Irish start and finish strong to down Tigers

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 23 December 2021 at 9:47 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Noah Poler puts up a shot against Notre Dame defender Ryan Fitzpatrick during the host Tigers loss to the Irish this evening.

A fast start and a strong finish earned Notre Dame an 83-56 win over host Lyndonville in a Genesee Region League game this evening.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 25-7 first quarter lead and upped the advantage to 22 at 33-11 midway through the second period. Ryan Fitzpatrick scored 13 and Cody Henry 6 during that stretch.

However, Lyndonville came battling back with a 14-0 run to close the second period and slice the deficit to 8 at 33-25. Noah Poler scored 6, Jack Whipple 4 and Trenton Muck hit a three at the buzzer to highlight that rally.

Keeping the momentum, Lyndonville put together a 13-0 run to pull even at 40-40 midway through the third quarter. Threes by Muck, Mason Nicholson and Poler keyed that uprising.

Notre Dame though answered right back with a 16-7 run to close the period and regain the lead for good at 56-47 at the three-quarter mark. Jimmy Fanara and Fitzpatrick both had a two and a three during that surge.

The Tigers could get no closer than nine down the stretch as the Irish closed with a big 27-9 fourth quarter uprising. Fanara had two threes and Hayden Groff and Bryce Berry one each and Fitzpatrick 6 points to lead that uprising.

Fitzpatrick finished with a game high 26 points while Fanara had 20 and Henry and Groff 12 each.

Noah Poler had 23, Muck 12, Whipple 10, Nicholson 6 and Jimmy Poler 4 for Lyndonville.

The Irish improve to 5-1 and the Tigers slip to 1-5.

Lyndonville’s Jack Whipple puts up a shot as Jimmy Fanara defends for Notre Dame.