Contributed Photos – Medina JV players in action include, clockwise from left: Nate Sherman (10), Brian Fry (2), Tyler Chinn (3). Photos by Morgan Ferris.

The Medina JV boys basketball team, led by coach Eric Hellwig, wrapped up their season with an 11-8 overall record including going 7-5 in the Niagara-Orleans league.

The JV Mustangs were a young team, starting only one sophomore, and posted wins over league opponents Roy-Hart (twice), Wilson (twice), Akron, Barker, and Newfane. Victories in the non-league schedule included Buffalo Academy of Science, Burgard, CSAT, and Elba.

Freshman Nate Sherman led the squad in scoring, tallying 216 points (11.4 ave) and rebounding with 137 boards.

Eighth grader Brian Fry contributed 175 points (9.2 ave), 100 rebounds, 75 assists, and 65 steals. Fellow eighth grader Tyler Chinn added 154 points (8.6 ave), 90 rebounds, 67 assists, and 73 steals.

Seventh grader Emmanual Taylor chipped in 121 points (7.6 ave) and 103 rebounds, while sophomore Daemon Shatara rounded out the Mustangs starting lineup adding 108 points (5.7 ave) and 135 rebounds.

Additional members of the team include sophomores William Braswell and Tavian Rhim, freshman Rylend Callicutt, and seventh grader Jarin Rhim.

Provided photo

A team from Lyndonville won a youth basketball tournament today at home in Lyndonville, and was crowned champion of a league that included two teams from Lyndonville, and teams from Albion, Akron, Wilson and Newfane.

The Lyndonville team of fifth and sixth graders includes, front row, from left: Marijke Isaacson, Josie Dusett, Gianna Romano, Haley Shaffer and Lorelei Dillenbeck. Back row: Assistant Coach Jenn Smith, Kylie Reisman, Peyton Rounds, Shelby Boring, Brianna Krisher, Brianna Smith and Coach Teri Woodworth.

Lyndonville capped its 5-1 season by winning the championship, 30-7, over Wilson.

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Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Jeff Gress Jr., shown here in an earlier season match,  led Lyndonville’s three member contingent of wrestlers at this weekend’s state championships with a fourth place finish.

Rebounding from an opening round loss, Lyndonville senior Jeff Gress Jr. (126) compiled a 4-1 record in the wrestle backs to earn fourth place honors at the state wrestling championships being held this weekend at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Gress dropped a 14-4 decision to second seeded CJ Walz from Central Valley Academy (Section III) in the opening round but rebounded strongly with a quick pin of 1:43 over Zach Roberts of Ogdenburg (Section X) to begin his comeback bid.

Keeping the momentum, Gress then scored consecutive decision wins of 7-5 over Satoshi Abe from Putnam Valley Haldane (Section 1), 3-2 over Zach Flaitz from Canisteo-Greenwood (Section 5) and 8-2 over Kevin Spann from Adirondack (Section III) to advance to the consolation finals.
Ironically, Gress bumped into Walz again in that battle for third place and this time dropped a narrow 10-9 decision.

“Jeffrey really wrestled tough,” said his coach and dad Jeff Gress. “We’ve known about CJ since his youth wrestling days. He’s been on the circuit and in fact he and Jeffrey are good friends.”
In going 4-2 on the weekend, Gress finishes the season at 50-9.

“He beat a lot of really good quality kids,” said Coach Gress.

Tigers senior Dustin Joy (145), who was seeded fourth, opened the tourney with a 6-4 win over Jonathan Fiebelkorn of Akron but the dropped a narrow 7-5 decision in the quarterfinals to Zachery Lawrence from Duanesburg (Section II).

Bouncing back, Joy opened the wrestle backs with a 4-0 win over Cody York from Hadley Lazerne Lake George but was then eliminated via a 7-4 loss to Daniel Bogie from Eagle Academy, the Bronx.

Joy finishes the season at 49-7.

Completing the Tigers three member contingent, senior Dustin Hinckley bounced back from an opening round pin loss  in 2:55 to Morgan Seller from South Lewis (Section III) by scoring an 8-1 win over Joe DiForte from Petrides (PSAL) to open the wrestle back competition.

However, in the next round, he dropped a narrow 11-9decision to Fritz Scheffler from Tamarac (Section II) to bow out of the competition.

Hinckley finishes the season at 38-7.

“All three of them just wrestled awesome,” said Coach Gress. “Getting to the states is a perfect way for them to end their high school wrestling careers, They put little old Lyndonville on the map again.”

Top seeded York downed visiting No. 9 Lyndonville 59-43 this evening in the quarterfinals of the Section V Class D1 boys basketball tournament.

Clay Cutting scored 27 to lead the way for York which used a 19-10 second period scoring edge to extend a 10-7 first period lead to a 29-17 half-time advantage.

York maintained a 47-32 lead at the three-quarter mark as the closest Lyndonville could get down the stretch was 10.

Eric Neace shared game high scoring honors for Lyndonville with 27 as Corey Hydock added 10 and Nathan Poler 6. Neace tallied 8 in the second period, 11 in the third and 7 in the fourth.

Lyndonville finishes the season at 10-12 while York advances to the semifinals at 18-4.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Nate Luckman leads Barker past Holland.

No. 6 seed Barker bested host No. 3 Holland 58-51 this evening in the quarterfinals of the Section VI Class C2 boys basketball tournament.

Nate Luckman poured in a game high 33 points, including 17 of 18 from the free throw line, to spearhead the Barker attack as Kyle Moeller added 9, Austin Sullivan 6, Shawn Callaghan 4 and Jacob Arnold and Malik Smth 3 each.

Trailing 16-14 after one period, Barker used a 17-10 second period scoring edge to rally into a 31-26 lead at the half. Luckman scored 10 in the period after tallying 9 in the opening quarter.

Up by a narrow 43-42 margin at the three-quarter mark, the Raiders used a 15-9 fourth period scoring edge to lock up the win. Luckman scored 9, including 6 of 6 from the foul line, and Moeller had 4 to lead that decisive surge.

Barker will next face No. 2 Buffalo East, a 81-57 winner over No. 7 Global Concepts, in the C2 semifinals at Jamestown Community College on Tuesday.

In Class B1, No. 3 Newfane defeated No. 6 Depew 78-53.

In Class B2, No. 6 Wilson lost 69-45 to No. 3 Lackawanna.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Jalin Cooper puts up a layup as Matt Dodolek defends for Gowanda. The action took place during the Mustangs sectional win over the visiting Panthers.

Medina’s Vincent Montague looks to pass as Jarmani Benton defends for Gowanda.

Big scoring bursts in each of the first two quarters keyed top seeded Medina to a 69-48 victory over visiting No. 8 Gowanda this evening in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B2 boys basketball tournament.

Johnny Salone scored 23, Jalin Cooper 13 and Tyrellis Atkins 11 to lead the Mustangs attack as Izaiah Rhim chipped in with 9, Mason Lewis 7 and Vincent Montague and Brendan Luthart 3 each.

Jarmaini Benton scored 19 and Matt Dodolek 13 to lead Gowanda.

Improving to 17-4, Medina advances to the March 2 B2 semifinals at Buffalo State College against  No. 4 Health Sciences a 70-54 winner over No. 5 Middle Early College.

Medina jumped out to a 19-6 lead at the outset on three layups by Salone, a three and a layup by Lewis, a rebound bucket and a layup off a turnover by Rhim and a layup and a rebound basket by Cooper.

Gowanda did stay within 9, 24-15 early in the second period after two buckets by Benton and one by Dodolek but the Panthers would get no closer.

However, Medina answered right back with a decisive 16-2 run to break the contest open.

Atkins hit a pair of three to highlight that uprising which also included two layups by Salone, a jumper by Rhim and a layup by Lewis as the Mustangs moved out to a commanding 23 point, 40-17, lead.

Atkins had a total of 8 and Salone 7 in the period which ended with Medina up by 23, 42-19.

Salone then scored all 8 of Medina’s third period points as the Mustangs maintained a 23 point, 50-27, advantage at the three-quarter mark.

Cooper tallied 8 down the stretch, including a pair of dunks, as the Mustangs led by as much as 27 at 66-39.

Johnny Salone drives to the basket for Medina against Gowanda defender Nate Brawdy.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Je’ne Brown scored 25 to lead Medina past MST Prep today in a Section VI Class B2 quarterfinal.

Racing out to a 21 point half-time advantage, No. 5 seed Medina romped to a 61-19 victory over No. 4 MST Prep today in a Section VI Class B2 quarterfinal round contest at City Honors.

Je’ne Brown took game high scoring honors with 25 to spearhead the attack for Medina which advances to the B2 semifinals next Wednesday at Sweet Home against top seeded Olmsted which ousted No. 8 Akron 39-30. Brown also grabbed off 10 rebounds.

Improving to 16-5, the Mustangs also had Camri King with 9 points, Kayla Cuadra 8, Molley Gross 7, Sarah Cochrane 4 and Maddie Winters, Emily Kams, Maddie Wiliams and Kharise Johnson 2 each. Kams also had 8 assists.

Up 14-7 after the first quarter, Medina broke the contest wide open by outpointing MST Prep 16-2 in the second period to increase the lead to 30-9 at the half.

Brown scored 9 and Cuadra and King 8 each for the Mustangs in the opening half.

Keepng the momentum, Medina then outscored MST Prep 14-0 in the third period to extend the advantage to 35, 44-9, at the three-quarter mark.

Wilson 49, Southwestern 37

Up by eight, 29-21, at the half, No. 3 Wilson used a 16-8 third period scoring surge to key a 49-37 B2 victory over visiting No. 6 Southwestern.

Rachel Senek had 26 points and Kayla Neumann 10 to spark Wilson which led 45-29 at the three-quarter mark. Senek also had 8 rebounds and Neumann 5 assists and 4 steals.

Class B1
Depew 59, Albion 39
Top seeded Depew pulled away down the stretch to down visiting No. 8 Albion 59-39 in a Class B 1 quarterfinal.

Up 24-16 at the half and 38-28 at the three-quarter mark, Depew used a 21-11 fourth period scoring edge to lock up the win.

Chanyce Powell had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Albion which also had Sierra Chudy tally 12 points and Nicole Eldred 7.

East Aurora 65, Newfane 34
Building up a 31-16 half-time advantage, No. 2 East Aurora went on to defeat visiting No. 7 Newfane 65-34 in a Class B1 quarterfinal.

Paige Emborsky led Newfane with 19 points.

Top seeded Medina will host No. 8 Gowanda at 7 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B2 boys basketball tournament.

Gowanda advanced by defeating No. 9 JFK 61-52 Wednesday. Nate Brawdy scored 22 and Jarmani Benton 18 to lead the Panthers Both players are averaging 20 points per game for the 13-8 Panthers.

Undefeated (12-0) Niagara-Orleans League champion Medina, which is 16-4 overall, has been led offensively this season by Jalin Cooper, who is averaging 21.4, Johnny Salone 12.7 and Izaiah Rhim 9.1.

The victor will advance to the semifinals on March 2 at Buffalo State College against the winner of Friday’s No. 4 Health Sciences (16-4) vs. Middle Early College (12-8) quarterfinal.

No. 6 Wilson (12-9) will visit No. 3 Lackawanna (15-5) in another B2 quarterfinal Friday. The victor advances to the March 2 semis at Buff State against the winner of the No. 2 Olmsted (17-3) vs. No. 7 Lafayette (12-9) quarterfinal.

In a Section V Class D1 quarterfinal Friday No. 9 Lyndonville visits top seeded York at 7 p.m.

Lyndonville, which is 10-11, advanced with a 63-59 win at No. 9 Honeoye Tuesday while York romped past No. 16 Rochester Prep 81-54 to improve to 17-4.

Contributed Photo – Lyndonville High’s trio of, from left, Jeff Gress Jr., Dustin Joy and Dustin Hinckley will be competing in the state wrestling championships at Albany this weekend.

Lyndonville High will be well represented at this weekend’s state wrestling championships in Albany as the Tigers are sending a trio of seniors including Jeff Gress Jr. (126), Dustin Joy (145) and Dustin Hinckley (160).

It will be the second trip to the states for both Joy, who went last year, and Gress, who went two years ago as a sophomore, and the first for Hinckley.

“They just have to go out and battle every match as if it is their last,” said Tigers Coach Jeff Gress. “It’s by far my most special moment bringing these boys to the states. They are all seniors making this a special time for me as a dad and a coach.”

Joy brings a 47-5 season record into the state tourney while Gress is 46-7 and Hinckley 37-5.

Joy is seeded fourth at 145 and will face another state tourney veteran, Ty Rifanburg from Norwich (Section IV), in his opening match.

Gress, will likewise face a repeat state tourney competitor in his first round match in No. 2 seed CJ Walz from Central Valley Academy (Section III).

Hinckley will open against No. 6 seed Morgan Seller from South Lewis (Section III).

The opening and quarterfinal matches will be held on Friday with the semifinals and finals on Saturday all at the Times Union Center.