Barker cagers end long title drought, field hockey, X-C teams keep rolling

2014: The Year In Review

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Bryce Moeller (13) and his Raider teammates ended the school’s nearly 70 year long Niagara-Orleans League basketball title drought by capturing the championship with a perfect 14-0 record.

Ending a nearly 70 year long drought, the Barker High boys varsity basketball team compiled a perfect 14-0 record to capture the Raiders first Niagara-Orleans League title since the 1944-45 season.

The Raiders were led by seniors Jacob Haight and Mitch Luckman, who both earned first team N-O All-League honors, senior Bryce Moeller and junior Christopher Sweeney who were second team selections and senior Hayden Gooding who was an Honorable Mention pick.

Barker in fact compiled a 19-0 record before bowing 62-48 to Silver Creek in the semifinals of the Section VI Class C-1 playoffs.

In the fall, both the Barker field hockey and boys cross-country teams extended their N-O and Section VI title reigns.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Melissa Grosshans (23) and her Lady Raider teammates successfully defended their Section VI Class C title with a win over rival Akron. The Lady Raiders also successfully defended their N-O title.

The Barker field hockey team compiled a perfect 14-0 record to claim a ninth straight N-O championship. The Raiders two wins over runner-up Akron by margins of 1-0 and 4-0 highlighted that title campaign.

The Raiders went on to win a seventh straight Section VI Class C title by nipping Akron 2-1 in the finals.

However, the Lady Raiders bid for a return trip to the state final four was ended in the Far West Regional as East Rochester edged past Barker 1-0.

Barker had seniors Gabby Clare and Melissa Grosshans both earn first team All-Western New York honors.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Sergio Cruz, shown here in the lead at the All-League meet, helped lead the Raiders to a successful defense of both their N-O and Section VI Class D titles.

The Barker boys cross-country captured the N-O championship for the second year in a row and the sixth time in the last seven years by romping to a 42 point victory over runner-up Albion at the All-League meet held at Lakeside Beach State Park.

Barker junior Sergio Cruz repeated as the All-League meet’s individual winner to lead the Raiders which also had Doug Bachman, Jack Hopkins and Dustin Walters sweep the fourth through sixth spots and Casey Webb and Christopher Sweeney take the eighth and ninth spots.

Barker then successfully defended its Section VI Class D title by besting runner-up Maple Grove.

The Raiders went on to finish a close second (74 points to 80) to Beaver River at the state championships as Cruz earned All-State honors with a top 20 finish. It marked the seventh straight year that Barker has finished in the top three at the state meet.