After playing even with Byron-Bergen through the first two quarters in Boys Basketball on Thursday, Notre Dame pulled away in the third for a 70-52 win.
Chase Antinore scored 35 points for the Irish. TJ Cephus scored 14 and Aiden Bellavia scored 13.
For the Bees, Cody Carlson scored 30 points.
Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro.
A battle at SUNY Brockport on Thursday between Batavia Notre Dame United and the Portside Royals ended with a 3-0 win for BND.
In the second period, Jameson Motyka scored the first goal of the game, unassisted a couple of minutes in
Four minutes later, Sam Pies passed to Motyka for his second score.
The score was unchanged until a couple of minutes left in the game. Chase Cummings scored the third goal off a dump-in zone, which was off the glass and ricocheted into a misplay by the goalie.
Each side fired 29 shots on goal during the game.
Shots on goal were 29 each on both sides.
BND's Rhys Tanner stopped all 29 shots from Portside to record the shutout. He also noted his 1,000th career save.
"You got to be community," Tanner said after the game. "You got to communicate with the D. If they get the puck, I tell them one, one on one, or the two on. I just tell them back, back, back, rim out, if you got to get the puck out. It's fine; as long as they don't have possession, they can't score. That is what our philosophy is. So we just stuck to the 1-1-3. It worked really well. They couldn't get out of the zone."
United is now 6-3-2 and on the road to play New Hartford, Friday at 7 p.m.
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Three decades after the program's last appearance in the Batavia Rotary Club Girls Basketball Tournament, the Elba Lancers are the tournament's new champions.
The Lancers beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 55-44 at GCC on Thursday.
Elba outscored Notre Dame 21 to six in the first quarter and never looked back.
Sydney Reilly scored 27 points for Elba. She was the only player on the team to score in double digits. Brea Smith scored seven, and Lydia Ross scored six.
For the Irish, Sofia Falleti scored 28 points and was also the only player on her team to score in double digits. Gianna Falleti and Shirley Thompson each scored five.
Photos by Debra Reilly.
Even though the weather was ice cold, driver Joe Chindano Jr. was red hot at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Jan. 9) afternoon as he won a total of six races on the card, including a natural hat trick in races 13, 14 and 15 to close out the day’s action.
Chindano scored with Lyons Johnnyjnr (1:58.1, $4.50), Communion Money (1:58.3, $5.00), Littelbitaswagger (1:57.3, $7.00), Da Ghetto wizard (1:56, $4.80), Flames Of Fire (2:00.2, $3.70) and Legal Bettor (1:56.3, $9.60). Chindano also had a second and a third from his 11 drives, giving him a stellar .626 UDR for the program.
Chindano’s first, fourth and fifth winners were trained by Candace Brandstatter-Hall, who led all trainers for the day with her triple.
Two races Chindano did not win were the pair of feature races that had solid miles turned in by both winners, despite the winter conditions.
The pacers lined up first in their $13,000 Open Handicap and Melanion N (Drew Monti) picked up where he left off at Batavia last December, which was in the winner’s enclosure, after returning from a short, unsuccessful excursion to Ohio before Christmas.
Melanion N got away last off the gate while Mach Le More A (Dave McNeight III) dashed to the half in :58.3 on the point. Heading onto the second circuit, Primo Oumo (Jim McNeight Jr.) moved first-over from fourth and Monti followed with Melanion N, one out and one back in fourth. Approaching three-quarters, Melanion N was sent three-deep to the front and took that position into the stretch. As the race was heading for home, Melanion N bolted away by 2-¼ lengths to win easily in 1:55.3.
Melanion N ($2.70) is owned by Vogel and Wags Nags, Team Rice Racing and Dr. Michael Miller and trained by Maria Rice.
Monti and Rice also scored with Lip Reader A ($4.10) for Vogel and Wags Nags and Team Rice Racing in the $11,000 upper-level conditioned pace in 1:55.2. Monti finished the night with a total of three wins.
Later in the card, the trotters lined up for their $13,000 Open Handicap tilt and the Saratoga Raceway invader, Malibu Kid (Larry Stalbaum), took a lot of air before firmly planting his flag at the finish line.
Johnny Boy (Kevin Cummings) was the commander of fractions from the start, going :28.4 and :59.3 to the half with Discus Hanover (Drew Monti) drafting in the garden spot. Stalbaum had Malibu Kid out and rolling from fifth before that point and was now third on the outside heading into turn three. Malibu Kid continued to grind in the breeze and made his way to second at three-quarters as Johnny Boy clung to the front heading around the last bend. When they straightened for home, Johnny Boy, Malibu Kid and Discus Hanover were all within a length of each other and it was a cavalry charge to the line. As they entered deep stretch, Malibu Kid got up in time and claimed a measured 1-¼ length victory in 1:58.1.
Malibu Kid ($4.80) is owned by Shark Racing and trained by his driver, Stalbaum.
The Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in race 15. The single unique combination of 2-1-3-6-9 returned $1,866.80 for a 20-cent wager.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Monday (Jan. 13) at 3:00 p.m.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.
With only a three-point margin on Tuesday, 53-50, Byron-Bergen retained the "Battle of Route 262" trophy with a win over Elba.
For the Bees, Cody Carlson scored 24 points. Andre White scored 7, and picking up six each were Cole DiQuattro, Adam Cardenas, and Joe Brumsted.
For the Lancers, Nick Scott scored 18, Bing Zuber, 16, and Ryan Marsceill, 12.
Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro.
Elba, making its first Rotary Tournament appearance in 30 years, is advancing to the championship game after beating Batavia on Tuesday 52-34.
The Lancers will play Notre Dame at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday.
For Elba, Sydney Reilly scored 15 points, Brea Smith scored 12, and Lydia Ross scored 10.
For the Blue Devils, Jaimin Macdonald scored 13 points and Violet Lopez scored 10.
Photos by Debra Reilly.
Notre Dame knocked off the defending champs in the first game of the Batavia Rotary Club Girls Basketball Tournament at GCC on Tuesday.
The Irish (6-2) topped Cal-Mum 54-46.
ND is riding a three-game win streak going into the final on Thursday against Elba.
After trailing 15-0 in the first quarter, the Irish rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter.
Sofia Falleti led the Irish with a team-high 19 points and five rebounds. Lucia Fiorentino had 10 points and eight rebounds. Also contributing were Shirley Thompson with nine points, Clairissa Milliman with six points, Gianna Falleti and Emma Fitch with four each.
“What a comeback! From being down by 15, we had to get in our rhythm and fight back point by point," said Coach Vinny Falleti. "Our defense was key tonight against a talented, veteran Cal-Mum team, which is very well coached. We have such a young team with no seniors, and our objective is always to compete. Amazing effort. I am so proud of our Lady Irish."
Photos by Pete Welker.
Alexander extended its win streak to seven games on Tuesday with a 73-43 victory over Wheatland-Chili.
Scoring:
Fresh off a solid 1:52.3 win at Harrah’s Philadelphia the week before Christmas, Ambushed shipped-in to Batavia Downs on Monday (Jan. 6) for her 2025 debut and scored a second consecutive win in the featured $13,000 Open Handicap pace for fillies and mares, the race that headlined the opening card of the winter meet at the Genesee County oval.
Driver Joe Chindano Jr. got away last with Ambushed while Waitforever N (Brett Beckwith) took the lead from Oaxacan Dream N (Dave McNeight III) passing the :28.1 quarter, and then marched to the half in a middling :59 flat. Chindano then pulled Ambushed past that station and methodically made their way to the lead at the five-eighths pole. Moving up the backside, she crossed over to the pegs at three-quarters and then separated from the field in the final turn. Ambushed entered the stretch with a 1-½ length lead and rebuffed a late bid from Waitforever N to win by one in 1:57 flat.
Ambushed ($6.70) is owned by D Racing Stable and Donald Mac Rae and trained by Hunter Oakes.
Ambushed capped off a natural hat trick for Chindano in the sixth, seventh and eighth races, and was one of four victories he registered during the night. Those other three victors were Headline Maker (2:03, $50.00), Lydias Liberty (2:00.1, $12.20) and Shoreview (1:59.3, $10.40).
A similarly impressive mile on Monday, given the biting cold temperatures and snowglobe atmosphere the races were held in, was turned in by Maggie Bell (Brett Beckwith) in the mid-level $9,500 pace for distaff participants.
Maggie Bell sat second behind Hurrikane Msrodine (Kevin Cummings) until the quarter, where she pulled and took command at the top of the second turn. From there, Maggie Bell paced unfettered fractions of :58.3 and 1:27.4, and entered the stretch with a 1-½ length lead. From that point she scooted home on top by two in 1:57, matching the time of the feature race.
Owned by Del Pozzo Schwartz Paoleti and trained by Jaymes Mcassey, Maggie Bell returned $14.00 for the win.
Maggie Bell was one of three wins for Beckwith during the proceedings.
Other horsemen who had notable nights included driver Kevn Cummings and trainer Sam Smith, who teamed up to cross the line first with three of their starters and Shawn McDonough, who was responsible for two driving wins and with three training victories.
Live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Thursday (Jan. 9) at 3:00 p.m. and there will be a $430 carryover in the Jackpot Super Hi-5 pentafecta in the 15th race.
Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.
One of the real values of the Rotary Basketball Tournament, said Notre Dame Coach Vinny Falleti, is that it focuses attention of female athletes.
"In my opinion, girls' sports in this area don't get as much of a run as boys', and I think that they should," Falleti said on Tuesday during Rotary's luncheon at the ARC Center on Woodrow Road. "There's a lot of great women athletes out there and girls who are really good representatives of what you want to be as you get older. And I think that's a big part of this tournament. It's really shining a light on a lot of young ladies who really do it the right way. And that goes for every school that's involved."
Tip-off for the first game is tonight (Tuesday) at 6:30 p.m. with Notre Dame against defending champs Cal-Mum.
The second first-round game is at 7:45, Batavia vs. Elba.
Elba is making its first tournament appearance in 30 years.
The championship game is at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday. The consolation game on Thursday starts at 6:30 p.m.
Sub-freezing temps, a slight breeze, and a dusting of snow seemed to somehow add to the live racing ambience at Batavia Downs as the track opened on Monday for its third consecutive winter racing season.
Winter racing has its disadvantages and advantages, Don Hoover, director of live racing at Batavia Downs, told The Batavian prior to Monday's first post time at 3 p.m.
The obvious disadvantage is adverse weather.
"It has its own challenges because from time to time, you're on edge, whether you're going to have to cancel the races or not, depending on weather, and that's something that you need to do in a timely manner to avert having many of the people ship in and be caught in bad weather," Hoover said.
On the plus side, racing fans around the country have few other options if they want to play the ponies remotely.
"We have lost much less competition in the simulcast area," Hoover said. "Today, for example, only three or four tracks are racing nationwide, and that will afford us, hopefully, a very, very substantial handle. Last year, we went over half a million dollars three times, which was unheard of in the era since OTB has owned the racetrack."
While the winter racing crowd is small at the track — and cozy in the warm clubhouse with food and beverages available — winter racing, Hoover said, has helped lift the profile of Batavia Downs for race fans across the country.
Hoover said there is also an advantage to winter racing for the horsemen.
"Because it's a Western New York circuit where typically they race in Buffalo and Batavia, but with Buffalo being much closer to the lake than we are, Buffalo opted not to race in January and February a couple of years back," Hoover said. "In an agreement with the horsemen, we were able to pick up those dates. It keeps them where there's one month off out of 12. It keeps them from shipping to continue to ply their trade."
This year marks the 85th year since harness racing started at Batavia Downs, but since some seasons were missed over the decades, Hoover estimates its actually the 79th year of live racing at the track.
"As everyone's well aware, there have been many, many changes in the landscape of racing over the last 50 years," Hoover said. "We don't get as many on-track customers as we used to because of the availability of wagering from the comfort of your home, your phone, and even your car. There's also been a proliferation of casino gambling in the state, so the picture is different. But the good thing about it is that we still have racing purses that are such that people can make a good living."
There is still clearly an interest in live racing, which the total handle live racing generates proves, Hoover said.
"The one thing that we would like to see happen, and we hope it can happen, is to raise the on-track handle and the on-track attendance here at Batavia Downs," Hoover said. "They (the Western Regional OTB board) put money into racing. They renovated the clubhouse recently. Many tracks in the state don't even have an open clubhouse. So we try to draw people here, and that's one of our goals."
UPDATE: Don Hoover reports that the opening day of the 15-day winter meet was a success. He states, "As compared to last year’s opening day we showed an increase in both live and total handle. The live handle was $7,330 yesterday as compared to $6,803 last year ( a 7.7% increase), and the total handle was $465,558 as compared to $390,922 ( a 19% increase) and was the 4th highest handle since WROTB acquired Batavia Downs."
Photos by Howard Owens
Notre Dame improved to 5-2 Saturday afternoon in Girls Basketball with a 63-22 win over Wheatland Chili at home.
Every Irish player contributed for a balanced win.
Leading ND were the Falleti sisters, Sofia and Gianna, with 12 points each. Also contributing were Lucia Fiorentin with 11 points, Emma Fitch, 7, Riley Yunker, 7, Shirley Thompson, 6, Clairissa Milliman, 4, and Penny Jo Thompson, 4.
“Back-to-back games are very difficult, and I was happy that the girls could come out and have everyone contribute both on offense and defense,” said Coach Vinny Falleti.
Photos by Pete Welker.
Batavia beat Newark in Boys Basketball on Saturday 67-53.
Gavin White scored 25 points for the Blue Devils and Carter Mullen scored 23.
Kendall squeaked past Byron-Bergen on Friday 46-45 in Boys Basketball.
Cole DiQuattro scored 15 points for the Bees. Cody Carlson added 10.
For Kendall, Vincent D'Agostino scored 20 points.
Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro
Notre Dame, now 4-2, beat the previously undefeated Lyons in Girls Basketball on Friday 69-63.
The Irish were led by sophomore Sofia Falleti, who scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She hit five three-pointers.
Gianna Falleti also contributed 11 points and three steals.
Shirley Thompson, eighth grade, added 10 points and six rebounds.
For Lyons, Carmella Parker scored 19 points, Janiyah Bell 17, and Jayla Bell 16.\
“Our team played a phenomenal game against a talented and undefeated Class B school on our home court," said Coach Vinny Falleti. "This was a tremendous effort from our whole team tonight to take this win.”
Elba beat Lyndonville on Friday in Girls Basketball 57 to 37.
Sydney Reily scored 19 points for the Lancers. Lydia Ross scored 15 points.
For Lyndonville, Addison Dillenbeck scored 21 points.
Photos by Debra Reilly.
Alexander hit nine three-point shots on the way to a 61-51 win over Pembroke in Boys Basketball on Friday.
Trojans stats:
Dragons stats:
Press Release:
The Elmira Impact are set to kick off the new year with a special two-game series against the Hershey Cubs at Dave McCarthy Memorial Arena on January 4 and 5.
The matchups are as follows:
Elite Division
- Jan. 4 at 8:25 p.m.
- Jan. 5 at 5:55 p.m.
Premier Division
- Jan. 4 at 5:40 p.m.
- Jan. 5 at 1:35 p.m.
Children 12 and under receive free admission. Tickets can be purchased at elmiraimpact.com/tickets.
Get ready for an action-packed weekend of hockey as the Impact take on their rivals to start the new year.
Le Roy scored 53 points and held Batavia to 46 points to win the large school division championship of the Peter Arras Memorial Basketball Tournament at GCC on Monday night.
The Oatkan Knights surged with five minutes left in the game, when they were trailing 44-37, going on a 16-2 scoring run.
The tournament is sponsored by the Batavia Lions Club.
Jean Agosto and Jake Higgins each scored 17 points for the Oatkan Knights. For each, 10 of those points came in the last five minutes. Adam Woodworth scored 11 points.
For Batavia, Carter Mullins scored 16 points and Casey Mazur scored eight.
Jake Higgins was selected tournament MVP, and Jean Agosto and Adam Woodworth made the all-tourney team.
To view or purchase photos, click here.
Alexander won the Pete Arras crown in the small school division at GCC on Monday night, beating Notre Dame 58-50.
The Trojans led at the half 24-16, but the Fighting Irish pulled even three times in the fourth quarter. Alexander hits some key baskets in the final three minutes to seal the victory.
Kingston Woods was selected tournament MVP.
When Notre Dame challenged in the second half, Alexander coach Justin Smith remained confident in his team.
"Our second half is normally our worst, to be honest, but I felt that they were going to get on a run, and I knew that we just had to settle down," Smith said. "Our offense was going to be there. We just had to be more disciplined on defense. Once we did that, I knew the game would swing our way."
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