Sports

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.

 John Moriello has official sources that says the upcoming football season will be shortened, as part of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association's upcoming cuts.

In previous years there was seven regular season games, three sectional games, and three state games. That would give a state champion 13 games in a season. Moriello writes that a state champion would only get 12. But I don't get what the new format is going to be. Hopefully that will come out in the next few days.

Here's what Moriello wrote in his blog yesterday.

 Two upstate sources involved in the scheduling process have told me that it's considered a certainty that the maximum length of the varsity football season will be scaled back to 12 games (nine within the section and three in the state tournament) as part of the NYSPHSAA's cost-cutting initiative in light of the state's budget problems.

   Speculation is all over the board on the effect on JV and modified/freshmen schedules, but it appears that reports that teams at those levels will be told to trim two games may not be accurate. They'll almost certanly be told to drop one game, but the proposed two-game reductions apparently were intended for sports with 18- to 24-game seasons like soccer, basketball and lacrosse.

   By the way, the NYSPHSAA football tournament is locked into Thanksgiving weekend dates at the Carrier Dome, so a reduction in the varsity schedule would translate into a Sept. 11-12 start to the season. It was just two years ago that some squads opened on Aug. 31.

The NYSPHSAA will be meeting tomorrow and I am hoping to find out more details on cuts in other sports.

I posted the Genesee Region League Players of the Week a few days ago, and said there were no girls from the GR nominated, but had winners from other leagues.

At the time there wasn't anybody from the GR.  

But the day after my post on the boys, a pair of GR girls were announced.

Pembroke's Kelsey Lewis scored 22 points with nine rebounds and four steals in a pair of games with Byron-Bergen and Elba to earn the honor for Division I.

Lauren Drago of Wheatland-Chili won the D2 honor for her effort in one game. She scored a career-high 35 points with 12 rebounds, eight steals and five blocks on a win over Holley.

I will be posting Players of the Week for last week as soon as they are posted. Let's hope they get the boys and girls all up on the same day this week.

A big reason why Batavia basketball is so successful every year is that there is a solid youth program in place, the Genesee RAP.

The AAU teams are looking for volunteer coaches for the teams. The RAP plays in regional tournaments on the weekends in March and April.

 Anybody interested should contact Batavia varsity coach Buddy Brasky at 585-356-4050 or e-mail him at mbrasky@bataviacsd.org.

There aren't any locals, but Section 5 has announced 12 new members for the class of 2009.

Three of those players went on to play in the National Football League.

East High's Roland Williams was a tight end on the 1999 Super Bowl winning St. Louis Rams and spent eight seasons in the NFL. The Syracuse grad caught 114 passes for 1004 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career.

Webster grad Brian Kozlowski and Victor grad Seth Payne also played in the NFL. 

McQuaid's Chuck Schott, Wellsville's Glenn Law and Greece Olympia's Adam Rodger are the other players inducted into the HOF.

Anthony Bianchi won two state titles at Webster and Bolivar's Bob Dunsmore are being inducted as coaches..

Tom Dowd, Mike Stackus and Charlie Remilen are football officials being elected. Also Ontario Honda president Daniel Richards is being inducted as a contributor. 

The Hall of Fame dinner and election ceremony is at the RIT Inn & Conference Center on April 2 and ticekts are $35 per person or $300 for a table.

 The game might have been tight all the way through, but it looked like the Oakfield-Alabama girls were going to beat Notre Dame for the second time this season, on ND's home court.

The Hornets owned the paint and seemed to be in the right place at the right time for every loose ball. But the Fighting Irish battled in the closing minutes and came through with a huge 48-46 win.

Oakfield-Alabama took a 3-point lead with about five minutes left in the game when Hillary Bates scored a basket, making the score 40-37 in O-A's favor.

Notre Dame's Brittany Morelli answered with a bucket, but the lead was back to 3-points when Dani Sage scored at the other end. The Hornets had a chance to extend the lead when sophomore McKenzie Harris had a steal and was fouled going to the basket.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, she missed both free throw attempts.

Nichole Hart then made it a 1-point game with a basket seconds later.

After a turnover, Morelli scored with an and-1, giving the Fighting Irish a 44-42 lead with just under three minutes left in the game.

Christina Palillo tied the game with a basket on O-A's next possession, then was fouled on the team's next trip down the court. She hit both foul shots to give the Hornets a 46-44 advantage with just over two minutes left.

Again, it looked like O-A was going to win, just like they did in the consolation game of the Rotary Tournament.

But Notre Dame went inside the paint on the following possession, giving the ball to 6-foot sophomore Liz Geandreau, who was fouled while trying to get a shot off. She tied the score with two free throws.

Nobody scored for almost a minute and a half, but Morelli got to the foul line with 39 seconds left. She hit both attempts to give the Fighting Irish the two-point advantage.

The Hornets had one last shot with just seconds left on the clock, but missed a 3-pointer and couldn't get the rebound.

Morelli scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and Jill Marshall pitched in 14 points for the Fighting Irish, who improve to 7-3. Nichole Hart had 12 points.

Brynn Perfitt continues to be a strong scoring option for Oakfield-Alabama (6-6), scoring 11 points. Hillary Bates scored a team-high 12 points and Palillo pitched in eight points.