Sports

 Something is up with state-ranked Oakfield-Alabama. 

They were upset earlier in the week and nearly lost to visiting Kendall 58-55 Friday night.

The Eagles poured in 23 points in the fourth quarter and nearly pulled the upset off. Josh Laureano scored 16 of his game-high 39 points in the final period to almost guide his team to victory. He dropped in two 3-pointers to turn a 15 point deficit to a 1-point deficit. 

After O-A's Sam McCracken hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left, Laureano had one last chance to tie the game. But he missed the three-point shot.

Noah Seward led the Hornets with 15 points with Tim Smith scoring 12 and Josh Athoe adding 10.

McCracken had eight points for O-A, which improves to 11-2.

Laureano had a dominant night, with just Chad Bently and Colt Tooley adding five points apiece. Kendall falls to 7-4.

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Batavia never trailed in downing Victor 59-43. 

The Blue Devils were on fire from beyond the 3-point line, connecting on 10 of 18 attempts, with Andrew Hoy hitting three trifectas to score a team-high 15 points.

Marcus Hoy and Dakota Irvin added 10 points apiece as Batavia improves to 11-2.

Victor (10-4) committed 17 turnovers and was led by Lee Lomenzo with 12 points.

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Kevin Francis had 17 points to lead Notre Dame to a 68-51 win over Attica's basketball team.

Gianni Zambito scored a career-high 11 points and Gregg Barr scored 10 of his 11 points in the first quarter, giving the Fighting Irish a 19-4 advantage.

Bryan Thompson had 13 points and Tate Westermeier added nine for the Blue Devils (6-6).

Notre Dame improves to 10-2.

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Mike Humphrey scored 24 points with five rebounds, five steals and three dimes to lead Le Roy to a 54-47 win over visiting York.

Quentin Humphrey had five points and four assists while Eric Stella chipped in six points, nine boards and a pair of blocks for the Oatkan Knights (7-7).

Travis Fenstermaker had eight points and Jordan Casper chipped in seven.

Eric Hann had 19 points and nine rebounds for York (8-6).

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Tyler Sass had a game-high 12 points to lead Byron-Bergen past Wheatland-Chili 39-33.

David Garnish had six points and a pair of blocked shots  with Kevin Rickard and Tess Schramm adding eight points apiece for the Bees (3-9).

Rick Agosto and Andy Lund each scored nine points for the Wildcats (3-10).

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Holley's Tim Banks, Tim Butler and Ryan VanGuilder each had a pin for the Holley wrestling team, which dropped Kenmore East 65-15.

 I've talked with many coaches through the years about how they must keep players hydrated during the preseason practices when the weather is still very hot and the kids are in pads.

Luckily, we have had no serious incidents that I have heard of around here. That is a real credit to the coaches that make sure to give the kids enough breaks for water and Gatorade, and they don't work them too hard on days that are extremely hot. 

Strangely enough I was watching a rerun of  "Six Feet Under", a great series that was on HBO. It was the second episode from the second season, and it was about a player that died at a hot football practice.

Then today I find a brief on the Buffalo News about a coach in Kentucky that is being charged with reckless homicide after the death of a player.

There are players that end up in the hospital all over the country and we are lucky that we have such responsible coaches in the area.

Here is the brief.

A Kentucky high school football coach was charged with reckless homicide in the death of a player who collapsed during a sweltering practice in a rare criminal case against a coach in a heat death.

A grand jury indicted David Jason Stinson in the death of Pleasure Ridge Park offensive lineman Max Gilpin. Stinson, in his first year as head coach at the Louisville school, was directing practice Aug. 20 when the heat index reached 94 degrees and the 15-year-old sophomore collapsed and had trouble breathing.

The reckless homicide charge means grand jurors didn’t find that Stinson’s actions were intentional or malicious, said Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Stengel,but that “a reasonable man should have realized something like this could have occurred.”

I heard about this yesterday as I walked out the door to cover the Elba/Alexander game, and it is pretty strange.

A team beat another by the score of 100-0 in Texas, and it is causing some regrets by the losing squad and really ticked off the losing team, which is a school that teaches students with "learning disabilities".

DALLAS —  A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse.

Now officials from the winning school say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

In a statement Thursday on The Covenant School's Web site, the head of school said, "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened." He went on to say that Covenant has made "a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss."

Last week Covenant, a private Christian school in Dallas, defeated Dallas Academy 100-0. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make 3-pointers — even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points. 

 Meghan Fahy hit six straight foul shots in the closing minutes to pull Kendall within a point, but couldn't get a shot off and Oakfield-Alabama got past a scare, 42-41.

Brynn Perfitt of O-A and Fahy went toe-to-toe and had 25 points apiece.

Lindsay Chatt had six points and Hillary Bates added five for the Hornets (7-7).

Samantha D'Agostino added 10 points for the Eagles (3-8).

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In what must have been an ugly game to watch, Notre Dame scored more points in the first quarter (21) than Attica did in the entire game. The Fighting Irish won 69-19.

Nichole Hart had a big game with 17 points and four steals with Liz Geandreau pitching in 15 points and eight boards. Brittany Morelli had 14 points and Trisha Pike finished with 11.

BRianna Hammel had seven points for the Blue Devils.

Notre Dame is now 10-3.

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Kelsey Lewis led Pembroke with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals as the Dragons downed Lyndonville 45-36.

Laura Moser added nine points with nine rebounds, six swipes and three dimes, with Clarisse Birkby adding six points for the Dragons (7-6).

Molly Burgess had 12 points for the Tigers.

The Batavia hockey team scored three times in the third period to come from behind and beat Brighton/East Rochester/Honeoye Falls-Lima 4-2.

Will Mulcahy, Tim Finnell and Corey Kocent had those third period goals. Pat Finnell scored the other goal and handed out two assists.

Erik Pokornowski had three helpers and Adam Kurek had 14 saves in net.

Batavia improves to 9-6-1. 

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Le Roy crushed Dansville in wrestling action, 61-24.

Don Pangrazio had a pin over Andy Graves at 130 pounds in 1:12 and Tyler Fenstermaker added a pin in 4:37 at 145 pounds, over Jason Boots-Lovetro.

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Batavia's wrestling team improved to 17-5 with a 66-24 thumping of Greece Athena.

Ryan Darch had no problem keeping his undefeated record with a pin over Mike LoFoso in :24.

Josh Mase, Nick Lazarony and Joe Muoio all won via pin.

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Attica picked up a 51-24 victory over Alexander on the mat.

Lance Compton pinned Brandon Toporczyk in 1:10 at 135 and Doug Beitz dropped Dan Ognibene in 1:53 at 285 pounds.

Dave Jennings also had a pin at 189 for the Blue Devils.

 In the latest edition of the girls state rankings, released today, we only have one local team.

That team is Elba, which has a 10-2 record. The Lancers moved up from No. 11 to No. 10 in this week's rankings.

Elba will be tested against 9-2 Alexander tonight, which will be covered by The Batavian, with full a story, video and photos.

Both Batavia boys basketball team are receiving some nice rankings in the newest state ranking poll, which was released today.

Batavia is ranked 12th in the state, moving up from last week's No. 17 ranking.

Notre Dame dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 in Class D.

The only other state ranked team locally is Oakfield-Alabama, which moved up from No. 13 to No. 12 in Class C.

Oakfield-Alabama graduate and D'Youville College freshman James Davis is enjoying a strong first season of college basketball for the 7-9 Spartans.

Davis has started all 16 games and is playing 26.2 minutes per game. He is averaging 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, with a total of 28 assists and 17 steals for the season. 

He recently poured in 17 points in a loss on Jan. 10.

 The D'Youville College men's baksetball team recieved a game-high 28 points from Charles Walker (Buffalo, NY/NCCC) but was defeated 92-81 at Cazenovia College.

Romair Parrett (Buffalo, NY/NCCC) added 18 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, and James Davis (Oakfield, NY/Oakfield-Alabama) contributed 16 points for the Spartans.

Sometimes you can fight as hard as possible, but are still going to lose.

Pittsford Sutherland had a huge size advantage and owned the boards, and were dropping 3-pointers like crazy and beat host Batavia 58-49. This gives the Blue Devils a 10-2 record, with both losses coming to Sutherland.

It is still possible for Batavia to tie Sutherland for the Monroe County League title, but it is going to basically take two Sutherland losses with Batavia winning out.

The Blue Devils have won or shared the Division III championship for the last seven seasons, and will not be competing for a league title next year as Batavia will only play a half-league schedule.

Even with the Knights going box-and-1 and double-teaming Andrew Hoy, Batavia was in a lose game i the first quarter and early into the second.

Andrew, Dakota Irvin and Adam Pettinella all drained 3-pointers to give the Blue Devils a 15-14 lead after one period of play.

Robert Hoy opened the second quarter with a trifecta and Mike Lee followed with a bucket, and Batavia was leading 20-14.

Then, Sutherland went on an amazing run, scoring 16 straight points over the next 4 1/2 minutes. Patrick O'Keefe had five points in the stretch and Brian Lewis hit two 3-pointers.

All of a sudden, that six point lead turned into a 30-20 deficit.

Batavia ended the half with some momentum as Marcus Hoy drained a trey and Robert Hoy added a basket. It was only 30-25 at the break.

Joe Schlossel had two baskets with Andrew Hoy and Marcus Hoy getting one apiece, but Dylan Sherwood scored twice and O'Keefe added a bucket to keep things even. 

The lead then opened up again as the Knights went on another run, with Dan Waldbillig and O'Keefe getting baskets - with two Andrew Hoy free throws sandwiched in - before Sherwood and Lewis both scored to give Sutherland a 45-35 advantage.

Again, the Blue Devils fought back early in the fourth quarter.

Andrew Hoy, Robert Hoy, Schlossel and Marcus Hoy had four straight buckets to make the score 45-43. Wayne Dillworth and Waldbillig had consecutive baskets, and then Dan O'Keefe drained a 3-pointer that was basically the nail in the coffin.

Dylan Sherwood, Patrick O'Keefe had 12 points apiece for the Knights (9-2).

Marcus Hoy had nine points with four assists to lead Batavia (10-2), with Andrew Hoy scoring 11 points and Joe Schlossel adding 12. Robert Hoy had nine points.

No matter how good a team is, when you play your rival, anything can happen.

That was proven Wednesday night as Elba shocked Oakfield-Alabama 51-47, with a spread out scoring attack and physical play.

"This is huge," said forward Phil Ostroski, who was named D2 Player of the Week this week. "They are a really good team and to beat them is huge. I think it is their first league loss. Everybody that that the teams to beat in the (Genesee Region League) were Notre Dame and Oakfield-Alabama."

In terms of upsets, this is a big one.

The Hornets were ranked 13th in the state in Class C with a 10-1 record, and Elba came in with a 6-5 record and not a lot of respect.

But Sonny Giuliano scored 13 points with 10 assists, Max Torrey had 12, freshman call-up Dan Ramsey scored 12 and Ostroski added nine.

The Lancers did give up two double-figure scorers as Noah Seward had 13 points and Tim Smith added 12.

Now, Elba looks for some respect after knocking off the GR's top team.

"I would hope (we get respect)," Ostroski said. "A lot of people will say Oakfield had an off night or this was a big fluke. I think we are a top tier team because we beat O-A. We have to keep it going the rest of the season to show what we can do."

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Kevin Francis and Kevin Schildwaster both had solid all-around games as Notre Dame knocked off Pembroke 52-44.

Francis had 11 points, five rebounds, seven assists and five steals while Schildwaster added four points, six boards, five swipes and five assists.

ND had a 42-40 lead with 3:45 left to go when Francis scored off a steal by Schildwaster. Then Francis had a steal and got the ball to Greg Barr for a basket. Vinny Zambito also had a key 3-pointer to break the game open.

After a 3-pointer by Andrew Gabbey, Tommy Rapone scored off an offensive rebound.

The Fighting Irish did a good job of holding Pembroke's big men in check, with Ken Babcock scoring 15 and Andrew Wright being held to just nine points.

Pembroke falls to 5-6.

Matt Thompson scored nine points with Nick Wetherwax and Barr adding eight points apiece, helping the Fighting Irish improve to 9-2.

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Mike Humphrey had 21 points with eight dimes as Le Roy toppled Mount Morris 66-44. Josh Kosoriek had 10 points with six rebounds and two blocks with Cody Niccloy adding nine points for the Oatkan Knights (6-7).

Tony Moxley had 13 points and seven rebounds for Mount Morris (3-9).

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Bryan Thompson and Zach Fleiss had 10 points apiece, with Tate Westermeier adding seven points to lead Attica to a 51-44 win over Wheatland-Chili.

Andy Lund led the Wildcats with 16 points and 10 boards.

Attica improves to 6-5.

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The Notre Dame Hockey team had its stuggles with 1-16 Bishop Kearney/Eastridge, but pulled through in overtime to win 3-2.

Jordan DiFlippo scored the game winning goal just 31 seconds into OT, with Jack Nenni and Ivan Madafferi each getting an assist.

Beau Richter and Brett Perfitt had goals with Thomas Dehr made 17 saves in net.

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Holley's wrestling team took advantage of six forfeits in crushing Byron-Bergen 57-23.

Jon Butterbaugh and Quinton Murphy had pins for the Hawks while Colin Geer and Andy Oliveri had pins for the Bees.

Elba's Phil Ostroski had a pair of solid games to earn Genesee Region League Division II Player of the Week.

Ostroski scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a win over Attica and then scored nine points with 12 boards in a win over Byron-Bergen.

Alexander guard Stephen George had 10 points, four assists and three steals in a loss against York, then helped his team snap a four game losing streak with an 11 point, four steal and four assist performance against Wheatland-Chili.

Oakfield-Alabama's Brynne Perfitt won the GR Division I honor for the girls while averaging 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals per game last week.

Notre Dame's Brittany Morelli had an impressive week to earn the Division II honor. The senior forward had a combined 28 points and 20 rebounds in wins over Holley and Oakfield-Alabama. 

 I received some updated individual records for Batavia's wrestling team, which is ranked 18th in the state at 16-5. Wins come easy when you have a roster putting up individual records like this.

Ryan Darch easily leads the way with a perfect 29-0 record.

Joe Muoio leads the team with 17 pins and has a solid 23-8 record.

Nick Lazarony is 26-2 and Troy Ireland is 22-3, with Anthony D'Aurizio currently at 27-4 and Ryan Goodsell at 24-5.

Josh Mase is 23-5 and Trey Henderson is 20-9.

 Jon Casper had a dominant performance Tuesday helping to lead his Le Roy wrestling team to a 59-27 win over Hornell.

Casper pinned Tyler Warriner in just 23 seconds at 215 pounds.

Jesse Brennan also had a pin for the Oatkan Knights at 119.

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Batavia downed Kendall on the mat with ease, winning 59-30 to improve to 16-5.

Nick Lazaroni pinned James Klafehn in just 1:15 at 112 pounds and Will Ely droppe Lance Requa in 5:10 at 125 pounds.

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Byron-Bergen (2-9) was able to hang with Northstar Christian, but a 21-8 third quarter allowed Northstar (9-3) to get the 56-40 boys basketball win.

Donald Harris had 13 points with seven rebounds, assists and steals while David Miller pitched in 11 points for Northstar.

David Garnish had a double-double for the Bees, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Tyler Sass added 10 points.

Alexander improved to 9-2 with a 47-35 win over Lyndonville and currently has the top seed in Class C.

Anni Lehtola poured in a game-high 19 points with Anna Dominick pitching in 11. Rachel Pettys only scored five points, but had 15 rebounds, seven steals and four blocked shots for the Trojans. Chelsea Turcer had eight points.

Molly Burgess and Miranda Feller had seven points apiece for the Tigers (6-6).

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Batavia beat Pittsford Sutherland at home, but Sutherland got revenge in Pittsford with a 66-40 win.

Junior forward Bridget Ryan scored her 1,000th career points and 25 in the game. Kayli O'Keefe added 17 points as Sutherland improves to 8-5.

Brittany Mazurkiewicz and Brittany Wormley had 12 points apiece for Batavia (11-2).

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Jenna Merica dropped in 24 points as the Le Roy girls picked up their first win of the season, improving to 1-11.

Allison Macomber had eight points with six dimes and Megan Lowe had six points and six steals. 

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Notre Dame improved to 8-3 with a 41-29 win over Pembroke. No scoring details are available at this time.

The Dragons fall to 6-6.

 The University of Rochester won the consolation game this past weekend and wound up taking third at the Chase Tournament, which features top area college basketball teams.

Batavia grad Mike Chmielowiec was injured in the semifinals loss to St. John Fisher, 71-66. Chmielowiec informed me this evening that the injury was a minor sprained ankle and he sat out the consolation game as a precaution.

He will be back in action on Friday as Rochester takes on Washington University.

St. John Fisher beat Roberts Wesleyan 72-55 in the finals. 

 Mike McInally, a Byron-Bergen grad and current RIT junior was the only Division III grappler to win a state title over this past weekend.

Now, he's won the Empire Conference Wrestler of the Week for the second week in a row and third time this season.

McInally, seeded first at 125 lbs. at the 2009 New York State Championships went 5-0 the weekend. He was the only Division III wrestler to win a championship.  McInally opened Friday's action with a pin over Pete Cole of Alfred State in 1:34, then scored a technical fall victory over Anthony Lebbad of Ithaca, 17-0. McInally advanced to the semifinals after defeating Shawn Haney of Brockport by pin in 3:20. McInally defeated Kyle Gilchrist of Columbia, 6-2 in the semifinals. He defeated #2 Dan Bishop of Buffalo, 3-1 in the championship. McInally is now 22-0 this season and ranked fourth in Division III at 125 lbs. 

McInally is ranked fourth in Division III at 125 pounds, but that bound to change. With a state title and perfect record, he could become on of the top ranked D3 wrestlers.

The Batavian has been all over the Empire State Games problems and recently wrote that the games scheduled to be in Hudson Valley were called off for financial reasons.

We had previously reported that there was plans to cut sports and start charging athletes up to $300 to compete. 

 There is currently an online petition that is being sent to Governor Patterson and Commissioner Ash, trying to bring the games back.

We, the undersigned, believe that canceling the Open, Scholastic and Masters divisions, the Senior Games and the Physically Challenged Games of the Empire State Games is something that needs to be reviewed. We believe that ALL divisions of the Summer Games and Winter Games, along with the entirety of the Senior Games and Games for the Physically Challenged should be reviewed on their merits and what they provide to New Yorkers. 

We have a very good understanding of the economic crisis New York State and the entire country are facing. However, we do not feel that the programs offered through the Empire State Games are a drain on the economy, rather we feel they help increase revenue in the regions where they are held, and they promote a healthy living style to ALL New Yorkers, some of the reasons for this follow. 

The Summer Games as a WHOLE entity brings in $10 to $15 Million to the local economy of the host city. The Winter Games brings in $1.5 Million to Lake Placid. If we add the $10 Million (low end) to the $1.5 million, the State tax on this comes to $460,000 directly back to the State in tax revenue. At a cost to the State of only $2 million, we feel this is a VERY wise investment. The Senior Games are Vital to the health of our maturing population and the Physically Challenged Games are the ONLY avenue these special kids have to participate in. In a time where you, yourself have shown interest in a healthy NY, what better way than these Games? The Masters division and the Senior Games already have a participation fee which should cover most if not all costs associated with their competition. Let the Scholastic, Open and Physically challenged kids continue to be assured a spot in these Games with no fee, to assure NO NEW YORKER IS LEFT OUT due to financial situation. 

In conclusion, we the undersigned, are not asking New York State to reinvest tax dollars in an event which is detrimental to the states long term (or short term) economic future, however, we are asking that someone looks at the WHOLE program called the Empire State Games and truly measures the economic impact these Games have on New York States overall economic plan as well as providing an opportunity for ALL New Yorkers to train and stay healthy. We do hope you will do the right thing here and re-institute these GREAT Games!!

It is great to see that there is a group out there trying save the ESG tradition. 155 people have signed the petition so far, and if you feel inclined to help keep our local athletes competing for Western New York, here is the link to sign the petition.