Sports

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.

The Iona basketball team and Attica's all-time leading scorer Derek Wolfley has won six of its last seven games and has upped its record to 10-11.

Wolfley is the first Genesee Region League player since Roosevelt Bouie in the mid 1970s to earn a Division I basketball scholarship.

As expected, a freshman coming from a small school league like the GR isn't going to be starting on any Division I team. But Wolfley is the 12th man out of 14 in terms of playing time and has played in more games than six other players on the team.

He has played in 18-of-21 games and is averaging 1 point and .8 rebounds per game, getting 7.7 minutes of playing time per game.

He has blocked five shots and dished out five assists.

A few weeks ago, we wrote about a petition out there to try and save the Empire State Games. The petition is growing and now has 3003 signatures. I signed it in hopes of saving the games, which have been a tremendous thing for a lot of people for three decades.

Messenger Post writer Mike Bailey jumps on board in the fight today and writes a very good column on the topic.

There will be no Empire State Games in 2009 as of right now, as state budget cuts are forcing the annual Olympic-style competition to the back burner. The word “unfortunate” is an understatement when it comes to this decision.

It’s more like a travesty. 

Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way, and one woman, Arlene Feil, decided to do something about it. She has set up an online petition at www.petitiononline.com — a link also can be found on the wrestling site www.armdrag.com — aimed at New York Gov. David Paterson pleading with him to re-institute the games immediately.

Basically the letter states that events such as the games help stimulate the economy rather than hurt it, due to all the travel and expenses that athletes face over the course of the weekend. She says that the ESG generate $10 million to $15 million for the local economy of the host city and points out how much of that revenue is returned to the state.

It took me about a minute to sign the petition and if you are a supporter of local sports or giving kids a chance to compete during the summer, I would recommend spending a minute to sign the petition.

 The state rankings for boys basketball was released today and they are very disappointing for local teams.

First off, Batavia took a huge drop after losing to Pittsford Sutherland for the second time this season.

The Blue Devils were ranked No. 12 in Class A last week and have dipped all the way into a tie for 25th in the state, tied with Elmira Southside of Section 4.

Notre Dame took it on the chin against Prattsburgh this week and fell from No. 6 to No. 9 in Class D. Prattsburgh moved up from No. 15 to No. 6.

Oakfield-Alabama nearly lost to Kendall and was shocked by Elba last week. The Hornets dropped from No. 12 to totally off the chart in Class C.

 Two former Batavia High track stars are doing very well at the University of Albany, especially senior Jenn Gurrant, who was just named an America East Conference track Player of the Week.

Gurrant has an impressive resume at Albany. The senior has done many big things on the track as a sprinter and jumper. But just as important, she has been named to the All-Academic team the past two years.

Freshman Jen Adams is a sprinter and jumper as well and is learning from the experienced Albany roster.

Here is the press release from the school about Gurrant's Player of the Week honor:

Albany’s Fey Adaramola, Jenn Gurrant and Nasim Siddeeq have been selected as the America East Conference male and
female indoor track and field performers of the week, as announced on Tuesday, Jan. 27 by the conference office. The trio helped the men’s
and women’s programs sweep the team titles for the first time at the seventh annual Great Dane Classic over the weekend.
            Adaramola, who was named the conference’s track athlete of the week for the first time, accounted for two school records and met three ECAC qualifying standards in the sprinting events. She finished
fifth in the 200-meter dash in 24.80 seconds, which barely eclipsed the standard of 24.81 set by Ellakisha Williamson in 1998. Adaramola was also fourth in the 55-meter dash, crossing the line in 7.14. The junior transfer from Central Florida accounted for a second school record as a member of the 4x400-meter relay which finished second overall in 3:51.44. Furthermore, all three times are America East highs this winter.
            Gurrant, who broke the school record in the long jump at the New York City Gotham Cup on Jan. 16, earned her second consecutive women’s field athlete of the award for her performance in the triple jump at the Great Dane Classic. She recorded a winning leap of 42 feet,
3-1/4 inches to become the first America East student-athlete to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championship in any field event.
            Siddeeq, a junior transfer from Robert Morris where he shares the school and Northeast Conference championship meet records in the triple jump, was honored as the men’s field athlete of the week.
He broke UAlbany’s program standard in the triple jump with a winning mark of 51-7.25, surpassing teammate Mike McCadney’s record of 50-11 set in 2007 and 2008. He also became the second student-athlete at an America East school to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championship
in a field event after UAlbany pole vaulter Luke Schoen.