Sports

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish girls basketball team got a rousing send off from the junior and senior classes of Notre Dame High School during a pep rally Thursday.

The girls begin play in the Class D state tournament final four on Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College.

Athletic Director Mike Rapone said the school and the community are proud of what the girls have done and he said he's sure the players will represent Notre Dame well in the tournament.

Head Coach Dave Pero said he's proud of his players and that they're ready for the challenge of the final four.

The Batavia Ramparts are presenting the Collin Crane Memorial ice skating event on Saturday, March 16, at the Falleti Ice Arena on Evans Street in the City of Batavia.

Schedule:

• 1 to 2:20 p.m. -- Open Memorial Skate -- with free skating and skate rentals
• 2:30 p.m. -- Mite Tournament (Mite sponsors are Max Pies, West Main Wine and Spirits, Cornerstone Abstract, South Side Deli)
• 4:40 p.m. -- Midget A Rampart Exhibition Game vs. MOHL

Food from Clor's Meat Market will be available, including pulled pork, turkey, and beef sandwiches.

There will be raffles and gift baskets. All proceeds will be used to establish a hockey scholarship in Collin's name.

Raffles include:

• $400 gift certificate to Adam Miller Toys
• $150 gift card to Alex's Place
• $100 gift card to Valle Jewelers
• $50 dinner and free play at Batavia Downs
• Autographed Ryan Miller Jersey
• Autographed Americans' Jersey

Seventeen-year-old Collin Crane, of Batavia, died in a two-car head-on collision on Dec. 8 on Route 33 in the Town of Stafford. A 49-year-old woman was seriously injured in the accident.

Through 36 years in the league, the entire history of the league, Charlie O'Geen has never held the Batavia Men's Hockey League Championship Cup.

Today he did.

His son, Brian, a teammate, along with other teammates on the Genesee Orthopedic Blues, carried the cup to him after their 4-3 over the Max Pies Jets.

O'Geen is layed up in a hospital in Buffalo.

"I so wish he could be here," Brian said. "I was in tears last night  because I was afraid this was going to happen and he wasn’t going to be here."

The Blues jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The Jets fought back, but could never notch that final goal to tie it up.

"We got on them early," said Jeff Rauter, standing in for O'Geen as team captain. "We played a little physical. They like to play physical, so it makes the game go faster. They've got some good players on the team and we just contained them."

To purchase prints of the photos, click here.

The other basketball hero to come out of Genesee County Saturday was Laurie Call.

Call was given the job of guarding Sherman's Elle Reed, the top scorer Class D Section VI, who averaged 32 points a game coming the Far West Regional Championship game.

Reed was held to 19 points in the contest, and fouled out with more two minutes remaining in the game.

Notre Dame beat Sherman 70-32.

"This wasn't the team we scouted," Sherman's head coach, Mel Swanson, told the Jamestown Post-Standard.

By Swanson's estimation, the Notre Dame girls were much more proficient with three-point jumpers, which helped the Fighting Irish jump out to a quick 20-4 first quarter lead.

Melanie Taylor scored 24 points and Riley Norton added 14 and Emma Francis, 9.

Swanson also expressed some frustration with playing against a private school, which is something Setion VI teams don't face until they match up against Section V.

''It is tough. It's an inequality. Their players played hard and they were very good players and they did great things with the basketball. But when you're a small school like ours that graduates 30-something kids and you have to compete at that level It's just such a different field they get to draw from. .... "

Notre Dame enters the Final Four state championship round ranked #5 in the state and will square off against #2 ranked Fort Edward at 10:45 a.m., Saturday, at Hudson Valley Community College.

PHOTOS: By Bare Antolos. Click on the headline to see more photos after the jump.

With six-and-half seconds left in the game, down by two, who are you going to give the ball to? Jalen Smith? Justin Washington? Jamesson Etienne?

How about a lanky sophomore who spent most of the season on the JV squad?

According to Batavia Blue Devils Head Coach Buddy Brasky, Jeff Redband was always part of the plan.

"He's the second best shooter on the team," Brasky said. "I don't care what grade he's in."

For most of the night, the Far West Regional Championship game between Batavia, the #9 Class B seed in the state, against the #1 ranked Olean Huskies, was a prototypical seesaw.

Batavia took an early lead; Olean tied it up. Batavia jumped out in front again to lead at the half, and Olean looked like they were about to put the game out of reach in the third quarter, scoring 21 points against Batavia's 10.

The fourth quarter, though, the fourth quarter belonged to Batavia, who outscored the Huskies 20-12.

"It's all about defense," said junior guard Jake Brasky. "In the beginning of the fourth quarter, we came out, we made a statement. We shut them down."

Even with the Huskies' taking fewer shots and missing the chances they got, Batavia had to claw back from what at one point was a 12-point deficit.

That meant that with less then a minute to go, the game was notched at 60 apiece.

Wil Bathurst, Olean's leading scorer on the season, out maneuvered Redband on a lay-up to put the Huskies up by two.

As the Blue Devils hustled the ball down the court, a missed pass sent the ball bounding back toward Olean's goal.

Washington stumbled after the ball as he got tangled up with a Huskie. Redband sprinted down the court and managed to nab the ball before it went out of bounds.

Coach Brasky called a time out.

That's when he layed out the plan: Washington would bring the ball down the court and head for the basket. If he found a lane, he could go in for the shot, but if his path was blocked, he was told to pass it to Redband waiting in the near-side corner.

"I knew they would be all over Jalen," Brasky said. "They would not let Jalen get the last shot."

As Washington headed toward the basket, Olean's Patrick Scholla stepped in his way. Washington started to fall and he shoved the ball in the general direction of Redband, who was ready, right in the spot Brasky had told him to be.

"I put him there and told him on the bench, 'if it’s kicked to you, you’re going to nail the shot to win the game,' " Brasky said. "That's not exactly how we planned it, but we'll take it."

Redband, Washington, Smith and Jake Brasky were all pretty speechless after the game. It was a wild end to a hard-fought game.

"When Jeff hit that shot, I didn't even know what to say," Jake Brasky said. "I was shocked."

With a battery of television cameras in his face after the game, Redband struggled to find the words to express how we felt. We spoke later and he summed it up nicely.

"It's a blessing because to be on the team for eight games, six, seven or eight games now, and to get the game-winning shot to save all of our seniors' seasons and high school careers, it's the best feeling in the world," Redband said.

Smith said he wasn't surprised Redband came up big when the team needed it.

"I always knew he'd be on varsity eventually," Smith said. "He can shoot and he's a hard worker."

Etienne also came up big in the fourth quarter, scoring six of his 10 points on the night.

Again, Etienne stepping it up was by design, Brasky said.

"We thought we had an advantage high screen and roll because their big guy who was guarding Jamesson was hedging out on Jalen, so that left Jamesson rolling to the basket," Brasky said. "That’s one of our key sets and Jalen was the one who suggested (it). He came to me at half time and said I can hit Jamesson on the roll, so we kind of went to that at the beginning at fourth quarter."

All along, Brasky said he was worried about Olean's shooting guards, Nick Schmidt and Max Portlow.

"We knew it was going to be tough to hold them to 13 or under per quarter," Brasky said. "They have so many weapons. I said to my coaches before the game if their guards shot the ball well, it’s going to be tough for us to win. They’re guards shot the ball extremely well and we still won."

Schmidt scored all 12 of his points in the game on three-point jumpers. Portlow hit two three-point goals and Bathurst added two more.

Each three-pointer in the third quarter brought the Huskies' bench to life, and the whooping and hollering didn't go unnoticed by Washington.

"When the other team gets pumped and starts screaming, I don’t like it," Washington said. "It motivates me to play better."

Brasky told his players not to sweat the hot streak.

"When you live by the three, sometimes it’s fool's gold," Brasky said. "They have good shooters. Their guards are good shooters, but they’re hot and cold. They did get hot, but I kept telling the guys on the bench, they’re going to start missing. Weather the storm. We’re OK. Just get the rebounds when they miss."

And Batavia did get the rebounds, the most important from the likes of Etienne and Redband, who were able to convert rebounds under their own goal into scores.

In all, Redband ended the night with 11 points, including three three-point goals, and five rebounds.

Smith scored 24 points, hitting five three-pointers. Washington had 16 points and 10 rebounds, including nine big grabs on defense.

Bathurst led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points.

Even when his team was down by 12 in the third quarter, Smith said there was nobody on the team ready to throw in the towel.

"Our mentality is to fight to the end, to play to end and we talked about it during timeouts that we need to keep fighting and keep playing," Smith said. "When the fourth quarter started, we started to pick it up. They went on a little run, but our team sticks together and we play with confidence."

The Blue Devils trip to Glens Falls on Saturday is the first trip to the final four for Batavia since Washington was a freshman, when the team got knocked out in the first game. Washington, Smith and Jake Brasky said they're all feeling confident as they head into the state championship series.

With six-and-half seconds left and down 62-60, Batavia in-bounded the ball on the far end the court. Justin Washington brought the ball past half court to the top of the key, where he was met by two Olean players who blocked his path to the basket. As he was tripped up and started down, he flipped the ball toward sophomore forward Jeff Redband, who was waiting well outside the three-point line. Without hesitation, Redband grabbed the loose ball, and as the last second ticked off the clock, Redband flicked the ball toward the hoop. Swosh. All net.

The final score, Batavia 63 and the state's #1 rank Class B team, Olean, 62.

Batavia will move onto the final four of the state championships in Glens Falls on Saturday.

We'll have more photos and full coverage later tonight, or more likely tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame crushed Sherman 70-32 at Buffalo State in the girls Far West Regional Championship game. Bare Antolos will send some photos to us later.

UPDATE: Here's a video of the final play:

UPDATE:  Here's another video by Josh Stendts.

The Batavia Ramparts Squirt III hockey this week won the 2012-2013 Western New York amateur hockey league championship.

Photo submitted by Robert Grimm.

Press release:

Notre Dame High School, Batavia, is proud to announce that Class of 2013 Senior Jeffrey Antolos has committed to attend Canisius College in Buffalo. Jeffrey, the son of Bare and Sheri Antolos, of Warsaw, will be studying Accounting while continuing his running career on Canisius College’s NCAA Division 1 cross-country team.

Jeff’s senior year cross-country accomplishments are indeed noteworthy and eye-opening as he:

• Led Coach Eric Geitner’s Varsity Boys Cross Country team to a 16 -5 overall record and managed to break four course records (Genesee County Park #1, Pembroke Invitational, Dansville Central and Avon Central) in the process.
• Was undefeated in GR-LCAA meets in 2012, as well as finishing 1^st in the Pembroke and East Aurora Invitations and runner-up at McQuaid and West Seneca invitationals.
• Ran a sub 15 minute 3.1-mile race finishing 2nd in the seeded Varsity “A” race at the prestigious McQuaid Jesuit Invitational on September 29, 2012 where he tied for the fastest Section V time at this year’s meet!
• Surpassed ND grad Dan Bobo’s ’01 former ND school record for 3.1 miles by running a 14:55 minute race at the 2012 McQuaid Invitational.
• Became a two-time individual Section V Champion in 2012 while moving up a class from D to C at the Sectional meet at Genesee Community College on November 3, 2012.
• Became a two-time NYSPHSAA Champion in 2012 while moving up a class from D to C in the State meet at Elma Meadows on November 10, 2012 and became only the 5th runner (3rd boy) in Section V history to win two state championships!
• Received the NYSPHSAA Section V Class C Sportsmanship Award for 2012.
• Was named to the Genesee Region Cross Country All Star team for the 3rd consecutive year (2010, 2011, 2012).
• Repeated as a Democrat and Chronicle Fall All Greater Rochester (AGR) selection as a senior (2011, 2012).
• Repeated as a Section V All Star 1st Team selection as a senior. (2011-2012)
• Placed 11th overall in the Nike Cross Northeast Regional qualifying meet in Wappingers Falls on November 24, 2012 – 20 seconds behind the 2nd-place finisher and three places from qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore.

Jeff is also a member of our Fighting Irish Ice Hockey and Track and Field programs.

Batavia used a 21-4 run over the final five minutes of the game to defeat Hornell and advance to the Class B Far West Regionals, 65 to 51.

The fourth quarter belonged to Batavia senior forward Justin Washington, who scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds in the final frame alone.

Washington entered the quarter with only six points and having sat the majority of the third quarter with three fouled. But when he reentered the game, he immediately took over.

“(Washington) took the game over. Plain and simple,” said Batavia Head Coach Buddy Brasky. “I think he just decided it was time. He pretty much just took the game over, put us on his shoulders and carried us home.”

In the first half it was a different story for the Blue Devils, who jumped out to an early lead behind an unexpected source.

As Washington and Jalen Smith struggled to find their stroke in the first half, it was senior T.J. Powell who stepped up and delivered.

Powell scored all 13 of his points in the first half, while grabbing six rebounds, to give Batavia a 30 to 24 halftime lead.

“T.J. was tentative in the Newark game and we talked about it in practice,” Brasky said. “I told him to go out and be aggressive. I told him tonight is going to be your night and that was key. That’s the T.J. we need.”

Hornell began to cut into Batavia’s stingy defense during the third quarter, outscoring the Blue Devils 18-12 in the period, and eventually tied the game on a three-point field goal from Richard Brooks with just under a minute to play in the quarter.

“We weren’t sprinting back on defense,” Brasky said. “Their secondary break killed us. We were jogging back and they took advantage.”

The two teams headed into the fourth quarter tied at 42 and traded baskets before Brooks hit another three to give the Red Raiders the lead before Smith and Washington began to take over.

Smith had been struggling from the field all evening, going just 7-of-20 from the field and 2-for-13 from three point range for the game, but he began to take over in other facets.

The senior came up with three assists in the quarter, one on a gorgeous pass to sophomore Jeff Redband for an easy lay-up that forced a timeout.

“I trust my teammates to score, too,” Smith said. “I can’t score all of the points and my teammates help out a lot. They play hard and we all play together.”

Washington scored the first two baskets of the quarter for Batavia, and had matched both his point and rebound total for the entire game in the first four minutes of the frame.

After Hornell had taken a 47-44 lead, the Blue Devils went on to score the next 12 points during their 21-4 run to end the game. In total, Batavia held the Red Raiders without a point for nearly four minutes.

“Our team handles pressure very well,” Smith said. “We stuck together as a team, we played hard, we kept our confidence and we all stuck together.”

Smith would finish with a game-high 25 points, including several key free throws down the stretch to ice the game for Batavia (19-3).

Washington chipped in with 14 points, 14 rebounds and two steals for the Blue Devils, who will face the state's top-ranked team on Saturday in Olean.

The Huskies defeated East High School of Buffalo on Tuesday to win the Section VI championship, 62-50.

They are led by 6-foot-7 junior forward Sam Eckstrom, who notched his 1,000th point in the win and senior guard Wil Bathurst who scored 27 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked six shots.

“Olean is the number-one ranked team in the state,” Brasky said. “We played them last year. We have everybody back and they have everybody back. They are just a solid team.”

The Blue Devils defeated Olean in their own tournament last year, 56-43. The Huskies would win their next 21 games before falling in the State Semi-Finals.

Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Blue Cross Arena.

To purchase prints of photos, click here. To purchase prints of earlier Blue Devils games (boys and girls basketball, click here)

Press release:

Genesee Community College freshman forward Vaughn Boler (Pittsford Mendon High School, Rochester) has been named the NJCAA Division II Region III Player of the Year for the 2012-2013 season.

Boler played in 27 games (26 starts) this year and led the Cougars in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game. That mark was the second-highest scoring average in Region III and 14th most in the country. He also averaged seven rebounds per game, which was second highest on the team.

On three occasions this season, Boler scored 30 or more points in a game. He scored a career-high 37 points against ASA College on Dec. 9 and recorded 12 or more points in every game.

Boler missed four games during the middle of January due to an injury and the Cougars were 0-4 during that stretch. Genesee finished the regular season with a 15-15 overall record and fell to Mercyhurst North East in the opening round of the Region III playoffs, 97-94.

Boler is the first player at Genesee to receive the award since Leon Nelson, who was named co-Player of the Year in 2010.

Genesee Community College athletics program endeavors to provide a quality and competitive intercollegiate athletics program consistent with the National Junior Collegiate Athletics Association (NJCAA) philosophy and the overall educational mission of Genesee Community College. Participation in collegiate athletics should be an extension of the total educational experience for the student athlete. The inherent philosophy emphasizes the athletic setting as a classroom used to teach character, commitment, work ethic, respect for differences, and the importance of sacrifice, teamwork and cooperation.

Notre Dame won it's state tournament qualifier game Monday, beating Mt. Morris 45-27 in a clash of Section V Class D champions.

Defense and a strong bench is what kept the Fighting Irish ahead all night as too often shots wouldn't drop, especially in the third quarter when ND scored only four points.

Fortunately for the ladies, Mt. Morris put only seven points on the board that quarter.

Mt Morris was held to single-digit scoring in each quarter.

"We knew at half time if we can get to 40, we're in pretty good shape," Head Coach Dave Pero said, who noted his girls missed at least 10 easy lay-ups. "We don't tell our girls to stop shooting because that is what they do, and they finally knocked some down and we got ahead."

A strong bench is a key part of the Fighting Irish strategy and Notre Dame was able to put some distance between themselves and Mount Morris in the 4th quarter, outscoring Mt. Morris 15-6.

"We try to wear teams down," Pero said. "By the fourth quarter, we're hoping they're fatigued and tired and maybe they start to lose their legs and we can get a couple of easy baskets out of that."

Riley Norton scored 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Shea Norton added eight points plus nine rebounds.

Melanie Taylor scored 13 points.

The Fighting Irish will enter state tournament play with a 20-2 record so far this season. The only two defeats were regular season losses to Elba, whom Notre Dame beat last week to reach the Section V title game.

Notre Dame squares off against Section 6 Class D champions Sherman at 5 p.m., Saturday, at Buffalo State College. The winner will advance to final-four play in Troy next weekend.

To purchase prints, click here.

Jalen Smith scored 25 points as the Batavia Blue Devils rolled over Newark in the Section V Class B1 title game Sunday, 58-41

Here are the photos from the game. We'll have a game story later.

UPDATE: Story by Nick Sabato

Batavia captured their third sectional championship in five years after defeating Newark, 58-41.

The top-seeded Blue Devils stymied the Reds with strong defense to jump out to an early lead in the first quarter, helped by the hot shooting from Class B1 MVP Jalen Smith, and never looked back.

Newark struggled to score all game and was held to 6-of-23 shooting and committed 11 turnovers in the first half, while Smith scored eight points in the first quarter to give Batavia a 26-14 halftime lead.

“We built our program on defense,” said Batavia Head Coach Buddy Brasky. “We stress every single day in practice that every single possession counts on defense. That’s what we believe in.”

Coming out of the half, Newark began to gain some momentum as Batavia’s shooting went cold, including cutting the lead to eight with two minutes remaining in the third quarter before sophomore Jeff Redband, who was playing in his fifth varsity game of the season after leading the jayvee team in scoring, hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to 11.

Justice Fagan would add a three-point play to push the lead to 37-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Reds would open the scoring in the final frame on a three by Anthony Lombardi. Smith would answer with a three of his own.

From that point Smith would go off.

After another three from Lombardi, he connected on back-to-back threes to give the Blue Devils a 17-point lead.

In total, Smith would score 13 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, after only four in the second and third quarter combined.

“Coach (Brasky) always tells me to keep shooting, keep playing my game and trust my teammates to get me open,” Smith said. “It’s pretty much continuous for every game.”

Leading scorer Justin Washington struggled with his shooting touch all game, but he once again made up for it by stuffing the stat sheet for the Blue Devils, scoring 11 points, grabbing nine rebounds, five assists, five blocks and three steals.

“Points don’t ever tell the story for Justin,” Brasky said. “He rebounds, he defends, he helps relieve pressure from the other team, he makes great passes in transition and that’s how Jalen gets quite a few of his shots.”

For Batavia, it was their fifth sectional championship in school history. It was also the first since 2010, a year that they made it all the way to the New York State semi-finals.

“There is a very proud tradition here with our ex-players,” Brasky said. “They built the program and pass it along every year to the young guys and now this year’s team can pass it along to the young guys coming up. That’s how good programs stay good.”

The Blue Devils’ roster is comprised of six seniors, five of whom are starters, which means they are a very tightknit group on and off the floor.

“We have been thinking about this day since we came together in fourth grade,” Smith said. “It feels great to get out there and finally achieve one of our goals. We work hard and play together as a family.”

Brasky, who was named the Section V Class B1 Coach of the Year, is also the father of one the seniors on the team, Jake Brasky.

Coach Brasky won a sectional championship in 2005 with his oldest son, Adam, and has coached this group of seniors since the fourth grade when they began to play organized basketball together.

“Since these guys have been in fourth grade I have been coaching them a lot in the off-season and in youth tournaments,” Brasky said. “So I have grown close to this group, partly because my son is in the group. So it is special to share this moment not only with my son but with these seniors.”

Smith was joined on the all-tournament team by Washington and senior Jamesson Etienne (eight points and four steals) for Batavia.

Lombardi, who was also named to the all-tournament team, led Newark (14-7) with 13 points and seven rebounds in defeat.

Batavia (18-3) will now face the Class B2 champion, Hornell (19-2), on Tuesday at the Blue Cross Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

To purchase prints of photos from this game, click here.

The Notre Dame girls put an exclamation point on their upset victory over Elba by claiming the Section V Class D2 title Friday in Gainsville against #3 seed Romulus, 56-41.

The Fighting Irish entered sectional play as the #4 seed, with only two losses on the season, both to the defending state champions and #1 seeded Lady Lancers.

Rather than an emotional letdown after beating the school's biggest rival, the Notre Dame girls came out fast and aggressive against Romulus, maybe a little too aggressive.

Riley Norton and Emma Francis seemed to knock down every three-point jumper they took and Romulus had a hard time scoring early in the game.

Midway through the first quarter, though, momentum started to shift and at the half, Notre Dame trailed 26-23.

Foul trouble dogged Notre Dame, with Norton and Laurie Call forced to sit because of two early fouls apiece.

Head Coach David Pero said he had his team trying some new defensive schemes, which ended up getting players out of position. Call said she was just had too much adrenaline pumping.

"I have a tendency to be aggressive, to put a lot of pressure on defense," Call said. "I had to calm myself down, dial my adrenaline down, and say, 'what do I need to do for my team,' and calm down, not try to get a steal, but get them to turn the ball over."

In the second half, Notre Dame went back to the defensive scheme that proved so successful against Elba -- the first time Notre Dame used it -- playing man-to-man.

And Pero was also able to put Norton and Call back on the court.

It was a whole different game through the final two quarters, with the Fighting Irish dominating the Lady Warriors, including a 10-0 run to finish the game.

"They struggled getting the ball up the floor and we knocked down some shots, made some free throws and the rest is history," Pero said.

Norton finished with 15 points, including 10 in the second half and was named tournament MVP.

She said the championship and the award were real special achievements as a basketball-playing senior.

"It's the best feeling in the world," Norton said. "It (the MVP trophy) means my hard work and my dedication to basketball since I was very young has paid off. I want to keep going and I want to keep winning, but this right now feels amazing."

Melanie Taylor scored 14 points,  had seven assists and six steals, while Call nabbed nine rebounds.

For Call, she's building quite a collection of trophies at home. She was on the Section V and state champion softball team and has a Section V title in cross-country.

"It’s been so fun," Call said. "Honestly, it’s the best thing ever because the girls I’m winning with are my best friends. They’re like sisters and it’s just like this family that keeps on helping each other and we’re successful in the end."

All-Tournament team: Jamie Marshall (Elba), Zoe McDonald (Romulus), Laurie Call (Notre Dame), Melanie Taylor (Notre Dame).

Notre Dame will play Class D1 champions Mt. Morris on Monday in Pavilion. The consolidated Class D champion will then represent Section V in the state tournament, starting with a regional championship game against the Section VI champion.

To purchase prints of these photos (parents, you want to make sure you always have copies, right?), click here.

After five consecutive losses to defending state champions -- the Elba Lady Lancers -- the Notre Dame girls came into Tuesday's Section V semi-final match a little more determined and with a different game plan.

For the first time, the Fighting Irish ran a man-on-man defense.

The Lancers, who routinely score 70 or more points a game, were held to 40 on the night, scoring only 11 points in the first quarter and none in the second.

"Elba is a very good high school basketball team, a well coached team," said Head Coach Dave Pero after his team's 45-40 victory. "To shut out a team like that for even a few minutes is a feather in your cap. To do it to Elba is tough to do."

Riley Norton, who led Notre Dame with 16 points and 12 rebounds, said supporters have been encouraging the team to try a man-on-man defense.

The Irish always play Elba tough (one of the few teams that does) and maybe switching up the defense could make the difference.

"The defense worked," Norton said. "Going out and stopping them defensively is what we've been going out and working on day after day after day."

During the first half, the Lancers were often taking shots with only a few seconds on the clock. It was hard for the girls to find open lanes. When they did shoot, too often the ball didn't drop through the hoop.

"I thought, you know, we've got some quickness," Pero said, "let's roll the ball out and see where it falls. We went man-to-man and it paid off."

Tom Nowak, Elba's head coach, said man-to-man isn't something the Lady Lancers regularly see, but they've successfully played against that tactic before and they do prepare for it.

"We struggled in the first half," he said. "We didn't play Elba basketball."

In the previous five losses to Elba, the Irish have taken leads only to watch them slip away.

As the second quarter progressed, the Lancers turned a 12-point deficit into a two down, which raised the question: Would history repeat?

Of course, she thought that very question, Norton said, but she also felt this night was different.

"I knew we were going to fight through it," Norton said. "We fought through it last Friday. We’ve grown as a team since last time we played them. I knew this was our time and I knew we could hold onto it."

With the lead two, a three-point jumper from Emma Francis late in the 4th gave Notre Dame the emotional lift to hold back Elba.

"We said all along, and this seems to have happened the last four or five times they've beat us, we've got that one bad quarter," Pero said. "We seem to lose our momentum. Well, tonight, they hung in, they stayed composed and it's a great win for the girls."

The rivalry between Notre Dame and Elba is long-standing and crosses the lines between girls and boys sports and wraps in football as well as basketball.

On a slushy winter night, nearly 200 fans of the teams made the hour-long drive to Dansville for the game. Both sides were loud and proud until the final seconds of the game.

When the final buzzer sounded, Elba students rushed onto the court and mobbed the Elba players. The scene suited a championship game, not just a stepping stone to the next round.

Norton was clearly ecstatic after the win.

"This is my senior year," Norton said. "I didn’t want to stop playing. I want to get that patch on Sunday."

Pero admitted, it was a big win for him, too.

Personally, any time you can be a coached Tom Nowack team it’s great, because to me he’s one of the top coaches in Section V," Pero said. "Any time you can match wits with him,  it’s a feather, but it’s all about the girls. It’s not about me or my coaches. It’s about the girls. Without them I’d be nothing, so hats off to them."

Elba had a great run that included a state title and a breathtaking winning streak. Nowak said his girls should be proud.

"Like I told the kids, you’ll look back 10 years from now, 15 years, and realize what you accomplished," Nowak said. "I said I’ve been coaching 35 years in Elba and never did I experience anything like I did last year and this year, winning 44 games in a row. They will be really proud of that accomplishment down the road when they come back and think about it."

Notre Dame plays Friday for the sectional title, 8 p.m., against Romulus at Letchworth.

Photos: Laurie Call and Bailee Welker celebrate following the big win. Emma Francis drives for a lay-up against McKenzie Bezon. Riley Norton and Jamie Marshall fight for a rebound in the 4th quarter. Norton and Kelsey Bezon in the 4th quarter.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Batavia will play for the Class B1 crown after demolishing Livonia, 75-38.

This will be the Blue Devils’ first trip to the sectional finals since 2010. Coincidentally, they beat Livonia to win their second consecutive sectional championship that season and reached the semi-finals of the New York State tournament.

The Blue Devils scored the first 10 points of the game and never looked back, building a 19-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Jalen Smith scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the first half as top-seeded Batavia carried a 37-point lead into the break.

Justin Washington, a freshman on that 2010 team, had another superb outing for the Blue Devils, scoring 10 points, grabbing nine rebounds, dishing out five assists and collecting three steals in the victory, while Justice Fagan scored 12 points off the bench on 4-of-5 3-point field goals.

Batavia (17-3) will face second-seeded Newark (14-6) in the Class B1 Final at the Blue Cross Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m. after they blew past NE/NW College Prep in the other semi-final matchup, 70-44.

Cody Cronmiller had 17 points and six rebounds for Livonia (10-10) in defeat.

Notre Dame’s perfect season came crashing to end when Avon clinched the Class C1 Semifinals, 60-58.

The Fighting Irish entered the contest at 19-0 on the season, looking to win their second straight sectional championship after making it to the New York State Class D Semifinals last season. But this season they moved up to Class C and the Braves proved to be too much to handle.

“We knew it was going to be tougher,” said Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Rapone. “Even though they moved us up a class, we still have the student body of a Class D school. It showed tonight. They had a little more depth, a little more physicality, a few more big kids than we had, and it was the difference in the game.”

In the first quarter, it appeared as if top-seeded Notre Dame would take control of the game, but Avon cut the deficit to three on a buzzer-beating shot off an inbound play by Zack Rizzolo to end the first quarter.

The Braves would carry that momentum into the second as they scored the first seven points of the frame.

Not to be outdone, the Irish responded with a 13-4 run of their own to recapture the lead heading into halftime, 29-26.

The third quarter belonged to the star players on each team.

Avon’s Zach Mouw started the second half red-hot, scoring 12 of his team’s first 13 points of the frame, however Notre Dame’s Tim McCulley responded by scoring 12 of the team’s 18 points in the quarter.

“Tim did a nice job,” Rapone said. “They were really pressing hard to take (McCulley, Tommy Prospero and Jared Thornton) out of the game. Tim did what he had to do, he found the gaps and he got inside.”

Mouw had 22 points midway through the third quarter, including connecting on four shots in a row, before Rapone matched Thornton on him in an attempt to take him out offensively.

Mouw did not score a point the rest of the game, but Avon’s role players began to step up, particularly on the boards, as the Braves racked up four offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone.

“It was something I was concerned about, but the main reason it happened was because we had to switch defenses to stop Mouw,” Rapone said. “We had to pick our poison.”

Avon took the lead with three minutes to play after Galen Snyder scored off a Mouw pass and drew a foul in the process. Freshman Gerad Coyne would then connect on a three-pointer from the wing with 2:40 to play, putting the Braves up by six.

The Irish would then storm back, getting two quick baskets from McCulley to cut the lead to two with just over a minute to play.

Coyne would appear to step out of bounds on the ensuing possession, but Avon was granted a timeout, allowing them to run the clock down to 30 seconds before turning the ball back over to Notre Dame.

McCulley was fouled on the next trip down the floor in what appeared to be the game-tying lay-in, but the basket was waved off, forcing the Irish to inbound from underneath.

“We thought Tim had the game-tying basket but it was waved off,” Rapone said. “Calls are calls and the officials make them. You have to live with it and move on.”

Ryan Bender appeared to have an easy lay-up with 10 seconds left, but Tyler Hite rescued the Braves with a game-saving blocked shot.

Prospero would get one last heave at the basket but was unsuccessful as their season came to end.

Mouw led the way for fifth-seed Avon (14-7) with 22 points, seven rebounds and two steals as they advance to the Class C1 Finals on Saturday to play Mynderse at the Blue Cross Arena.

McCulley led Notre Dame (19-1) in a losing effort with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Prospero added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.

In girls basketball, Batavia beat Pal-Mac 71-68. Madison McCulley scored 30 points and Tiara Filbert added 21 with nine rebounds. Essence Williams also had nine rebounds.