Mustangs nip Tigers to hold share of N-O lead

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Christian Drisdom goes in for a layup against Akron defender David Kalinowski during the Mustangs narrow one point home court win over the Tigers this afternoon.

Surviving a late scare, Medina edged past visiting Akron 57-56 this afternoon to maintain a share of the Niagara-Orleans League boys basketball lead.

Medina improves to 7-1 and remains deadlocked for first place with Newfane which downed Roy-Hart 57-44.

A three point play by Joe Cecchini, a three by Christian Drisdom and a free throw by  Tyler Chinn gave Medina a seven point, 54-47, lead midway through the decisive final quarter.

Two free throws by Jarin Rhim then helped to offset a three by Akron’s Josh Mazza to keep the Mustangs up by six, 56-50, with 2:20 remaining.

Akron though battled back to within two at 56-54 with 1:27 remaining after a pair of free throws by Adam Mietz and a layup off a turnover by Jake Mazza.

A free throw by Chinn put Medina back up by three, 57-54, with 13 seconds to go for what proved to be the game winning point.

Akron did slice the deficit to one, 57-56 with five seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Mietz.  The Tigers got the ball back one more time after a missed Mustangs free throw opportunity but misfired on a long half court shot at the buzzer.

Medina’s Brian Fry drives to the basket against Akron’s Mitchell Holtz.

Brian Fry finished with a game high 17 and Drisdom had 16 to lead Medina as Chinn and Rhim each added 6, Cecchini 5 and Matt Henning 3.

Mietz led Akron with 16 as Holtz added 13, Jake Mazza 10, Josh Mazza 8, Jack Fowler 5 and David Kalinowski 4.

Akron jumped out to leads of 11-8 after the first period and 36-27 at the half.

Holtz had 11, including two threes, Mietz 8, including two threes, and Jake Mazza 8 over the first two periods for the Tigers. Drisdom tallied 10 to pace the Mustangs during that stretch.

Medina though came storming back in the third period outscoring Akron 20-5 to take a 47-40 lead at the three-quarter mark.

Fry spearheaded the Mustangs rally with 11 points in the stanza on two layups, a jumper, a three point play and a layup off a steal.

That set the stage for the exciting stretch run as the Mustangs held off a late Tigers rally to claim the slender win and maintain a share of the N-O lead heading into Tuesday’s game at rival Albion. Click here to view the last 30 seconds of the game.

Newfane 57, Roy-Hart 44

Newfane kept hold of a share of the N-O lead by downing visiting Roy-Hart 57-44 as Sam Capen scored 21 and Zach Snow and Jeremy Foltz 10 each.

Rhett Goodwin scored 14, Aiden Petrie 12 and Gavyn Boyle 10 for Roy-Hart which trailed 17-15 after one quarter, 28-21 at the half and 40-35 at the three-quarter mark.

Wilson 54, Barker 41

Trailing by eight, 44-36, after three quarters, Wilson rallied to outpoint Barker 18-7 in the decisive final period to claim the narrow 54-51 victory.

Ben Lyman hit two threes and Michael Miller had a three and a two to lead the late surge by the Lakemen. Miller finished with a game high 21.

Brad Cantrell scored 19 to lead Barker as Joey Brandt and Nicholas Guevara both had 8 and Devonte Hill 7.

N-O Standings: Medina 7-1, Newfane 7-1, Akron 4-3, Albion 4-3, Roy-Hart 2-6, Wilson 2-6, Barker 1-7.