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Batavia's Chmielowiec and UofR take third at Chase Tournament

By Brian Hillabush

 The University of Rochester won the consolation game this past weekend and wound up taking third at the Chase Tournament, which features top area college basketball teams.

Batavia grad Mike Chmielowiec was injured in the semifinals loss to St. John Fisher, 71-66. Chmielowiec informed me this evening that the injury was a minor sprained ankle and he sat out the consolation game as a precaution.

He will be back in action on Friday as Rochester takes on Washington University.

St. John Fisher beat Roberts Wesleyan 72-55 in the finals. 

 

You can help save the Empire State Games

By Brian Hillabush

The Batavian has been all over the Empire State Games problems and recently wrote that the games scheduled to be in Hudson Valley were called off for financial reasons.

We had previously reported that there was plans to cut sports and start charging athletes up to $300 to compete. 

 There is currently an online petition that is being sent to Governor Patterson and Commissioner Ash, trying to bring the games back.

We, the undersigned, believe that canceling the Open, Scholastic and Masters divisions, the Senior Games and the Physically Challenged Games of the Empire State Games is something that needs to be reviewed. We believe that ALL divisions of the Summer Games and Winter Games, along with the entirety of the Senior Games and Games for the Physically Challenged should be reviewed on their merits and what they provide to New Yorkers. 

We have a very good understanding of the economic crisis New York State and the entire country are facing. However, we do not feel that the programs offered through the Empire State Games are a drain on the economy, rather we feel they help increase revenue in the regions where they are held, and they promote a healthy living style to ALL New Yorkers, some of the reasons for this follow. 

The Summer Games as a WHOLE entity brings in $10 to $15 Million to the local economy of the host city. The Winter Games brings in $1.5 Million to Lake Placid. If we add the $10 Million (low end) to the $1.5 million, the State tax on this comes to $460,000 directly back to the State in tax revenue. At a cost to the State of only $2 million, we feel this is a VERY wise investment. The Senior Games are Vital to the health of our maturing population and the Physically Challenged Games are the ONLY avenue these special kids have to participate in. In a time where you, yourself have shown interest in a healthy NY, what better way than these Games? The Masters division and the Senior Games already have a participation fee which should cover most if not all costs associated with their competition. Let the Scholastic, Open and Physically challenged kids continue to be assured a spot in these Games with no fee, to assure NO NEW YORKER IS LEFT OUT due to financial situation. 

In conclusion, we the undersigned, are not asking New York State to reinvest tax dollars in an event which is detrimental to the states long term (or short term) economic future, however, we are asking that someone looks at the WHOLE program called the Empire State Games and truly measures the economic impact these Games have on New York States overall economic plan as well as providing an opportunity for ALL New Yorkers to train and stay healthy. We do hope you will do the right thing here and re-institute these GREAT Games!!

It is great to see that there is a group out there trying save the ESG tradition. 155 people have signed the petition so far, and if you feel inclined to help keep our local athletes competing for Western New York, here is the link to sign the petition.

 

GR girls POWs from the week before last

By Brian Hillabush

I posted the Genesee Region League Players of the Week a few days ago, and said there were no girls from the GR nominated, but had winners from other leagues.

At the time there wasn't anybody from the GR.  

But the day after my post on the boys, a pair of GR girls were announced.

Pembroke's Kelsey Lewis scored 22 points with nine rebounds and four steals in a pair of games with Byron-Bergen and Elba to earn the honor for Division I.

Lauren Drago of Wheatland-Chili won the D2 honor for her effort in one game. She scored a career-high 35 points with 12 rebounds, eight steals and five blocks on a win over Holley.

I will be posting Players of the Week for last week as soon as they are posted. Let's hope they get the boys and girls all up on the same day this week.

Local AAU teams looking for coaches

By Brian Hillabush

A big reason why Batavia basketball is so successful every year is that there is a solid youth program in place, the Genesee RAP.

The AAU teams are looking for volunteer coaches for the teams. The RAP plays in regional tournaments on the weekends in March and April.

 Anybody interested should contact Batavia varsity coach Buddy Brasky at 585-356-4050 or e-mail him at mbrasky@bataviacsd.org.

Notre Dame comes through in the end, beats scrappy O-A

By Brian Hillabush

 The game might have been tight all the way through, but it looked like the Oakfield-Alabama girls were going to beat Notre Dame for the second time this season, on ND's home court.

The Hornets owned the paint and seemed to be in the right place at the right time for every loose ball. But the Fighting Irish battled in the closing minutes and came through with a huge 48-46 win.

Oakfield-Alabama took a 3-point lead with about five minutes left in the game when Hillary Bates scored a basket, making the score 40-37 in O-A's favor.

Notre Dame's Brittany Morelli answered with a bucket, but the lead was back to 3-points when Dani Sage scored at the other end. The Hornets had a chance to extend the lead when sophomore McKenzie Harris had a steal and was fouled going to the basket.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, she missed both free throw attempts.

Nichole Hart then made it a 1-point game with a basket seconds later.

After a turnover, Morelli scored with an and-1, giving the Fighting Irish a 44-42 lead with just under three minutes left in the game.

Christina Palillo tied the game with a basket on O-A's next possession, then was fouled on the team's next trip down the court. She hit both foul shots to give the Hornets a 46-44 advantage with just over two minutes left.

Again, it looked like O-A was going to win, just like they did in the consolation game of the Rotary Tournament.

But Notre Dame went inside the paint on the following possession, giving the ball to 6-foot sophomore Liz Geandreau, who was fouled while trying to get a shot off. She tied the score with two free throws.

Nobody scored for almost a minute and a half, but Morelli got to the foul line with 39 seconds left. She hit both attempts to give the Fighting Irish the two-point advantage.

The Hornets had one last shot with just seconds left on the clock, but missed a 3-pointer and couldn't get the rebound.

Morelli scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and Jill Marshall pitched in 14 points for the Fighting Irish, who improve to 7-3. Nichole Hart had 12 points.

Brynn Perfitt continues to be a strong scoring option for Oakfield-Alabama (6-6), scoring 11 points. Hillary Bates scored a team-high 12 points and Palillo pitched in eight points.

 

 

Empire State Games are canceled

By Brian Hillabush

 The Empire State Games have officially been canceled.

The Democrat & Chronicle just reported that because of all the financial cutbacks we wrote about last week, the games have been called off.

 

Joseph Spector writes:

Organizers of this summer’s Empire State Games in the Hudson Valley announced today that they will not host the games because of a cut in state aid.

The state announced last week that because of budget constraints they will be unable to spend the $2.7 million to run the annual games, which date back to 1978 and include 30,000 youth and adult amateur athletes.

The games have become a huge event each summer for athletes from all over New York State and were scheduled to be in Hudson Valley from July 22-26. But it looks like the event, which averages 6,000 athletes and 24,000 spectators per year, is finished.

The D&C story says there was no immediate comment from the state Parks Department as to whether the games would be moved to a different location. But with the amount of preparation involved, it is highly unlikely.

With Hudson Valley putting an end to the this year's games, and with no promise of state funding in future years, this looks like the end of the Empire State Games.

“The Hudson River Valley LOC arrived at this regrettable decision based on an overwhelming feeling that the participation fee violates the spirit of the Games and that objections to this approach are so strong among our host site partners, sponsors and volunteers that maintaining the support necessary to successfully host the games has become untenable,” Steven V. Lant, chairman of the games and CEO of CH Energy Group, wrote to Parks Commissioner Carol Ash

New D&C polls show Batavia teams no love

By Brian Hillabush

 The Batavia girls basketball team is 11-1, defeated every Monroe County League team its faced other than Pittsford Mendon, took down every non-league opponent and still is getting no love from the Democrat & Chronicle

The new polls are out and still no Blue Devils in the large or small school category for girls basketball. People question Batavia's non-league schedule, yet they have defeated Dansville, which is ranked sixth. They also beat local powerhouse Elba, which received a No. 9 ranking.

Alexander got an honorable mention.

The Batavia boys basketball team is 9-1, and also not ranked. The only loss for the boys was at Pittsford Sutherland, which they will get a chance to avenge next week at home.

We do have a couple of ranked small schools.

Oakfield-Alabama is at No. 7 and Notre Dame is at No. 9. The two battled last night, with the Hornets winning 9-1.

We have tons of schools ranked in the small school category for wrestling.

Attica is having a great season and is currently at No. 3, Holley is No. 6 and Batavia is No. 7.

Wheatland-Chili is ranked eighth for small school swimming.

HS boys highlights for Thursday

By Brian Hillabush

Oakfield-Alabama is officially the top team in the Genesee Region League.

Tim Smithhad 19 points, eight boards and three swipes as the Hornets downed Notre Dame 70-60 Thursday.

Noah Seward had 17 points and 12 boards and A.J. Kehlenbeck pitched in 10 points and10 boards. Brad Riner had eight dimes as O-A improves to `9-1.

Kevin Francis had 22 points, six boards, six assists and four steals for the Fighting Iri (8-2).

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Max Torrey came through again, converting a 3-point play with 26 seconds left to give Elba a 41-39 win over Byron-Bergen.

Torrey finished with nine points while Sonny Giuliano had eight points and Phil Ostroski had six points and 13 boards.

Tyler Sass had nine points, four rebounds and four assists for B-B.

Buffalo News says cancel ESG

By Brian Hillabush

 Last week I wrote about the cutbacks and possible $300 charge for the Empire State Games.

Keith McShea followed up with a great story in the Buffalo News today, basically saying the games are dead and should just be canceled.

 

Hopefully some sort of funding can be restored. State funding for the Games went from $2.7 million to zero. The Games can certainly be streamlined — a scholastic-only competition isn’t the worst thing. But making athletes pay? No way. How about cutting funding in half? Since when does Albany work this quickly and decisively?

The state’s announcement included the caveat that for the 2010 Games, scheduled to be held in Buffalo, that there is “hope of reinstating the suspended competitions, as well as revisiting the new fee structure.”

But we know how that goes. Once something is cut from a budget, good luck getting it back.

 

The story is a good read and makes some great points. As one of many Empire State Games fans, I am sad to hear about all these cut-backs. But I hate to say it, this is the beginning of the end.

 

Batavia, Notre Dame and O-A all moving up in state polls

By Brian Hillabush

 The New York State Sports Writers Association announced its newest poll today and Batavia, Notre Dame and Oakfield-Alabama all moved up in the state.

Batavia jumped from No. 20 to No. 17 in Class A, with games through Jan. 11. The Blue Devils beat Greece Odyssey last night to improve to 9-1.

Oakfield-Alabama jumped from No. 17 to No. 15 in Class C and improved to 8-1 with a win over Wheatland-Chili on Tuesday.

Notre Dame was bumped up from No. 6 to No. 5 in Class D and are now 8-1 after beating Holley 68-42 on Tuesday.

 

Saunders scores career-high

By Brian Hillabush

 Former Batavia point guard Kevin Saunders is starting to score. I mean, he's really starting to score.

The junior captain just scored a career-high 22 points in a 66-59 win over Potsdam, helping Fredonia State improve to 9-2.

Saunders connected on 7-of-15 attempts from the floor and hit all six free throw attempts, while grabbing two rebounds and handing out two assists.

Saunders now leads the 9-2 Blue Devils at 11.5 points per game and is second on the squad with 30 assists.

Locals doing well at Keuka

By Brian Hillabush

 

Batavia grad Missy Thurston is having a huge year for Keuka College.

She was the only player from the Storm in double figures with 11 points in a 71-47 loss to the University of Rochester in the opening round on Tuesday.

 The 5-foot-5 junior guard has started all eight game for the women's team. She is second on the team in scoring at 8.8 points per game and is actually grabbing 5 rebounds per game.

Thurston also has 18 assists for Keuka (2-6).

Attica grad Rob Crowley is a junior and had a key basket that kept Keuka close, but the Storm ended up losing to No. 1 seed Rochester 65-54 in the opening round on Wednesday.

Crowley is averaging 5 points per game in four games of action, while hitting 5-of-9 3-point attempts.

Ian Woodworth from Elba - who has a famous YouTube video from last year's sectionals - is just a freshman and has only played in three games, but is averaging .7 points per games.

The Storm is currently 3-5.

 

 

HS girls highlights for Wednesday

By Brian Hillabush

Brynn Perfitt dropped in 19 points and Hillary Bates added 16 as Oakfield-Alabama dropped host Wheatland-Chili 51-42 in a GR girls game.

Lindsay Chatt added seven points for the Hornets, who are now 6-5.

Lauren Drago had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (3-5). Lindsey Hall added 20 points. 

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Nicole Sharick dropped in 13 points and Jackie Dubois pitched in 11 as Pembroke toppled Kendall 38-33.

Kelsey Lewis also had six points for the Dragons, who are now 6-5.

Meghan Fahy had 17 points and 12 boards for Kendall, which falls to 3-6.

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Nichole Hart had 16 points to lead the way as Notre Dame destroyed Holley 59-28.

Liz Geandreau, Jill Marshall and Trisha Pike each had eight points, with Geandreau adding seven boards.

Jessica Bower and Jenny Lesch had nine points each for Holley.

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Samantha Skryp had a huge game, scoring a game-high 22 points to lead Lyndonville to a 40-33 win over Byron-Bergen.

Mary Cocking had eight points to lead the Bees.

Lyndonville is 6-6.

A tale of two halves: Batavia overcomes low scoring start to beat Greece

By Brian Hillabush

 The Batavia boys basketball team couldn't hit a shot in the first half, then the pressure defense led to offense in the second half as the Blue Devils wound up thumping visiting Greece Odyssey 56-38.

The defense was there, but there was a lid on the basket for Batavia in the first half. Andrew Hoy had some good looks, that didn't fall. And most of the supporting cast didn't have much to add offensively.

Dakota Irvin managed eight of his 10 points and Josh Budlong had an inspired six points, all in the first half as the score wound up being tied at 24.

But coach Buddy Brasky must have had one of his famous halftime speeches because the Blue Devils dominated the third quarter.

Irvin started things off with a basket and Marcus Hoy had five of his points. He also had six assists and four rebounds.

Andrew Hoy also hit a 3-pointer as Batavia scored 12 straight points before Ray Diaz drained a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left. It was 36-27 after three periods of play.

Batavia continued to own the fourth quarter, owning a 20-11 advantage.

Andrew Hoy scored six of his points with seven steals for the game in the final frame. The other big thing to take from the fourth quarter was the minutes and play of Donovan Rolle, who scored two points but looked like he can provide another rebounder for the Blue Devils.

Tim Aledsio led Odyssey with 13 points.

Batavia improves to 9-1 and is at Mendon on Friday before next week's showdown with Pittsford Sutherland.

 

Babcock and Laureano are POWs

By Brian Hillabush

 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.

Don't like the officiating? Stop yelling at them

By Brian Hillabush

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.

 

HS boys highlights for Tuesday

By Brian Hillabush

 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.

hs highlights for Monday

By Brian Hillabush

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).

Inspired performance from Hudson Valley area

By Brian Hillabush

 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.

Zinni starting as a freshman

By Brian Hillabush

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.

 

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