Albion and Barker both upended higher seeds on the road this evening in Section VI girls basketball playoff action.

No. 11 seed Albion bested host No. 3 Buffalo Arts 57-51 in a Class B1 quarterfinal while No. 7 Barker shocked No. 2 host Portville 59-56 in a Class C2 quarterfinal.

Albion 57, Arts 51
Emily Blanchard scored 7 points, including two late clutch free throws, and Chanyce Powell 5 to lead Albion in the decisive fourth quarter to lock up the 57-51 win over Buffalo Arts.

Powell had a total of 19 points, Sierra Chudy 10, Blanchard and Sierra Newton 9 and Nicole Eldred and Caitlynn Snook 5 each for the Purple Eagles.

Albion jumped out to a 19-14 first period lead as Powell tallied 10 during that stretch.

Deadlocked at 27-27 at the half, Albion regained a 45-42 lead at the three-quarter mark as Chudy scored 8 and Newton 6 in the third period.

Albion advances to a semifinal contest against No. 2 Olean next Wednesday at Sweet Home.

Barker 59, Portville 56
Caitlyn Mason scored 23 points to lead Barker to the 59-56 upset win at Portville.

Lydia Dewart added 11 and Haley Brown and Lindsey Williams 8 each for the Lady Raiders.

Trailing 44-38 at the three-quarter mark, Barker put together a big 21-12 scoring surge in the decisive final period to claim the win. Mason tallied 8, Dewart 5 and Williams 4 to lead that rally.

The victory advances Barker to the semifinals next Thursday at Jamestown Community College.

Emerson 57, Roy-Hart 36
Leading by a narrow 29-22 margin at the half, top seeded Emerson used a big 17-4 third period scoring surge to key a 57-36 victory over visiting No. 8 Roy-Hart in a Class B2 quarterfinal.

Ellie Todd had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Emma Lindke 12 points and 11 rebounds for Roy-Hart.

Wilson 60, Akron 28
Rachel Senek had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and Kayla Neumann 11 points, 7 steals and 6 assists to lead No. 2 Wilson to a 60-28 victory over No. 10 Akron in a Class B2 quarterfinal.

Depew 61, Newfane 49
No. 5 seed Depew downed host No. 4 Newfane 61-49 in a Class B1 quarterfinal as 21 points by Aviance Clark led the Lady Wildcats.

Emily Foltz scored 18, Paige Emboskey 11 and Katie Kneeland 10 for Newfane.

Boys Sectionals

Newfane 54, Tonawanda 42
No. 6 Newfane defeated visiting No. 11 Tonawanda 54-42 in a Section VI Class B1 pre-quarterfinal as Kyle DeVoogel scored 22 and Max Weber 18 to lead the way.

No. 7 seed Albion will host No. 10 CSAT in a Section VI Class B1 pre-quarterfinal boys basketball game at 7 this evening.

CSAT advanced by edging No. 15 Eden 54-51 on Wednesday.

Albion split a pair of meetings with CSAT during the Niagara-Orleans League season losing the first 56-47 and winning the rematch 55-49.

The winner will visit No. 2 seed Medina at 7 p.m. Friday.

The No. 11 Albion girls squad will also be in action this evening as the Purple Eagles visit No. 3 Buffalo Arts at 7 p.m.

In Class B2, the No. 8 Roy-Hart girls squad will visit top seeded Emerson at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the No. 3 seed Lyndonville boys squad will host No. 6 C.G. Finney in a Section V Class D1 quarterfinal contest.

Finney advanced by defeating No. 11 Honeoye 63-43 Wedensday while Lyndonville ousted No. 14 Hammondsport 78-53.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Nick Hinkson (12) puts up a shot as Dylan Storrs tries to defend for Hammondsport during the host Tigers sectional win over the Lakers this evening.

Combining a fast start with a strong finish No. 3 seed Lyndonville posted a 78-53 victory over visiting No. 14 Hammondsport this evening in the opening round of the Section V Class D1 playoffs.

Nick Hinkson scored 24, Eric Neace 17, Corey Hydock 13 and Eddie Schildt 10 to spark the offense for Lyndonville which improves to 17-4 on the season.

Hunter Ottaviano added 7, Zach Johnson 5 and Jacob Hoffee 2 for the Tigers which will next host the winner of the No. 11 Honeoye vs. No 6 C.G. Finney game in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday.

Ethan Bower scored 21 and Cody Kolo 13 for Hammondsport which finishes the season at 5-16.

Lyndonville jumped out to a 23-11 first quarter lead as Hinkson had two threes and a rebound bucket, Neace three baskets from close range, Hydock a three and Ottaviano a jumper.

However, the Tigers then went ice cold in the second quarter going the first 7:10 without a field goal.

Hammondsport took advantage of that drought by putting together an 18-7 scoring surge to slice the deicit to just one, 30-29, at the half.

Bower, who scored all of his points in the opening half, tallied 12 in the second period including a pair of threes.

Hunter Ottaviano (10) tries to put up a shot for Lyndonville between Hammondsport defenders Ethan Bower (00) and Cody Kolo (34).

Back-to-back threes by Jake Peacock and Kolo kept Hammondsport within two, 39-37, midway through the third period before Lyndonville finally broke away.

A jumper by Hydock, followed by a key layup by Hinkson off the steal of the inbounds pass, then ignited a decisive 12-1 scoring burst which put the Tigers back in control for good.

Hinkson followed up with a three, Schildt a jumper and Ottaviano a three to quickly vault Lyndonville back into a 13 point, 51-38, advantage.

Up 53-42 at the three-quarter mark, the Tigers quickly extended the advantage to 16, 60-44, at the outset of the final period after a seven point scoring burst by Neace on two jumpers and a rebound bucket.

A layup off a steal by Schildt and a three by Hydock upped the Lyndonville lead to 20, 67-47 with four minutes to play.

Lyndonville’s Jacob Hoffee (22) puts a shot up under the reach of Hammondsport’s Ethan Bower.

RCMCS 72, Holley 67

Trailing by six, No. 7 Rochester Career Mentoring Charter School used an effective press to key a big fourth quarter scoring surge and earn a 72-67 victory over No. 10 Holly in a Class B2 contest at C.G. Finney.

RCMCS forced 14 turnovers in the decisive final period to key a 28-17 scoring surge.
Holley had led 34-31 at the half and 50-44 at the three-quarter mark.

Nick Passarell scored 26, Dylan Hillabush 18 and Derek McArthur 10 for Holley.

Hillabush also grabbed off 10 rebounds while Passarell and McArthur both had 5 assists.

Geneseo 73, Kendall 36

No. 2 Geneseo roared out to a 38-17 half-time advantage in route to posting a 73-36 win over visiting No. 15 Kendall in a Class C2 game.

Colton Breslawski scored 12, Jacob Ramsdell 7 and Brandon Miller 6 for Kendall as Nick Manners grabbed off 12 rebounds.

Tonawanda nips Medina, Roy-Hart romps past JFK

Avenging a pair of regular season losses, No. 11 Albion bested host No. 6 CSAT 47-28 this evening in the opening round of the Section VI Class B1 girls basketball playoffs.

Chanyce Powell scored 16 and Sierra Newton 14 to set the pace for Albion as Sierra Chudy added 6, Emily Blanchard 5 and Caitlynn Snook, Natalie DiCureia and Elisabeth Baker 2 each.

Albion jumped out to a 14-4 first quarter lead as Blanchard tallied 5 and Chudy 4.

The Purple Eagles went on to hold leads of 25-16 at the half and 37-22 at the three-quarter mark.

Powell tallied 9 in the second quarter while Newton had 6 in both the third and fourth periods.

Albion, which had dropped narrow decisions of 42-41 and 52-49 to CSAT during the Niagara-Orleans League season, next visits No. 3 Buffalo Arts on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Tonawanda 48, Medina 46

No. 9 Medina dropped a narrow 48-46 decision to host No. 8 Tonawanda in another B1 contest.

Emily Kams scored 17, Je’ne Brown 10, Maddy Winters 6, Molley Gross 5, Kayla Cuadra and Allison Bensley 4 each for Medina.

Trailing 20-7 after one quarter, Medina closed the gap to 25-19 at the half and to 34-32 at the three-quarter mark.

Roy-Hart 65, JFK 42

No. 8 Roy-Hart jumped out to leads of 17-5 after one period and 32-17 at the half in route to posting a 65-42 victory over visiting No. 9 JFK in a Class B2 game.

Ellie Todd and Ava Bligh both scored 17 and Emma Lindke 15 to spearhead the offense for Roy-Hart. Lindke also grabbed off 10 rebounds and Bligh had 6 assists.

Todd scored 7 points and Lindke and Bligh 4 each in the opening period. Lindke then added 7 and Todd 5 in the second quarter to help put the Lady Rams in control by 15 at the half.

Roy-Hart next visits top seeded Emerson on Thursday.

Newfane 48, Dunkirk 13

No. 4 Newfane rolled to a 48-30 victory over visiting No. 13 Dunkirk in Class B1 as Paige Emborsky scored 19, Emily Foltz 9 and Olivia Littman 8.

Newfane led 16-4 after the first quarter and 25-13 at the half.

Akron 54, Gowanda 30

No. 10 Akron bested No. 7 Gowanda 54-30 to advance to a quarterfinal round meeting Thursday against No. 2 Wilson.

Neely Abrams scored 18, Darion Jonathan 10 and Helena Hill 8 for Akron which led 29-15 at the half.

Improving to 3-0, Medina 1 defeated Zimmi’s Auto 7-3 over the weekend in a Lockport Indoor Soccer League Senior Division game at the Kenan Center.

Brian Anderson, Ian Smith and Josh Klotzbach each scored 2 goals and Adam Cifelli 1 for Medina 1.

The Medina 2 team’s game was postponed due to bad weather.

Hitting a barrage of 14 three point shots, No. 9 Kendall defeated host No. 8 Bradford/Dundee 56-30 this evening in a Section V Class C2 girls basketball game.

Taylor ReQua scored 17, including five threes, to lead the Kendall attack which also included three threes by Daniela Volkmar and two each by Lizzie Rath, Maya Rutland and Taylor Rutland.

Kendall, which next visits South Seneca on Saturday, led 28-14 at the half.

ReQua also grabbed off 12 rebounds and had 12 steals and Rath 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Arkport 41, Lyndonville 24

No. 6 Arkport jumped out to a 24-14 half-time advantage and went on to defeat visiting No. 11 Lyndonville in a Class D1 game.

Aubrey Lewis had 10 points and Makenzie Muck grabbed off 14 rebounds for Lyndonville.

The Medina JV boys basketball team followed up a highly successful campaign last year with a strong league record this year. Despite returning only four players from last years team due to many underclassmen getting promoted to varsity, the Mustangs finished with a 9-5 record in the Niagara-Orleans League and a 10-10 record overall.

All four returning players were key to the Mustangs’ success this season.

Sophomore Brendan Luthart led the team in scoring with 213 points (10.7 ave) including 25 three-point field goals. Luthart also led the team in assists, handing out 63 (3.2 ave).

Sophomore Trenton Jones added 170 points (8.9 ave) while shooting a team high 53% from the field and pulling down a team best 218 rebounds (11.5 ave).

Fellow sophomore Alex Allis contributed 148 points (7.4 ave) while knocking down a team high 31 three-point field goals.

The lone freshman returnee, Daemon Shatara added 95 points (5.3 ave) and 97 rebounds (5.4 ave).

Newcomers also were a key part of the Mustangs success.

Seventh grade point guard Brian Fry scored 123 points (6.2 ave), including 20 three-point field goals.

First year sophomores Jorge Phillips and Renee Masters provided rebounding and toughness, while freshmen Matt Hess and Jonathan Pietrafesa, eighth grader Nate Sherman, and seventh grader Tyler Chinn made important contributions as well.

Medina High graduate Alba Perez and her Niagara County Community College women’s basketball teammates registered a school record 26th victory of the season this evening by downing Erie Community College 60-48.

Perez had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals for NCCC which improves to 7-1 in the league and 26-2 overall.

Taliyah Hopkins had 13 points and Jenna Faulkner and Courtney Kaczor 9 each as the Thunderwolves broke their old record of 25 wins set during the 2013-14 season.

Contributed Photo – Aaron Burnside pole vaulting for Houghton College

A  wrestler and baseball player during his scholastic days at Albion High, Aaron Burnside is trying a new sport in his freshman year at Houghton College – pole-vaulting.

Burnside, who will also be playing baseball at Houghton, was quick to accept a call from the track team to try pole vaulting. He notes that wrestling at Albion, under the direction of Coach Keith Piccirilli, definitely helped him form the upper body strength needed to vault.

Not surprisingly one of his former classmates that he enjoys keeping in touch with is Justyn Haines, who was a wrestler and pole vaulter for the Purple Eagles, and is now pole vaulting for SUNY Fredonia.

Burnside, who was Albion’s 2015 Class President, adds that he is also looking forward to the baseball season which begins this Friday when the Houghton squad leaves for a week of competition in Florida.

Off to a strong start academically, Burnside notes that his experience at Houghton “is very positive” and that the college is “a perfect fit for him” as he is able to hunt in the area with friends.