Albion rebounds to down Lyndonville

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Zach Johnson puts up a shot between Albion defenders Shyheim Jakes (15) and Deyonci Farley (5) during the host Tigers loss to the Purple Eagles this evening.

Pulling away down the stretch, Albion rebounded from a 27 point season opening loss on Thursday to defeat host Lyndonville 77-55 this evening in a non league boys basketball game.

Up be eight, 53-45, at the three-quarter mark. Albion used a big 24-10 fourth period scoring burst to lock up the win and bounce back from a 72-45 loss to LeRoy on Thursday.

Albion upped its lead to 15, 65-50, midway through the period as a three by Kevin Hillman and a layup off a turnover by Liam Ward capped off a 12-5 run.. Deyonci Farley also had a rebound bucket, Bryce Prtichard a jumper and Demetrius Gardner a layup during that key stretch.

Two more threes by Hillman upped the lead to 21 at 73-51 with two minutes to go.

Bryce Pritchard puts up a shot for Albion as Matt Hess tries for a block.

“They came out ready to play a whole game and I’m very proud of their effort,” said first year Albion Coach David Kozar. “They played well in the first half and they played very good in the second half. It was a good overall team win.”

Leading by a slender one point, 33-32, margin at the half, Albion began to pull away in the third period with a 20-13 scoring edge. Ward hit two threes and Pritchard and Dylan Fox one each to help the Purple Eagles open up as much as a 13 point, 53-40 advantage.

Lyndonville did cut the deficit to eight, 53-45, on a jumper by Matt Hess and a three-point play by Nathan Poler to close the period but the Tigers would get no closer.

Pritchard scored a game high 25 points to lead Albion as Hillman added 14, Ward 10, Farley 8, Gardner 8, Hunter Webster 5, Shyheim Jakes 4 and Fox 3.

Zach Johnson poured in 24 to pace Lyndonville as Poler had 10, Brody Brown 8, Hess 5, Ricky Forder 5 and Nathan Dillenbeck 3.

Pritchard had a two and a three, Gardner two buckets from close range and Hillman a three to help Albion take a 17-15 lead at the end of the first period.  Johnson tallied 10 and Poler 5 in the stanza to keep Lyndonville close.

Pritchard then erupted for 13 points in the second period on three layups, a jumper, a three and two free throws to help the Purple Eagles maintain a slender 33-32 half-time advantage.  Johnson had 7 in the period for the Tigers.

The Purple Eagles then outpointed the Tigers 44-24 in the second half to claim the win.

The contest was the season opener for Lyndonville.

Akron 53, Barker 52

Akron nipped Barker 53-52 in the Niagara-Orleans League opener for both teams.

Nelson Logan and Adam Mietz both scored 10 points for Akron while Austin Sullivan tallied a game high 16 and Nick Brandt 9 for Barker.

Lyndonville’s Ricky Forder grabs a rebound between Albion’s Brad Sanford (14) and Hunter Webster (21).