes and build relationships, while providing students with and without intellectual disabilities the chance to take on leadership roles in their schools and the community. Specific campaigns tied to the program include Fans in the Stands, Pledge and Plunge and the R-word Campaign.

According to the Special Olympics, more than 8,300 schools across the United States take part in Unified Sports.

For the Section V Unified Bowling schedule, click on this link: Unified Bowling Schedule - Section V Athletics.

Rosters of the local teams are as follows:

Batavia – Lena Boris, Andy Burton, Jennifer Ewert, Aleigha Frith, Kaelee Kelso, Max Kongmany, Esayas Reinhardt, Aiden Bellavia, Landon Hamilton, Jayla Odom, Price Parris, Rahmeto Reinhardt, Lylianalynn Santos-Baez, Benjamin Sputore and Marisha Tucholski. Coach: Jamie Masters. Assistant Coach: John Kirkwood. Volunteer assistant: Ryan Hamilton.

Pavilion/Le Roy – Carter Blaisdell, Alex Boldt, Case Cummins, Chris Doody, Corina Dunn, Jackson Fix, Merritt Holly, Hudson Klein, James Kingsbury, Jordin Kreutz, Adam Leitten, Dannielle Morehead, Alaina Powers, Morgan Powers, Arianna Pray, Reilly Powers, Landon Stoddard, Andrew Strollo, Mia Strollo, Joey Vernaccini, Makayla Washburn and Zoe Washburn. Coach: Michelle Milligan. Assistant Coach: PJ Puccio.

Perry – Hunter Clark, Todd Claud, Ashlee Davenport, Alexandra Faryna, Dominik Forrester, Nicolas Gutierrez, Hunter Henchen, Mason Herman, Olivia Herman, Kiara Hughes, Peyton Lyke-Scott, Koleden Osborne, James Shearman, Bryce Tallman, Landon Warner, Sawyer West, Victoria Wilson. Coach: Kris Goodell.

Oakfield-Alabama finished the regular season Friday night on a disappointing note, losing to Avon 40-0.

Aggies stats: 

• Junior RB Avery Watterson - 14 Carries, 72 Yards
• Senior QB Austin Pangrazio - 11 Carries, 76 Yards
• Senior LB Ashton Bezon - 12 Tackles

This weekend in Genesee County football:

• Batavia beat Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton 34-28. Zailen Griffin, 25 rush, 235 yards, three TDs Bronx Buchholz 7-15 passing, 156 yards, two TDs, 1 interception, 13 carries for 81 yards. Cole Graz, four receptions for 74 yards and two TDs. Maggio Buchholz two receptions, 50 yards.
• Canisteo/Greenwood beat Notre Dame, 33-0.
• York/Pavillion beat Geneseo/Mount Morris, 28-0
• Le Roy beat Penn Yan/Dundee, 49-0
• Avon beat Oakfield-Alabama/Elba, 40-0
• Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen beat Wellsville, 42-24
• Attica/Alexander beat Hornell, 42-0 (pictures expected Monday morning).

In sectional standings:

• Class B, Batavia finishes regular season 6-2 and is seeded #4
• Class C, Le Roy is 8-0, #1; Attica/Alexander is 7-1, #2
• Class D, York/Pavilion is 7-1, #1; Oakfield-Alabama, 3-5, #4; Notre Dame, 2-6, #5
• 8-Man, Pembroke, 8-0, #1.

The sectional playoff schedule has not yet been posted.

Photos by Debra Bezon.

The Pembroke Dragons finished the regular season on Friday with a 43-14 win over Holley/Lyndonville moving their record to 8-0 and making them the only team in Section V 8-Man Football with a spotless record.

They'll head into the postseason as the #1 seed. The postseason schedule has not been posted yet.

The Dragons racked up 400 yards on offense on just 20 plays. Coach Brandon Ricci credited the line of Ben Steinberg, Jayden Mast, Jayden Bridge, Madden Perry, JJ Gabbey, Octavius Martin and Hayden Williams for the dominant offensive game. 

Tyson Totten ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns on three carries to eclipse 2,000 yards rushing on the season.  

Fullback Caleb Felski had 160 yards rushing and two TDs on just a pair of carries. He also added a 55-yard receiving touchdown from Quarterback Vijay Dhanda. 

Sean Pustulka finished the scoring for the Dragons with a 42-yard rushing touchdown and a 24-yard field goal.

Defensively the Dragons were led by Jayden Bridge with seven tackles. Dom Boldt, Aidan Balduf and Hayden Williams each chipped in five tackles, while Vijay Dhanda had the game's lone fumble recovery. 

The Dragons will host a home playoff game against an opponent yet to be determined next week.

Submitted photos and information.

Notre Dame basketball coach Michael Rapone is running a Sunday morning basketball league for fifth and sixth graders and for third and fourth graders.

The league is open to children from throughout the GLOW region and no Notre Dame affiliation is required. 

Rapone said it's the Buff Rice league, inspired by a league his age group played in in the 1990s at the YMCA, which was run by Sonny Love.

He provided the photos and this recap of the second week of play on Sunday.

Fifth and sixth-grade scores:

Warriors (2-0) 39
Celtics (1-1) 10

Drew Schultz and Sawyer George led the Warriors with 14 and 13 points respectively.  Teagan Porter chipped in with 4 points and 7 assists.  Ethan Thom had 6 points and 7 rebounds.  For the Celtics, Preston Newton had 4 points, and Nolan Rogers had 2 points and 5 rebounds.

Heat (1-1) 25
Lakers (0-2) 23

This game came down to the final possessions, and the Heat got the defensive stop that they needed at the buzzer.  The Heat were paced by two scorers, Patrick Casey and Lincoln Metz who each had 10 points. Ryker Schultz pitched in with 3 and 6 rebounds. Lakers were led by Liam McAlister who had 9 and Vinnie LaBarbara who had 8. 


Third and fourth-grade scores:

Duke (1-1) 24
Syracuse (0-2) 20

Duke got their first win of the season behind a strong game by Barrett Jones who had 12 points and while Mateo Spink chipped in with 8 points.  Gino Fava had 3 and Alex Tommy rounded out the scoring with 1 free throw.  Jackson Therrien had 16 in the loss and Sammy Rapone threw in a bucket and a couple free throws for 4 points.

Carolina (3-0) 41
Syracuse (0-3) 17

Syracuse played the doubleheader this week and ran into Luke Hungerford.  Hungerford led the unbeaten Carolina team with 21 points and 5 assists.  Denny Crowley and Amaeus Largeroy each had 10 points to round out the Carolina scoring. Jackson Therrien led Syracuse with 10 points.  Mia O’Connor, Braden Coffey, and Charlie Rapone all had a bucket for Syracuse.

Batavia High School senior Benjamin Sputore on Saturday morning became just the seventh United States Bowling Congress-certified youth bowler in Mancuso Bowling Center history to roll a 300 game in league competition.

Competing in the Batavia Youth League, Sputore (photo at right), a 17-year-old right-hander, finished his three-game series with 12 consecutive strikes on lanes 11-12.

The perfect game capped his first 700 series ever, following games of 221 and 199 for a 720 total.

Despite putting the first nine deliveries squarely in the 1-3 pocket, Sputore, son of Mancuso Bowling Center Manager Mike Sputore of Batavia and Julie Hawley Paradowski of Oakfield, said he wasn’t overly confident heading into the 10^th frame.

“I expected to leave a 10-pin somewhere in the 10^th frame,” the soft-spoken teen said, acknowledging that he was “pretty nervous.”

Using a Storm Dark Code ball that he switched to after the second game, Sputore was equal to the task, however, as he put the ball in the pocket on each of the final three shots on lane 11. The last ball was a bit light in the pocket, but it threw the 5-pin into the 7-pin for the 300.

Sputore’s 300 game comes five years after his father rolled a perfect game at Mancuso’s (on Oct. 21, 2018) and eclipses his previous high game of 278.

He has been bowling in the youth program at Mancuso’s since the age of 6, and also bowls in the T.F. Brown’s Adult-Child League and in the Genesee Region USBC Youth Travel League, where he averaged 193 last season. He also works part-time at the lanes.

Sputore joins Mike Pettinella, Jerry Geissler, Rich Wagner, James Walker, Jordan Fluker and Tony Sprague on the list of youth bowlers with certified 300 games at Mancuso’s.

In Genesee Region USBC adult league action this week:

• Warsaw left-hander Kevin Gray Jr. kept the hot hand in the Thursday Owls League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen, posting a 297 game en route to a 735 series. Righty Harris Busmire of Bergen took top honors for the night with a 752 series.
• Wagner came up with two strikes and nine pins in the 10^th frame of game three to carve out a 234 triplicate in the Toyota of Batavia Thursday 4-Man League at Mancuso’s.
• Curtis Foss of Medina led the way in the Sneezy’s Monday Night League at Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion with a 278 game and 760 series.
• Hayden Allis topped the list in the Sunday Rolloffs League at Medina Lanes with a 258 game and 709 series. Allis posted a 300 game and 765 series in the Wednesday Community League on Oct. 11, four days after getting married. Other recent high scores by Medina bowlers include Alex Allis’ 299 in the Wednesday league on Oct. 4 and Jim Foss’ 300 game at Airport Lanes in Buffalo on Sept. 29.
• Gary Macomber of Dalton, 70, registered his first perfect game on Oct. 8 in the Sunday Night Merchants League at Mount Morris Lanes. 

For a list of high scores, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the home page.

In a rare Saturday afternoon game for Batavia at Van Detta Stadium, the Blue Devils beat Rochester Prep 40-0.

Batavia improves to 5-2 and is currently seeded #3 in Class B with one regular season game left on the schedule.

The Batavian has not received stats for the game.

Photos by Debra Reilly

Press release:

The Pembroke Dragons Varsity Football team improved to 7-0 on the season with a 71-42 victory over Wellsville despite having just 17 eligible players.

Behind the blocking of Ben Steinberg, Jayden Mast, Jayden Bridge, Madden Perry, JJ Gabbey, Octavius Martin and Hayden Williams, The Dragons racked up over 500 yards of offense, drawing first blood with a 30-yard passing touchdown to sophomore tight end Madden Perry. 

Tyson Totten ran for 345 yards and four touchdowns. 

Junior Fullback Caleb Felski had 126 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just seven carries. He also took the opening second-half kick return 88 yards to the house. 

Junior Quarterback Vijay Dhanda and Senior Sean Pustulka each had a rushing touchdown; Pustulka's coming from 20 yards out with 10 seconds left in the first half to break the one-score game. 

Defensively the Dragons were led by linebacker Vijay Dhanda with nine tackles. Nose Guard Jayden Mast added eight tackles of his own, while Totten, Kimmel and Perry had seven each. Junior Jayden Bridge added 2 sacks each in a game that saw zero turnovers.  

Also on Friday, Le Roy beat Livonia 42-21

Submitted photos.