Area cagers set to begin sectional playoffs

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Albion, Medina, Lyndonville, Barker and Roy-Hart will all host sectional playoff games this coming week. Here’ Albion’s Clayton Stanton puts up a shot against Medina defender Brennan Zinkievich during a regular season contest.

It’s playoff time and Medina, Albion, Lyndonville, Barker and Roy-Hart will all have home games this week as Section V and Section VI basketball tournament action gets underway.

Seeded No. 3, the Medina boys squad will host a Section VI Class B1 quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Friday.

Bringing a 12-6 record into the sectionals, Medina has earned a double bye in the 15 team B1 field and will host either City Honors, Eden or Depew.

No. 14 Eden will face No. 11 City Honors on Tuesday with the winner taking on No. 6 Depew Wednesday. The winner of that game will then visit Medina on Friday.

“City Honors is the X factor in that group. They play an up tempo game and are very athletic,” sad Medina Coach Tom Forrestel. “We’re looking forward to the playoffs. We’ve had some unfortunate late season injuries but there have been a lot of positives tho season. We’ve played well together as a team and we’ve got as deep as we can get in the lineup.”

Offensively, the Mustangs have been led by Munjie Brown who has averaged 15.8 points and 11.4 rebounds and Jason Hellwig who is averaging 8.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Brown and Josh Cuadrado have both missed the last two games after being injured in a car accident.

The No. 6 seed Albion boys will host No. 11 Pioneer in a Section VI Class A2 pre-quarterfinal round contest at 7 p.m. Wednesday with the winner visiting No. 3 Maryvale in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Ryan Fannin is averaging 10.6 points and 9.5 rebounds for the 7-11 Purple Eagles as Des Blackmon averages 9.7 points, Austin Loyd 7.2 and Clayton Stanton 7.2 rebounds.

Seeded No. 2, the Albion girls will host a Class A2 quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Thursday. The 12-6 Purple Eagle will face the winner of Tuesday’s opening round game between No. 7 Cheektowaga and No. 10 Iroquois.

Chanyce Powell has scored 213 points and grabbed off 130 rebounds during the regular season for the Purple Eagles as Justice Nauden had 208 points and 78 rebounds, Kelsee Soule 151 points and 94 rebounds and Sarah Metzler 117 points and 63 rebounds.

The Lyndonville girls will get sectional action underway Tuesday as the No. 8 Lady Tigers will host No. 9 Avoca at 7 p.m. in a Section V Class D1 contest. The winner will advance to a quarterfinal round contest at top seeded Romulus (18-0) on Friday.

The undefeated (18-0) Niagara-Orleans League champion Barker boys squad is the No. 1 seed in the Section VI Class C1 bracket. The Raiders will host the winner of Wednesday’s contest between No. 9 Portville and No. 8 Maritime Charter in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday.

Jacob Haight, who is averaging 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.25 steals and 4.1 assists leads Barker which also has Mitch Luckman averaging 14.3 points and 4.6 rebounds, Bryce Moeller 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.9 blocks and Christopher Sweeney 9.8 points.

The No. 5 Roy-Hart boys will host a Section VI Class B 2 pre quarterfinal contest at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s opening round game between No. 13 JFK and No. 12 Southwestern.

The Genesee Region League Division 1 champion Kendall boys squad will open on the road Friday as the No. 5 Eagles visit No. 4 Lyons at 7 p.m. in a Section V Class C2 quarterfinal.

Kendall, which went 12-6 during the regular season, features a balanced attack as Mookie Nauden is averaging 10.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6 assists, Garret Love 10.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, Isaiah Brown 9.7 points ad 8 rebounds, Devin Appleton 8.9 points, Alex Sutphen 8.2 points and Will Condo 7.3 points and 6 rebounds.

“I love that balance,” said Kendall Coach Justin Laureano. “We have a very balanced attack and that makes it difficult for other teams to defend.”

In the Section V C1 bracket, the No. 11 Holley boys squad visits No. 6 Early College at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The No. 13 Lyndonville boys squad will visit No. 4 Fillmore in Class D1 at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Medina girls are seeded No. 12 in the Section VI B1 bracket and will visit No. 5 Eden and in Class B2 No. 13 Roy-Hart travels to No. 4 Salamanca with both games at 7 p.m. Tuesday. On Thursday, No. 5 Barker visits No. 4 Silver Creek at 7 p.m. in Class C1.

The No. 10 Kendall girls will visit No. 7 Cuba-Rushford at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Section V Class C2 with the winner taking on No. 2 Pembroke on Saturday.

In Class C!, No. 11 Holley visits No. 6 Bloomfield at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with the winner advancing to No. 3 Gananda on Saturday.