Albion tops Newfane to grab N-O lead

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Deyonci Farley takes a shot over Newfane defenders Garrett Srock and Cade Littman during the Purple Eagles key home court win over the Panthers this evening.

Taking over sole possession of first place, Albion edged past visiting Newfane 53-46 this evening in a key Niagara-Orleans League clash of unbeatens.

Three free throws by Deyonci Farley and two by Chris Shabazz in the final 20 seconds locked up the victory for Albion which improves to 6-0 at the midway point of the N-O season as Newfane slips into the runner-up spot at 5-1.

Bailey Blanchard led Albion’s balanced offense with 10 as Farley, Shabazz and Kevin Hillman each added 9, Liam Ward 7, Anthony Freeman 6 and Elijah Lloyd 3.

Garrett Srock took game high honors with 17 to pace Newfane as Josh Everett had 12 Connor MacEvoy 5, Michael Carmer 4, Sam Capen and Jeremy Foltz 3 and Cade Littman 2.

Long range shooting was the norm in the opening period as Albion had a 5-3 edge in threes to take a 19-14 lead.

Freeman hit two threes while Hillman, Farley and Blanchard each chipped in with one for the Purple Eagles during that stretch while Everett had two and Foltz one for the Panthers.

Albion’s Liam Ward drives by Newfane defender Sam Capen.

Albion extended its lead to 12, 26-14, three minutes into the second quarter after a 7-0 run on a layup by Shabazz and a three and a layup off a steal by Ward.

However, Newfane answered with a 10-4 run to close the period and cut the deficit in half to 30-24 at the half. Srock had six to key that rally.

The third period saw Albion take a seven point, 36-29, lead at the midway point after a layup by Hillman and a rebound bucket by Blanchard.

Newfane though again came rallying back this with time with an 8-0 run, including a pair of threes by Everett, to grab what proved to be a brief 37-36 lead.

The Purple Eagles though regained the lead for good at 39-37 on a three by Lloyd with just two seconds to go in the period.

The teams then traded scores for the first six minutes of the final period.

Srock scored on three layups and Capen hit a three for the Panthers while Blanchard had a three and a jumper and Shabazz a three for the Purple Eagles during that stretch which finished with Albion holding a very slender 48-46 lead with less than two minutes to go.

Neither team could find the range for the remainder of the contest as Newfane missed several opportunities to pull even.

Albion finally locked up the key win in the final 20 seconds on the three free throws by Farley followed by two by Shabazz.

(Click here to see Albion’s Chris Shabazz finish an Albion possession with a rebound bucket.)

Wilson 51, Medina 43
Trailing 24-23 at the half, Wilson rallied to outscore visiting Medina 28-19 in the second half to claim the 51-43 N-O victory.

Luke Bradley scored 19, Ben Mahar 8 and Mike Miller 7 for Wilson which improves to 3-2 in N-O action.

Tyler Chinn scored 13 and Nate Sherman 10 for Medina which slips to 2-4.

Roy-Hart 74, Barker 51
Roy-Hart raced out to a 36-16 half-time advantage in route to posting a 74-51 win over Barker.

Tom Ragonese scored 17, Rhett Goodwin 11 and Jamel Johnson Jr. 10 for Roy-Hart which is now 2-4 in league play.

Hunter Callen scored 17 and Evan Taylor 13 for Barker which slips to 0-6.