Contributed Photo – Melanie Green

Medina’s Melanie Green began her first season of competition on the Epson Pro Golf Tour this weekend by competing in the Central Florida Championship at Winter Haven.

Rebounding strongly from an opening round score of 75, Green fired a sparkling 6 under par round of 66 on Saturday to highlight her weekend.

Green finished the tourney this afternoon with a 1 over par round of 73.

She finished the tourney with a 2 under par total of 214 which was 13 shots back of the co-leaders.

Next up on the Epson Tour for Green will be the Atlantic Beach Classic at Atlantic Beach, Florida this coming weekend.

Epson is the official qualifying tour of the LPGA.

All three of Lyndonville’s winter sports season varsity teams – boys basketball, girls basketball and wrestling – have earned New York State Public High School Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Team Awards by compiling a composite grade point average of at least 90.

The girls basketball team had a composite average of 95.2. Team members who had a grade point average of 90 or higher included Emily Dill, Addison Dillenbeck, Hannah Fox, Isabella Groves, Lilly Raduns, Alexa Robinson, Brooke Robinson and Rylan Townsend.

The boys basketball team had a composite average of 90.9. Team members who had a 90 or higher grade point average included Juan Alberdi-Zunia, Austin Fonda, Jacob Pitcher, Colton Smith and Lane Woodworth.

The wrestling team had a composite average of 90.5. Team members with a grade point average of 90 or higher included Abby Alexander, Destinee Holmes, Izaiah Rodriguez, Ty Holmes, Ben Doolan and Brody Hazel.

Five Niagara-Orleans League wrestlers have earned place finishes at the Division 2 state championships which concluded this evening at Albion.

Wilson senior Hamza Merrick captured the 285 lb. championship with a 4-1 decision win in the title match while his teammate senior Jacob Stephenson finished second at 160. Hamza was seeded No. 3 and Stephenson No. 1.

The Newfane senior duo of Aidan Gillings and Ayden Buttery finished third and fourth at 145 lbs. after Gillings edged Buttery 4-2 in the match for third and fourth place. Buttery was seeded No. 3 and Gillings No. 4.

Medina senior Reece Senske (116) finished sixth. He lost in the semifinals by a first period pin to top seeded Tommy Aiello (John Glenn, Section 8) who went on to capture the title. He then went 0-2 in the consolation bracket to finish in sixth place.

It was the second straight appearance at the state championships for Senske who finished eighth a year ago. He was seeded No. 5 this year.

Kendall and Lyndonville both bowed on the road this afternoon in Section V girls basketball quarterfinal round tournament games.

No. 2 Byron-Bergen downed No. 7 Kendall in Class C1 and No. 3 CG Finney bested No. 6 Lyndonville in Class D.

Ava LaMay and Izzy D’Agostino both scored 14 to lead Kendall.

Addison Dillenbeck scored 10, Alexa Robinson 9 and Hannah Fox 8 for Lyndonville.

Kiley Knittle took game high honors with 19 for Finney which led 25-12 at the half.

Top seeded Southwestern downed visiting No. 8 Medina 70-37 this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Section VI Class B1 girls basketball tournament.

Gianna Sirianni scored a game high 29 points to lead the way for Southwestern as Braya Beaver added 13 and Ellie Pearson 10.

Honesty Hill and Alexa Demmer both scored 14 for Medina as Roswyn Oakes added 4, Ariel Smith 3 and Tatianna Maxon 2.

Newfane 45, Akron 44
No. 4 seed Newfane nipped Niagara-Orleans League rival No. 5 Akron 45-44 in another Class B1 quarterfinal.

A free throw by Anna Chunco with 20 seconds left which snaped a 44-44 tie earned the Lady Panthers the win.

Akron jumped out to a 19-3 first quarter lead but Newfane got back in the game with a 18-3 second quarter scoring surge to cut the deficit to just one, 22-21, at the half.

Chunco finished with 18, Ah-Leena Golden 12 and Sienna Bowers 10.

Wilson 27, Allegany-Limestone 25 OT
No. 4 seed Wilson nipped visiting No. 5 Allegany-Limestone 27-25 in overtime in a Section VI Class B2 quarterfinal.

Emily Phillips had a basket late in the fourth quarter to pull Wilson even and then a huge three in the overtime for the Lakewomen.

Salamanca 68, Roy-Hart 40
No. 2 seed Salamanca rolled to a 68-40 win over visiting No. 7 Roy-Hart in another Class B2 quarterfinal.

Salamanca built up leads of 14-4 after the first quarter, 30-18 at the half and 52-27 after three quarters.

Courtney Aquilina scored 10 and Kaitlin Mettler 9 to lead Roy-Hart as Adella Dukes added 7, Peyton May 6, Millie Owens 5 and Kylie McOmber 2.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Jayzon Wills goes up for a layup against Alden defender Robbie Westmiller during the Mustangs sectional loss to the host Bulldogs this afternoon.

Unable to shake off the rust from a 16 day layoff since the end of the regular season, No. 5 seed Medina dropped a 65-38 decision to No. 4 Alden this afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B1 boys basketball tournament at Alden.

Medina did take a 15-14 lead at the end of the opening period as Avion Johnson hit his second three of the quarter at the buzzer.

However, it was all Alden over the next two quarters.

Opening with a 12-1 run, Alden outscored Medina 23-3 in the second period to open up a 19 point, 37-18, half-time advantage as the Mustangs failed to score from the field in the quarter.

Kalen Czelusta scored 10, Nate Jegerski 6 and Robbie Westmiller 5 for the Bulldogs in the decisive second quarter.

Keeping the momentum, the Bulldogs used a 20-10 third period scoring edge to open up a huge 31 point, 59-28, advantage at the three-quarter mark.

Jegerski finished with a game high 19 points, Westmiller 14 and Czelusta 12.

Jerrell Neely scored 10 to lead Medina as Preston Woodworth added 7, Kolton Fletcher and Johnson 6 each, Jayzon Wills 5 and Christian Moss 4.

Medina finishes the season at 9-12.

Alden will next face top seeded Akron in the B1 semifinals on Thursday at Buffalo State.

Akron 59, Southwestern 30
Top seeded Akron downed visiting No. 9 Southwestern 59-30 in another Class B1 quarterfinal.

Derren Brooks scored 15, Brayden Lamont 12, Ben Gerstung 10 and Blake Gerstung 8 for Akron’s balanced attack.

Improving to 20-1 on the season, the Tigers led 26-13 at the half.

Olmsted 54, Newfane 48
No. 2 seed Olmsted edged No. 10 Newfane 54-48 in another Class B1 quarterfinal.

Wilson 59, Roy-Hart 40
In an all Niagara-Orleans League Class B2 quarterfinal, No. 4 seed Wilson bested No. 12 Roy-Hart 59-40.

Aidan Neumann poured in a game high 30 points to lead the way for the Lakemen as Ryan Hough chipped in with 13 and Shamus George 10.

Dan Aquilina scored 15 and Braden Ricker 13 for the Rams.

Wilson will now face the winner of the No. 1 Salamanca vs. No. 9 Falconer quarterfinal in the semifinals on Wednesday at Buffalo State.

Medina’s Cole Callard draws a crowd of four Alden defenders as he puts up a shot.

A late rally fell short as No. 5 seeded Albion dropped a narrow 52-48 decision at No. 4 Buffalo Academy of Science this evening in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class A2 boys basketball tournament.

Trailing by nine, 42-33, midway through the final period Albion closed to within three at 42-39 after free throw by Wesley Olles, a basket by Kyle Radder and a three by Tyler Cody.

A basket and seven free throws by Olles helped to pull Albion to within two, 50-48. in the final seconds. However, the Purple Eagles, who were hampered by no less than 9 turnovers in the final period, could not pull even.

Buffalo Science’s final 10 points came on a three and seven free throws.

Buffalo Science led by margins of 14-11 after the first period, 26-18 at the half and 32-28 at the three-quarter mark.

Olles and Radder both finished with 15 points, Seth Krenning 11 and Cody 7.

The Purple Eagles finish the season with a 13-9 overall record.

Section V Boys Playoffs
Bradford-Dundee 51, Kendall 38
Top seeded Bradford-Dundee downed visiting No. 9 Kendall 52-38 in the quarterfinal round of the Section V Class C2 tournament.

William Kludt had 12 points and 9 steals for Kendall as Jonny Conte and CJ D’Agostino each had 6 points.

Section V Girls Playoffs
Marcus Whitman 58, Holley 34
No. 2 seed Marcus Whitman defeated visiting No. 7 Holley 58-34 in the quarterfinals of the Section V Class B2 girls basketball tournament.

Alivia Wolf had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals; Zoey Wolf 5 points and 7 rebounds; Desiree McCormack 4 points and 8 rebounds and Brynn Thomas 2 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists to lead Holley.

Contributed Photo – Medina’s Reece Senske wins his quarterfinal match at the state championships today.

Medina senior Reece Senske (116) scored a pair of victories today to advance to the semifinal round of the Division 2 state wrestling championship which are being held at Albany.

Senske opened with an 11-0 major decision win over Jake Burton from Marcellus (Section III). He then scored an 8-3 decision win in the quarterfinals over Brody Shaffer from Warsaw (Section V).

He will now face top seeded Tommy Aiello from John Glenn (Section XI) in the semifinals Saturday morning.

The championship round will be held Saturday evening.

Four other Niagara-Orleans League wrestlers have also advanced to the semifinals including the Newfane senior duo of Ayden Buttery and Aidan Gillings who are seeded No. 3 and No. 4 respectively at 145 along with the Wilson senior duo of  Jacob Stephenson who is seeded No. 1 at 160 and Hamza Merrick who is seeded No. 3 at 285.

Gillings and Stephenson have both advanced to the semis with a pair of pins while Buttery has wins by a decision and a technical fall and Merrick by a pin and a major decision.

Four other N-O wrestlers have been eliminated as Albion eighth grader Stryker Sanders went 2-2, Medina senior Brody Fry (190) 0-2, Roy-Hart senior Ronan Klug (170) 0-2 and Newfane sophomore Jake Morello (160) 0-2.

Jumping out to an 18-3 first quarter lead, top seeded Depew went on to down No. 8 Albion 67-35 in a Section VI Class A2 girls basketball tournament quarterfinal round game this evening at Depew.

The host Lady Wildcats went on to lead by margins of 37-9 at the half and 52-26 after three quarters.

Cami London scored 13 to lead Albion as Kenzi Snook had 8, Aaliyah Jones 6. Julia Knight 4 and Melia Prince and Leah Pawlak 2 each.

Moving on top to stay in the second quarter, No. 12 seed Roy-Hart went on to upend No. 5 Riverside Academy 67-42 in the pre-quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B2 boys basketball tournament this evening in Buffalo.

Dan Aquilina scored 22 and Braden Ricker 19 to lead the way for Roy-Hart. Matt Aquilina added 7, Vinny Fazzio 5, Isaac Smith 4, Tysen McCaa and Ian Earl 3 each and Erique Powell and Caleb Beyer 2 each for the Rams.

Trailing 21-16, Roy-Hart rallied into the lead for good by closing the second period with a 12-0 run to grab a 28-21 advantage at the half.

Despite making only two field goals in the second period the Rams used some red hot 11 of 12 free throw shooting to rally into the lead. Dan Aquilina had 5 points and Ricker and Matt Aquilina 4 each during that key stretch.

Keeping the momentum, the Rams then used a 20-9 third period scoring edge to extend the advantage to 18, 48-30, at the thee-quarter mark.

Dan Aquilina had 10 points on five baskets from close range, Ricker seven, including a three and Fazzio a three to highlight that uprising.

The Rams closed out the win with a 19-12 scoring edge in the final stanza as Earl and McCaa both hit threes.

Roy-Hart’s victory now sets up an all Niagara-Orleans League B2 quarterfinal round matchup as the Rams will visit No. 4 seed Wilson at noon on Saturday. The Lakemen downed the Rams twice during the N-O campaign.

Class B1
No. 10 Newfane edged No. 7 Bennett 55-52 in a Section VI Class B1 pre-quarterfinal at Bennett.

Mac Capen had 20 points and 16 rebounds, Nasir Spencer 12 points and 5 rebounds and Kasey Wheat 9 points to lead the Panthers.

Newfane will now visit No. 2 Olmsted on Saturday in the quarterfinals.