Looking to end a 40 year plus long drought, No. 3 seed Newfane will take on top seeded Salamanca for the Section VI Class B1 boys basketball championship at 1:45 p.m. Saturday at Buffalo State College.

Newfane, which last captured a sectional title in 1980, brings a 20-2 record into the finals while Salamanca is 17-5.

The Panthers advanced to the finals by nipping No. 2 Olmsted 49-48 in the semifinals while the Warriors downed No. 4 Akron 62-48.

The victor will advance to the Section VI Class B state qualifier game on Tuesday at Buffalo state against the winner of the Class B2 championship between No. 2 Eden and No. 5 Falconer.

The Panthers balanced attack has been led by the senior trio of Ben Dickinson (13 point ave), Landon Braman (12.6) and Nate Snow (10.6).

Leading the way for the Warriors has been Lucas Brown who has scored 560 points for a 25.5 per game average.

Section VI Class B2 Girls Final
No. 1 Wilson vs. No. 7 Portville
Top seeded Niagara-Orleans League champion Wilson will face No. 7 Portville in the Section VI Class B2 girls basketball playoff championship game at 11 a.m. Sunday at Buffalo State College.

Wilson advanced to the final by edging No. 4 Allegany-Limestone 46-44 in the semifinal while Portville downed No. 3 Salamanca 47-35.

The Lakewomen have been led offensively this season by the senior duo of Peyton McInnis (341 points, 203 rebounds) and Rian Faery (258 points, 180 rebounds).

Wilson last won a sectional title in 2017.

The victor will advance to the state playoffs.

Contributed Photos – Reanna Perkins, left, and Madison Fry-Fachet

The collegiate softball season is now underway for two Roy-Hart graduates – Madison Fry-Fachet, who is a graduate student catcher/outfielder at Mercyhurst, and Reanna Perkins, who is a sophomore shortstop at St. Bonaventure.

Fry-Fachet has started 128 games during her career at Mercyhurst, She has a career batting average of .450 with 215 hits, 26 doubles, 44 RBI and 52 stolen bases.

A Childhood and Special Education major, she is a three-time first team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division first team All-Star.

A Health Science major, Perkins started 38 games at shortstop her freshman year at St. Bona.

During her scholastic days at Roy-Hart she was a two-time Niagara-Orleans League Player of the Year honoree and helped pitch and hit the Lady Rams to an N-O title her senior year.

Contributed Photo – Rylee VanNostrand

The Niagara Country Community College Thunderwolves, whose roster included Medina graduate Rylee VanNostrand, will host Erie County Community College in the Region III Division II women’s basketball semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The victor will play the winner of the Jamestown Community College vs. Monroe Community College semi in the regional final on Sunday at NCCC.

NCCC, which brings a 25-2 record into the regonals, bested ECC twice during the regular season by lopsided scores of 122-42 and 142-43. VanNostrand had 8 points and 4 rebounds in the later contest.

On the season, VanNostrand has played in 22 games scoring 69 points with 29 rebounds, 10 assists an 10 steals.

During her senior year at Medina she scored 421 points and earned first team Niagara-Orleans All-League honors.

VanNostrand also played soccer for the Thunderwolves last fall.

Niagara-Orleans League co-champions Newfane and Akron went 1-1 in the semifinal round of the Section VI Class B1 boys basketball playoffs this evening at Buffalo State College.

No. 3 seed Newfane nipped No. 2 Olmstead 49-48 and No. 4 Akron dropped a 62-48 decision to No. 1 Salamanca.

Two free throws in the final 30 seconds by Ben Dickinson provided the margin of victory for Newfane which will now face Salamanca for the B1 title on Saturday at Buffalo State.

Mac Capen finished with 13 to lead Newfane as Konner Courtemanche added 9 and Dickinson and Nate Snow 8 each.

The Panthers held leads of 10-8 after the first period, 19-13 at the half and 33-31 at the three-quarter mark.

Salamanca raced out to comanding leads of 22-5 after the first quarter and 34-14 at the half in route to downing Akron.

Lucas Brown took game high scoring honors with 23 for Salamanca while Brayden Lamont had 11 and Aiden Romesser 9 for Akron.

Contributed Photo – Cayden Lilleby

Coming off a high scoring senior season at Medina High, Cayden Lilleby is now getting set to begin his collegiate lacrosse career as a freshman midfielder on the Genesee Community College squad.

Lilleby and his GCC teammates are scheduled to open the season at home on Saturday against Community College Baltimore County Essex, Maryland.

His Cougar teammates include a pair of fomer high school foes in Akron grads Liam Regan an Kiernan Regan.

Lilleby scored a team leading 71 goals and added 30 sssists for a total of 101 points during his senior year at Medina.

A two-time first team Class D Division All-Star, he also earned second team All Section VI squad honors.

He also hit the 50 goal scoring mark for the Mustangs his junior year.

In a down to the wire thriller, top seeded Niagara-Orleans League champion Wilson nipped No. 4 Allegany-Limestone 46-44 in the Section VI Class B2 girls basketball semifinals this evening at Kenmore West.

Rian Faery made two pressure free throws with just seven tenths of a second remaining to give Wilson the thrilling win.

Faery also scored a huge basket with 16 seconds remaining to pull the Lakewomen into a 44-44 tie.

Rowan Simpson finished with 14, Faery 12 and Peyton McInnis 9 for Wilson.

The Lakewomen will now face the winner of the No 2 Salamanca vs. No. 3 Portville semi in the B2 championship game on Sunday at Buffalo State College.

Class B1 Semifinal
Top seeded Southwestern romped to an 81-33 win over No. 4 Akron in the girls Class B1 semifinals on Tuesday.

Southwestern will now take on No 2 East Aurora in the B1 title game on Sunday at Buffalo State. East Aurora downed No. 3 Olmsted 34-26 in the other semifinal.

Contributed Photo – Thomas Russo III

Roy-Hart graduate Thomas Russo III has made an impressive pitching debut to his college baseball career at Canisius University.

A freshman, Russo came on in the ninth inning to shutdown a four run Gardner-Webb rally by registering a clutch game ending strikeout to earn his first career save and lockup an 8-5 win for Canisius.

A two-time Niagara-Orleans League Player of the Year and a three-time first team N-O All-League selection during his scholastic days at Roy-Hart, Russo is majoring in Physical Education and Health Education at Canisius.

He registered some 264 strikeouts over his final two seasons at Roy-Hart and helped hurl and hit the Rams to the Section VI Class B2 title his senior year.

Contributed Photo – Catherine Wolck

Albion High graduate and Genesee Community College freshman Catherine Wolck has been named to the third team of the Mid State Athletic Conference All Conference basketball squad.

Wolck, who started 14 games,  averaged 8.9 rebounds and 7.8 points for the Cougars.

Last fall she played midfield on the Cougars soccer team.

She played in 12 of 15 games making two starts and scored one goal and added two assists.

During her scholastic days at Albion she played three years of varsity soccer and softball and two years of varsity basketball.

Four Niagara-Orleans League teams will be competing in this week’s semifinal round of the Section VI basketball playoffs.

This evening No. 4 seed Akron will face top seeded Southwestern in the girls Class B1 semifinals at 5:30 p.m. at Kenmore West. The victor will play in the B1 final on Sunday at Buffalo State College against the winner of the No. 3 Olmsted vs. No. 2 East Aurora semi.

On Wednesday, N-O champion No. 1 seed Wilson will face No. 4 Allegany-Limestone in the Class B2 semis at 5:30 p.m. at Kenmore West. The victor advances to Sunday’s B2 final at Buffalo State against the winner of the No. 3 Portville vs. No. 2 Salamanca semi.

On Thursday, N-O co-champions Akron and Newfane will be in action in the boys Class B1 semifinals at Buffalo State.

No. 4 Akron will face No. 1 Salamanca at 6:30 p.m. and No. 3 Newfane will take on No. 2 Olmsted at 8 p.m. The winners will meet for the B1 title on Saturday at Buffalo State.

Contributed Photo – Melanie Green

Putting together a sizzling final round, University of South Florida senior Melanie Green came storming back to earn a sixth place finish at the Westbrook Invitational golf tournament which concluded this afternoon at Peoria, Arizona.

Seven shots off the pace after Sunday’s two opening rounds, Green, who is a Medina High graduate, caught fire shooting a blistering 8 under par round of 64 today to earn her sixth top six finish in as many USF tournaments this year.

The round not only tied her career best but was also the tourney’s best round of the day.

Back-to-back birdies on the first two holes ignited Green’s big rally. She improved to 7 under par on the day later in the round with a key five hole stretch during which she recorded 3 birdies and an eagle.

She later added another birdie to go 8 under and pared the rest of the way to keep that margin and finish with a 64.

Finishing three shots back of the leader,  Green finished with a 54 hole total of 205 after going 3 under par on Sunday shooting rounds of 71 and 70.

USF finished fourth in the team standings.

Green and her USF teammates will next compete in the Augusta Invitation at the Forest Hills Country Club at Augusta, Georgia on March 9 and 10.