Sports

You almost have to feel bad for this guy named Mike.

Not much else is known about the poster and the video was put up on YouTube last September 15. He goes by the screen name of Wolfman12395 on YouTube and appears to be from Canada. Mike didn't record the first five frames, but got the rest in nearly bowling a 300 at Mancuso Bowling Center.

Andrew Hoy had a huge week and earned Player of the Week for Monroe County Division III.

He was the leading scorer in both Batavia games last week. Hoy dropped in 24 points in a 75-69 win over Pittsford Mendon, then had 26 in a 67-62 victory over Penfield on Saturday.

Andrew Wright of Pembroke won the award for Genesee Region League Division I. He scored 18 points and had seven rebounds in a win Wheatland-Chili and had 18 points, with eight rebounds and two assists in a victory over Eden. 

Elba's Sonny Giuliano is the Player of the Week for GR Division II because of his performance in a win over Holley. Giuliano had a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the game.

Oakfield-Alabama's Lindsay Chatt had a career-high 18 points and four steals in a victory over Lyndonville this week to earn the girls honor for Genesee Region League Division I.

Kendall's Samanthat D'Agostino hit three points and scored 15 points against Attica and then scored six points in overtime, for a total of 16, to beat Byron-Bergen. She earned the honor for GR Division II.

 Missy Thurston was known for her defense when she played at Batavia High. She's definitely brought that to the Keuka women's basketball team.

The Storm won its sixth game in a row, including two over the weekend.

Keuka beat Penn State-Berks 61-46 on Saturday and Penn State-Harrisburg 71-38 on Sunday.

Thurston had five steals and 10 points on Saturday while scoring 14 points with three steals on Sunday.

She also had a total of 12 rebounds and seven assists over the weekend.

Thurston has started all 15 games for the Storm, which has improved to 8-7 because of the win streak. It is the first time the team has been above .500 all season long.

She is averaging 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. She leads the team with with 57 steals - more than double the player that is second on the team - and is second on the squad with 30 assists.

The men's team is 7-8 but has two locals in Attica's Rob Crowley and Elba's Ian Woodworth.

Crowley, a junior, has played in 11 points and is averaging 4.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He also has five assists and six steals on the season.

Woodworth, a freshman forward, has played in just four games and is averaging .5 points per game.

Whealtand-Chili's Nick Westrich was the boys swimmer of the meet and Notre Dame's Lucy Norton was the girls swimmer of the meet at Saturday's Genesee Region League Championships at Gates-Chili.

Norton (100 freestyle, 100 backstroke) was a double winner and Westrich (200 IM, 100 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay)  was a quadruple winner. 

Westrich set meet records in the IM and with the 400 free relay.

Byron-Bergen's Baxter Ritsema (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle) was a double-winner for the boys and ND's Haley Alexander (200 IM, 100 breaststroke) was a double-winner for the girls.

Tyler Scoines won the 200 freestyle for Pembroke while in the last event of the meet Dylan Pratt, Ethan Burns, Chris Fleming and Adam Sewerniak won the 400 free relay, setting a school record time of 3:35. 

Wheatland-Chili finished first in the boys competition with a two point win over Pembroke.

Harley-Allendale-Columbia was the winner in the girls competition, beating out Byron-Bergen by two points.

(Thanks to Sue Fleming for the photo of the Pembroke relay team and result information.)

Pavilion beat Notre Dame 40-36 in the Rotary Club Tournament earlier this season. But the Fighting Irish got revenge Monday night, picking up a tight 45-43 home victory.

Nichole Hart and Liz Geandreau were the heroes in picking up this win as Hart poured in 18 points - including four 3-pointers - and Geandreau had nine points, but grabbed 15 rebounds.

The 15 boards was an astonishing number as Pavilion's Marcy Ethington is a force in the paint.

The game was tight throughout as the Fighting Irish had a 27-23 lead at halftime and was up 35-32 after three periods of play.

But the Golden Gophers had no quit in them as they opened the fourth quarter with Amie Brooks dropping in a pair of free throws and making it a 1-point game.

Geandreau had a bucket for Notre Dame and after a turnover,  Brooks made a steal and scored to make it 37-36.

The Fighting Irish then took an eight point lead with Hart scoring five points and Geandreau adding a basket to make it 44-36 with a few minutes left in the game.

Ethington scored, Danielle Tallo hit a 3-pointer and Brooks scored to make the score 44-43 with a minute remaining.

Geandreau got to the line and hit 1-of-2 foul shots.

The Golden Gophers (10-6) had a few decent looks, but wound up having to foul as the clock ran out. Brooks scored 16 points and Ethington added 10.

Jayvee call-up Carly Pike had six points to go with Hart's 18 and Geandreau's nine. The Fighting Irish are now 12-3.

 If you are wondering why there have been no updates on Bryan Anderson since the first few weeks of the season, it is because he played in seven games before suffering a back injury that kept him out of action for a while.

After the Batavia grad and Roberts Wesleyan freshman healed up, there were some other setbacks at the school that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

In those seven games, Anderson averaged 12.9 minutes and 5.3 points per game. The big man averaged 2.7 boards and had five blocks for the year.

The Raiders are 9-12.

Notre Dame graduate Chris Berardini  has seen a lot more ice time in his sophomore season, and the Brockport hockey team is having a strong season.

Berardini only played in five games as a freshman, but has already played in 10 as the Golden Eagles are 11-5-3.

Berardini has scored two goals and handed out three assists so far this season.

 The cuts made by the NYSPHSAA this week are upsetting a lot of people. 

I went through the details of the cuts yesterday and the one that is upsetting the most is the cuts in amount of games being played.

5. Support the reduction of the maximum number of contests permitted during the regular season. Sports with 24 contests will be reduced to 20, sports with 20 contests will be reduced to 18 and sports with 18 contests will be reduced to 16. Wrestling will be reduced to 20 points. Football will be reduced from 10 to 9. The 9th game is permitted, with section approval, for teams who do not qualify for sectional play. For the teams involved in the sectional tournament the maximum number of contests shall be 10. For the sections involved in the state championship three additional games are permitted for a total of 13 games for the season: 1 game for regionals, 1 game for semifinals, and 1 game for championships. Effective for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. APPROVED

I know that coaches Mike Rapone of Notre Dame and Jim Burke of Prattsburgh were upset that if the cuts went through it would end the home-and-away tradition between the two programs.

The 500-plus win coaches were very much against cutting the number of games from 20 to 18.

But in John Moriello's blog today, he goes into more detail and has quotes from all over the state.

   Grand Island AD Jon Roth: "I really don’t know what two or four contests is going to do for anybody. I don’t think they should penalize the kids. I know cuts have to be made somewhere, but cutting games is not the answer.”

   Section 2 football chairman Gary VanDerzee: "In all honesty, football made out the best of all of them. It's just a horrible, horrible decision, made by people afraid to make the decision in their own (leagues or sections).

   Section 2 boys soccer chairman Jim Gillis: "I'm not surprised by this, but I think it is absurd. There are other things that could have been done state-wide, section-wide and league-wise that could have avoided cutting of games. Unfortunately, we weren't given that opportunity. We had no say in these moves."

   Section 2 baseball chairman Al Roy: "I know when we just had a baseball meeting, everyone felt this is something that leagues, sections and individual schools should address. This vote seems like a knee-jerk reaction."

 Section 4 interscholastic sports coordinator Ben Nelson: "I'm not really surprised they reduced the number of games, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me, or to most of the AD's (in Section 4)."

It is evident that these changes are upsetting to people all throughout the state, not just Section 5. The NYSPHSAA is taking away some great experiences that high school athletes could have. Next year, Notre Dame and Prattsburgh will probably not get a chance to play. That is a shame and not the only traditions that are going to die because of these cuts.

The Batavia basketball team went off in the second quarter, having a 23-13 advantage, and went on to beat Penfield 67-62 Saturday.

Andrew Hoy and Josh Budlong had five points apiece in the period.

But, Penfield did come back to tie the score at 62 with a minute left in regulation, potentially setting the Blue Devils up for a second consecutive overtime game.

Andrew Hoy got to the free throw line three times and converted 5-of-6 shots to seal the victory. He finished with a game-high 26 points.

Marcus Hoy scored eight points with six assists and seven rebounds. Joe Schlossel had 14 points with Budlong adding seven points. 

Batavia improves to 13-2.

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Spencerport dropped Notre Dame's record to 6-7-1 with a 6-3 victory.

Kyle Mark had a hat-trick for Spencerport (10-5-2).

Jason Harasimowicz, Dan Versage and Beau Richter each scored for the Fighting Irish with Thomas Dehr stopping 21 shots.

 Whatever was wrong with Oakfield-Alabama last week has been fixed.

The Hornets pounded Lyndonville 73-38 as Tim Smith and Noah Seward scored 20 points apiece, with Seward grabbing 11 rebounds.

Brad Riner had six points, nine dimes and seven steals. A.J. Kehlenbeck chipped in seven points.

Erik Van Wycke had 10 points for the Tigers (1-13).

O-A improves to 12-2.

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Kevin Francis had a huge game in Notre Dame's 60-40 win over Alexander.

The senior point guard scored 23 points, had 13 rebounds and handed out seven assists.

Vinny Zambito had 11 points and Greg Barr pitched in six.

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Josh Laureano nearly had a triple-double as Kendall downed Byron-Bergen 45-33.

Laureano had 10 points, 10 boards and eight assists to help the Eagles improve to 8-5.

Colt Tooley pitched in 11 points and five rebounds.

David Garnish led Byron-Bergen (3-10) with nine points and six rebounds.

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Le Roy is now above .500 as they whooped Pavilion 61-42.

Mike Humphrey had 16 points with five assists and four swipes, and Jordan Casper scored 11 points and pulled down 10 board for a double-double.

That makes the Oatkan Knights 8-7 on the season.

Gregg DeJesus had 13 points and Jack Jeffres had 11 points for the Golden Gophers (4-10).

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Sonny Giuliano and Phil Ostroski both had big games as Elba took care of Holley 56-48.

Ostroski led the team in scoring with 16 points and Giuliano had 14 points and 11 assists, helping the Lancers improve to 8-6.

Dan Ramsey had eight points with Max Torrey and Theo Tomczak getting six points apiece.

John Wharram led the Hawks with 12 points.

Brian Mitchell and Chad Barhydt had 11 points apiece for Holley, now 4-11.

With just two seconds left, Liz Geandreau dropped in a jump shot to give Notre Dame a 48-47 win over Alexander Friday.

Geandreau finished with seven points to lead the state ranked Fighting Irish (10-3).

Nichole Hart led the scoring for Notre Dame with 18 points and Brittany Morelli pitched in 16. 

Alexander had a huge fourth quarter, beating ND 14-6.

But, they wound up with the loss and fall to 9-4, with two losses coming to Elba and Notre Dame, the two GR powerhouses.

Rachel Pettys had six points, seven boards and three steals with Anni Lehtola adding 10 points for the Trojans.

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Elba really spread out the scoring in beating host Holley 43-32.

Chelsie Pangrazio and Missy Call led the team with seven points, with Cassy Engle and Sarah Schwartzmeyer scoring six apiece.

Julie Brooks had 17 points for the Hawks (4-9).

Elba is now 13-2.

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Pembroke improved to 8-6 with a 56-34 crushing of Wheatland-Chili, with several girls contributing.

Laura Moser had 13 points, six boards, seven steals and three dimes with Danielle Kelsey scored 11 points.

Nicole Sharick led all scorers with 16 points.

Lindsey Hall had 19 points for the Wildcats.

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Brittani Reis and Samantha D'Agostino combined to score all 10 of Kendall's overtime points in a 42-37 win over Byron-Bergen.

Reis had four points in OT and finished with 10 and D'Agostino wound up scoring 16 points. Meghan Fahy had eight points for the Eagles (5-8).

Rori Partridge had 14 points for the Bees (7-7).

 Cheerleading coaches have been saying for years that their sport is a contact sport and it has been proven to be one of the more dangerous sports in the past.

But the Wisconsin Supreme Court made a ruling this week on a case where a cheerleader was dropped while attempting a stunt in 2004.

She filed a lawsuit against the cheerleader that dropped her, causing a serious head injury.  The District Court ruled cheerleading was not a contact sport and ruled in favor of the cheerleader that was dropped.

The reasoning was that the competing teams do not have contact with each other.

So then it went to the Supreme Court and was overturned, making it a contact sport. That means that cheerleading is the same in Wisconsin as sports like football and basketball, where an athlete cannot sue another a member of your own team that causes a mistake that leads to an injury.

Many people disregard cheerleading as a sport, but with this decision many states could look to do the same, including New York. The Section 5 championships are on Feb. 22.

High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a case being closely watched in the cheerleading world.

The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.

The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.

You can read the full Associated Press story here.

 It has been a few weeks since we've had more than one local girls basketball team ranked in the state, but we finally have two.

Both are in Class D and the two teams are the biggest rivalry in GR girls hoops. 

Elba bumped up a notch from No. 10 to No. 9 in this weeks state rankings and is joined in Class D by Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were not ranked last week but is ranked No. 20 this week, tied with Canaseraga.

 The petition to try and save the Empire State Games doesn't mean a thing to the organizers of the games in Hudson Valley.

There are currently 3131 signatures on the online petition, but there will still be no summer games for area athletes to compete in.

But Alan Wechsler of The Times Union reports that the petition will not save the games:

The state has paid about $2.7 million per year to run the annual games, but balked this year due to budget problems. The $285 pays for entry fees, food and dorm rooms at colleges near the venues.

The petition is addressed to Gov. David Paterson and Carol Ash, commissioner of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and seeks to reverse the changes.

"The Summer Games as a whole entity brings in $10 to $15 Million to the local economy of the host city," the petition says. "At a cost to the state of only $2 million, we feel this is a very wise investment."

Local volunteers had even raised $300,000 to keep the games alive, but it that didn't matter to Hudson Valley either.

"That was very troublesome to all of the volunteers that were involved," said committee member Denise VanBuren of Poughkeepsie. "We felt unable to stage the games as we had committed."

The decision was made despite having raised about $300,000 from local sponsors. The petition wouldn't change their minds, she said.