Sports

 Pembroke's Ken Babcock earned Genesee Region League Division I Player of the Week for this past week.

The senior center had 22 points with six blocks against Byron-Bergen and 13 points, four blocks and 10 rebounds against Elba.

Josh Laureano earned the honor for Division II after scoring 24 points with five dimes and nine rebounds against Lyndonville and 27 points, 10 assists and nine boards in a win over Alexander.

Laureano had 15 points, five assists and eight rebounds in a loss against Wheatland-Chili.

The two squads played each other last night, with Kendall winning 59-56.

No girls players were nominated from the Genesee Region League.

For the past few years, I've heard how the officiating keeps getting worse; and it doesn't matter which sport it is.

According to the National Association of Sports Officials, the amount of high school officials is dropping at a rapid pace. This means there are many inexperienced officials doing games. Consider half of the varsity basketball team quitting and half the jayvee team being called up to replace them. 

The reason more than 3/4 of the NASO lists for the decline in officials is "poor sportsmanship by spectators".

John Moriello of the NYSSWA writes about an incident at a game between Schuylerville and Mohonasen in late December.

At a basketball game between Schuylerville and Mohonasen on Dec. 26, spectators became so unruly that the gym had to be cleared. It was a girls game . . . a JV girls game.

   "Parents have invested their whole freaking past, present and future in little Johnny going to Syracuse on a scholarship and, oh gosh, the ref made a bad call," Will Keim, co-author of "Fan Etiquette: How did the burning desire to win become the desire to burn?" said. "This ref is keeping their kid out of the NBA."

The basic lesson here is that if you are not liking what you see on the field or court, leave the officials alone and let them do their job. The more that quit, the less experienced officials we are going to get.

 Pembroke had the home court advantage, and Kendall is a team looking for respect.

This game had great one written all over it.

Colt Tooley scored a game-high 31 points - including six 3-pointers - and led the visiting Eagles to a 59-56 victory over the Dragons. This means Kendall improves to 6-3 while Pembroke falls to 5-5.

The Eagles won the game i the second half with a 34-27 advantage. Josh Laureano had 13 points and Phil Kludt pitched in eight.

Andrew Wright led Pembroke with 20 points, with Ken Babcock scoring 14 and Andy Gabbey adding 12. Steve Moser was also in double figures with 10 points.

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Kevin Francis had another huge game for Notre Dame, scoring 20 points with 12 rebounds, seven assists and four steals as the Fighting Irish beat Holley 68-42.

Matt Thompson had 11 points with Vinny Zambito adding eight points for ND (8-1).

Brian Mitchell recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards for the Hawks, who fall to 3-8.

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While Phil Ostroski and Sonny Giuliano get most of the attention for the Elba basketball team, it was senior forward Max Torrey that had the big game in leading the Lancers to a 48-37 win over Attica.

Torrey scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Lancers (4-5) had a 14-10 advantage.

Ostroski did have 12 points for Elba.

Tate Westermeier and Brad Clark had 12 points apiece for the Blue Devils (5-4).

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Tim Smith dropped in 19 points as the Oakfield-Alabama basketball team thumped Wheatland-Chili 73-40. Noah Seward had a double-double with 13 points, 11 boards and four assists.

A.J. Kehlenbeck had six points with 10 rebounds and four dimes, with Brad Riner dishing out eight assists.

Rick Agosto had 10 points for the Wildcats (2-6).

O-A is now 8-1.

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Will Mulcahy popped in a pair of goals and assisted on another to lead Batavia to a 6-3 win over Bishop Kearney/Eastridge in a Monroe County League hockey game.

Tilar Clark had his first varsity goal and a pair of helpers to help out Batavia, which improves to 8-5-1.

Andrew Maxwell, Pat and Tim Finnell each added a goal.

It's time to sign up for the Batavia Youth Wrestling Clinic.

The Blue Devils are having an amazing season and the program is on the verge of becoming a powerhouse program. Now is the time for the kids to get involved and start learning.

The sign-ups are on Thursday from 5-7:30 p.m. at Batavia High School, and is for kids ages 5-11 in the Batavia public schools. 

The cost is just $10 and includes a t-shirt and an entree into the tournament.

Practices are on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. and Thursday from 7-8:30 p.m. in the auxillary gym. 

Kids will receive direct instruction from head coach Rick Stewart as well as assistants Ken Darch, Vinny Romanatto, Kelly Boyle and Rich Lovria.

For questions or concerns, please contact coach Rick Stewart at 409-1742.

The Batavia girls basketball team is now 10-1 after escaping Brighton 52-50.

Michelle Jordan came off the bench to drop in 16 points with Brittany Mazurkiewiecz adding 12 points. Jaycee Shirk added nine points and seven rebounds and Shaundella Williams pulled down nine rebounds.

Breanna Bauer had 24 points for Brighton (2-7).

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Anni Lehtola dropped in a pair of 3-pointers and scored 21 points as Alexander beat Oakfield-Alabama 58-40.

Rachel Pettys had eight points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Anna Dominick added seven points. The Trojans are now 7-1.

Brynn Perfitt had 11 points, six boards and four dimes for the Hornets (5-5).

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The Attica girls won for the first time this season, beating Holley 41-31 as Christina West led the way with 11 points.

Margaret LaFleur had 10 points and seven boards as the Blue Devils improve to 1-10.

Jessica Bower and Alyssa Lesch had eight points each for the Hawks (2-7).

 John Moriello's latest blog has a great story in it. It isn't local, but is one of those touching stories that I feel the need to share.

I've been a fan of Moriello's work for a long time and he is the president of the New York State Sportswriters Association.

He writes:

 Luke Houston's 13-point performance Thursday in Pearl River's overtime victory was about much more than basketball. The sophomore guard, the son of a legendary player, drained his first three shots -- two of them from beyond the arc -- while making his first varsity start mere hours after the burial of his mother, Liz, who died last weekend at the age of 44 from complications of scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune illness.

   Luke's dad, Kevin -- an NCAA Division I scoring champion in 1987 while at West Point -- and uncle, Jerry Jr., played for Pearl River, and Jerry Jr. is now the varsity coach (assisted by his father). Liz cheered there in her younger days and witnessed dozens if not hundreds of games in the Pearl River gym.

   With one game already having been postponed last week, Pearl River turned down an offer from Hastings coach Dennis Hurley to reschedule Thursday's game. It turned out to be a great decision for reasons beyond the 69-66 final score.

You can get a full recap of the amazing story on LoHud.com, where Bob Baird tells the whole story.

Batavia's Mary Zinni is just a freshman, but might very well be the best player on the Hilbert College basketball team.

The team is 0-12, but Zinni has started all 12 contests and is averaging a team-leading 8.7 points per game and 32 minutes per game. She is also pulling down 4.7 rebounds per game.

The most recent loss was a 68-29 defeat at the hands of Mount Aloysius College.

 Byron-Bergen grad Pete Loney is still a major part of the Daemen basketball team, which now has an 11-2 record.

Loney - a senior forward - is averaging 7.2 and 1.5 rebounds per game. He has started 3 of 13 games and is averaging 15.6 minutes per contest.

Daemen has moved up to No. 14 in the NCAA Division III poll and will be hosting Houghton Tuesday night.

Houghton is 4-8 overall. 

The Genesee Lancers (Chilano) took hom the Medina U19 tournament title with a 3-1 win over Alexander in the final game.  The Lancers scored seconds into the final to take a 1-0 lead.  Alexander scored a few minutes after that to knot the score at one a piece.  The Lancers would score just before the midway mark to make the score 2-1.  Just after the mdiway mark the Lancers scored a 3rd goal to go ahead 3-1 which was the final score.  It was a very competitive final game with some great soccer to watch.  Both teams moved the ball well and had some great chances on goal.

During the earlier games of the tournament Alexander clinched the top seed with a 3-0 record with a 1-0 win over the Lancers (Hein), a 3-1 win over the YMCA/ND team and a 1-0 win over Gananda.  The Lancers (Chilano) earned the #2 seed with wins over GVBBSC and Attica and a loss to Albion.  Albion was the #3 seed with a win over the Lancers (Chilano), a tie against Attica, and a loss to GVBBSC.  The Lancers (Hein) earned the 4th seed with a loss to Alexander, a tie against Gananda, and a win over the YMCA/ND team.  Gananda had a solid day as well with a tie against the Lancers (Hein), a win over YMCA/ND, and a loss to Alexander.  The Lancers (Hein) earned the 4th seed thanks to a slight tiebreaker advantage over Gananda.

In the 1st round of the playoffs the Lancers (Chilano) avenged their loss to Albion with a 3-0 win in the 1st semi-final game.  Alexander knocked off the Lancers (Hein) 2-0 to earn their spot in the final.

Alexander's roster included sophomores goal keeper Hannah Wilson, sophomore defenders Savannah VanSon, Summer Bliss, and Claire Hartl, sophomore midfielders Tessa Bigelow and Autumn Atkinson, sophomore forwards Kylie Bank, Amber Finan, and Ashley Szymanski, and 8th grade defender Gabby Kwiatek.

The S.C. Genesee Lancers United ladies u19 team went to Medina and took first place in the Medina YMCA U19G tourney on January 11.

The ladies got off to a slow start dropping a 1-0 decision to a very good Albion team. But the Lancers would bounce right back with a dominating 4-0 win over Attica. Emilie Rath (Medina H.S.) scored twice, while Emily Starowitz (FLCC/Bergen HS) and Lindsay Wellspeak (FLCC/Alexander HS) each had a goal. Julia Medwid (SUNY Fredonia/Alexander HS) chipped in with 2 assists, and Starowitz and Brittany Luckey (Leroy HS) each had one. Leslie George (GCC/Alexander HS) had the first of 3 shutouts on the day on goal.

Game three saw the Lancers defeat York 2-0 behind goals by Luckey (unassisted) and Jessie Jaszko (GCC/Batavia HS), and some fine saves by George in goal to preserve the shutout. Wellspeak assisted on Jaszko's goal.

In the semifinals, the Lancers got their rematch with Albion and defeated them 2-0 as Wellspeak  scored off a great pass by Jaszko, and Luckey would take a great pass by Wellspeak to score and lead the way.

In the championship game, the Lancers defeated Alexander 3-1. Jaszko got the Lancers quickly on the board off a Wellspeak assist. A very well organized Alexander team would tie the game up, but Wellspeak would notch 2 goals to ice the win and the title. Jenna Ferrando (GCC/Leroy HS) and Audrey Rath (Alfred State/Medina HS) led a great defense all day - Great job ladies!!!

 The Attica wrestling program is definitely one of the tops in the area, and they flexed their muscles yesterday at the 34th annual Robert Bradshaw Memorial Invitational Saturday.

The tournament didn't wrap up until 10 p.m. last night, but Attica wound up on top of the team standings, finishing ahead of many of the biggest and best schools from in and out of Section 5.

Bradshaw Top 20

Attica, 187
Rush-Henrietta, 174
Northport, 165.5 
Queensbury, 145
Batavia, 140.5
Guilderland, 130
Canandaigua, 129
Churchville-Chili, 119
Brockport, 117.5
Greene, 108
Newark, 95
Gates Chili, 78
Geneva, 71
Irondequoit, 68
Byron-Bergen, 67
Webster Schroeder, 67
Bishop Kearney, 66.5
Palmyra-Macedon, 66
Waterloo, 62
Livonia, 56

“We were hoping to pick up a top five,” head coach Eric Romesser told the Daily Messanger, “but I didn’t expect to win. I’m happy to squeak it out.”

Lance Compton surprised everybody and won the 125-pound weight class and sectional contender Luke Pariso surprised nobody with a 171-pound title, beating Byron-Bergen's Zack Green 9-0 in the finals. Vinnie Napierski and Doug Beitz had second place finishes.

Batavia also had a champion in Ryan Darch, who beat his teammate Troy Ireland 6-1 in the finals.

You can see the complete results here. 

Batavia came away with the win in the local hockey rivalry.

The Blue Devils beat Notre Dame 4-2 and improve to 7-6.

Erik Pokornowski and Corey Kocent had two goals each, with Pokornowski scoring the final goal with just over two minutes left in regulation.

Patt Finnell dished out three assists and Brandon Polito had two helpers.

Dylan Versage and Jordan DiFilipo had the goals for Notre Dame, which were both assisted by Tyler Kessler.

Peanut butter and jelly - words you hear together a lot. Add Andrew Hoy and box-and-one to that mix.

Teams are figuring out his ability to score and are trying to take him out of games. Other players stepped up and Batavia beat host Eastridge 55-43 Friday.

"Other guys need to step up," said coach Buddy Brasky. "More teams are going to focus on Andrew. It took some time, but kids stepped up."

Andrew still scored a game-high 15 points, but brother Marcus was the star as he helped the Blue Devils turn a 34-31 halftime lead into a big win.

Marcus scored all 14 of his points in the second half and also had seven assists and five rebounds.

"They were taking away Andrew and Robert (Hoy) so Marcus started going to the basket and scoring. He got some and-1s and some threes. He came up big," Brasky said.

 Batavia improves to 8-1.

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Kevin Francis went off for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish whooped Byron-Bergen 75-46.

The senior had 24 points with 10 dimes and eight steals as ND improves to 7-1.

Greg Barr added 17 points with Vinny Zambito chipping in 10.

Bryan White reached double figures with 12 points for the Bees.

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A tight game turned into a blowout as Andrew Wright scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead Pembroke to a 57-41 victory over Elba.

Ken Babcock had 13 points, Steve Moser had 12 and Kyle Stocking had nine for the Dragons (5-4).

Phil Ostroski and Sonny Giuliano had 10 each for the Lancers.

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Tate Westermeier led the way with 14 points as Attica beat Lyndonville 43-31. Bryan Thompson had 13 and Shawn Dupuis added eight. Matt Sheffield had 11 rebounds.

Nobody reached double figures for the Tigers.

Attica is now 5-3.

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Notre Dame thumped Byron-Bergen 59-39 in girls action as Jill Marshall scored 20 points with 14 rebounds and five dimes. Brittany Morelli added 10 points for the Fighting Irish.

Krista Lougheed had 11 points for the Bees.

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Elba rebounded from a tough loss to Geneseo with a 53-42 win over Pembroke.

Rachael Cook had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards and Sarah Schwartzmeyer added 11 points. Julie Marshall had eight points for the Lancers (8-2).

Kelsey Lewis had 12 points for the Dragons (5-4).

 The Batavia girls basketball team is not getting any votes in the New York State Sportswriters poll or the Democrat & Chronicle poll.

But after Brittany Wormley had a career night, leading the Blue Devils to a 46-34 win over Eastridge in a Monroe County League game. The win means Batavia is now 9-1, and would be shocked to not be ranked in the next state poll.

But Friday night was all about Wormley. 

The junior guard couldn't miss. She scored a career-high 20 points, with 18 of them coming on jump shots.

It wasn't exactly a pretty game early on and the Blue Devils were on their way towards an upset loss.

Batavia was giving the Lancers many second, and third chance shot opportunities in the first half. It was 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Eastridge actually led 17-16 at the half as Kaela Trifiro was controlling the paint and scored a pair of buckets.

The Batavia press turned things around in the third quarter. Well, that and the 10 points Wormley scored in the frame. Batavia had opened up a 35-26 lead by the end of the third period.

Eastridge got the game within seven points in the fourth quarter, but Wormley had a basket, Jaycee Shirk hit a pair of foul shots and Shaun-Della Williams hit a free throw to wrap up the victory.

Shirk and Brittany Mazurkiewiecz had eight points each.

Almost two years ago, Section 5 Basketball officially closed a small message board on its Web site.

So a small group of die-hard local sports fans - including myself - created a forum site, so that local sports fans can talk about their sport of choice. That site was named Section 5 Talksback.

The hits grew and grew and the registered members kept coming. The site hit a milestone this morning as member No. 2,000 registered. 

That member is local, using the screen name leroyfootball00.

Local sports fans know that The Batavian and Talksback are the only two real sources to get the in-depth information you won't get by traditional media, like television stations and the newspaper.

Talksback is also having a big contest where local fans can win a free pizza party.  So local fans should get their video camera out and show how good local basketball cheering sections are.

 While no area boys made the all-state teams, we had a few local girls make the all-state teams.

Batavia's Angela Jarvela made the fourth team for Class B.

Holley's Kristina Martin is on the fourth team for Class C and Oakfield-Alabama's Kim Mills made the first team in Class D. 

 The newest boys basketball state rankings are out.

Batavia is the 20th ranked team in the state in Class A with a 7-1 record. The Blue Devils have big a game at Eastridge tomorrow then big games  with Greece Odyssey and Brighton next week.

Oakfield-Alabama fell to 15th in Class C after a loss in the opening round of the Cal-Mum Tournament.

Notre Dame is 5-1 - with a loss to Batavia in the Lions Club finals - and received a No. 6 ranking in Class D.