Late surge lifts Albion girls past Medina

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 7 January 2016 at 12:00 am

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Chanyce Powell shoots over Medina defenders Molley Gross (23) and Maddie Williams (13) during the Purple Eagles win over the host Mustangs this evening.

Putting together a late turnover aided scoring surge, Albion trimmed host Medina 46-38 this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League girls basketball game.

Trailing 38-37, Albion closed the game with a 9-0 run to claim the win and improve to 3-2 in N-O competition.

Two free throws by Chanyce Powell, a scoring chance which came off a turnover, put Albion back on top to stay at 39-38.

Emily Blanchard followed up by hitting a clutch three from the corner off another turnover to make it 42-38.

The Purple Eagles then closed out the victory on a rebound bucket by Caitlynn Snook and two more free throws by Powell.

Powell finished with 17 as Snook and Sierra Newton both had 10, Natalie DiCureia 4, Blanchard 3 and Sierra Chudy 2.

Je’ne Brown took game high honors with 23 for Medina as Maddie Williams had 7, Maddie Winters 3, Allison Bensley and Molley Gross 2 and Holly Heil 1.

Getting baskets from five different players, Albion jumped out to a 10-5 first quarter lead.

However, Medina answered back with an 11-6 second quarter scoring edge, including 6 by Brown, to pull into a 16-16 tie at the half. Snook accounted for all of Albion’s points during that stretch with three baskets.

Medina’s Je’ne Brown shoots over Albion defender Caitlynn Snook.

Keeping the momentum, Medina moved out to a 23-18 lead early in the third period after a jumper and layup by Brown followed by a three by Williams.

The sea-saw action though continued as Albion answered the challenge with a 10-0 run to close the quarter and regain a five point, 28-23, advantage.

Two free throws by Newton, followed by a layup off a steal by DiCureia, triggered that rally which was capped off by six straight points by Powell on four free throws and a jumper.

The Purple Eagles extended the advantage to seven, 34-27, midway through the fourth quarter after a 6-0 run on two free throws by Powell followed by a pair of layups by Newton.

Medina though came battling back to regain the lead for way proved to be the last time at 38-37 after an 11-3 run which was started by a jumper by Gross and a layup off a steal by Winters and capped off by seven straight points by Brown on a layup, a three and two free throws.

However, the final rally and the victory belonged to Albion on clutch tallies by Powell, Blanchard and Snook in the last minute and a half.

The loss drops Medina to 2-3 in N-O action.

Newfane 42, Roy-Hart 35
Emily Fotlz had 18 points and 15 steals and Olivia Littman and Halie Hambruch each chipped in with 7 points to lead undefeated 5-0) Newfane past Roy-Hart (1-4) 42-35.

Emma Lindke scored 11 for Roy-Hart which trailed by only one, 18-17 at the half.

Wilson 61, Barker 31
Undefeated (5-0) defending champion Wilson roared out to a 37-6 half-time advantage and went on to defeat Barker (2-3) 61-31.

Serina Jaeger had 13 points, Kayla Neumann 11, Rachel Senek 10 and Lauren Curturier 8 to lead the Wilson offense. Jaeger also had 12 rebounds, Neumann 12 steals and Senek 8 rebounds.

Caitlyn Mason scored 10 and Lindsey Williams 9 for Barker.

N-O Standings

Newfane 5-0, Wilson 5-0, Albion 3-2, Barker 2-3, Medina 2-3, CSAT 1-3, Roy-Hart 1-4, Akron 0-4.

Medina’s Maddie Winters battles with Albion’s Sierra Newton for a rebound.

Albion’s Caitlynn Snook puts up a shot as Maddie Winters (00) and Je’ne Brown (1) defend for Medina.