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Elba beat Notre Dame on Friday in the Class D Girls Basketball Quarterfinal, 55-47. 

Sydney Reilly and Lydia Ross both scored 20 points for the Lancers. 

Emma Sisson scored 20 points for Notre Dame, and she had 12 rebounds. Lucia Fiorentino contributed 12 points and 5 rebounds. Sofia Falleti had 7 points and 14 rebounds. 

"We had a tremendous season with many accomplishments," said Notre Dame Coach Vinny Falleti. "With two seniors and underclassmen, this team came together and worked so hard this season. Even though it wasn’t the ending we had hoped for, I am so proud of this team. Irish Proud!”

Elba plays in the Class D semifinal on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Mount Morris against Avoca-Pratssburgh.

Photos by Debra Reilly

Marya B. Cole, 39, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with falsely reporting an incident and a false written statement. Cole is accused of reporting to police that her boyfriend had displayed a handgun to her on Feb. 22 and was subsequently walking on Ross Street in Batavia. Batavia PD responded and detained a male subject, and searched the area and did not find a gun. Cole allegedly signed a written statement attesting to her accusation. She reportedly later admitted lying to police about the gun. Cole was issued an appearance ticket.

Lorenzo Baker, 20, of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, is charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, unlicensed operator, using cannabis in a motor vehicle and criminal contempt 2nd. Baker was stopped on Feb. 20 at a time undisclosed by police in the City of Batavia at a location undisclosed by police by Officer John Gombos. Baker is accused of driving without a license and of driving while smoking marijuana.  He was also allegedly in violation of a stay-away order of protection with the protected party in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop. He was arraigned in Centralized Arraignment Court, and his release status is unknown.

An 18-year-old male from Washington Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt 1st. The youth is accused of being involved in a disturbance at a location in the city not disclosed by police on Feb. 16. He was arraigned in City Court and released.

Lyndsay T. Young, 39, of North Main Street, Warsaw, is charged with criminal contempt 1st. Young was arrested on a warrant after allegedly contacting a person, violating a stay-away order. She was arraigned in City Court and ordered held on $1 bail.

Enrique J. Pellot, 42, of Avenue A, Rochester, is charged with menacing 2nd, criminal possession of a weapon 3rd and coercion 3rd. Pellot is accused of using a knife to threaten a woman in the parking lot of Batavia PD on Feb. 15. Pellot was arraigned in Centralized Arraignment Court, and his release status is unknown.

Christine M. Caplis, 42, of Clinton Street Road, Batavia. Caplis is accused of failing to appear in court as ordered on Nov. 5, 2021, to answer to a charge of theft of services. He was arrested on Feb. 18 on a warrant. Prior to this arrest, he was arrested five prior times, according to police, on warrants issued on Dec. 28, 2021, June 26, 2022, Aug. 13, 2022, Sept. 18, 2022, and Oct. 7, 2022. He was arraigned in Centralized Arraignment Court, and his current release status is unknown.

Christopher H. Monfort, 50, of Hidden Valley Trail, Webster, is charged with switched license plates, aggravated unlicensed operation 2nd and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Monfort was arrested on Feb. 18 after Officer Joseph Weglarski was dispatched to a local gas station to investigate a report of a vehicle parked at the pumps for about an hour. Monfort was issued an appearance ticket. Anna L. Roberts, 35, of Lincoln Road, East Rochester, and Jose M. Baez, 41, of Lake Avenue, Rochester, are also charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Henry L. Banks, 52, of Vine Street, Batavia, is charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs. Banks was topped on Feb. 21 at a location in the City of Batavia not disclosed by police by Officer Wesley Rissinger. Banks allegedly failed a field sobriety test. He was issued traffic tickets.

Paul A. Inostroza, 32, no permanent address, is charged with two counts of criminal contempt 2nd. Inostroza, already in custody on an unrelated charge, was arrested on Feb. 21 on a warrant that stems from a disturbance reported in the City of Batavia at a location not specified by police on Dec. 23.  He was ordered held on bail.

Christine M. Sanchez-Anderson, 34, of E Main Street, Batavia, is charged with failure to appear. Sanchez-Anderson was arrested on Feb. 16 on a warrant. On Oct. 4, Sanchez-Anderson was charged with obstructing governmental administration and issued an appearance ticket. She was accused of running from police when officers attempted to arrest her on previous warrants. She was held pending arraignment.

Kelly J. Mungo, 47, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Mungo is accused of shoplifting at a local convenience story (location unspecified by police) and issued an appearance ticket.

Tiesha D. Smith, 36, of Montclair Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. Smith is accused of failing to respond to a subpoena as a witness in a case heard in City Court on Aug. 19 and was arrested on a warrant on Feb. 16. Smith was arraigned in Centralized Court, and her current release status is unknown.

Patrick J. Woodrich, 52, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with Failing to exercise due care to avoid pedestrian, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, failing to stop at a stop sign and improper right turn, failing to keep right on a two-lane road, and leaving the scene of an accident. Woodrich is accused of striking a pedestrian on Washington Avenue on July 24 and leaving the scene of the accident. He was arrested on a warrant on Feb. 16. He was arraigned in City Court and released on his own recognizance.

Ashley J. Delong, 36, of Rolling Circle, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and no tail lights. Delong was stopped in the City of Batavia at a location unspecified by police by Officer John Gombos. Delong was issued an appearance ticket.

Misty R. Schutt, 33, of Exchange Street, Attica, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and failing to stop at a stop sign. Schutt was arrested on Feb. 7 following a traffic stop in the City of Batavia at a location unspecified by police by Officer John Gombos. She was allegedly found in possession of crack cocaine. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Christian Philip Voigt, Jr., 23, of Valle Drive, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief 3rd and harassment 2nd. Voigt is accused of damaging property and placing his hands on another person during a disturbance reported at 11:16 a.m. on Feb. 26 at a location on Valle Drive, Batavia. He was held pending arraignment. 

Evan F. Maynard, 22, of Batavia, is charged with falsely reporting to a law enforcement officer 3rd. Upon an investigation into a report by Maynard into a crime, Investigator Joseph Loftus reportedly found that Maynard made a false report and that he pawned several items at a pawn shop on Feb. 25. Maynard was issued an appearance ticket.

Gary Michael Herrmann, Jr., 44, of Caswell Road, Byron, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Herrmann was stopped at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 on Caswell Road, Byron, following a report of a disturbance by Deputy Zachary Hoy. He was issued traffic tickets.

Allison A. Gersbach, 33, of Manchester, is charged with grand larceny 4th. Gersbach was arrested on Feb. 28 by State Police in connection with an incident reported at 7:13 p.m., Aug. 16, in the Town of Batavia. Gersbach was issued an appearance ticket. No further details released.

Jason L. Lincoln, 46, of Albion, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property 3rd and aggravated unlicensed operation 1st. Lincoln was arrested by State Police at 3:19 p.m. on Feb. 26, in Elba. Lincoln was ordered held in custody. No further details released.

A car has reportedly hit a tree in the area of 5103 Batavia Elba Townline Road, Elba.

The caller reports the driver to be semi-alert.

Elba fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 12:27 a.m.: Patient unconscious. Checking on the availability of Mercy Flight. All available manpower to the scene.

UPDATE 12:32 a.m.: Mercy Flight requested to the scene.

UPDATE 1:22 a.m.: The patient was just extricated from the vehicle.

UPDATE 1:36 a.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne and headed to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

UPDATE 2:36 a.m.: The female driver suffered a serious leg injury. The accident was discovered by a driver passing by. None of the residents on that stretch of Batavia Elba Townline Road heard the accident. The time of the accident is unknown and it's hard to say how long after the accident it took for somebody to come across it. The driver was sedated so she couldn't be interviewed so deputies at this point do not know how the accident occurred.

It was Robert Neyland, the legendary Tennessee head coach, who first observed that the team which makes the fewest mistakes usually wins.

Neyland also said teams need to make their breaks and pounce on opportunity.

While Elba/Byron-Bergen wasn't without its own miscues in a Saturday afternoon scrap on its home field, the inability of Oakfield-Alabama to strike from the red zone on successive drives in the second quarter turned out to be a deal breaker for the Hornets.

The Lancers won the defensive battle 7-6.

Brian Palone, O-A's head coach, gave credit to the Lancers' defense, but also said mental errors by his players and a lack of execution on the details in the red zone hurt his team's chance of notching a win.

"I also have to do a better job with play calling down here at times to give us a better opportunity," Palone said. "I'll point the finger at myself  for some of the stuff we had down here in the red zone. Some of it is on them. It goes both ways, but we just didn't finish."

On one possession, with the ball inside the five, Elba/BB even gave O-A a whole new set of downs on a pass interference call, either because of a stout defense or an inability to finish, the Hornets couldn't punch it in.

The Hornets would return the favor, stopping a Lancers drive on the goal line, in the 4th quarter.

Elba/BB also had its share of turnovers and penalties to help keep points off the board.

"I'm just glad we both did have mistakes," Lancers Head Coach Mike Cintorino said. "I'm glad we're both kind of even. We've seen games and we've had games ourselves where those mistakes aren't even and it ends up being a game you give away.  It very easily could have gone the other way today.  We had some opportunities that we didn't capitalize on and our defense bailed us out. They came up big."

The way Cintorino sees the game is that two well-prepared defenses shut down a pair of powerful offenses.

"You get two offenses like this, one that really passes the ball well and one that really runs the ball well and you think it's going to be this high scoring game, but both teams did a really nice job preparing for the other offense and it turned out to be a great defensive game," Cintorino said.

Both coaches said they were proud of their defenses.

"It was a real grinder of a game that was just going to come down to who had the ball last," Palone said. "We're all really proud of the way our team held together."

O-A put points on the board first when Trent Stack pulled in an Alan Chatt nine-yard pass just over the goal line (top photo).

Being down 6-0 seemed to give the Lancer's offense a spark it lacked through the entire first half.  The combination of Garrett Chapell  to John Hochmuth seemed unbreakable as QB and tight end connected for reception after reception, including a leaping grab by Hochmuth on the sideline to secure another first down.

"Early on, John had a drop, but the best athletes I have ever coached know how to come back from adversity in a game," Cintorino said.  "He had that same idea in the Holley game where he had a drop and came back with a huge touchdown for us on the next drive."

Hochmuth had 10 receptions for 142 yards on the day, but it was Chapell who finished off the winning drive.

With the ball on the three, Chapell ran a keeper wide right and found little in the way of opposition from the Hornet's defense.

An extra point kick and the Lancers had the seven points that would prove enough to move the team to 3-1 on the season.

Chatt threw a lot of passes -- 40 on the day, and completed half of them for 259 yards, with a TD toss and an interception. Sal Schwable had five catches for 86 yards and Stack had four receptions for 65 yards.

Chapell had 13 completions on 23 attempts for 154 yards. Truax carried the ball 14 times for 61 yards. He also had 16 tackles on defense and a fumble recovery.

Trent Stack holds the ball aloft after putting the Hornets on the board first in the third quarter.

John Hochmuth with a grab on the sideline to help keep the Lancer's eventual winning drive alive.

Reice Woodward found that one pass near the sideline in the second quarter was just a bit beyond his grasp.

Hornets QB Alan Chatt.

Hochmuth grabs for an O-A runner.

Steele Truax on a big gainer in the 4th quarter that would help put the Lancers on the two-yard line with a chance to extend the team's lead, but O-A stopped the drive and took over on downs.

To purchase prints, click here.

This dog was found this evening wandering on Mechanic Street in Elba. It has tags, but the village hall is closed until Monday. If it's your dog, call Carol at (585) 757-6856.

The Elba Lancers cheer squad unveiled a new routine during half-time of the Elba/Byron-Bergen vs. Notre Dame game Saturday.

The routine features more acrobatics than I've seen from a high school cheer squad before.

Cheer Coach Kate Engle said her cousin Jackie Borrelli, now a cheer captain at Niagara University who cheered for Northeast Elite, conducted a two-day cheer camp for the Elba team and taught the girls the new routine.

Saturday was the first time they performed it in public.

Rachel Wannike is Elba's captain this year and she's featured in the flyer toss. Tabitha Fuller, a seventh-grader, is featured in a series flips during a pyramid (unfortunately, my camera slipped out of focus during this part of the routine). 

Engle said the squad is pretty young, with only one senior member and five juniors, three sophomores, seven freshman and a seventh-grader.

The girls will use the routine Oct. 13 at the Brockport Spiritfest and, of course, during sectionals competition later in October at RIT.

To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

(UPDATED 12:49 p.m.)

One of Oakfield-Alabama's football stars of the past decade was among three people killed in an accident on Albion Road in Oakfield overnight.

Matthew Ware, 22, and Joshua Durham, 21, were declared dead at the scene, according to a statement issued by the Sheriff's Office.

Ware, a running back for O-A, was named to the All-State second team in 2004 and 2005.

Durham was on the track and baseball teams during those same years. He was a Genesee Region League track All-Star in 2007.

Allyson E. Galens, 20, of Stanley, was a passenger in the 2005 Scion TC. She was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC. Galens was declared dead at 4 a.m.

The trio had been at the Elba Onion Festival prior to the accident, according to Sheriff Gary Maha. Maha said investigators believe alcohol was a factor in the accident.

The accident occurred at 1:37 a.m. on Albion Road just past Lockport Road. The car collided with a utility pole.

Oakfield Fire responded to the scene.

No further information about the accident was released.

The investigation is ongoing and being handled by Investigator Timothy Weis, Sgt. Greg Walker, Deputy Frank Bordonaro, Deputy James Diehl and Deputy John Duyseen of the Crash Management Team.

Photos: Top, Matthew Ware, from his Facebook Page; Joshua Durham, from his MySpace page; Josh and Allyson Galens from Josh's Facebook page.

UPDATE 6:10 p.m.: Top photo, flowers left at the scene of the accident. Below, sign in the beer tent at the Elba Onion Festival. I wanted to talk with somebody from the organization about the positive steps they take to discourage drinking and driving (not that that has been established in this case), including having firefighters available to give free rides home, but officials steadfastly refused to speak.