Sports

Press release:

Notre Dame announces the hiring of Joe Zambito as their Varsity Football Coach replacing Rick Mancuso who retired to spend more time with his family.

He was a highly successful Genesee Region Football and Basketball Coach at Elba from 1999 through 2006. Zambito joined the Notre Dame coaching family in 2010 as a volunteer coach on Coach Mancuso’s football staff a position he held for the past seven seasons.

His relationship with the Notre Dame side of one of Section V’s biggest rivalries began a few years earlier in the fall of 2007 with the enrollment of his nephew Vincent (Class of 2011).

It continued for the next 11 years as nephews Gianni (Class of 2010 and a current Social Studies teacher at ND), Luca (Class of 2016 Valedictorian), Nico (Class of 2018) and cousin Anthony (Class of 2021) all made Notre Dame their high school choice.

During his eight-year stint as the head football coach, his Elba teams were recognized in both the GR and Section V as being physical, well-prepared and disciplined football squads. They excelled on the field winning 3 GR Championships and the 2005 Section V Class D Championship, an accomplishment that led to Zambito being recognized as 2005 Section V Coach of the Year.

He was also a very successful basketball coach winning GR championships in 2005 and 2006, and a Sectional title in 2005 when he was both the Section V and Genesee Region Coach of the Year. During his coaching tenure, his teams also earned numerous NYS Scholar-Athlete team recognition.

Zambito, who is employed as both Race Secretary and Track Announcer at Batavia Downs, holds a bachelor's degree from SUNY Brockport. He is married to the former Kelly Degenhardt whose mother Anne Palmer (Degenhardt) is a 1966 graduate of Notre Dame.

When commenting on his appointment, Coach Zambito said,” I am looking forward to working with the student-athletes at Notre Dame to help them grow, progress and maximize their potential both on and off the field. Here Come the Irish!”

Oakfield-Alabama's fine season, which included 19 wins, came to a disappointing end Wednesday night in the Class D1 Section V semifinal playoff game against South Seneca.

The #4 seeded South Seneca knocked off the #1 seeded Lady Hornets 68-44.

Brianna Smith scored 16 points for O-A and Kylie Schlagenhauf scored 15.

In the girls' Class C1 semifinal, also played Wednesday night, Notre Dame beat Red Creek 52-48. 

Margaret Sutherland and Callie McCulley each scored 12 points, Natalie Thornton scored 11, Morgan Rhodes scored nine and Stevie Wilcox scored eight. Wilcox had 13 rebounds and Thornton had 10.

In girls' basketball tomorrow, Elba plays for the Class D2 championship in Gainsville against Andover at 6 p.m. 

Pavilion plays Saturday against Wheatland-Chili for the Class D1 championship in Letchworth at 8 p.m.

Notre Dame vies for the Class C1 championship in Rush-Henrietta at 3 p.m., Saturday, against Letchworth.

In boys' basketball, the lone Genesee County team still in the hunt for a sectional championship is Pembroke, who take on Northstar Christian for the Class C1 championship at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Blue Cross Arena.

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.

To view or purchase photos click here.

A big part of Elba's game plan going into Tuesday night's Section V semifinal playoff game against Romulus in Dansville was to stop point guard Mary Ellen Querrie.

That proved a tough task. Her leadership and her 19 points kept Romulus in the game up until the closing minutes.

"We had a tough time with her," said Head Coach Tom Redband.

Even so, Elba was able to regain the lead in the fourth quarter after giving it up in the third and held on to win, 58-55.

Redband said a lot of credit for the win goes to Leah Bezon. The freshman scored 18 points, which included hitting a trio of threes.

Romulus ran a press all night, which produced some turnovers, but Redband said Brynn Walczak, Isabella Riner, and Maddie Muehlig did an effective job of breaking it.

"Those three girls, specifically, did a good job," Redband said.

Walczak finished with 12 points, as did Muelig. Riner scored five.

Redband said after Romulus made its third-quarter run, "It was looking a little bleak for us," but the Lady Lancers held it together.

"Another key (to the game) for us was not getting down on ourselves," Redband said. "We had some an adversity. Romulus went on a good run and the girls stuck with it, made some big shots and didn’t give up."

Elba faces Andover on Friday at Letchworth for the Section V Class D2 championship. Game time is 6 p.m. 

Pavilion also has a Section V Class D1 championship game that night at Letchworth at 8 p.m. against Wheatland.

Semifinals tonight, Notre Dame plays Red Creek in Class C1 and Oakfield-Alabama plays South Seneca in Class C2.

For only the third time in program history, the Pembroke Dragons will play for a Section V boys basketball championship on Friday after beating Avon 65-50 in a semifinal game played last night in Warsaw.

"It’s a big deal for the program," said Head Coach Matt Shay. "Basketball hasn’t always something that the school has had a lot of success in, so it’s really exciting to see this group buy in and work and get that success."

On Friday, the Dragons fell behind in the second quarter but then went on a 14-0 run to close out the half and go into the locker room with a 10-point lead.

While Avon pulled close a couple of times in the second-half, Pembroke remained in control of the game.

"The lapses that I really didn't like were in the middle of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter whey they (Avon) started to make a run," Shay said. "They were making good cuts and we were caught sleeping, staring at the ball."

Shay said he was proud of Reid Miano's performance, who struggled to score in the first half but kept his head in the game and finished with 16 points on the night.

"We have so much depth and talent that we can survive if he doesn't have a great night," Shay said. "Some teams, their star guy starts off slow, they’re in trouble, but I really talked with him about just keep playing. You can be our best player and still not score. I’m so proud of him because at the end of this game, he didn’t do much in the first half, but in the second half, he really came alive."

Lucas Kohorst scored 20 points, Zach VonKramer and Ethan Stone each scored 10.

The Dragons, with a record of 23-0 is the #2 seed in the Class C1 bracket. On Friday, they play the #1 seed, Northstar Christian (22-1) for the championship at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.

Bowlers in the Sunday Roll-Offs League at Medina Lanes were in the groove this morning as nine members posted 600 series, led by Scott Allis, with a sparkling 824 set.

For the second time in four weeks, Allis, a 37-year-oid right-hander from Medina, hit the 800 mark. This time it was punctuated by a closing 300 game.

Ken Evans of Medina also had a 300 game in the league, and finished with a 736 series -- 11 pins less than Batavia's Gregg Wolff.

For all the rest of the scores and for highlights of other league bowling action around the Genesee Region, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Notre Dame lost its home game Class D1 semifinal playoff game to Naples on Saturday, 72-59.

Nico Zambito scored 15 points for the Fighting Irish. Gabe Macdonald scored 14, and Ryan Moffat scored 11.  

For Naples, Evan Bay scored 20 and Cole Rathbon scored 18. Bay hit five three-pointers.

The #3 seed in Class A2, the Batavia Blue Devils, was up Saturday in a Section V playoff game played in Batavia, by the #6 seed, Honeoye Falls-Lima, 48-41.

While Batavia jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead, behind the hot hand of Tee Sean Ayala, who scored 13 of his 20 points in the first eight minutes, HFL seemed to have figured out how to slow Ayala down. HFL held Ayala to seven points the rest of the way.

Worse, the Blue Devils didn't score at all in the second quarter and were held to 10 points in the fourth quarter -- a quarter in which HFL seemed to find it impossible to miss a shot, scoring 17 points.

Naz Pratt scored nine points for the Blue Devils and Antwan Odom scored six.

Top scorer for HFL was Garret Ruff with 13.

Notre Dame beat Addison in a Saturday afternoon Section V girls basketball playoff game at Notre Dame.

The final, 45-31. 

Margaret Sutherland scored 20 points for the Lady Irish. Callie McCulley scored 13 and Morgan Rhodes scored seven.

Also, in girls basketball Saturday:

• Byron-Bergen lost to Red Creek, 69-65. Emily Kaczmarek scored 17 points for the Lady Bees. Dana VanValkenburg scored 14, Kelsey Fuller, 12, and Julianna Amesbury, 8. For Red Creek, Katie Smith scored 19;
• Elba beat Whitesville, 56-21;
• Letchworth beat Pembroke, 56-40;
• Oakfield-Alabama beat Cal-Mum, 56-31.

Pembroke remained one of three undefeated Class C basketball teams in the state Friday with a 67-58 win over Gananda in a Section V playoff game.

Jamil Marable scored 20 points, Reid Miano, 18, and Lucas Kohorst, 17. 

Pembroke is now 21-0 on the season.

Also on Friday night, in Class D, #4 ranked, lost to #5 ranked Avoca, 73-59.

In girls basketball, Batavia beat Geneva, 57-48. Pavilion beat Naples, 56-29.

Notre Dame advanced in the Class D1 Section V boys basketball playoffs Wednesday with a 68-50 home victory over Wheatland-Chili.

Andrew Moore scored 13 points, Ryan Moffat, 12, Gabe Macdonald, 11, Nico Zambito, 9, and Brendin Klotzbach, 8.

Zambito had nine rebounds. Spencer Misiti had five assists.

For Wheatland-Chili, Adam Lund scored 23 points.

In girls basketball:

• Canisteo beat Le Roy, 59-56
• Geneseo over Alexander, 53-34
• Bergen over North Rose, 57-40
• Notre Dame beat East Rochester, 54-36

In boys basketball, Le Roy beat Rochester Early College 54-34 on Tuesday to advance in the first round of Section V's Class C1 playoffs.

Canyon Roster scored 21 points, nabbed four rebounds, had three assists, and two steals. Cole Biggins scored 11 points and had six rebounds. Reece Tresco scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.  For Early College, Jahkier Moore scored 12 points and had 15 rebounds.

Also on Tuesday:

• Pembroke, Class C1, moved to 21-0 on the season, beating Holley 59-37;
• Also in C1, Avon beat Byron-Bergen, 66-43;
• Geneseo beat Oakfield-Alabama, Class 2, 55-47;
• Elba beat Friendship in Class D1, 59-23.

In girls basketball, Pavilion beat HAC 48-37.

The Empire Hockey Youth Conference 12 and under Peewee Batavia Ramparts beat the Tri-County Golden Eagles of Brockport 7-0 yesterday afternoon at the Faletti Ice Arena on Evans Street in Batavia.

Tyler McClurg and Greg Narburg both led the game with two goals and one assist each.

Also scoring goals were Logan Narburg, Ian Kepple and Preson Tobolski. Justin Valyear had two assists.

Goaltender Robert McCarthy recorded his eighth league shutout between the pipes for the ramparts and 11^th overall to finish the regular season.

Empire Conference this weekend is the playoffs are known as play downs. Friday night and Saturday morning games will be played at the Bill Gray’s Ice Complex in Rochester.  Saturday afternoon the finals will be at SUNY Brockport.

To purchase or view game photos click here.

For a list of team divisional standings click here.

Eastridge High School held its annual "Battle on the Ridge" cheer competition this past Saturday in Rochester. The Batavia Varsity squad finished second place in its division. 

Judges score on difficulty and execution in the following catagories: Jumps, pyramid, stunts, tumbling and cheer.

This Saturday Rochester Institute of Technology hosts the Section V competition. 

For more photos to view or purchase click here.

Curtis Foss rolled a 300 game -- his second in three weeks -- while Roger Allis posted a 300 game to highlight the list of league bowling leaders for the week of Feb. 12.

Foss, a Medina resident, finished with a 775 series in the Sneezy's Monday Night League at Oak Orchard Bowl, while Allis, also of Medina, finished with 732 in the Thursday Firefighters League at Medina Lanes.

At Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen, Caycee Landers registered 782, the highest series ever by a woman in the Genesee Region USBC (she was featured in Mike Pettinella's Pin Points column).

For more "high rollers," click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the page.

Earlier this week, both the boys and the girls Alpine Ski teams finished in ninth place at the sectional championships at Bristol Mountain in what Coach Matt Holman described as a deep Class A field.

For the boys, top finishers for were Brandon Bradley (33rd in Slalom, 38th in Giant Slalom), Zack Wagner (35th in SL, 43rd in GS) Alec Wagner (40th in GS), Matt Grover (41st in GS), Ryan Bowen (36th in SL, 47th in GS).

For the girls, top finishers were Aubrey Towner (30th in SL, 31st in GS) and Lily Whiting (38th in GS).

Holman said Batavia has had a ski team since 1991 and he's encouraging more students to participate.

"With the Olympics in full swing," he said, "if anyone who is a student in the Batavia Middle or High School is interested in learning more about ski racing can contact Coach Matt Holman by emailing him at mholman@bataviacsd.org."  

If you are not a Batavia City School District student and interested in ski racing, contact your school's athletic director. In the past Notre Dame High School and Elba Central Schools have been represented in the Southern Tier Race League and have trained with the Batavia Ski Team.

Information by Le Roy Coach Jay Laitenberger. Photos by Tim McArdle.

Le Roy's boys winter track and field are the 2018 Section V champions a year after missing the title by one point.

Clayton Allen finished sixth in the 1,000 meter with a career personal record after being seeded 10th.

Ryan Driscoll finished fourth in the 3,200 meter with a career personal record that was 14 seconds faster than his indoor PR and 7 seconds faster than his outdoor PR.

Maxin Mckenzie finished second in the mile before anchoring the 4 x 800 team with Clayton, Ryan, and Jacob Montoya. The boys team ran their fastest time of the season -- and the fastest time of the past two seasons.

Jordan Stephens ran an official career personal record in the 3,200.

Bryce Bordonaro threw for a personal record in the shot put to finish sixth overall after being seeded ninth and then went on to finish third in weight throw.

Tom Mellon finished fourth in the weight throw, joining Marshall Schultz with a fourth-place finish in shot put.

Ethan Roy finished third in the pole vault, while Ethan Pocock finished sixth -- both equaled their indoor personal records.

Gaven Cassidy set personal records in the 600 and 55m Hurdles on his way to a pair of second-place finishes. His 600 came up .04 away from the school record. He then finished fourth in the 300.

Athletes of the Meet:

• Gavin Luckey finished second in the triple jump with a career personal record before winning the high jump with another career personal record. He then picked up a fourth place finish in the long jump with his third personal record of the day.
• Collin Stauffer started the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 55 meter after being seeded seventh before his first-place finish and one-foot career personal record in the triple jump. He then finished third in the long jump with a near-personal record.

Seniors Gavin Luckey, Gaven Cassidy and Ethan Roy won their second title in four years as freshman members of the 2015 team.

The boys team won for the fifth time since the first indoor title in 2008, and the 10th title in Le Roy Track & Field History (boys / girls / indoor / outdoor).

• 2018 -- 1st Place
• 2017 -- 2d Place
• 2016 -- 5th Place
• 2015 -- 1st Place
• 2014 -- 1st Place
• 2013 -- 3rd Place
• 2012 -- 3rd Place
• 2011 -- 1st Place