Albion, Medina girls win B1 playoff openers
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s duo of Janae Doty (20) and Natalie DiCureia (2) try to grab a rebound from Olean’s Marina Mikefish during the host Purple eagles sectional win over the Lady Huskies this evening.
Coming on strong after a slow start, No. 4 seed Albion posted a 50-38 victory over visiting No. 13 Olean this evening in a Section VI Class B1 girls basketball playoff opener.
In another B1 opener, No. 10 Medina romped to a 69-15 victory over host No. 7 MST Prep in Buffalo.
Caitlynn Snook scored a game high 18 to lead a parade of 11 Albion point getters. Sierra Newton added 8, Cassidy Wolcott 5, Brylie Hapeman 4, Janae Doty 3 and Natalie DiCureia, Sarah Gregori, Elisabeth Baker, Natalie Lathrop, Lexi Wolck and Tess Pettit 2 each.
Justine Brooks scored 10 and Hannah Aiello and Marina Mikefish 8 each for Olean.
Albion’s Cassidy Wolcott looks to put up a shot as Justine Brooks and Elyse Graham move in to defend for Olean.
Plagued by a rash of early turnovers Albion fell behind 10-2 at the outset and trailed 12-9 at the end of the first period.
Battling back, Albion took the lead for the first time at 15-14 midway through the second period after a layup by Hapeman.
Consecutive baskets by Wolck, Snook and Hapeman upped the lead to five, 21-16, and the Purple Eagles maintained a slender 23-21, advantage at the half.
The Purple Eagles went on to build the lead to 11, 26-25, five minutes into the third period after an 11-2 run which included a three by Doty, a jumper and a layup by Snook, a rebound bucket by Newton and a layup by Pettit.
Late baskets by Wolcott and Lathrop boosted the Albion advantage to 13, 41-28, at the three-quarter mark.
The Purple Eagles put a lock on the win by opening the final stanza with a layup and a three-point play by Snook to up the lead to 18, 46-28.
Albion will next host No. 5 Fredonia at 7 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. Fredonia defeated Springville 57-38.
Medina 69, MST Prep 15
Roaring out to a 19-0 first period advantage, Medina went on to hold leads of 35-2 at the half and 53-10 at the three-quarter mark in registering the 69-15 victory over MST Prep.
Je’ne Brown scored 10 of her game high 24 points in the opening period and Camri King 10 of her 16 in the second quarter to get Medina off and rolling. Kharise Johnson and Maleyah Howard both added 6 and Maddie Williams 5 for the Mustangs.
Medina next visits No. 2 seed International Prep at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Tapestry 50, Barker 36
No. 6 Tapestry defeated visiting No. 11 Barker 50-36 in a Class C opener.
Gabby Baker scored 12, Haley Brown 8, Serena Harris 6, Sydnie Luckman and Kylie Miller 4 and Kylie Annable 2 for Barker which trailed 24-20 at the half.
Buffalo Arts 73, Roy-Hart 55
Ellie Todd scored 20, Maddie Fry 9 and Lexi Lovewell 8 for No. 11 Roy-Hart in a 73-55 loss to host No. 6 Buffalo Arts in a Class B2 contest.
Akron 64, Health Sciences 29
Darion Jonathan and Neely Abrams both scored 14, Helena Hill 13 and Elise Leeds 10 for No. 5 Akron in a 64-29 win over No. 12 Health Sciences in another B2 opener. The Lady Tigers will next visit No. 4 Wilson on Thursday.
