Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s duo of Jalin Cooper and Je’ne Brown enjoyed record setting scoring seasons for the Mustangs.

Ironically both wearing uniform No. 1,  two Medina High underclassmen, sophomore Je’ne Brown and junior Jalin Cooper, have etched their names into the Mustangs basketball scoring record book this season.

Brown set a new girls single season scoring record with 427 points breaking the old mark of 392 set by Erin Oveis during the 1997-98 season.

A two year starter, Brown now has a career total of 690 points.

She also had a big season on the boards grabbing off 252 rebounds upping her career total to 448.

Brown also had 58 blocks and 29 steals on the season.

On the boys side, Cooper, a three year starter, scored 458 points to tie the Mustangs single season record set by Jim Snyder during the 1988-89 campaign.

The record tying effort ups Cooper’s career total to 915 points.

He likewise had a big season on the boards with 207 rebounds to increase his career total to 550.

Cooper also had 66 steals, 58 assists and 37 blocks on the season.

“They are both exceptional athletes,” said Medina Athletic Director Eric Valley. “It’s really also a testament to the fine coaches and teams they’ve had around them which has helped them shine and bloom.”

Runner-up Sacred Heart combined a 39-31 win over JR Wilson with front-running Legion’s 37-33 loss to Vets Club Monday to close to within two points of the Medina Euchre League lead.

Now in front by a slender two point margin, Legion is 794-746 on the season followed by Sacred Heart 792-748, JR Wilson 775-765 and Vets Club 719-821.

League competition continues on March 13 with Legion at Vets Club and Sacred Heart at JR Wilson.

Photo by Mike Wertman – The local contingent of Genesee Region League All-Star wrestlers includes, in front, Braxton Leary-Hart (Holley-Kendall), Dustin Hinckley (Lyndonville) and Jeremy Browe (Holley-Kendall). In back is the Lyndonville trio of Dustin Joy, Jeff Gress Jr. and Chase Stinson.

Six local wrestlers have earned Genesee Region League All-Star honors.

That group includes the Lyndonville quartet of seniors Jeff Gress Jr. (126), Dustin Joy (145) and Dustin Hinckley (160) along with sophomore Chase Stinson (113).

Holley-Kendall has placed the duo of senior Braxton Leary-Hart (182) and junior Jeremy Browe (152).

Gress, who compiled a 50-9 record, won a Section V Class B title, placed second at the Section V championships and fourth at the state championships.

Joy, who was 49-7, and Hinckley, who was 38-7, also both qualified for the state championships. Hinckley won a Class B title and placed second at the Section V championships while Joy placed second at Class B and third at the sectionals.

Leary-Hart, who went 34-9,  and Browe, who was 29-9, both placed second at the Class BB tournament.

Medina 2 played to a 3-3 tie with Mullane Motors in a Lockport Indoor Soccer League game at the Kenan Center over the weekend.

Colby Albone scored 2 goals and Caelan Holland 1 for Medina 2 which is now 1-1-1 on the season.

Both goalkeepers, Trevor Hare for Medina 2 and Cody Hayes for Mullane, played great games.

The Medina 1 team dropped a narrow 5-4 decision to Mullane in a back-and-forth contest.

Steven Daskavitz scored 2 goals for Medina 1. Hannah Hamilton added a goal and an assists, JP Pietrafesa a goal and Owen Fraser an assist.

Medina 1 is now 1-3.

The Tri County Bantam Travel team competed in the state amateur hockey championships over the weekend.

In the openning round, which was played at the Cornerstone Arena in Lockport, Tri County dropped an 11-0 decision to North Country.

Tri County then bowed out of the tourney after losses to Bedford 6-1 and Onondaga 15-3.

Mike Holding scored Tri County’sgoal against Bedford to keep it a close 3-1 game after two periods.  However, Bedford scored three unanswered goals in the final period to lock up the win.

Jeremiah Rausch, Jake Esposito and Trevor Wiesner then each scored a goal against Onondaga.
Now at 13-16-2, Tri County will close out the season by competing in a tournament at Niagara Falls March 17-19.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Wilson’s Jen Darlak puts up a shot against Medina defender Je’ne Brown during the Lakewomen’s win over the Mustangs this evening in the Section VI Class B2 championship game this evening at Buffalo State College.

A big first half scoring surge powered No. 3 seed Wilson to a 60-33 victory over No. 5 Medina in an all Niagara-Orleans League Section VI Class B2 championship game this evening at Buffalo State College.

Medina did take an 8-5 lead midway through the first period as Maddie Winters hit a three and Molley Gross scored on a layup.  However, the Mustangs would not score from the field again until just two seconds remained in the first half.

Wilson answered right back with a decisive 19-1 turnover aided scoring surge over the next eight minutes to take control, an uprising keyed by the Lakewomen’s tight, aggressive man-to-man defense.

Medina’s Maddie Winters puts up a shot over Wilson defender Shea Munnikhuyen.

Wilson moved on top to stay at 14-9 by closing the first period with a 9-1, including 7 by Rachel Senek who had a total of 10 points in the quarter.

Keeping the momentum, Wilson then opened the second period with a turnover aided 10-0 run to quickly extend the lead to 15 at 24-9.

Three straight baskets off turnovers by Kayla Neumann ignited that uprising which also included a jumper by Emily Kelly and a layup by Senek off another turnover.

“I was real pleased with our defense, that really was key,” said Wilson Coach Brian Baker. “And I was pleased with the way we rebounded that helped get our transition game going.”

Wilson held a 13 point, 26-13 lead at the half and maintained a commanding 17 point, 41-24, advantage at the three-quarter mark.

Senek tallied 9 and Jen Darlak 5 in the third period which saw the Lakewomen lead by as many as 19 at 38-19.

Senek finished with a game high 24 points, including 12 of 18 from the free throw line.  Neumann added 15, Kelly 7, Darlak 5, Shea Munnikhuyen 4, Anna Frerichs 3 and Sarah Lewis 2.

Gross scored 10 to lead Medina as Williams and Je’ne Brown both had 9, Camri King 3 and Maddie Winters 2.

Wilson now faces B1 champion Fredonia for the overall Section VI Class B title and a berth in the state playoffs on Wednesday at Buffalo State.  It will be an interesting rematch for Wilson which has lost to Fredonia in the Class B2 semifinals each of the last two years.. Fredonia upended top seeded Depew 54-49 for the B1 title.

Wilson, which has now captured a sectional title five of the last eight years, will take a 20-3 record into the state qualifier.

Medina, which was making its first appearance in the sectional finals since 1998, winds up at 17-6.

Wilson’s Rachel Senek peeks through the outstretched arms of Medina defenders Molley Gross (23), Emily Kams (5) and Je’ne Brown (1) to put up a shot.

Contributed Photo – Medina’s Chris Johnson, left, and Hassan Barulich, center, go for the rebound of a Dominick Callara (right) shot against Roy-Hart.

The Medina youth basketball team wrapped the season up with a win on Saturday, defeating host Roy-Hart.

Lavonn Guy led the scoring with 12 points, while Chris Johnson added 9, Aidan Pitts 8, Justin Pitts 5, Hassan Barulich 4, Amari Soule 4, Cayden Lilleby 3, and Josh Wilson 2.

The team finished the season with a 6-2 record, notching victories over Roy-Hart (twice), Lyndonville, Barker, Newfane, and Wilson.

Guy also led the scoring for the season, tallying 123 points, good for a 15.4 average. Aidan Pitts contributed 46 on the year, Justin Pitts 41, and Chris Johnson 34.

Additional members of the squad included Alex Benz, Xavier Bloom, Dominick Callara, Julio Doval, Brody Fry, Aiden Paul, Dominick Rosselli, and Hunter Stephens.

The Batavia Ramparts finished the New York State 14U Tier III Tournament today with two losses, ending their season with a record of 27-7- 2  having scored 269 goals while giving up 76.

The morning contest against White Plains from the Hudson Valley ended in a 7-5 loss.  Alex Totten opened the scoring, but White Plains has a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.  Max Hutchins brought the Ramparts within 1, but White Plains scored three quick goals, before Vinnie DiRisio scored for a 3-6 deficit after two periods.  Totten and Jed Reese brought the Ramparts back to 5-6, but the Ramparts could not score further.

In the afternoon, DiRisio opened the scoring against the Icemen of Norfolk– Norwood and that held until the second period when Batavia fell behind 2-3 on another goal by DiRisio and three by Norfolk– Norwood.  They added a final score in the third period to ice the win.

Leading from wire to wire, top seeded East Aurora defeated No. 3 Newfane 75-39 in the Section VI  boys basketball tournament Class B1 championship game this afternoon at Buffalo State College.

The Blue Devils, which held leads of 18-11 after one quarter, 36-21 at the half and 54-30 at the three-quarter mark, were sparked offensively by the duo of Nick Montgomery who had 24 points and Cal McTigue with 21.

East Aurora used a 13-1 second quarter run to open up the 15 point half-time lead and a 16-5 run to close the third period to extend the advantage to 24 heading into the final period.

Max Weber scored 15 and Kyle DeVoogel 14 to lead the Panthers.

In the Class B2 title contest,  No. 4 Health Sciences defeated No. 3 Lackawanna 63-48.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Freddrica King, left, is shown in action during the Mustangs 1997 Class B2 championship win over East Aurora. At right, Medina’s Erin Oveis is shown in action during the Mustangs 1996 B2 title win over Starpoint.

A nearly 20 year old drought will come to an end when Medina faces Niagara-Orleans League foe Wilson in the Section VI Class B2 girls basketball tournament championship game at 6 p.m. Sunday at Buffalo State College.

It will mark Medina’s first appearance in the title contest since the Mustangs played in four straight Class B2 championship games from 1995-1998.

During that memorable run the Mustangs captured back-to-back B2 championships in 1996 and 1997 by first defeating Starpoint 36-30 and then by downing East Aurora 56-45.  That historic first ever sectional championship win over Starpoint avenged a 1995 title loss to the Lady Spartans by a narrow 51-49 margin. Alden also downed Medina 68-41 in the 1998 final.

Seniors Jennifer Culver and Kathy Quackenbush, junior Erin Oveis, sophomores Freddrica King and Andrea Irons and eighth grader Helen King led Medina into the 1995 sectionals which ignited that run.  Freddrica King is now the Mustangs JV coach.

The Mustangs scored consecutive wins over Fredonia (63-34), Southwestern (59-49) and East Aurora (71-56) before being nipped in the title contest by Starpoint 51-49 at Buffalo State College.

Trailing by nine early in the final period, Medina rallied back into a 49-49 tie late with a big 16-7 run capped off by a three by Irons.  Starpoint though pulled out the win on a basket by Holly Miskey with 10 seconds to go.

However, Medina got revenge the following year by besting Starpoint in the championship game 36-30 at Erie Community College City campus.

Now a senior, Oveis scored 18 to spearhead the offense for Medina whose regular lineup also featured Irons and Freddrica King, now both juniors, and Helen King, now a freshman, along with senior Jennifer Didas and sophomore Darla McKee.

Holding a slender 28-26 lead, Medina got a key late 7-0 run including a jumper and rebound basket by Oveis and a jumper by Irons to help lock up the title.

The Mustangs and Lady Spartans had shard the N-O title that season at 12-2.

Medina advanced to the title contest by defeating Cheektowaga 61-26, Fredonia 62-44 and top seeded Iroquois 49-38 in the semifinals. Oveis scored 20 and Freddrica King 11 in the semi victory.

The Mustangs then made it two straight B2 championships by downing East Aurora 56-45 in the 1997 title contest with a lineup which included the veteran quartet of now seniors Freddrica King and Irons,  McKee, a junior, and Helen King ,a sophomore, along with senior Mollie Sullivan and junior Laquita Amos.

Freddrica King scored 22 and McKee 18 to lead Medina in the title contest as Irons had 10 and Helen King 6.

Up by only one at 39-38 early in the final period, Medina put together a  14-4 run including 8 by McKee and 6 by Freddrica King to pull away to a 53-42 lead and lock up the win.

Medina advanced to the finals by downing Allegany-Limestone 72-50 in the quarterfinals and then nipping N-O rival Roy-Hart 52-48 in overtime in the semifinals.

Irons and Sullivan both had key baskets in the overtime period which saw the lead change hands four times. Irons scored a total of 15 in the contest as Sullivan and Freddrica King both added 10.

Medina again advanced to the final in 1998 led by now seniors McKee and Amos and junior Helen King along with senior Lyndia Bielicki, junior Brooke Callara and freshman Karen Eick.

The Mustangs opened with a 65-41 win over Eden and then scored an incredible come-from-behind 63-62 victory over Fredonia in the quarterfinals.

Trailing by 22, 55-33, early in the final period, the Mustangs put together a huge 30-7 run to claim the win as King scored 21 of her 32 points including a three with three seconds to go to pull Medina within two.

Amos then capped off the dramatic rally by making three pressure free throws with no time showing on the clock. She was fouled while throwing up a desperation three point shot attempt after stealing Fredonia’s inbounds pass attempt.

Keeping the momentum, Medina then defeated Traditional 47-31 in the semifinals. McKee scored 17 and King 10 for the Mustangs which used a 28-5 second half scoring surge to erase a 26-19 half-time deficit.

However, in the title contest Alden raced out to a 37-12 advantage at the half and went on to down Medina 68-41.  The Mustangs were stymied in the first half by 15 turnovers and 6 of 29 field goal shooting.

Overall it truly was a Golden Era as in addition to the four straight sectional title appearances and two Class B2 championships, the Mustangs also captured four straight N-O titles while going 50-6 in the league and 78-19 overall.

Medina players celebrate their 1996 Class B2 sectional title win over Starpoint.