Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Today’s snowy weather wiped out this evening’s slate of sectional basketball games which have been rescheduled for Wednesday.

Weather permitting, boys and girls sectional basketball action looks to swing into high gear on Wednesday after persistent snow wiped out today’s slate of contests.

Headlining Wednesday’s games, the No. 3 seed Lyndonville boys squad will host No. 14 Hammondsport in a Section V Class D1 contest at 6 p.m.

Lyndonville, which brings an 11 game winning streak into postseason play, is 16-4 while Hammondsport is 5-15.

The victor will then face the winner of Wednesday’s No. 11 Honeoye vs. No. 6 C.G. Finney contest Friday on the court of the highest seed.

Also in Section V boys make-up games Wednesday, No. 15 Kendall (5-15) visits No. 2 Geneseo (15-5) in Class C2 at 7 p.m. and No. 10 Holley (2-18) faces No. 7 Rochester Career Mentoring Charter School (8-12) at 6:30 p.m. at C.G. Finney.

Section V girls playoff competition looks to begin as scheduled on Wednesday with No. 11 Lyndonville (5-15) at No. 6 Arkport (12-8) in Class D1 at 7 p.m.; No. 9 Kendall (6-14) at No. 8 Bradford/Dundee (8-11) in Class C2 at 6 p.m. and No. 9 Holley (0-19) at No. 8 Marcus Whitman (1-17) at 6 p.m.

Section VI girls opening round games, which have been rescheduled for Wednesday, include in Class B1 No. 9 Medina (11-9) at No. 8 Tonawanda (11-9) at 6 p.m., No. 11 Albion (9-12) at No. 6 CSAT (13-7) at 6 p.m. and No. 13 Dunkirk at No. 4 Newfane (16-4) at 5:30 p.m. Also in Class B2, No. 8 Roy-Hart (6-13) will host No. 9 JFK (6-11) at 7 p.m.

The snow outs have really compacted an already tight schedule for the Section VI Class B1 boys playoffs.

In Class B1 the opening round now on Wednesday will have No. 15 Eden (1-18) at No. 10 CSAT (7-12) at 7:30 p.m. The winner will then visit No. 7 Albion at 7 p.m. Thursday. The victor in that contest will then visit No. 2 Medina on Friday at 7 p.m.

Also in Class B1 on Wednesday, No. 11 Tonawanda (4-15) will host No. 14 Springville (4-16) with the winner to visit No. 6 Newfane (10-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

In Class B2, No. 13 Akron will visit No. 12 Oracle on Wednesday in an opening round game.

Front-running Sacred Heart combined a 41-29 win over Vets Club with runner-up Legion’s 40-30 loss to JR Wilson Monday to open up a 23 point lead in the Medina Euchre League title race.

Sacred Heart is now 750-650 on the season, Legion 727-673, JR Wilson 698-702 and Vets Club 625-775.

League competition continues on February 22 with Vets Club at Sacred Heart and JR Wilson at Legion.

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.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Manwell Taylor and his Purple Eagle teammates will begin defense of their Section VI Class B1 title with a home game on Wednesday.

A year ago, after a so-so 8-6 Niagara-Orleans League campaign, Albion caught fire in postseason play capturing the Section VI Class B1 boys basketball championship.

The sectional title was the first in 43 years for Albion which upended top seeded Burgard 62-54 in the semifinals and then downed Maryvale 65-57 in the championship game.

Now, coming off a similar 6-7 N-O season, the Purple Eagles are prepping to defend their title and make another strong postseason run.

Seeded No. 7, Albion will begin its B1 title defense by hosting a pre-quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s opening round contest between No. 10 CSAT (7-12) and No. 15 Eden (1-18).

Albion split with CSAT during the N-O season losing the first meeting 56-47 and winning the rematch by a nearly identical margin of 55-49.

If successful on Wednesday, Albion would then visit rival No. 2 seed Medina in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Tommy Mattison has scored 254 points and grabbed off 112 rebounds and Kory Reynolds has tallied 148 points and pulled down 175 rebounds to lead the Purple Eagles so far this season.

In another Class B1 pre quarterfinal on Wednesday, No. 6 Newfane will host the winner of Tuesday’s opening round game between No. 11 Tonawanda and No. 14 Springville.

In Class B2, Roy-Hart is seeded No. 2. The Rams will host a quarterfinal round game on Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s contest between No. 7 Math Sciences and No. 10 Lackawanna.

Also in Class B2, No. 13 Akron will face No. 12 Oracle in an opening round contest on Tuesday while on Wednesday, No. 9 Wilson will visit No. 8 JFK in a pre-quarterfinal contest.

In Class C2, No. 5 Barker will visit No. 4 Randolph on Friday.

Section VI girls Class B1 playoff competition gets underway on Tuesday as No. 9 Medina (11-9) visits No. 8 Tonawanda (11-9) and No .11 Albion (9-12) travels to No. 6 CSAT (13-7) at 6 p.m. and No. 4 Newfane (16-4) hosts No. 13 Dunkirk (9-12) at 7 p.m.

CSAT nipped Albion twice during the N-O season by narrow margins of 42-41 and 52-49.

The Medina/Tonawanda winner will face top seeded East Aurora while the Albion/CSAT visit will face No. 3 Buffalo Arts, both on Thursday.

In Class B2 on Tuesday, No. Roy-Hart (6-13) hosts No. 9 JFK (6-11) and No. 10 Akron (2-16) visits No. 7 Gowanda (6-14) at 7 p.m. The Akron/Gowanda winner will visit No. 2 Wilson (17-1) on Thursday.

Contributed Photo  – Brooke Targas

Barker High graduate Brooke Targas helped the Cazenovia College women’s swim team capture a second straight North Eastern Athletic Conference Championship over the weekend.

Targas, a 2014 Barker grad and a sophomore at Cazenovia, was a member of the winning 800 Freestyle Relay team which broke a conference record by 15 seconds.
She also placed fourth in both the 100 and 400 Individual Medley events and was a member of the 400 relay team which placed fourth.

A Criminal Justice/Psychology major, Targas also plays softball at Cazenovia.

Niagara-Orleans League swimmers took first place in four events at the Section VI Class C championships held Saturday at Newfane.

Newfane’s Andrew Hamelink, who earned the Most Outstanding Swimmer Award, won both the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Breaststroke.

Barker’s Collin Webb was also a double winner capturing both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle.

Webb also teamed up with Andrew Jenks, Ian Goodlander and Collin Stevener to earn Barker second place finishes in both the 200 Medley and 200 Free relay events.

Roy-Hart’s quartet of Mason Sparks, Nathan Mikoll, Tanner Rees and Elliot Spitzer placed second in the 400 Free Relay. Rees also placed second in the 200 Individual Medley.

The Medina duo of Chase Pecoraro and Daniel Heil placed second and third respectively in the 100 Backstroke.

Pecoraro also teamed up with Kristian Snyder, Damien Norrish and Powell Stephens to earn Medina a fourth place finish in the 200 Medley Relay.

Fourth place finishes were also earned by Pecoraro (50 Free), Jenks (IM), Rees (100 Butterfly), Spitzer (100 Free) and Newfane’s Thomas Schultz (500 Free).

The Medina youth basketball team defeated host Wilson Saturday to improve to 7-0.

Emmanual Taylor led the way for Medina with 22 points. Jarin Rhim added 11, Lavonn Guy 7, Robert Arnold 4, Aiden Pitts 4, and Caden Lilleby 2.

Medina is next in action at Albion on February 20 at 1p.m.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Eddie Schildt and his Tiger teammates will open sectional competition at home Tuesday against Hammondsport.

Looking to keep the momentum from a regular season closing 11 game winning streak, No. 3 seed Lyndonville will open Section V Class D1 boys basketball tournament competition by hosting No. 14 Hammondsport at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Lyndonville, which capped off that 11 game winning streak with back-to-back victories over top Genesee Region League Division 2 rivals Notre Dame (67-49) and Elba (56-50 in overtime), brings a 16-4 record into the sectionals.

Lyndonville is sparked by the two year starting quartet of senior Nick Hinkson and juniors Eric Neace, Eddie Schildt and Corey Hydock.

The veteran foursome has provided plenty of scoring balance for the Tigers fast break oriented attack as Hinkson and Schildt are both averaging over 15 points per game, Neace over 11 and Hydock just under 10.

The Tigers regular group also includes the guard trio of senior Hunter Ottaviano, junior Jacob Hoffee and freshman Zach Johnson.

Hammondsport brings a 5-15 regular season record into the sectionals.

The No. 11 seeded Lyndonville girls squad will begin Class D1 playoff competition on Wednesday as the Lady Tigers visit No. 6 Arkport at 7 p.m.

Lyndonville is 5-15 and Arkport 12-8.

The No. 15 seed Kendall boys will visit No. 2 Geneseo (15-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a Class CC pre-quarterfinal game. The 5-15 Eagles advanced by downing No. 18 Marion 64-36 in the opening round on Saturday.

The No. 9 Kendall girls (6-14) will visit No. 8 Bradford/Dundee (8-11) in a Class CC pre-quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Wedneday.

The No. 10 Holley boys (2-18) will face No. 7 Rochester Career Mentoring Charter School (8-12) in a Class B2 pre-quarterfinal at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at C.G. Finney. The winner will visit No. 2 Mynderse (16-4) on Friday.

The No. 9 Holley girls will visit No. 8 Marcus Whitman at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a Class B2 pre-quarterfinal.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Johnny Salone and his Mustang teammates are seeded No. 2 for the upcoming Section VI Class B1 playoffs.

Niagara-Orleans League champion Medina is seeded No. 2 for the Section VI Class B1 boys basketball playoffs.

In earning a double bye because of the high seed, the Mustangs will host a quarterfinal game on February 19 against either CSAT, Eden or Albion.

No. 10 CSAT will face No. 15 Eden in the opening round on Tuesday. The victor will visit No. 7 Albion on Wednesday at 7 p.m.. The winner of that contest will then visit Medina on the 19th.

Newfane is seeded No. 6 in Class B1 and the Panthers will open at home on Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 11 Tonawanda and No. 14 Springville.

Roy-Hart is seeded No. 2 in Class B2.

The Rams will host a quarterfinal game on February 19 against the winner of Wednesday’s contest between No. 7 MST Prep and No. 10 Lackawanna.

Also in Class B2, No. 13 Akron visits No. 12 Oracle on Tuesday and No. 9 Wilson travels to No. 8 JFK on Wednesday.

In Class C2, No. 5 Barker visits No. 4 Randolph on February 19.

The Section VI girls basketball Class B1 playoffs get underway Tuesday with No. 9 Medina at No. 8 Tonawanda and No. 11 Albion at No. 6 CSAT at 6 p.m. and No. 13 Dunkirk at No. 4 Newfane at 7 p.m.

In Class B2 on Tuesday, No. 8 Roy-Hart hosts No. 9 JFK and No. 10 Akron visits No. 7 Gowanda at 7 p.m. The winner of the Akron vs. Gowanda game will then visit No. 2 Wilson on Thursday.

In Class C, No. 7 Barker visits No. 2 Portville on Thursday.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Joe Velez

Charles Beach

Two Medina High seniors, Joe Velez (126) and Charles Beach (220), both captured individual weight class titles at the Section VI Division 2 (small schools) wrestling championships held today at Jamestown Community College.

Improving to 36-5 on the season, Velez edged David Poff (Gowanda) 4-2 in the semifinals and then nipped Brice Rowe (Chautauqua Lake) 2-1 in the championship match.

Beach, who is now 29-1 on the season, edged past Zac Spears (Olean) 4-2 in the semis and then decisioned Matt Eldridge (Depew) 8-4 in the title bout.

In earning the titles Velez and Beach both qualify for the upcoming state championships.

Medina also had eighth grader Colby Petrie place third at 106. He decisioned Doug Ciszak (Pioneer) 3-1 for third place honors.

“It was a very good day for us with two firsts and a third,” said Medina Coach Eric Gross. “I’m very pleased with their performance. Joe was in a very loaded weight class, Charles did a real good job after not having wrestled for a while and Colby did very well for an eighth grader.”

Cameron Swick of Barker/Roy-Hart also captured the 160 lb. title by nipping Trevor Micek (Maple Grove) 3-2 in overtime in the finals.