Sports

Submitted photo and press release:

Lukas Milligan, of Pavilion, was one of six Elmira College student-athletes recognized by the Empire 8 Conference.

Milligan (Class of '23), a volleyball player in Elmira's impressive rookie class, was selected to the Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team.

Milligan floored 125 kills with a 2.12 kills-per-set average, which was good for ninth in the conference. The Pavilion native and Pavilion High School graduate was deadly from the service line with a team-best 21 aces and set a single-match record with nine against Sage. On the other side of the ball, Milligan added a team-high 87 digs.

About Elmira College 

Founded in 1855, Elmira College is a private, residential, liberal arts college offering 30-plus majors, an honors program, 17 academic societies, and 20 Division III varsity teams. Located in the Southern Finger Lakes Region of New York, Elmira is a Phi Beta Kappa College and has been ranked a top college, nationally, for student internships. The College is also home to the Center for Mark Twain Studies, one of four historically significant Twain heritage sites in the United States, which attracts Twain scholars and educators from around the world for research on the famous literary icon.

The Elba Lady Lancers released their quarantine workout video today -- no wonder they've won four straight sectional titles.

From Coach Jim Fazio: "Players and coaches from the Batavia varsity softball team participated in the Section V Softball Challenge.

"Previously high schools from Waterloo and Rush Henrietta came up with the idea of practicing social distancing by still being involved with their teams in a unique way with softball related skills and players' imaginations.

"Since Alexander High School and others did a fantastic job with their videos, this challenge took off and we thought it would be a great idea to join in and have some fun while practicing social distancing and playing safe."

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, organized bowling at the local, state and national levels has come to a screeching halt -- putting the overwhelming majority of the 1.4 million members of the United States Bowling Congress on the sidelines heading into the peak of the tournament season and down the stretch of the league season.

Without question, it’s a punch to the gut.

For more about the impact of COVID-19 upon the bowling industry -- and to catch up on tournament action that got in before the government's "social distancing" mandates -- click on the Pin Points logo above or the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Due to directives coming from the federal and state government concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, the Genesee Region USBC has no choice but to cancel its Association Team and Doubles & Singles Tournament scheduled for the next two weekends.

GRUSBC President Gary Kuchler made the announcement today after receiving information from Tom Sardou, proprietor of Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen, and Scott O'Neill, manager of Legion Lanes in Le Roy, that their businesses have been drastically curtailed or completely shut down for an undetermined amount of time.

"We certainly respect the orders coming out of Washington and Albany and, in the best interest of the health and safety of our members, we will be postponing the Association Tournament -- both the Team event at Rose Garden Bowl and the Doubles & Singles at Legion Lanes," Kuchler said. "We will keep our bowlers informed of any developments through our website -- www.bowlgr.com."

It is unknown at this time whether league bowling will continue at area bowling centers. Bowlers are advised to contact their local bowling center for more information.

Evan Eckerson, Newstead Homes Kings, watches his slap shot sail into the net for a second-period goal against the Genesee Orthopedics Canadians in the Batavia Mens Hockey League championship Sunday morning at Falleti Ice Arena.

Eckerson's goal cut the Canadians' 2-0 lead in half and the Kings went on to win 4-3 to become the 2020 champions.

Bare Antolos and Jim Mohn were credited with an assist on Eckerson's goal. 

The winning goal was scored by Jim Ernst at 13:55 in the third period with assists from Eckerson and Antolos.

Paul Greean and Dan Eckerson also scored for the Kings.

Scoring for the Canadians were Adam Siedlecki, Nick Busch and Ryan Difilippo.

For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

From Chris Watson, director of Communications, New York State Public High School Athletic Association, 3/12/20:

Latham -- The New York State Public High School Athletic Assocation winter regional and state championships will be postponed indefinitely.

It is certainly understood that postponing the remaining winter state championships is disappointing, however the opportunity to participate in a NYSPHSAA championship event does not outweigh our responsibility and obligation to ensure students participate in a healthy and safe environment.

The impacted events include the NYSPHSAA Ice Hockey, Bowling, Boys and Girls Basketball Regional and State Championships. 

NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Zayas said “It was my goal to complete the winter championships on schedule. It has become increasingly more difficult to host these championship events with the number of challenges that have been presented.

"I also have concerns as the Executive Director of NYSPHSAA and a parent, that students will be participating in an event under circumstances that are not conducive to a quality and beneficial participation experience.”

As information becomes available NYSPHSAA will provide updates.

It wasn't easy but Elba prevailed over Pavilion in the Class D consolidation game Tuesday night at Mount Morris 50-47.

Leah Bezon scored 14 points, Taylor Augello, 12, Brynn Walczak, and Maddie Muehlig 10. Muehlig hit a trio of three-point shots. Bezon had 11 rebounds.

For Pavilion, Lauren Kingsley scored 22 points and Karlee Zinkievich scored 14. Kingsley also had 12 rebounds.

Elba takes a shot at a regional championship at Rush Henrietta on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

To view or purchase prints, click here.

Without Kekari Moss on the court, Serene Calderon stepped up to carry the offensive load for Pembroke on Tuesday in the Class C consolidation game against Keshequa.

Calderon scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds along with three steals to lead the Dragons to a 48-43 victory.

Isabel Breeden and Emily Peters each scored eight points. Casey Wurtz had nine rebounds.

Pembroke will try and snag the Far West Championship -- a prerequisite to moving onto the state tournament -- at 3 p.m. Saturday at Rush-Henrietta High School.

In Tuesday's other big game, Elba beat Pavilion 50-47 in the Class D consolidation game. We'll have a story and video in a separate post later (hopefully) today.

Photos by Philip Casper.

Paige McKerrow (11) driving for the basket, scoring six points for Keshequa in the first quarter.

Emily Weaver (12) looking to pass as Emily Peters (32) blocks the way.

Casey Wurtz (13), left, Serene Calderon (2), right, eliminate any passing lanes for Faith Wood (32).

Allie Schwerthoffer (11 Pembroke) driving past Paige McKerrow (11 Keshequa). 

Casey Wurtz (13) going for a layup

MacKenna Johnson shooting a free throw late in the game.

Over the past six decades, bowling headlines out of the former Medina association -- and now Genesee Region USBC -- have featured the Allis family name on a regular basis.

Now, a new generation of Medina's "first family" of bowling has burst onto the scene and is primed to carry on the tradition for many years to come.

High-revving right-handers Alex Allis (age 20) and his cousin, Hayden Allis (age 23), each bowled his first United States Bowling Congress-certified perfect games recently -- with Alex following that up by rolling his first certified 800 series on Sunday morning in the Sunday Rolloffs League at Medina Lanes.

Alex, a second-year student at Brockport State College, fired his 300 game on Feb. 20 and Hayden, an employee at Oetiker Clamp in Batavia, got his on March 5 -- both in the Thursday Firefighters League in Medina. Their three-game series were 713 and 717, respectively.

In the Sunday Rolloffs League yesterday, Alex put together games of 267-268-299 for an 834 series -- the top three-game total in the GRUSBC this season.

In other league action in the area:

-- Kevin Gray Jr. of Warsaw spun a 300 game and sparkling 761 series in the Thursday Owls League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen. 

Gray, the 2019 GRUSBC Scratch Memorial champion, has several perfect games on his resume.

For more high scores from last week, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Note: Mike Pettinella's next Pin Points column will appear exclusively on The Batavian on March 19.

Colton Dillon dominated on offense, scoring 30 points, but it wasn't enough to stop a Prattsburg offense that never knew a cold streak throughout 32 minutes of play at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday in the Class D2 Section V championship game.

Prattsburg prevailed 72-64.

Jaykob Belluscio scored 10 points for the Lancers. 

Mason Putnam scored 19 points for Prattsburg, while Kris Johnson scored 16 and James Crowder scored 12.  

Photos below by Kristin Smith. For more photos, click here.

The Elba Lady Lancers added to the legend that is Elba basketball Friday night, winning a fourth-straight Section V title, beating Andover 48-40.

Leah Bezon and Taylor Augello both had double-doubles, with 17 and 15 points, respectively, and 11 and 15 rebounds apiece. Bezon also had four assists.

Brynn Walczak, the tournament MVP for Class D1, scored nine points and had five rebounds.

For Andover, Emily Wahl and Kelsie Niedemaier scored 12 points each.

Walczak, Bezon, and Maddie Muehlig are all juniors and have been on varsity for all four titles. Augello is also a junior and in her third year on varsity. The only senior on the team is Lauryn Engle, third-year varsity. 

Elba and Pavilion, Class D2 champions, will meet at Mount Morris at 6 p.m., Tuesday to decide which team advances to the Class D state tournament.

The Lady Dragons knew going into this game not to underestimate the 11^th seed Letchworth Indians Saturday afternoon at Gates Chili High School where the Class C1 Section V division title was on the line. 

Both teams tested each other’s game plan and remained even through the first quarter with Letchworth leading 10-9 after 1. Pembroke’s Emily Peters led the team with three three-point buckets along with a couple buckets by Dekari Moss and Serene Calderon to get a nine-point lead into halftime 29-20.

Brooke Degroff scored twice for Letchworth in the second quarter and finished third in points on the afternoon with eight. The Indians could not connect in the second quarter with some missed shots and Pembroke's defense holding tight in the paint.

Second half the Indians kept the Dragons scoreless through the first four minutes of play. Dana Callaro hit a big three-point bucket to ignite Letchworth on a ball controlling third quarter where the Indians were on a roll, hitting four more points in the paint. Pembroke did not give in and after a timeout was called they seesawed the points with Letchworth to lead by one -- with the score at 35-34 after three periods of play.

Fourth quarter Pembroke tightened their defense and, like the second quarter, Letchworth's luck was running out. Many missed field goals helped the Dragons capitalize and Serene hit a big three-point bucket to lift the lead to four and go on a point-scoring streak. Indians got into foul trouble, Dekari Moss and MacKenna Johnson both scored buckets and free throws to help the team win the game and back-to-back titles in two years.

Calderon finished the game with sixteen points, Peters 15 points and Moss 14 points for the Dragons. Indians' scorers Bliss and Callaro had 11 and 9 points, respectively.

Photos by Thomas Ognibene via Steve Ognibene Photography.

To view or purchase prints click here.

The finals of the NYS Masters Championship tonight at King Pin Lanes in Rome will be shown on Facebook Live tonight on the business page John Knight's Bowlers Shoppe. It is scheduled to begin around 8:40.

The title match features two Rochester bowlers -- Dan Keenan and Shanna Chepelsky -- competing for the $2,000 first prize and a paid entry to the 2021 USBC Masters.

The Pavilion Lady Gophers are the Cinderella team of Section V in 2020, starting out the tournament as a #7 and defeating, on their way to a Class D1 crown, #2 Prattsburgh and #1 Fillmore.

Friday at Letchworth, the Gophers trounced the top-seeded team 50-37.

No stats are available for the game.

In the Class D2 sectional, Elba won its fourth-straight title, beating Andover 48-40. (The Batavian was there for video coverage; with multiple things to cover today, it will be a day or two before I can edit and post the video).

Photos by Thomas Ognibene via Steve Ognibene Photography.

To view or purchase prints, click here.

Batavia high and Attica high schools will be sending top athletes to compete in the New York State indoor track championships this weekend and indoor track nationals next weekend, both in New York City.

We asked what each student's goals and achievements are for these upcoming events.

Pictured from left are Batavia’s Alex Rood, Daemon Konieczny, and Rebekah Daniszewski, along with Attica High School's Emily Tait.

Alex Rood a senior who has competed in both state and national events last year is returning for both again and looking to set new records.  Alex says his personal best for shot put is 54 feet, nine and a half inches and he would like to achieve throwing 56 inches or more. His goal in nationals is to go out there and compete the best he can and end on a good mark going into the outdoor track season.

Daemon Konieczny, a senior who has qualified for the state meet for pole vault, says his personal best is jumping is 13 feet. His goal is to get over 13 feet, six inches, which would beat the school record. Daemon added that if he can get to jump 15 or more, that would qualify him for the national meet the following weekend.

Rebekah Daniszewski is a junior at BHS who is competing for her first time in the state and nationals meet. She says she attributes her success to her coach who helped pushed herself to her very best. Her personal best in shot put is 39 feet, three and a quarter inches. Her goal this weekend is to throw 40 feet. Rebekah has not achieved that yet but hopefully in states she can pull it out.

Senior Emily Tait from Attica will be joining Batavia for the state and national meets, respectively. Emily will compete in the long and triple jump this year. Her personal best for long jump is 18 feet, eight and a fourth inches, which she did at state qualifiers. For triple jump, her best is 38 feet, nine and three fourths inches and she did that at sectionals. Her goal for long jump is to break 19 feet and she wants to come in first place at states. For triple jump, she wants to be competitive with the top girls in the competition so she's shooting for a mid-39-foot jump.

Batavia’s head indoor track Coach Nicholas Burk spoke about the success of students who have competed in states and nationals over the years.

"We have had a student compete every year since I have been coaching since 1998; we have been fortunate enough to have athletes compete at the state meet," Burk said. "The cool thing about indoor is the state championship is a legitimate state championship -- there is not a separation by class size, large school, small school.

"To qualify for this meet, means that you are competing against every school regardless of school size or class. So this one is really prestigious and when you medal at this meet, it's definitely a testament to the athlete with the ability to perform at the right time and have that performance at state qualifiers.

"We attribute our success to the boys winning nine sectionals championships, eight of them have been since 2008 and first one in 1993. On the girls' side, we have 16 championships, seven consecutives in 18 years."

Burk spoke highly of his students' dedication to track and the mentoring of his coaching staff.

In all aspects of track, whether it’s throwing, distance, jumping, hurdles or vault, coaches spends countless hours training young athletes year after year, Burk said, imparting in them the ability to compete at the highest level, both in sectionals and by attending the state meet.

"(This) has separated us and led us to the longevity to be one of the top teams in section five," Burk said.

Batavia’s throwing Coach Daniel Geiger said this is the 13th consecutive year of sending a thrower to the state meet, which is a great accomplishment and he is very proud of the work that these two athletes have done this year.

"We have to compete against every school in section five to get to this meet, whether it’s a small school like ours or a large school, it’s putting in the hard work and dedication to represent our school’s success," Geiger said.  "You couldn’t ask more for a group of kids to work hard every day, give their all for the team and give their all for this program.

"This stretch started back in 2008 with Sam Yeager, Eric Williams, Chris Jones, Daemon Reeves, Devon Keopp, Anthony Ray and now Alex Rood and Rebekah Daniszewski. We have guys down the pipe that are working hard to rise to that level, too. So I am really proud of these two athletes, not of just what they have accomplished, but the legacy that they are continuing and leaving behind for the future athletes coming behind them."

Pembroke led from start to finish in their Section V Class C1 semifinal game Wednesday night at Honeoye Falls-Lima against Red Jacket.

But that doesn't mean the win came easy.

"They were a lot faster, a lot quicker than we thought they were," said Head Coach Ron Funke. "It gave us a little trouble, especially with their press, because we tried to hurry the ball in. Once we took our time in and got the ball into the middle of the floor, we were OK. But they don't give up. They don't quit."

The final score was 53-35.

Dekari Moss scored 23 points, had seven rebounds and four steals.

"I thought Dekari dominated on both ends of the court," Funke said. "She rebounded well and she owned the middle. They were giving us a lot of gaps with their zone defense; Dakari is so quick and athletic that she took advantage of that."

Emily Peters scored 14 points, including a trio of three-pointers that helped seal Red Jacket's fate in the second half.

"When she gets on a roll, I mean, she's a very streaky shooter and she started off slow today but when she gets hot, you just keep feeding her," Funke said. "She came up big today especially toward the end of the third quarter."

Point guard Serene Calderon scored 12 points and had six assists, six rebounds, and three steals.

"She usually makes good decisions," Funke said. "We want the ball in her hands. She showed she'll get the ball to the people that we need to get the ball to. She runs the offense and she's in a great defensive player."

Casey Wurtz scored two points, had two assists, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots. Mackenna Johnson scored two points, had three assists, four rebounds, and three steals.

Next up, the Dragons will try to defend their 2019 Section V crown against Letchworth at 5 p.m., at Gates Chili.

Letchworth qualified for the finals by beating Byron-Bergen 58-55 in a game that went down to the closing seconds. 

Photos from the Byron-Bergen game below by Tammy Fuller.

Notre Dame fouls sent Fillmore to the line enough times in the closing seconds of the Class D1 Section V semifinal on Tuesday at Dansville that Fillmore was able to pull out a 55-49 win.

Fillmore will play Pavilion Friday for the championship at Letchworth at 8 p.m. (Pavilion coverage)

Morgan Rhodes scored 19 points for the Lady Irish. Amelia McCulley scored 12.

Hannah Roeske scored 20 points for Fillmore.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

To view or purchase prints, click here.