Albion gives top seeded East a scare

Top seeded East High of Buffalo needed a big fourth quarter rally to edge past visiting upset minded No. 8 Albion 67-63 this evening in a Section VI Class B1 quarterfinal round playoff game.

Trailing 51-46 at the three-quarter mark, East rallied to outscore Albion 21-12 in the decisive quarter quarter to claim the narrow win. An 8-0 scoring run at the outset, which rallied East into a 54-51 lead, ignited that decisive rally.

Albion had grabbed a 9-0 lead at the outset and held a 21-15 advantage at the end of the opening period. Christian Doty scored 6 and Damion Lattimer 5 to lead the Purple Eagles in the early going.

The Purple Eagles went on to hold leads of 38-29 at the half and 51-46 after three quarters.  Bailey Blanchard scored 7 in the second period and Doty 8 in the third for Albion.

Blanchard and Doty each finished with 17 as Chris Shabazz added 8 and Lattimer 7.

“They are the No. 1 seed so nobody really expected us to do much but we played hard,” said Albion Coach Travis Downs.

Class B3

No. 8 seed Wilson upset top seeded JFK 44-40 in a Class B3 quarterfinal as two free throws by Jared Jaques in the final 10 seconds locked up the win.

No. 6 seed Roy-Hart gained home court advantage for Thursday’s semifinal round as No. 7 Cleveland Hill upset No. 2 Southwestern 49-26. The Rams advanced as their scheduled quarterfinal round opponent, No. 3 Allegany-Limestone, had to drop out due to a Covid-19 related pause.

Girls Class B2 sectionals

No. 3 seeded Southwestern downed visiting No. 6 Roy-Hart 89-36 in a Class B2 quarterfinal.

Rileigh McCabe scored 10, Shelby Wolf 7 and Mya Quinn 6 to pace Roy-Hart.

In another B2 quarterfinal, No. 4 Akron downed No. 5 Olmsted 54-41.

In a Class B1 quarterfinal on Monday top ended City Honors downed No. 8 Newfane 70-22.