Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion senior Chanyce Powell not only placed in the top five at the state track championships in both the triple and long jumps but also set school scoring records in basketball and earned All-WNY honors in volleyball in 2016.

Several area high school triple-threat athletes had big years in 2016 including Albion senior Chanyce Powell whose year was highlighted by placing fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump at the state track and field championships.

Powell won both the triple and long jumps at both the N-O All-League meet and the Section VI Division 2 (small schools) championships. She set a new school record of 37-7 in the triple jump at the sectionals.

On the basketball court Powell, who is a four year varsity starter, broke the 1,000 point career scoring total in a season opening 37-36 win over Brockport. She also set a school single game record with 37 points in a 70-67 double overtime win over Batavia.

On the volleyball court, Powell earned a third straight N-O first team All-League honor and was also named to the second team of the All-Western New York squad.

Medina High junior Jalin Cooper likewise had big year highlighted on the track as he captured both the Section VI Division 2 100 and 200 meter sprint titles. He went on to place sixth in the 100 at the state championships.

On the football field, Cooper helped lead Medina/Lyndonville to the B East Division title earning first team B East and second team  All-WNY honors. Cooper, who scored 16 touchdowns and had over 1,200 all-purpose yards was also named the B East Division offensive MVP.

On the basketball court, Cooper helped Medina capture the N-O title with a 13-1 record. He earned first team N-O All-League honors and received Honorable Mention on the All-WNY and All-State Class B teams having scored 340 points and grabbed off 225 rebounds on the season.

Medina senior Kristian Snyder had a big season on the soccer field setting a new Mustangs single season record with 27 goals. He also earned a third straight first team N-O All-League tennis honor as he helped lead the Mustangs to the championship for the fourth time in the last five years. He is also a versatile member of the Seahorses swim team.

Roy-Hart senior Andy Xapsos topped the 1,000 point career scoring mark in basketball and helped lead the Rams to their first N-O baseball championship since 1953. He was also the two year starting quarterback for the Barker/Roy-Hart football squad.

However, the most unusual competition for a local triple threat athlete was Lyndonville native Scott Bradley competing in his second season as a professional triathlete. His very ambitious year in this grueling sport for which a full triathlon includes a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run, included competitions in Panama, Puerto Rico and Cozumel, Mexico, and was highlighted by the earning of his initial first place finish at the Finger Lakes Triathlon.

Medina junior Jalin Cooper not only won both the 100 and 200 meter sprints at the sectional championships but also helped lead Medina to league titles in both football and basketball.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – In action during Medina’s Niagara-Orleans League tennis and basketball championship seasons are Kristian Snyder, left, and Tyler Ames.

Celebrating a championship in each season, Medina High had a big 2016 high school sports year as the Mustangs claimed the Niagara-Orleans League boys basketball and tennis titles as well as the B East Division football crown.

After finishing in the runner-up spot the previous two years, Medina claimed the N-O basketball title for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign by compiling a near perfect 13-1 record. Starting the season with a 10-0 mark, the Mustangs title quest was keyed by a pair of victories over runner-up Roy-Hart (12-2) by scores of 50-34 and 73-62.

In the spring, Medina captured the N-O tennis championship for the fourth time in the last five years by posting an 11-1 record. The Mustangs were led by the first and second singles combination of Kristian Snyder and Tristan Sanders who both earned first team All-League honors.

This past fall, the Mustangs claimed a division football title outright for the first time since 1988 by compiling a 5-0 record to claim the B East championship. A 42-28 victory over runner-up Alden (4-1) keyed that Medina/Lyndonville title quest which was capped off by a championship clinching 48-6 win over rival Albion.

Jake Cotter and his Medina/Lyndonville teammates captured the B East Division football title.

Roy-Hart captured the N-O baseball title for the first time since 1953 by compiling a 12-2 record. R-H also claimed a 10th straight N-O boys swimming championship by going 10-0. The Channel Cats are 99-0 during that title run.

Barker captured the N-O boys cross-country championship for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last nine years. The Lady Raiders also won the Section VI Class C field hockey title by nipping N-O champion Akron 1-0 in the championship game to avenge a pair of regular season losses.

In addition to the field hockey title, the Akron girls also claimed both the N-O volleyball, softball and track championships.

Wilson also had a three N-O title year winning the N-O girls basketball, golf and boys track championships.

However, Newfane led the N-O with five championships including the boys soccer, girls soccer, wrestling, girls cross-country and girls swim titles. The swim title was the seventh straight for the Lady Panthers.

The recent trend of merged school teams also continued as rivals Holley and Kendall joined forces to field merged teams in both wrestling and varsity baseball. The Holley-Kendall diamond squad captured the Genesee Region League Division 1 title.

Lyndonville has a very successful spring season as the Tigers baseball and softball teams both captured G-R League Division 2 championships. However, both teams were eliminated from the sectional playoffs by G-R rival Notre Dame as the baseball squad lost 8-3 in the semifinals and the softball squad 7-6 in the finals.

On the links, Kendall senior Evan Gaesser captured both the G-R League and Section V Class C titles for the third time. Gaesser, who earned a golf scholarship to LaSalle University, also was co-medalist at the Suprsectionals and qualified for the state meet for the fourth time.

Medina freshman Ian Wagner earned medalist honors at the N-O All-League golf tournament. He earned All-League honors for the third time.

In youth baseball, Barre successfully repeated as Albion Midget League playoff champions by downing Sandstone 11-5 in a repeat of the 2015 title matchup. In the semifinals, Barre defeated Rotary 6-4 and Sandstone downed St. Marys 14-6.

The Roy-Hart/Medina/Lyndonville league playoff title games saw the Twins blank the Yankees 2-0 in the Minor Division and the Lyndonville Tigers down the Somerset Dodgers 3-2 in the Major Division.

At Shelridge Country Club, Brett Decker captured the club championship while Brian Branka and Tom Bova teamed up to win the Shelridge Open. Two Shelridge junior golfers, Ian Wagner and Melanie Green, both had winning seasons on the Western New York Junior PGA Tour.

The 27th annual Mr. Ed’s 5K sun on Super Bowl Sunday saw Roy-Hart graduate Vince Donner cross the finish line first for the second year in a row.

Contributed Photo – Batavia Ramparts players and coaches display their runner-up trophy at the Buffalo Stars Tournament.

Contributed Story
The Batavia Ramparts Bantam A hockey team, which is 14-0 in their league, earned second place honors today at the Buffalo Stars AA Christmas Tournament.

The Ramparts faced the Wheatfield Blades, a team they had lost a scrimmage to earlier in the year, in the tourney opener on Tuesday.

Falling behind 1-0 after just 14 seconds, and 2-0 halfway through the second period, the Batavia team rallied for two goals in that period to knot the game at 2-2.  The goals were scored by Max Hutchins and Alex Totten.  After that scoring, neither team could add any goals and the game ended in a tie.

On Wednesday, Batavia faced the home team Buffalo Stars AA Major team, and came away an 8-1 winner. Seven Ramparts scored goals including Vinnie DiRisio (2), Jed Reese, Nick Call, Zach Geitner, Totten, Dominic Peracciny and Sean Pies.

Thursday was the last game of the prelims and the Ramparts faced Hamburg in the morning and came away a 5-1 winner locking up the first seed for the semifinals.  Scoring were Totten, Derrick Fedus (2), Hutchins and Pies.

Later in the day in the semifinals against the same Hamburg team, the Ramparts played their way into the finals with an 11-4 victory.  Goals by Totten (3), Hutchins (2), DiRisio (2) , Reese (2), Pies and Nate Ryan accounted for the scoring.

Today’s championship game was a rematch with the Wheatfield Blades.

The Ramparts had leads of 1-0, and 2-1 on goals by Reese and Hutchins, but fell behind in the third period 3-2.  Midway through the period, however, Fedus scored to tie the game.  However, Wheatfield added the final goal with 5:08 remaining the win the gold, while Batavia settled for the silver.

Medina dropped a narrow 66-63 decision to Cardinal O’Hara this evening in the I-90 Tournament at Villa Maria College.

Justin Hemphill poured in a game high 29 points, including 20 in the second half, to spearhead the O’Hara offense.

Jalin Cooper scored 23, Johnny Salone 11, Izaiah Rhim and Tyrellis Atkins 10 and Vincent Montague 9 for Medina.

Trailing 22-17 after one period, Medina rallied into a 34-32 lead at the half as Rhim tallied 6 in the second quarter. Salone netted 6 in the opening period.

Seven third period points by Cooper helped keep the Mustangs deadlocked with the Hawks at 45-45 at the three-quarter mark.

Late threes by Cooper and Montague pulled Medina back to within 1 but the Mustangs could not pull even.

Pembroke 71, Barker 40
Roaring out to a 20-0 first quarter lead, Pembroke went on to defeat visiting Barker 71-40 this afternoon in a non league game.

Reid Miano scored 19 to pace Pembroke which held a comminding 42-13 half-time advantage.

Ryan Voss scored 9 and Eddie Wasnock and Nate Luckman both had 7 for Barker.

Girls Basketball
Elba 69, Roy-Hart 49
Emily Reynolds scored 18, Madison Howard 16 and Tatiana Draper 14 to spark Elba to a 69-49 non league win over Roy-Hart.

Meghan Washington led Roy-Hart with 17 as Ellie Todd added 10, Skyer Christopher 6 and Maddy Glena 5.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Eric Neace puts up a shot between Geneseo defenders Sean LaGrou (10) and Matt Robinson (24) during the Tigers loss to the Blue Devils this evening in the championship game of the Holley Tournament.

A third quarter scoring burst keyed Geneseo to a 60-52 victory over Lyndonville this evening in the championship game of the Holley Tournament.

Leading by a narrow 32-28 margin, Geenseo erupted for a 16-5 scoring burst to close the period and Lyndonville would get no closer than the final margin of 8 down the stretch.

Lyndonville’s Corey Hydock drives around Geneseo’s Matt Robinson.

Matt Robinson scored 9 to lead that decisive uprising which vaulted the Blue Devils out to a 13 point, 46-33, lead at the three-quarter mark.

Five more points by Robinson, along with a three by Daniel Kaye, in the final period then helped close out the win as Geneseo open up as much as a 16 point, 60-44 lead late.

Robinson finished with 21, Kyle Rollins 17 and Jack Ryan 10 to lead the Geneseo attack. Rollins was named the tourney’s MVP while Robinson and Kaye were both selected to the All-Tournament team.

Jacob Hoffee, who scored 19, and Eric Neace, who netted 16, to lead Lyndonville were also both named to the All-Tournament team. Zach Johnson and Corey Hydock both added 7 and Nathan Poler 3 for the Tigers.

Geneseo grabbed a narrow 15-14 lead at the end of the first period as Robinson tallied 7 and Rollins 6. Threes by Johnson, Hydock and Poler, along with a pair of baskets by Hoffee, kept Lyndonville close.

The Blue Devils upped the lead a bit to five, 30-25, at the half as Rollins scored 5 and Ryan 4 in the second period. Neace had 8 during that stretch for the Tgiers.

A three by Hoffee at the outset of the third period pulled Lyndonville to within four, 32-28, but the Tigers would get no closer as the Blue Devils answered with the decisive 16-5 run to close the period and pull away for good.

Lyndonville’s Jacob Hoffee goes in for a layup by Geneseo defender Jack Ryan.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Brandon Miller battles for a rebound with Holley’s Dalton Major during the Eagles tournament win over the host Hawks this evening.

Surviving a tight sea-saw fourth quarter battle, Kendall emerged with a narrow 62-59 victory over the host rival Hawks this evening in the consolation game of the Holley Tournament.

The lead changed hands no less than six times in the wild fourth quarter as Kendall finally regained the lead for good at 58-57 on a jumper by Mickey Gardner. Brandon Miller followed up with a layup giving the Eagles a 60-57 lead with 3:10 remaining.

Each team could then manage only one more field goal over the final three minutes. A jumper by Patrick Bower pulled Holley back to within one at 60-59 with 57 seconds remaining but Collin Lewis answered right back with a layup at the 48 second mark giving the Eagles a 62-59 lead and the narrow win.

Kendall’s Mickey Gardner puts up a shot over Holley defender Isaiah Flow.

Miller had 6 and Lewis 4 in the final stanza while Dylan Hillabush erupted for 10 to keep Holley in the thick of the contest.

Miller, who was named to the All-Tournament team, finished with a game high 24 points while Lewis had 17, Nate Waters 10, Gardner and James Longrod 4 and John Rath 3.

Hillabush, who was also selected to the All-Tournament team, led Holley with 23 as Bower added 13, Isaiah Flow 9, Derek McArthur 8, Andrew Moseman 5 and Ryan Andrews 1.

Kendall jumped out to an early 7 point lead at 16-9 as Lewis hit two threes and Warters one.

Holley though closed the gap to 16-14 at the end of the period after a three by Moseman and a layup by Hillabush.

Keeping the momentum, the Hawks then opened the second period with a 15-3 run to rally into a 29-19 lead. Bower had a three and a layup, Hillabush a jumper and a layup, Flow a rebound bucket and a layup off a steal and McArthur a layup off a steal to key that Hawks uprising.

A late five point scoring burst by Miller though helped keep Kendall within 7, 33-26, at the half.

The Eagles then put together a big 22-14 third period scoring surge to rally into a 48-47 lead at the three-quarter mark. Miller poured in 10 points to lead that surge which also included a pair of baskets by Warters along with threes by Rath and Lewis.

Three quick buckets by Hillabush at the outset of the final period put Holley back on top at 53-52 and the sea-saw battle was on.

Miller, Gardner and Lewis then traded tallies with Hillabush and Bower down the stretch to help Kendall claim the narrow win.

Holley’s Isaiah Flow goes up for a shot between Kendall defenders James Longrod (24) and Brandon Miller (23).

Holley’s Dylan Hillabush puts up a shot as Nate Warters defends for Kendall.

Putting together a big fourth quarter scoring surge, Albion rallied to defeat Roy-Hart 57-50 this evening in the consolation game of the Batavia Lions Club Tournament at Genesee Community College.

Trailing 45-41 at the three-quarter mark, Albion rallied to outscore Roy-Hart 16-5 in the decisive final period to claim the win.

Kory Reynolds scored 5, Chase Hall hit a three and Lamar Chambers made four clutch late free throws to lead the Purple Eagles down the stretch.

Breaking away from a 16-16 tie at the end of the opening period, Roy-Hart went on to hold leads of 30-23 at the half and 45-41 after three periods. DJ Davis scored 6 for the Rams in the third period.

Hall tallied 5 and Reynolds 4 for Albion in the third period as the Purple Eagles used a 18-15 scoring edge to pull to within four, 45-41.

Reynolds finished with a game high 17 points as Hall added 12 and Chambers 10.

Davis led Roy-Hart with 15 as Noah Kindron had 7 and Jacob Bruning 6.

In the championship game, Batavia defeated city rival Notre Dame 61-29.

Girls Basketball
Newfane 43, Olmsted 23
Roaring out to a 26-6 half-time advantage, Newfane went on to defeat Olmsted 43-33 in the consolation game of the Depew Tournament.

Paige Emborsky scored 11 and Alexis Littman 10 to lead the Lady Panthers balanced attack.

Wrestling
Lyndonville competes at Letchworth Tourney
Dustin Joy went 9-0, Dustin Hinkley Jeff Gress Jr. and Frankie Carrasquillo 8-2 and Chase Stinson and Reese Ledford 6-4 for Lyndonville at the Letchworth Tournament.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Patrick Bower goes up between Geneseo defenders Daniel Kaye (21) and Sean LaGrou (10) during the host Hawks tournament loss to the Blue Devils this evening.

Holley’s Andrew Moseman drives against Geneseo defender Daniel Kaye.

Pulling away in the second half, Geneseo downed the host Hawks 65-44 this evening in the semifinals of the Holley Tournament.

Up 29-20 at the half, Geneseo extended its lead to 14, 43-29, at the three-quarter mark as Daniel Kaye scored 7 and Jake Young 4.

The Blue Devils then broke the contest wide open as Kyle Rollins erupted for 13 points in the first three minutes of the final period vaulting the Blue Devils out to a 21 point, 56-35, lead.

Rollins finished with a game high 23 points while Kaye added 14 and Young 13.

Dylan Hillabush scored 12, Patrick Bower 11 and Derek McArthur 10 to pace Holley.

Threes by Bower and Andrew Moseman pulled Holley even at 6-6 midway through the first period but Geneseo closed the quarter with a 9-1 run to regain the lead for good at 15-7. Rollins had 6 in the period.

Rollins, Young and Sean LaGrou then each scored two baskets in the second period to help keep Geneseo up by 9, 29-20, at the half.

McCarthy had a three and a two, Bower a three and Hillabush a pair of baskets during that stretch to keep Holley close.

Holley will now face rival Kendall in the consolation game at 5:30 p.m. Friday while Geneseo will take on Lyndonville in the championship contest at 7. Lyndonville downed Kendall 62-38 in the other semifinal.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Jacob Hoffee drives in for a layup as Kendall’s Brandon Miller tries for the block. The action took place during this evening’s opening round game of the Holley Tournament which saw the Tigers down the Eagles.

Lyndonville’s Zach Johnson drives against Kendall defender Collin Lewis.

Steadily pulling away, Lyndonville rolled past Kendall 62-38 this evening in the semifinal round of the Holley Tournament.

Corey Hydock scored 16, Jacob Hoffee 14 and Zach Johnson 11 to lead the balanced attack for Lyndonville as Eric Neace added 7, Nathan Poler 5, Richard Forder 4, Brody Brown 3 and Matt Hess 2.

Nate Warters and Brandon Miller each scored 10 for Kendall as John Rath had 8, Collin Lewis 6 and Mickey Gardner and Hunter Menze 2 each.

Threes by Hoffee, Johnson and Hydock helped spark Lyndonville out to an 11-2 lead at the outset.

Up 12-7 at the end of the opening period, the Tigers used a 14-5 second quarter scoring edge to extend the lead to 14, 26-12, at the half. Poler had a three and a rebound bucket during that stretch which also included baskets by Johnson, Hoffee, Hydock and Hess.

The Lyndonville advantage soared to 22, 49-27, at the three-quarter mark as Hydock scored 9, including two threes, and Hoffee 7, including a three, to lead that uprising.

Lyndonville will now face Geneseo in the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday while Kendall will take on rival Holley in the consolation contest at 5:30 p.m. Geneseo downed Holley 65-44 in the other semi.

Kendall’s Nate Warters goes up against Lyndonville defenders Corey Hydock (34) and Nathan Poler (14).

Kendall’s John Rath tries to get between Lyndonville defenders Jacob Hoffee (22) and Zach Johnson (30).

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley-Kendall’s Brandon Gardner works toward a pin over Nick Kruger of Caledonia-Mumford during the Hawks annual Duals tourney today.

Going 4-1 on the day, the host Hawks placed second at the Holley-Kendall Duals today at Holley.

Holley defeated Addison 54-28, Eastridge 57-30, Caledonia-Mumford 53-26 and Albion 56-21 but lost what proved to be the title deciding match 41-32 to champion Marcus Whitman which went 5-0 on the day.

Eastridge finished third, Caledonia-Mumford fourth, Addison fifth and Albion sixth.

Tristyn Moyer, Dylan Spellan and Chad Miller, who all went 5-0 on the day, were named to the All-Tournament team from Holley-Kendall along with Brandon Gardner and Jeremy Browe, who were both 4-1.

Braxton Leary-Hart. Erik Balys and Jayden Pieniaszek also all went 4-1 for the Hawks.

Blake Aina, who went 5-0 and earned MVP honors, and Donamic Farley, who went 4-1, represented Albion on the All-Tournament team.

Ugene Harrison, Jesse Cruz and Myles Brewer all went 3-2 for the Purple Eagles as Preston Flugel was 3-1 and Tim Wells 2-2.

Albion’s Ugene Harrison has the upper hand here against Colby Jones of Addison during today’s Holley-Kendall Duals.