Sports

 Andrew Hoy showed the maturity that a scoring leader needs to have, and Dakota Irvin continued his hot play as the Batavia boys basketball team came back from one of the biggest deficits the team has had in years to beat host Pittsford Mendon 51-50 Wednesday night.

"This is a group that had never really been behind like that, ever," Batavia coach Buddy Brasky said. "We were down 18 points and (assistant coach) Gene Cairo said that he's been with us for five years and he can't remember a game when we were down double figures before the half. To fall behind 18 points and believe we can win; that's why we are champions. We have the heart of champions."

Mendon had actually opened up a 28-10 lead in the first half before Hoy overcame a rough first half shooting the ball and hit a 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds left in the half to get Batavia to within 15.

Batavia only scored 13 points in the first half and went just 5-of-26 from the field. The Blue Devils only hit 3-of-18 3-point attempts.

"We knew we had to live or die by the jump shot and we were dying by it today," Brasky said. "We had wide open shots and couldn't knock them down. Our defense kept us in the game."

Hoy hit two 3-pointers early in the third quarter and Batavia wound up cutting the deficit to two points with four minutes left.

But Mendon opened it back up to a 10-point edge seconds later.

Brasky had went away from the full court press, but went back to it, and it paid off as Batavia had three straight turnovers that led to six points.

Irvin scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and is a big reason why the Blue Devils won the game.

"He's been a pleasant surprise," Brasky said. "He had a good offseason. He was playing well in the fall, but I didn't know if he'd be a starter. He earned it in the scrimmages. For him to come up so big early in the season has been a pleasent surprise."

 After Keiffer Phillips pinned Batavia's Brandon Shea in 1:11 at 152 pounds at 152 pounds, Greece Arcadia had a 24-3 lead and looked to have the Monroe County League match in hand.

But Troy Ireland turned the momentum with a decision win, then there were three forfeits, and the lightweights came through as the Blue Devils downed the visiting team 29-24 Wednesday.

Ireland's match only got three points for Batavia, but after 24-straight points for the Titans, it was three points that changed the way the Blue Devil grapplers looked at the situation.

The biggest moment of Ireland's 3-2 win came late in the second period, when he slammed opponent Alex O'Brien to the mat with some serious force. Ireland was not rewarded with any points, but that single move might have been the reason Arcadia never scored another point.

Ryan Darch, Anthony D'Aurizio and Dylan Goodsell each received a forfeit, and the score was tied at 24 when Josh Mase was ready to take on Nick Baker at 103 pounds.

Mase, who took fourth at SuperSectionals last season as a sophomore, made very quick work of Baker, pinning him in just 58 seconds.

Vin Klimjack received a forfeit at 112 and Nick Lazarony wrapped up the match with a 7-5 victory over Matt Ellis at 119 pounds, which was the final match of the night.

The Blue Devils downed Victor 35-28 in the opener and after Wednesday's home opening win over Arcadia, are 2-0 in the league and 7-0 overall.

Here are some more photos from the Batavia/Arcadia match.

Sorry for the delay with the video. My new laptop has imovie08 on it and I couldn't figure out how to use it. But the problems are solved and there won't be a delay like this again.

Attica's Dylan Dabolt made it to the quarterfinals at the University at Buffalo Open to start the season.

The UB sophomore lost to Joe Langel of Rutgers in the quarters, but has not had any results posted on the UB Web site since.

He had a 3-4 dual meet record and an 8-10 overall record as a freshman according to Dabolt's UB profile. 

He won the B bracket at the NYS Collegiate Championships at 125 pounds with a win over Army's Lance Penhale.

Dabolt - a pharmacy major - was a three-year captain for the Blue Devils and had a 40-6 record as a senior. He had 172 victories while wrestling for Attica. The three-time sectional champion earned All-American honors in high school twice.

Former Attica star Derek Wolfley's only two points in a loss to Fairfield 78-76 on Sunday was nice enough to be called "nifty" on the Iona basketball Web site.

Here is what was written in the story:

Iona jumped out to an 12-8 lead a little more than five minutes into the game on a nifty layup by freshman Derek Wolfley off a feed from teammate Devon Clarke at the 14:58 mark. 

Wolfley is averaging 7.8 minutes per game with one point and one rebound per game for the 2-5 Gaels, who wraps up a three-game road trip against Long Island tonight. The game can be heard by clicking the link on this page. 

Two Genesee Region League girls basketball players earned Player of the Week honors for the week of Dec. 2-8.

Holley's Julie Brooks hit two free throws with 13 seconds left to send the Hawks into overtime against Medina on Friday. The Hawks won the game 39-32 in overtime, giving the squad its first win in two years, and Brooks - a sophomore - finished with 22 points and 19 rebounds and won the award for GR Division I.

Holley lost to Kendall 28-22 on Monday night.

Junior forward Molly Burgess of Lyndonville won the award for Division II after scoring 40 points in two games at the Barker Tournament.

She had 10 points and nine rebounds against Barker and made the All-Tournament Team.

There were no nominations for the boys in the GR this week.

Batavia's Brittany Mazurkiewicz earned the honor for Monroe County in the opening week of the season after scoring 35 points with 11 steals and four assists in the Alexander Tournament, where she earned MVP honors.

Jared Quinn recorded his first career double-double to lead Alexander to a 58-49 road win over Holley in a boys basketball game Tuesday night.

Quinn had 13 points and 10 boards to lead the Trojans, who improve to 2-2.

Kyle Woodruff connected on all 11 free throw attempts and scored 15 points, with Troy Shelnut adding 11.

Guy Hills had 16 points and Brian Mitchell added 10 for the Hawks (0-3).

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 The Elba boys basketball team had a rough start to its league schedule, getting thrashed by visiting Kendall 62-36.

Colt Tooley hit five 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 21 points and Josh Laureano helped out with 16 points.

Sonny Guiliano led the Lancers (1-2) with 14 points.

Kendall is 2-1.

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Notre Dame had an impressive first showing of the season, whipping visiting Lyndonville 92-36.

Kevin Francis scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the opening frame as the Fighting Irish jumped out to a 24-2 lead. He also had six steals in the game.

Greg Barr had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Tommy Rapone added a dozen points. Vinny Zambito pitched in 11 points.

Andrew Hydock led the Tigers with 13 points.

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Noah Seward dropped in 15 points while pulling down 12 boards as Oakfield-Alabama easily downed Byron-Bergen 65-38.

Brad Riner pitched in five points and seven dimes while both A.J. Kehlenbeck and Sam McCracken had 10 points apiece.

Tyler Sass and Trevor Laurie had 11 points each while Bryan White added 11 boards for the Bees (1-1)

O-A is 3-0.

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Joe Drummond scored 25 points and Jamell Johnson added 22 as C.G. Finney blasted host Wheatland-Chili 90-39.

Alex Stryker had 13 points and Andy Lund pitched in 12 for the Wildcats.

Finney is 6-0. 

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The Batavia hockey team evened up at 2-2 with a 5-3 win over Geneva/Waterloo.

Will Mulcahy and Erik Pokornowski had a pair of goals each for the Blue Devils, with Corey Kocent pitching in a goal with an assist.

Pat Finnell handed out three assists with Tim Finnell helping out with a pair.

Rich Paganello made 14 saves in net.

Geneva/Waterloo falls to 2-3.

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Holley got pins from Dillon Murphy (135 pounds), Quinton Murphy (125), Derek Fostano (189) and Kyle Steadman (215) in beating Kendall 42-33 in a GR wrestling match Tuesday.

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Alexander downed Barker 47-29 on the mat Tuesday.

Dylan Shea pinned Garrett Fuerch in 3:41 at 152 pounds and Dustin Say dropped  James Lapp in 3:57 at 171.

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The Notre Dame girls basketball team opened up with a 51-32 victory over host Lyndonville Tuesday.

Trisha Pike led the Fighting Irish with 15 points, five rebounds and six steals.

Jill Marshall had nine points with Nichole Hart and Liz Geandreau pitching in eight apiece.

Molly Burgess had 11 points for the Tigers (1-2).

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Despite Jenna Merica's 15 points and Allison Macomber's 11 points and nine boards, Le Roy couldn't get past Dansville, losing to the visiting squad 53-36.

Margaret Infantino had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six dimes for the Mustangs (6-1).

Le Roy falls to 0-3.

 A lot of people that follow Genesee Region League basketball had Pembroke, Oakfield-Alabama and Notre Dame is a category all their own - top three teams in the league.

Well, you can throw Attica into the mix after the Blue Devils won a thriller at Pembroke, 52-48, proving that the team can move on from the Derek Wolfley era and be one of the better teams in the league.

Pembroke's Andrew Wright and Attica's Shawn Dupuis had six points apiece in the opening frame with the visiting squad holding a 14-9 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

But by halftime, Attica opened up a 10-point advantage because of some sloppy play by the Dragons. The score was 14-10 before Bryan Thompson scored two consecutive buckets to open things up a bit. This happened when Pembroke big men Andrew Wright and Ken Babcock were trying to avoid serious foul trouble.

The lead got as big as 12 points because Matt Sheffield and Tate Westermeier had back-to-back baskets.

Had Matt Phelps not gotten a steal and basket in the final seconds of the half, the Blue Devils would have been up 12 at the break.

With Sheffield in foul trouble in the third quarter, Pembroke got back in the game.

Wright had seven points in the third quarter and Babcock pitched in six, giving the Dragons a 38-37 lead by the end of the period.

Babcock scored in the first minute of the fourth to give Pembroke its biggest lead, 42-39.

Westermeier had consecutive baskets a few minutes later and the game wound up seeing Attica take a 45-43 lead. Babcock tied the game at 45 with a pair of free throws with 1 1/2 minutes left. 

There was a confusing call just after that when it appeared Sheffield was called for a blocking call, and then it was overturned and the Blue Devils got the ball back.

Attica converted after getting another shot with the ball.

Shawn Dupuis was waving his hands in the air right in front of the Attica bench and he got the ball, knocking in a 3-pointer with just 48 seconds to go.

Pembroke missed a shot, then Attica turned the ball over on an over-and-back call.  

When the Dragons tried to get the ball in the basket for a two--pointer, Dupuis came through again with a blocked shot. He was immediately fouled and hit a pair of free throws, giving Attica a 50-45 lead.

Pembroke's Matt Seward hit a running 3-pointer with just over two seconds on the clock, but Westermeier hit both foul shots at the other end to ice the victory.

Westermeier led all scorers with 20 points, with Thompson getting 16 and Dupuis adding 11 for the Blue Devils (2-2).

Babcock scored 17 points with Wright pitching in 14 for the Dragons.

Monday Moring Mixed 12/8/2008

Rex Miller    238-------------630

Dick Barnard 225--203------602

Bob NEal       214

Ralph Hyde    212

Alberty Drugs/Pontillo's Ladies 12/8/2008

Chris Dranichak   202

Monday Night Mens Carlsons Imaging 12/82008

Roger Stone    224--239-------666

Dave Richenberg  234

Don Ruck   226

Rodney Finkey  225

Chris Parker    214

Independant Ladies League 12/8/2008

Sue Lewis     199--197------555

Christin Kirkwood  185--200

Carlene Cadieux  212

Janet Ciociola   192

Val Falco  190

Deb Laesser  183

Lorrie Gilbraith  183

Bob Harris Realty Doubles 12/8/2008

Rob Stefani     223--248--211--682

Lin Jursted      267-------------678

Chuck Bobo      247--214--215--676

Mike Sputore  214--259--------652

Tom Hahn        232--212--------633

Tom Jursted    213--------------603

Chris Sputore  211

Jeff Davin      211

Linda Restivo  180

Sunday Night Mixed-Up 12/7/2008

Dennis Meyers   234--220-------647

Jim Bell            222

Vanessa Riley    191

 The Pembroke girls basketball team doesn't have much size. In fact, they have three players listed as forwards on the roster and all have the height of a guard.

But that lack of size isn't going to be the worst thing in the world for the Dragons, who are expecting to run and outshoot other teams.

Coach Guy Gabbey has enough talent on the roster that Pembroke could easily go 10-deep, which will hurt some of the teams with smaller rosters in the league.

Returning to lead the squad is Nicole Sharick, who is a senior and is on her third varsity season. She scored 10 points with two assists and three steals per game a year ago and was a GR honorable mention last season.

Sharick isn't the most vocal player on the floor, but leads by example and could end up as one of the top players in the league.

Juniors Kelsey Lewis and Danielle Smith could also be strong scorers while senior Laura Moser transfered from Mount St. Mary's in Kenmore to add depth to the squad.

Guard Jackie Dubois is a vocal leader that scored five points with four boards and two dimes per game last season and Katie Hackett will help push the ball in transition for the Dragons.

The Pembroke program has become solid in recent years and the players are playing together in the offseason, which means it will remain in the mix.

The Dragons went 14-6 last year and return many players from that squad. Those players have been haunted since the crushing 44-42 loss to North Rose-Wolcott in the Class B quarterfinals last season.

Pembroke missed a potential game-tying shot with less than five seconds left in that game and have had a long time to think about the disappointing loss.

The annual Lions Club dinner for senior players and coaches that are participating in the Lions Club Basketball Tournament was Monday night.

It is always one of the my favorite nights of the year, and is in fact the ninth one I've attended. It is always fun to sit down with area players and enjoy a a nice meal and talk hoops. 

You also can't put a price on the look on the kid's faces when the Lions members sing the Lions song.

Batavia won the championship last year with a 63-34 win over Notre Dame in the finals, giving the Blue Devils four straight, and seven of the last eight championships.

Two players from the all-tournament team return to play in this year's tournament as Batavia's Andrew Hoy and Notre Dame's Kevin Francis will be leading their respective squads.

The 27th annual tournament will be held Dec. 29-30 at Genesee Community College. Batavia will play Albion on the 29th at 7 p.m. with Notre Dame and Perry playing at 8:45 p.m.

The consolation game is on the 30th at 7 p.m., followed by the championships at 8:45 p.m.

The jayvee tournament will be held at Notre Dame with Batavia and Albion playing at 1 p.m. on the 29th and Notre Dame playing Perry right after. The consolation game is on the 30th at 1 p.m. with the finals to follow at 2:45 p.m.

The Batavian will have the biggest preview in the history of the tournament the week of the games.

Here are some video highlights and interviews from Monday's dinner.

Mike Humphrey led Le Roy with just 11 points, but his teammates chipped in plenty and the Oatkan Knights beat host Pavilion 52-40 Monday in boys basketball.

Andrew Alexander pitched in eight points.

Jack Jeffres had 19 points and 13 boards for Pavilion.

Le Roy is 1-1. 

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Sam D'Agostino had a game-high 10 points and Brittani Reis added eight as Kendall downed Holley 28-22 in a girls basketball game.

Jen Lasch had seven points for the Hawks (1-1)

Kendall is 2-1.

The Lady Cougars win their home opener against #3 Mohawk Valley. Although the game was a tough battle throughout the game, GCC took advantage of 28 MVCC turnovers to pull away with a 57-47 victory. The Lady Cougars were led by freshman De'Yara Burrell (Rochester, Edison Tech) with a 21 point performance. Cynnetha Bellinger added 19 points and 9 rebounds. GCC improves their record to 2-3 while MVCC falls to 8-1. The Lady Cougars travel to Alfred State December 9th to open conference play.

The GCC Men and Women's Swimming and Diving Teams traveled to SUNY Delhi this past Saturday for their first meet in almost a month.

The Lady Cougars lead by Sarah Barr's 4 first place finishes and Kaitlyn Adamczak's 3 first place and 1 second place finishes won the meet with an impressive 303 points followed by SUNY Delhi with 238 and 7 other school among them NCAA Division 3 SUNY IT. This is their second straight invitational win. Every Lady Cougar scored points; which is a first in the team's 10 year history. Barr remains undefeated in individual competition at the Regional and District level.

The Men's Swimming Team finished with a strong 5th place finish out of 9 teams. Leading the way were Dustin Shepard and Josh Sullivan. Jessie Root again scored strong in 1 Meter Diving. Jessie added some more difficult dives to his list in preparation for Regionals and Nationals. Mike Hoerbelt and Anthony Moore performed very well in the Freestyle events.
The Cougar Swimming and Diving teams face ECC at home on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m.
 

The Cougars upset Mohawk Valley Community College 83-56 adding to their winning streak with a record of 8 - 0. The cougars played phenomenally on the court as they shot 51.8% from field goal range. The team was led by Sophomores Curtis Jackson and Reid Houston. Jackson had 26 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 4 rebounds while Houston had 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

The team is headed to Alfred State on Tuesday December 9th for their next game!

 I received an e-mail this morning from Donna Rae Sutherland at Genesee Community College. The Cougars have a great winning tradition and do it with a roster that features many local players. Coach Roger Majeski recently won his 800th career match.

If you want proof that Coach Roger Majeski has created a winning tradition at Genesee Community College, just step inside his office. Plaques, awards and medals adorn his office from his 21 years as head women's volleyball coach at Genesee. On September 27, Majeski led the Lady Cougars to score his 800th career win over Howard Community College.

Coach Majeski began his career at Genesee in 1986 as assistant coach and after only a year was named head women's volleyball coach. With 12 showings at the national tournament, he has maintained a powerful presence in the Western New York Athletic Conference. The Lady Cougars have won 17 conference titles, as well as winning 11 consecutive Region III championships.

Over the years, Majeski has not only led his team to numerous victories and titles, but has also been awarded many coaching honors. He received the Region III Coach of the Year nine times and the District Coach of the year 11 times. He has also received the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Coach of the Year three times, an award which was voted on by his coaching peers. Majeski is also ranked first among NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Division II coaches, as well as being ranked second overall among NJCAA Division I, II and III coaches.

Majeski has not only coached successful teams at Genesee, but has assisted his players to move on to Division I schools, be named All American Athletes, and even become professional volleyball players. He coached Marsha Miller '91 who played professional beach volleyball for the United States where she earned a silver medal in the 1999 Pan-American Games.

Stacy Koslosky, a former player for the Lady Cougars in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, believes Majeski isn't just your average coach. "What makes Roger a great coach is that he gets 'it'. Roger is the perfect blend of a technical trainer and a player's coach. He knows everything about volleyball and he easily communicates this to his players. Roger is a very intense leader and it's contagious for his team. He makes his players want to succeed and never settle for anything less than a win. Coach Majeski doesn't just want to win, he wants to win by 15 points."

The women's volleyball program at Genesee has become a well respected athletic program in the North East. Roger has been there for the victories and losses, both on and off the court. From the funny moments of traveling with his teams to various games, to the saddest moments when he lost a player during a home tournament, Majeski has been the solid rock within the program.

As a testament to Coach Majeski's long term concern for his players, 2007 marked the 10th anniversary of the Kaminna Allen Classic Women's Volleyball Tournament. Kaminna Allen was a member of the 1997 Lady Cougars volleyball team when she tragically died from a heart disorder while playing in the Cougar Classic Tournament. The tournament was renamed on her behalf and a scholarship fund was created in her honor. For more than ten years, proceeds from the tournament have supported the scholarship and the efforts of young women to improve their game - both on and off the court.

"The best part of my job is seeing the change in the students who come through my door," said Majeski. "Winning isn't always the greatest part of coaching. It's really satisfying seeing players who might not be the most talented transform into team motivators and leaders. When the light bulb turns on, and my athletes finally understand how I want them to play, that's a great feeling."

As for the future of the Genesee women's volleyball program, Majeski hopes to continue the winning tradition that has been set forth so many years before. He looks forward to maintaining the regional and national power that the Lady Cougars have been in the past, and someday maybe even winning the National Championship.

Majeski resides in West Henrietta, NY with his wife and children. Outside of his coaching job at Genesee, Roger enjoys officiating local volleyball games, as well as playing on an Empire State Master teams in which he has won 6 medals.

Dylan Versage had a pair of goals, including the game winner 7 1/2 minutes into the third period for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish beat Immaculate Heart, 3-2, in the consolation game of the Radier Classic.

Jason Harasimowicz dished out three assists and Ivan Madafferi added a goal with a helper for Notre Dame (2-1).

Thomas Dehr had 21 saves.

The other local hockey team did not come away with a victory Saturday.

The Batavia hockey team fell to 1-2 with a 3-2 loss to Hilton.

Corey Gurski scored the game-winning goal at the 9:32 mark of the third period as Hilton improves to 3-0-1. 

Dan Kellman and Andrew Harris had the assists on the winning goal, with Harris and Collin Sawdy each getting a goal.

Pat Finnell  and Josh Moir had a goal each for the Blue Devils.

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Freshman Keri Soppe dropped in 20 points with three boards to earn tournament MVP as West Irondequoit downed Pembroke 48-36 in the finals of the Alden Tournament.

The Eagles had a seven minute long, 13-point run in the third quarter to pull away as Cecilia Sigrist pitched in seven points and 10 rebounds.

Danielle Smith led the way for the Dragons (1-1) with 10 points while all-tournament team selection Nicole Sharick pitched in eight points, 14 rebounds and three steals.

Kelsey Lewis had eight points with Natasha Powell and Katie Hackett pulling down seven boards apiece.

Irondequoit is 2-0.