Notre Dame

 Tate Westermeier continues to be one of the top guards in the Genesee Region League, and he delivered a huge win for his Attica boys basketball team over their biggest league rival, Alexander.

Westermeier scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter and added 6 rebounds in the game as the Blue Devils won 42-36.

The win helps Attica improve to 3-0 in the league - keeping them right with Oakfield-Alabama at the top of Division I - and 4-2 overall.

Craig Wolfley added eight points for Attica.

Troy Shulnut led the Trojans (2-4) with eight points, with Kyle Woodruff and Andy Bittner adding six each.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pat O'Keefe dropped in 15 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter as Pittsford Sutherland outscored Batavia 25-17 to take home a 69-57 win.

Wayne Dillworth had 12 boards and eight assists to go with his four points and Dylan Sherwood added 20 points for Sutherland (4-0).

Andrew Hoy had 24 points and Josh Budlong added 11 for the Blue Devils, who fall to 4-1.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lancers gave Notre Dame its stiffest test of the season so far, but the Fighting Irish still came away with an impressive 65-41 win on the road.

Kevin Francis had 20 points and Matt Thompson added 12, including three 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Fighting Irish had a 22-11 advantage.

Gregg Barr added 10 points for Notre Dame (3-0).

Phil Ostroski had 12 points and Sonny Giuliano added nine points with eight boards for the Lancers (2-3).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian Mitchell guided his Holley basketball team to its first victory of the season with 24 points and four blocked shots, giving the Hawks a 50-36 victory over Byron-Bergen.

John Wharram and Chad Barhytt did the work on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds apiece.

Kurtis Fannon had 11 points for the Bees (1-4).

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In what Batavia coach Rick Stewart called the battle for the league title, his Blue Devils fell short.

Brighton beat host Batavia 35-28 in Batavia to knock the Blue Devils out of the ranks of the unbeatens.

Josh Mase, Nick Lazarony, Joe Muoio, Troy Ireland, Anthony D'Aurizio and Ryan Darch had the Batavia wins, but it wasn't enough.

The Batavia girls basketball team pulled off an upset Tuesday, surprising visiting Pittsford Sutherland 55-54.

"I hope this gives us (confidence)," Batavia coach Bill Wade said. "I told them after the game that we would be enjoying the game until 3:30 tomorrow, then we start getting ready for Brighton on Friday. I think the confidence started coming after winning the Attica Tournament and then beating Elba in overtime. I hope this takes us to the next level."

Batavia trailed 13-9 after the opening period, but Brittany Wormley scored eight of her 10 points, keeping the Blue Devils in the game.

Michelle Jordan took over the second half and scored seven of her 11 points.

Batavia wound up taking a 55-50 lead with moments left in the game when Kayli O'Keefe hit a 3-pointer to make it a two point game. She was then fouled and hit one of two free throws.

Jaycee Shirk had 16 points and 10 rebounds with Brittany Mazurkiewiecz and Stacey Hein dishing out five assists each.

Sutherland falls to 4-3.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nicole Sharick had five of her nine points in overtime to lead Pembroke to a 43-42 win over host Oakfield-Alabama.

Sharick went 3-of-3 from the charity striple down the stretch and had six steals in the game.

The Hornets actually had a two point lead but Danielle Smith scored with two seconds left to force the extra session.

Kelsey Lewis scored 13 points with seven boards for the Dragons (3-2).

Brynn Perfitt had 10 points and four steals and Dani Sage grabbed 24 rebounds for the Hornets (3-2).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anni Lehtola had 13 points and Nicki Laird added six points with 18 rebounds to lead the Trojans to a 56-32 win over Attica.

Rachel Pettys had nine points, eight boards and four assists for Alexander (4-1).

Margaret LeFleur had nine points to lead Attica.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Byron-Bergen thumped visiting Holley 48-29 behind Mary Cocking's 13 points. Kaylee Ashbury had nine points and Kayleigh Puma chipped in eight points.

Julie Brooks scored 16 points for the Hawks.

A huge third quarter run helped the Notre Dame girls basketball team take a 10-point advantage, which they held on to for a long time.

But there is never any quit in the Elba girls team.

The Lancers pressed their way to a comeback victory in the fourth quarter, stunning the host Fighting Irish 54-51.

Notre Dame had a 10-point advantage with 4 1/2 minutes left when Jill Marshall - an Elba transfer - scored a basket.

But the Lancers chipped away as Cassy Engle and Julie Webster hit consecutive baskets.

After Sarah Schwartzmeyer dropped in a pair of free throws, Notre Dame's lead was cut to 47-43.

It became even tighter when eighth-grader McKenzie Bezon drained a 3-pointer to get the Lancers within a point. Notre Dame traveled on the their next possession and Elba took the lead for good on a Julie Marshall two-pointer.

Webster followed with a put-back basket and a free throw and another foul shot.

Webster scored again, but the Fighting Irish were not about to quit at this point, in front of their home crowd.

Jill Marshall had a steal and a basket, then stole anouther inbounds pass with 12 seconds left on the clock.

She hit both free throws and Elba led 54-51.

Notre Dame's defense caused a turnover with 5.4 seconds remaining, but Nichole Hart chucked up a long 3-pointer that hit the back of the rim and bounced out, giving the Lancers the huge victory over their biggest rival.

Bezon's 3-pointer was one of the biggest baskets of the game, but she had a whole bunch of them. It's safe to say that without her game-high 18 points, Elba does not improve to 3-1.

Webster had 10 points and Schwartzmeyer added nine.

Notre Dame's Jill Marshall outscored her sister Julie 13-4, but her squad falls to 2-1 with the defeat.

Brittany Morelli led the Fighting Irish with 14 points with Liz Geandreau adding 10 points.

 Yes, the season is very early. But the current Genesee Region League standings are out and the top teams are getting their due.

Oakfield-Alabama already has a big lead in Division I, with a 4-0 record. Pembroke and Attica follow with a 3-2 record.

Notre Dame is 2-0 and lead Division II. Elba is in second at 2-2.

There is a ton of basketball left to be played, but the Hornets and Fighting Irish have impressive leads early on.

I was just checking out the first edition of the Democrat & Chronicle polls for winter sports, and I'm very confused by the small school boys basketball one.

This is the poll in question.

Small schools
Rank/team
1. Bishop Kearney
2. Finney
3. Letichworht
4. Wellsviell
5. Oakfield-Alabama
6. Penn Yan
7. Dansville
8. Gananda
9. Dundee
10. Livonia
(tie) Marion

(not typos, this is directly from the D&C Web site)

I think the D&C does a great job with high school sports coverage, but I'm one of the first people to always question the lack of small school athletes that make the All-Greater Rochester teams. There is proof that they focus on the larger schools with these rankings.

First off, Letchworth is 4-1 and has a very good basketball team. I have the utmost respect for coach Tim McMullen. But how do they get a No. 3 ranking?

The Indians have a loss and are one of four Livingston Conference teams to make the top 10. Livingston is a decent basketball league, but the Genesee Region League is probably much stronger this season.

The only GR squad to make the list is Oakfield-Alabama at No. 5. The Hornets are stacked this season and are off to a 4-0 start. Surely the Hornets deserve to be ranked higher than Letchworth.

And I don't see how Notre Dame can be totally left off this top 10 list.

The Fighting Irish have only played two games, but have won both in blowout fashion and are a very talented and deep team. Notre Dame is also one of the best teams in the history of Section 5, so I don't see how they can be left off.

The other glaring exception is Batavia, which is ranked sixth in the small school wrestling poll. If Batavia is considered a small school, then they should be right near the top of this list. As good as the top teams on that list are, if they have to play the Blue Devils, they are probably going to lose. Batavia plays schools like Pittsford Sutherland, Pittsford Mendon and Victor, and just won a tournament with two defending state champions.

D&C does a lot of things well, but these rankings basically forget that Genesee County is on the map.

Stacy Hein hit four critical foul shots in the last two minutes and scored eight points to lead the Batavia girls basketball team to a 42-38 win over host Victor Friday, recovering from its first loss of the season earlier this week.

Brittany Wormley led the squad with 13 points and Brittany Mazurkiewicz followed with 11 points and seven assists.

Jaycee Shirk had six points and eight boards for the Blue Devils (5-1).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Anni Lehtola, the foreign exchange student from Finland, had another big game for Alexander, scoring 19 points to lead the Trojans to a 57-47 win over Pembroke.

Katie Kochmanski pitched in 11 points while Anna Dominick and Nicki Laird added eight points apiece.

Kelsey Lewis led the Dragons (2-2) with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. Nicole Sharick scored a team-high 15 points.

Alexander is 3-1.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brynn Perfett was the leading scorer for Oakfield-Alabama with 11 points as the Hornets improved to 3-1 with a 46-28 win over Holley.

Dani Sage had seven points and 11 rebounds and Lindsay Chatt pitched in seven points.

Julie Brooks had 11 points for the Hawks (1-3).

Wow.

The Notre Dame boys basketball team has only played two games so far this season, but they are looking like a major force in the Genesee Region League.

The Fighting Irish opened the season on Tuesday with a 92-36 romp over Lyndonville, and then followed it up with an 80-42 blasting of host Kendall Thursday night.

Senior Kevin Francis went off for 28 points and Matt Thompson added 19 points. 

Josh Laureano led the Eagles (1-2) with 21 points and eight assists.

The Fighting Irish improve to 2-0.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oakfield-Alabama is still perfect, improving to 4-0 with a 70-39 thrashing of Holley.

Noah Seward dropped in 13 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had five blocks and Brad Riner added four points and five dimes. Tyler Tamblin had 13 points and Chris Bucceri added 12.

Brian Mitchell had 12 points and Jeff Lutes added 11 for the Hawks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pembroke rebounded from its crushing 52-48 loss to Attica earlier in the week with a 56-52 win over Alexander.

Ken Babcock scored 16 points and Steve Mosier added 15.

Troy Shelnut scored 18 points and Kyle Woodruff added 13 for the Trojans.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attica had a 20-6 advantage in the fourth quarter and came from behind to beat host Byron-Bergen 54-47.

Tate Westermeier, who sealed Tuesday's thrilling 52-48 win over Pembroke with a pair of free throws, poured in a game-high 19 points to pace the Blue Devils (3-2).

Brad Clark had 16 points and Bryan Thompson added eight.

Tyler Sass scored 20 points with Dan Madziarz adding eight rebounds and six points for the Bees (1-2).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonny Guiliano scored a game-high 18 points and Phil Ostroski added nine as Elba evened up at 2-2 with a 46-38 win over Wheatland-Chili.

Garhett Varin had 12 points and Andy Lund added six points and 12 boards for the Wildcats (1-4).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Brighton/East Rochester/Honeoye Falls-Lima hockey team eased past Notre Dame's hockey team 5-1 as Trevor Hills scored twice and handed out an assist.

Jason Boike had three helpers and Kyle Van Thof added a goal with two assists.

Dylan Versage scored the only goal for the Fighting Irish, who fall to 2-2.

Brighton/ER/HF-L improves to 2-3.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake Kuhn had a pin at 152 and Jon Casper had one at 215, but the Le Roy wrestling team lost to Albion 42-30.

Joe Blair (160 pounds), Mike Blank (189), Ryan Wells (96) and Colton Beecher (119) had pins for the Purple Eagles.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Notre Dame boys and girls swim team both suffered a loss to Harley-Allendale-Columbia.

The H-A-C boys won 100-70 as Henry Weaver won the 200 IM (2:18.05) and 100 backstroke (1:02.73).

The H-A-C girls won 90-77 as Megan Dens won the 500 freestyle (6:23.71) and the 200 freestyle (2:21.41).

Jared Quinn recorded his first career double-double to lead Alexander to a 58-49 road win over Holley in a boys basketball game Tuesday night.

Quinn had 13 points and 10 boards to lead the Trojans, who improve to 2-2.

Kyle Woodruff connected on all 11 free throw attempts and scored 15 points, with Troy Shelnut adding 11.

Guy Hills had 16 points and Brian Mitchell added 10 for the Hawks (0-3).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The Elba boys basketball team had a rough start to its league schedule, getting thrashed by visiting Kendall 62-36.

Colt Tooley hit five 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 21 points and Josh Laureano helped out with 16 points.

Sonny Guiliano led the Lancers (1-2) with 14 points.

Kendall is 2-1.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notre Dame had an impressive first showing of the season, whipping visiting Lyndonville 92-36.

Kevin Francis scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the opening frame as the Fighting Irish jumped out to a 24-2 lead. He also had six steals in the game.

Greg Barr had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Tommy Rapone added a dozen points. Vinny Zambito pitched in 11 points.

Andrew Hydock led the Tigers with 13 points.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noah Seward dropped in 15 points while pulling down 12 boards as Oakfield-Alabama easily downed Byron-Bergen 65-38.

Brad Riner pitched in five points and seven dimes while both A.J. Kehlenbeck and Sam McCracken had 10 points apiece.

Tyler Sass and Trevor Laurie had 11 points each while Bryan White added 11 boards for the Bees (1-1)

O-A is 3-0.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Drummond scored 25 points and Jamell Johnson added 22 as C.G. Finney blasted host Wheatland-Chili 90-39.

Alex Stryker had 13 points and Andy Lund pitched in 12 for the Wildcats.

Finney is 6-0. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Batavia hockey team evened up at 2-2 with a 5-3 win over Geneva/Waterloo.

Will Mulcahy and Erik Pokornowski had a pair of goals each for the Blue Devils, with Corey Kocent pitching in a goal with an assist.

Pat Finnell handed out three assists with Tim Finnell helping out with a pair.

Rich Paganello made 14 saves in net.

Geneva/Waterloo falls to 2-3.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holley got pins from Dillon Murphy (135 pounds), Quinton Murphy (125), Derek Fostano (189) and Kyle Steadman (215) in beating Kendall 42-33 in a GR wrestling match Tuesday.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alexander downed Barker 47-29 on the mat Tuesday.

Dylan Shea pinned Garrett Fuerch in 3:41 at 152 pounds and Dustin Say dropped  James Lapp in 3:57 at 171.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Notre Dame girls basketball team opened up with a 51-32 victory over host Lyndonville Tuesday.

Trisha Pike led the Fighting Irish with 15 points, five rebounds and six steals.

Jill Marshall had nine points with Nichole Hart and Liz Geandreau pitching in eight apiece.

Molly Burgess had 11 points for the Tigers (1-2).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite Jenna Merica's 15 points and Allison Macomber's 11 points and nine boards, Le Roy couldn't get past Dansville, losing to the visiting squad 53-36.

Margaret Infantino had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six dimes for the Mustangs (6-1).

Le Roy falls to 0-3.

The annual Lions Club dinner for senior players and coaches that are participating in the Lions Club Basketball Tournament was Monday night.

It is always one of the my favorite nights of the year, and is in fact the ninth one I've attended. It is always fun to sit down with area players and enjoy a a nice meal and talk hoops. 

You also can't put a price on the look on the kid's faces when the Lions members sing the Lions song.

Batavia won the championship last year with a 63-34 win over Notre Dame in the finals, giving the Blue Devils four straight, and seven of the last eight championships.

Two players from the all-tournament team return to play in this year's tournament as Batavia's Andrew Hoy and Notre Dame's Kevin Francis will be leading their respective squads.

The 27th annual tournament will be held Dec. 29-30 at Genesee Community College. Batavia will play Albion on the 29th at 7 p.m. with Notre Dame and Perry playing at 8:45 p.m.

The consolation game is on the 30th at 7 p.m., followed by the championships at 8:45 p.m.

The jayvee tournament will be held at Notre Dame with Batavia and Albion playing at 1 p.m. on the 29th and Notre Dame playing Perry right after. The consolation game is on the 30th at 1 p.m. with the finals to follow at 2:45 p.m.

The Batavian will have the biggest preview in the history of the tournament the week of the games.

Here are some video highlights and interviews from Monday's dinner.

Dylan Versage had a pair of goals, including the game winner 7 1/2 minutes into the third period for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish beat Immaculate Heart, 3-2, in the consolation game of the Radier Classic.

Jason Harasimowicz dished out three assists and Ivan Madafferi added a goal with a helper for Notre Dame (2-1).

Thomas Dehr had 21 saves.

The other local hockey team did not come away with a victory Saturday.

The Batavia hockey team fell to 1-2 with a 3-2 loss to Hilton.

Corey Gurski scored the game-winning goal at the 9:32 mark of the third period as Hilton improves to 3-0-1. 

Dan Kellman and Andrew Harris had the assists on the winning goal, with Harris and Collin Sawdy each getting a goal.

Pat Finnell  and Josh Moir had a goal each for the Blue Devils.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freshman Keri Soppe dropped in 20 points with three boards to earn tournament MVP as West Irondequoit downed Pembroke 48-36 in the finals of the Alden Tournament.

The Eagles had a seven minute long, 13-point run in the third quarter to pull away as Cecilia Sigrist pitched in seven points and 10 rebounds.

Danielle Smith led the way for the Dragons (1-1) with 10 points while all-tournament team selection Nicole Sharick pitched in eight points, 14 rebounds and three steals.

Kelsey Lewis had eight points with Natasha Powell and Katie Hackett pulling down seven boards apiece.

Irondequoit is 2-0.

Genesee Region All Stars: L to R: Volleyball – Liz Geandreau ’11 and Brittany Morelli ’09; Cross Country – Ashley Calarco ’09 [4^th straight year!] and Jill Marshall ’09. Jill also earned a Sectional patch for a 7^th place finish in this year’s Section V Class D meet in this her first year of Cross Country competition!

Nicole Mickey ’09 represented ND on the Genesee Region team vs. the Livingston County II team at Cal-Mum on Sunday, 11-9-08 in the Exceptional Senior Soccer game.

2008 GR League All Star selections from ND - L to R: Rick Lair ’09 [Lineman], Matt Thompson ‘10 [Kicker], Kevin Francis ’09 [Receiver] Craig Houseknecht ’09 [Lineman].

2008 Section V Class D Individual Awards earned during the 11-1-08 Class D Final Football game vs. Dundee – L to R: Justin Shenck ’09 [Sportsmanship Award], Rick Lair ’09 [Outstanding Offensive Lineman] and Craig Houseknecht ’09 [Outstanding Defensive Lineman].

Notre Dame High School will present its annual Holiday Pops dinner and concert on Sunday, December 7, 2008.

 When you look at the Notre Dame roster, the name Kevin Francis easily stands out.

The senior point guard has been one of the top players in the Genesee Region League over the last two seasons and was a GR all-star last year, pouring in 16.5 points with 5.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 5.1 steals per game. He dropped in 18 3-pointers.

There is no question that he is going to be the leader on the off the floor.

He had an established, solid supporting cast last season as the Fighting Irish, and the squad went 18-5 and earned the top seed in the Section 5 Class DD playoffs. ND ran into Elba in the semifinals and the Lancers came from 12 points back and sprung a 64-58 upset.

But gone are the likes of Christian Bochicchio, Joe Pawlak, Pat Mancuso and Mark Fanton. Instead, a strong group of youngsters will be taking the court to support Francis and try and get ND a sectional title.

There aren't a lot of returning scorers and you can expect junior Matt Thompson and sophomore Vinny Zambito to be major factors on the offensive end. Thompson is a pure shooter and Zambito is a scoring machine that led the jayvee squad a year ago.

Senior guard Kevin Schildwaster will also look to score. Backing up Francis will be junior Nick Bochicchio, who played quarterback on the football team and has the ability to lead things on the court when Francis needs a rest.

While Fanton was a true big-man for the Fighting Irish last year, standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 215 pounds, Notre Dame doesn't have anybody that can match his size.

But they might even be more physical in the paint.

Tommy Rapone is 6-foot-2, 225 pounds and very athletic for a big man. The junior will get a lot of playing time and try to keep a good group of big men in the GR out of the paint. His main focus will be defense and rebounding, but he also has the potential to score points when needed,

Senior Rick Lair is also 6-2 and weighs 185 pounds, but is a strong player that was a solid player on the football team. Senior Nick Weatherwax is the biggest player on the squad at 6-3 and is also physical.

A lot was made out of coach Mike Rapone's 500th victory last season, rightfully so, but this group doesn't have the pressure of trying to win that game for the legendary coach. 

Rapone became just the third coach in Section 5 history to get to the 500 win plateau (Jim Burke of Prattsburgh won No. 500 in the season opener this year) when Notre Dame beat Kendall midway through the season.

His current record is 509-133 and he is chasing Ed Nietopski of Bishop Kearney and Cardinal Mooney, who is the all-time leader with 545 victories. He has an outside chance of catching Scio legend Roger Bigby this season, as he ended his career with 527 wins.

In 29 years, Rapone has won 26 division titles, seven Section 5 titles, four Far West Regional championships and two state titles, with the last coming in 2001.

Rapone usually gets the most out of what he has, and this year's version of the Fighting Irish have a lot of talent. It is only a matter of getting the young players to mesh with the veterans and contribute with scoring.

 The Notre Dame hockey team had both offense and solid goalkeeping to start the season off with a 5-1 win over Bishop Kearney/Eastridge.

Ivan Madaferi, Jason Harasimowicz and Dylan Versage had a goal and an assist each with Jack Nenni and Sean Kota adding a gal apiece.

Thomas Dehr had 15 saves in net.

Riley Austin had the lone goal for the Kings (0-2).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pembroke boys basketball team evened up at 1-1 in getting a huge performance by Andy Gabbey.

The guard drained nine 3-pointers to score a game-high 32 points as the Dragons thumped Williamson 64-46.

Andrew Wright scored 13 points and Ken Babcock pitched in 11.

Caleb Burlee scored 20 points for Williamson (0-2).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Blue Devils trailed by 18 points at one point, but cut the deficit to six points with just over a minute left and went on to beat Warsaw 54-46 in the consolation game of the Warsaw Tournament.

Tate Westermeier had 15 points and Matt Sheffield added 11 for Attica (1-1)..

Holden Case had 14 points and seven boards for Warsaw (0-2).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Livonia jumped out to a 34-10 halftime lead and rolled to a 71-25 thumping of Alexander in the consolation game of the Alexander tournament.

Ryan Metz outscored the Trojans on his own, pouring in 14 of his game-high 26 points in the first half for Livonia (1-1).

Jared Quinn and Troy Shelnut had five points apiece for the Trojans (0-2).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wheatland-Chili won all four quarters, including a 20-4 run in the third quarter en route to a 65-36 victory over West Seneca in the consolation game of the Northstar Tournament.

Ricky Agosto (14 points), Andy Lund (13), Garhett Varin (12) and Evan Price (11) were all in double figures for the Wildcats, who improve to 1-1. Lund had 11 rebounds and Agosto added six.

Dylan Patterson had 17 points for West Seneca, out of Section 6.

Prattsburgh coaching legend Jim Burke knew victory No. 500 was going to come at a point, probably sooner than later.

His Viking squad overcame a tough Whitesville squad and got their coach that historic win with a 57-48 victory Friday night in the opening round of the Honeoye Holiday Classic.

"One reason why we are happy is that it puts us in the championship game tomorrow," said Burke, who now has a career record of 500-155. That was in the front of our minds. It was awesome because there were so many people here from Prattsburgh and there was a (celebration) afterwards. It was pretty awesome."

Whitesville only has eight players on the roster, but gave Prattsburgh everything they could handle, and the Vikings needed a big third quarter run to pull out the victory.

Burke and his team ended last season with a loss to Northstar Christian in the Class D finals, leaving him one win short of the milestone.

"What bothered us most last year was losing, not, not getting 500," said Burke, who is good friends with Notre Dame coach Mike Rapone, and even beat him when Rapone was at win No. 499 last season. "If you come back, you know you will win one more. It was tough for the kids with the great work ethic last year that didn't get a patch. That was the worst part of it."

When you have 500 wins, you have a lot of career highlights. Burke lists his top highlight as the 1991 season, when the Vikings went 29-0 and won the state title.

Prattsburgh will be playing Honeoye in tomorrow's championship game. Honeoye beat Genesee Valley 52-50 in the opening round.

"The weight is gone, especially for the kids" Burke said. "They had a card made up and everything before the game, so you know it was on their minds. It wasn't just the kids, but the community. They feel it and were talking about it. I'm so glad to get it off our shoulders so we can just go play."

Burke is not ready to commit to another year after this one, but if this is it would go out as one of the top coaches in Section 5 history.

"I will probably have some thinking to do over the summer," Burke said. "But it is getting close to the end. I'll know at the end of the season. There are a lot of factors involved."

 The Democrat & Chronicle released its preview capsules for Section 5 hockey teams, including Batavia and Notre Dame. They can be read here. 

Notre Dame junior Stephanie Lapple has been named to the All-Greater Rochester team by the Democrat & Chronicle.  

Lapple had the lowest scoring average in Section 5 this past fall, averaging 39.75 during eight golf matches. She tied for sixth at sectionals with a 90, earning a trip to states. She also won the City-Catholic qualifier with a 42.