Sports

 Mark Hamilton did a great job of getting the Batavia girls basketball program back to respectability.

When he stepped down, the school looked for a coach that can take the program to another level. Bill Wade appears to be that man.

Wade coached Byron-Bergen to the state finals in 1984, won a state title in 1999 with Notre Dame and then retired, spending four years as an assistant coach at SUNY Brockport. Wade's career record is 215-52.

He looks to help the squad improve on last year's 16-5 record and be competitive in the Class A sectionals.

The veteran coach has a pair of returning senior stars that are expected to lead a young team this season.

Jaycee Shirk showed marked improvement as last season went on and the 6-foot-1 forward/center is expected to be a force in the paint. Shirk teamed with Alyssa Tretter for that role and now will be handling those duties on her own.

Shirk averaged 12 points with eight rebounds and two blocks per game last season.

The other returning starter is senior guard Brittany Mazurkiewicz, who poured in 10 points with five assists and three steals per game.

Every other player on the roster is a junior.

Stacy Hein is expected to run the point with Brittany Wormley, Alicia Emminger and Michelle Jordan also expected to be key players for the Blue Devils.

Batavia earned a fourth-seed in the Class A playoffs last year, but were knocked out by No. 5 School of the Arts in the quarterfinals, 62-44. Shirk had nine points in that game and Mazurkiewicz had eight.

With just four minutes left in the game, something clicked for the Le Roy football team. In a situation where the Oatkan Knights had turned the ball over six times and was trailing by 18 points, they didn't quit.

There was a sudden burst of momentum as the team that hadn't lost all season long wasn't about to take its first defeat lying down.

Le Roy came back and had a shot to win the game in the final minute, but turned the ball over a seventh time and walked off the field with a crushing 38-35 defeat against the most skilled team it has seen all year, Jamestown Southwestern.

The start to the game was strange as the teams took the field and there was a penalty on the kickoff, then had to wait four minutes to re-do the kick because of the television coverage.

But the Oatkan Knights received the ball on the kick and fumbled the ball away on their third play. Southwestern quickly scored as Levi Bursch scored on a 19-yard run.

The Trojans got the ball back on an interception, then gave it back to Le Roy when they fumbled it.

The Oatkan Knights marched right back down the field and was knocking on the end zone door when the ball popped out again, giving Southwestern the ball at their own 20-yard line.

Zack Sopak lofted up a 54-yard pass to Will Sleggs and the Trojans were deep in Le Roy territory. Bursch capped off the drive with a 2-yard dive into the end zone.

Le Roy marched on the next drive, with the highlight being a 35-yard pass to Quentin Humphrey. This time,  the turnover directly resulted in points for Southwestern.

Travis Fenstermaker was trying to get the ball to Mike Humphrey for a touchdown, but Bursch stepped in front and snagged the pass. He took it 97 yards to the house, giving Southwestern a 21-0 advantage.

The Oatkan Knights again were moving the ball as a Fenstermaker pass to Andrew Alexander was a big gainer, especially when you add the face mask penalty.

But, Alexander wound up coughing up the ball inside the red zone.

Southwestern punted and Le Roy finally got on the scoreboard just seconds before the first half ended. Alexander hauled in a pass by Fenstermaker and rumbled 63 yards for the TD.

After making a stop and punting the ball away at the start of the second half, the Oatkan Knights got a turnover when Southwestern fumbled. That led to a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike Humphrey. The extra point attempt failed and Le Roy trailed 21-13.

After a big kick return by Tanner Delahoy, Southwestern didn't take long to make it a two-score game as Sopak hooked up with Will Sleggs on a 29-yard scoring pass.

Le Roy got some major help on the next drive. On a fourth-and-2, Fenstermaker tossed a first down pass to Alexander, but there was a face mask and late hit penalty issued on the play.

The Oatkan Knights faced another fourth down later in the drive and Fenstermaker ended up tossing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Humphrey on the fourth-and-1.

The next 10 points came by the Trojans, seeming to put the game away.

Bursch caught a 3-yard touchdown pass and Dan Imfeld nailed a 28-yard field goal, giving Southwestern a 38-20 lead with just 6:49 left on the clock.

The game appeared to be over. But it wasn't.

Fenstermaker - who ends his high school career with a 20-2 record - capped off a three minute long drive with a 1-yard TD run.

The Oatkan Knights recovered the onside kick and it started to look like something special was going to happen.

But, Mike Humphrey fumbled the ball away after catching a short pass. Again, the game looked to be over - that is, until the Trojans fumbled while trying to run time off the clock. Le Roy recovered with 1:28 left in the game.

Humphrey immediately caught a 42-yard touchdown pass and the impossible, now seemed possible. The Oatkan Knights were only trailing 38-35 and when they recovered the second onside kick, looked like they were going to win the game.

Fenstermaker threw a pass to Mike Humphrey and Le Roy had the ball at the Southwestern 22-yard line and just over 30 seconds to work with.

But the Southwestern defensive backs had the Le Roy receivers covered, forcing Fenstermaker to scramble. He was hit by Eric Mazgaj and the ball popped out, with the Trojans recovering and ending Le Roy's season.

Fenstermaker went 21-of-37 for 283 yards and four touchdowns, with Humphrey hauling in 14 passes for 136 yards and three scores. Alexander rushed the ball 19 times for 61 yards and caught two passes for 91 yards and a score.

Southwestern improves to 11-0 and moves on to the state semifinals next weekend at PAETEC Park.

UPDATE: More photos from Pete Karl.

The LeRoy fans who braved the dismal weather for today’s Western Regional football matchup with Southwestern were treated to an emotional roller coaster ride.

As the rain began to intensify, so too did LeRoy’s turnover problems. Turnovers - in the form of a fumble and interception - on their first two possessions proved frustrating. A sustained drive on LeRoy’s third possession had the Oatkan Knighs faithful cheering. Then, just as suddenly, the LeRoy crowd was silenced as the ball was fumbled away near the Southwestern goal line. LeRoy turned the ball over twice more in the first half, both times after moving the ball deep into Southwestern territory. To compound the problem, the Trojans capitalized on LeRoy’s miscues.

At half time I spoke with LeRoyan John Arneth, a long time Oatkan Knight supporter. “You can’t beat a good team with that many turnovers in one half. Period.” He went on to specify the need to control the ball, particularly at this stage of the season. “This time of year all the pretenders have gone home. Good teams will capitalize on your mistakes.” Southwestern fit’s the latter category well as they turned three LeRoy turnovers - two fumbles and an interception - into scores. “Right now they are not beating us so much as we are beating ourselves. But they are playing a mistake free game”, Arneth concluded.

Two former Oatkan Knights, John Piazza and Kevin Pike were on hand to root for LeRoy. When I asked Piazza, a former LeRoy linebacker in bygone years, what he thought of LeRoy’s chances, he said, “You’ve got two great teams on the field. LeRoy’s got a lot of heart. They’re hanging in there. Hopefully the momentum will swing our way.” It takes one to know one. Once a Knight, always a Knight. Or so it seemed. Though it took some time in coming, John Piazza’s words would be prophetic. In the meantime, LeRoy capitalized on a Southwestern fumble. Travis Fenstermaker put the ball in the air and Mike Humphrey made a remarkable catch in the end zone to put renewed life into the LeRoy crowd. Just as quick as their hopes soared, they came plummeting back to earth Soutwestern returned the ensuing kickoff for considerable yardage and the very next play scored on a pass play of their own. But the LeRoy faithful would not be deterred. “LeRoy has some amazing athletes on the field”, said Kevin Pike. ”It’s a great atmosphere here at UB. We’ll have a better second half.”

Trailing by eighteen points with four minutes left, the Oatkan Knights kicked the roller coaster into high gear - and on an uphill ride. In the time remaining, LeRoy brought the fans to their feet, scoring two touchdowns, both conversions - one for two points and two successful onside kicks.

Then, just as quickly, despite all the last minute gut checking, time ran out on a great season, with a seventh turnover.

The Iona College basketball team is playing right now (7:30 p.m.) and the game is being broadcast on the Internet here.

This is where you can watch Attica grad, and one of the best players in the history of the Genesee Region League make his Division I college debut.

The Blue Devils' all-time leading scorer, Derek Wolfley, is a freshman on the squad. Enjoy the game. 

 (UPDATE: Derek did not get in the game. The Gaels are playing in a tournament next weekend, so hopefully he will get a chance to make his college debut then.)

 Le Roy (10-0) vs. Jamestown Southwestern (10-0)

10 a.m. Saturday, at University at Buffalo

The Le Roy football team has cruised to big wins for most of the season, and then ran into its biggest challenge of the season in the Section 5 Class C finals last week in Oakfield-Alabama.

This might be an even bigger challenge as Southwestern is traditionally a very strong Class B team that has moved down to Class C this season.

The Oatkan Knights do have experience with Class B schools, beating Batavia 27-13 and Hornell 41-19.

But Southwestern has had a bigger year than either Batavia or Hornell. The Trojans are undefeated, the second-ranked team in the state (Le Roy is No. 1), has a strong defense and an amazing offense.

While we all know about Le Roy's big wins, Southwestern has many of its own, including a 44-2 win over Westfield/Ripley, 28-0 victory over Allegany-Limeston and a 42-6 win over Falconer.  Falconer beat Le Roy the last time the Far West Regionals were played in Buffalo in 2006.

Westfield's last victory came in the Section 6 Class C championships with a huge defensive effort, beating Silver Creek 21-0.

The Oatkan Knights will have their hands full with the Trojan offense.

Coach Jay Sirianni is an offensive-minded coach and has the ultimate weapon in quarterback Zack Sopak. Sopak is one of three rushers that are over 600 yards rushing, but also has the ability to throw the ball.

Running backs Levi Bursch and John Mistretta are both at about the same number of yards as the quarterback.

The offense will keep the defense guessing.

“Our line does different things on different plays and they do a great job up front and it just opens holes for our backs,” Sopak told The Buffalo News after winning the sectional title, the second for the program. 

2004 is the only other time Southwestern has won a sectional championship, playing Hornell in the Class B Far West Regionals. You can find a complete history of the Far West Regionals in this complete  look at the history of the game.

Le Roy's offense has been spectacular all season long and will be battling a very good defense, which has not given up more than 14 points in a game this season.

Linebacker Ryan Buzzetto leads the defense with 83 tackles.

Class C offensive Player of the Year Travis Fenstermaker leads the Le Roy offense with 1,234 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions, with most of those passes going to Mike Humphrey, who has caught 49 balls for 747 yards and 12 scores.

Andrew Alexander will also get plenty of opportunities to run the ball, having picked up 1,466 yards and 14 touchdowns on 188 carries.

Le Roy has 14 sectional championships, and one state title. That lone championship came in 1995. 

 Attica's Derek Wolfley dominated Genesee Region League competition last season and finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,474 points. He also had 932 career rebounds.

He landed a Division I basketball scholarship at Iona College and the Gaels open up the season on Friday with a home game against Hampton University.

Wolfley's college career is getting off to a tough start after the 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward has been fighting mono. Here is what coach Kevin Willard said in his blog about Wolfley.

"Derek has had the toughest time adjusting because he is just getting over mono and is trying to get back into shape. He had the worst first practice of any freshman I have ever seen – even worse than Rashon Dwight last year. But he has come back strong and is starting to play very well. He is a great passer and has a very good 17 foot jump shot. Derek’s new best friend is Khyl Farrison our strength coach. I feel bad for Derek."

Iona went 2-28 last season, but signed eight talented freshman for this season.

Here is some video of Wolfley playing at Attica.

The fantastic season of the Notre Dame Boys Cross Country Team wrapped up with a third place finish at the New York State Cross Country Championships at Sunken Meadow State Park in Long Island.  Beaver River was the winning team with 57 points and Barker squeaked ahead of ND by one point.  Junior Kevin Pawlak was the top Irish harrier, finishing in 18th place in 18:05.  Freshman Quin O'Connor, ND's #1 man, was injured on the first downhill of the race after the mile mark, but fought through the final two miles to finish in 24th place in 18:15 (it was discovered yesterday that he fractured his heel in the race.  He will be back on his feet in late December).  Senior Eric Shormann had another great race and finished 40th, with Seniors Matt Jackson 44th, and Taylor Alexander 55th.  Junior Nate Flumerfeldt came in 71st and Freshman Marshall Argenta was 109th. 

The Pembroke team ran to a seventh place finish with 156 points.  Newark Valley won a one point decision with 62.  Colin Bartholomew taking 24th place.  Matt Seward was 48th, Adam Mahaney 69th, Kyle Mauer 70th, Mark Riegel 91st, Ben Farley 103rd, and Ethan Burns 108th. 

Other area racers included:  Class C Girls: Kristina Martin of Holley placed 21st, Katie Piechowiak of Attica placed 60th.  Class D Girls:  Kim Mills of Oakfield placed 7th, Liz Valento of Pavilion placed 10th.  Class B Girls:  Angela Jarvela of Batavia finished in 23rd place.  Class C Boys:  Frank Johnson of Letchworth placed 14th, Jaked Krautweist of Leroy placed 34th and Jack Bennett of LeRoy placed 51st.  Class D Boys:  Kevin Grazioplene placed 8th, Justin Richardson of Pavilion placed 17th, and Craig Cicero of Perry finished 25th.

Congrats to all the Cross Country runners from the area on a great season!

Notre Dame and Batavia High alums will be getting together to play some basketball and raise money for a good cause on Saturday, November 29 at Notre Dame.

The Hometown Hoops for Hope game will feature Batavia and Notre Dame grads battling each other on the court.

The game is going to be held to raise money for the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation, which is set up in honor of Michael Napoleone, who passed away from Burkitt's Lymphoma/Leukemia.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and admission is just $2 at the door.