Local high school sports action will resume regular league competition this week following the holiday break.

Albion will host Medina in a Niagara-Orleans League swim meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday and Medina will visit Roy-Hart in the Mustangs N-O boys basketball opener at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Lyndonville will host Holley-Kendall in wrestling and Kendall in girls basketball on Thursday evening at 6 and 7 p.m.

Weekly Schedule
Tuesday
Girls Basketball – Albion at Attica, 7 p.m.
Swimming – Medina at Albion, Roy-Hart/Barker at Newfane, 5 p.m.

Wednesday
Boys Basketball – Medina at Roy-Hart, Barker at Newfane, Wilson at Akron, 6:30 p.m.;  Albion at Oakfield-Alabama,  Lyndonville at Elba, Greece Odyssey at Holley, 7 p.m.
Wrestling – Medina at Wilson, Newfane at Albion, 6 p.m.

Thursday
Girls Basketball – Medina at Akron, Barker at Albion, Wilson at Newfane, 6:30 p.m.; Kendall at Lyndonville, 7 p.m.
Swimming – Medina at Newfane, Akron at Albion, 5 p.m.
Wrestling – Holley-Kendall at Lyndonville, Cheektowaga at Medina, Akron at Roy-Hart/Barker, 6 p.m.

Friday
Boys Basketball – Newfane at Wilson, 6 p.m.; Akron at Medina, Albion at Barker, 6:30 p.m.; Lyndonville at Kendall, Notre Dame at Holley, 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball – Roy-Hart at Alden, 6:30 p.m.
Wrestling – CSAT at Lyndonville, 6 p.m.

Saturday
Boys Basketball – Roy-Hart at Lockport, 1:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball – Avoca-Prattsburg at Lyndonville, 2:30 p.m.
Wrestling – Holley-Kendall at Perry Tournament.

Contributed Photo – Melanie Green

Medina High graduate and University of South Florida senior Melanie Green has placed second at the Patriot All America Golf Tournament which concluded Sunday in Arizona.

Green, who held a one shot lead going into the final round, finished two shots off the pace with a 200 total on rounds of 62-69-69.

Her opening round of 62, which included 9 birdies and just 1 bogey, set a new tournament record.

However, that record lasted only two days as on Sunday Vanderbilt University’s Tillie Claggett fired a new record score of 61, including 9 birdies and no bogies, to finish with a 198 total and claim the tourney victory.

She shot 68 and 69 over her first two rounds.

Green’s final round of 69 included 6 birdies, 3 bogeys and 1 double bogey.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Holley players celebrate capturing the Far West Regional title which propelled them to the state semifinals.

It was an historic, record setting season for the Holley girls varsity soccer team as the Lady Hawks not only ended a 30 year sectional title drought but went on to capture their first Section V state qualifier win and Far West Regional victory to gain a berth in the state Class C semifinals.

With the entire starting lineup back from the 2022 squad which reached the Section V Class C final, Holley was in a strong position to achieve a big season and the Lady Hawks certainly capitalized.

First, making up for that C1 final loss last year, Holley claimed the crown by edging Williamson 2-1 on a pair of goals by Samantha Bates for the Lady Hawks first sectional title since 1994.

Holley then avenged a regular season loss by nipping Genesee Region League foe Byron-Bergen 3-2 in overtime in the Section V Class C state qualifier game as Bates scored both the tying and winning goals gaining the Lady Hawks their first trip to the state playoffs.

Keeping the momentum, Holley made a sparkling debut in the state playoffs by blanking Section VI champion Frewsburg 2-0 in the Far West Regional as Bates netted both goals.

That victory propelled Holley to the state semifinals at Homer High School near Cortland where Capital District Region champion Waterford-Halfmoon ended Holley’s memorable postseason run by downing the Lady Hawks 3-0.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina quarterback Julian Woodworth breaks away from a tackle during the Mustangs key C North Division title clinching victory at Newfane.

Continuing a strong recent title run, Medina captured a fourth straight C North Division football championship and went on to advance to the Section VI Class C finals for the third time in the last four seasons.

Medina locked up the C North Division title by defeating host Newfane 48-26 in a key late season clash of unbeatens. The Mustangs and Panthers both brought 5-0 division records into the contest.

Medina then capped off an 8-0 regular season by downing rival Albion 38-8.

Keeping the momentum, the Mustangs then improved their record to 10-0 by opening the Class C sectionals with a pair of shutout wins over Southern Tier foes at Vets Park. The Mustangs blanked Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove 24-0 in the quarterfinals and Southwestern 21-0 in the semifinals.

However, Medina’s bid for a sectional title was dashed as Salamanca used a big second half scoring surge to down the Mustangs 36-23 in the Class C championship game at Highmark Stadium. Trailing 16-14 at the half, the Warriors outscored the Mustangs 22-7 in the second half to claim the crown.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – The Purple Eagles logo is center stage on Albion’s new artificial turf football field.

It was a special fall season for the Albion football team as the Purple Eagles began play on their new artificial turf field at Spierdowis Stadium.

The project includes not only the new turf football field but a new all weather track as well as a new artificial turf soccer/softball complex which is scheduled to be completed this coming spring.

When completed the entire complex will be named in honor of Richard Diminuco the Purple Eagles former long time coach and athletic director.

The Purple Eagles enjoyed a very successful debut on the new turf field by defeating Roy-Hart/Barker 36-14.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Thomas Russo, left, and Andrew Ossont helped lead Roy-Hart to baseball and swim titles.

Appearing in the finals for the sixth year in a row, the Roy-Hart varsity baseball team captured the Section VI Class B2 championship with a 5-1 victory over Fredonia at Grand Island as Thomas Russo hurled a two hitter with 10 strikeouts.

Russo, who earned first team All-Western New York honors, was also named All-WNY small schools Pitcher of the Year as well as Niagara-Orleans League Player of the Year.

The Rams advanced to the B2 final by downing Akron 9-1 in the quarterfinals and Salamanca 6-2 in the semis.

However, Roy-Hart’s bid for a spot in the state playoffs was dashed as B1 champion Depew blanked the Rams 10-0 in the state qualifier contest. Depew went on to win the state Class B title.

Five of the Rams have signed to continue baseball careers in college including Russo and Brayden Hy at Canisius, Dawson Draper and Jacob Gould at NCCC an Ethan Kuzma at Finger Lakes CC.

Roy-Hart/Barker also scored a sweep of the Niagara-Orleans League swim championships. The Channel Cats captured the girls’ title with an 8-0 record and the boys’ with a 7-1 mark.

The title was the fourth in the last six years for the Channel Cats girls’ team and the fourth straight for the boys’ squad which has now claimed the crown 15 of the last 17 years.

The Channel Cats had a pair of individual event double winners at the All-League meets as Andrew Ossont took both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke and Julia Miles the 50 Free and 100 Free.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Payton Grabowski and his Lyndonville teammates captured the Section V B3 wrestling title.

The Lyndonville wrestling team celebrated hosting the Section V Class B3 tournament in style by capturing the championship.

The Tigers had a trio of individual weight class champions in Payton Grabowski, Sebastian Temich and Ty Holmes as the threesome of Christian Garver, Chyenne Tackley and Sam Doolan all earned second place finishes.

Grabowski, who earned his 100th career win during the B3 tournament, went on to capture a Section V small schools title and to go 2-2 at the state championships.

Also on the mats, the Medina trio of Dominick Callara, Conor Crandall and Sawyer Kingsbury all captured Niagara-Orleans League titles as did the Roy-Hart/Barker duo of Luke Fay and Quinn Brown. Callara went on to also win a Section VI Class C-D title.

– The Medina Mustangs FC captured the Buffalo District Soccer League 3rd Division playoff championship with a 2-1 victory over top seeded Ukraine at Sahlen’s Sports Park. Ethan Leonard and Nathan Dillenbeck scored the goals for Medina as Tyler Ribbeck made several big saves in goal to anchor the defense. The win was the ninth in the last 10 games for the Mustangs whose lone setback during that stretch was a 4-1 loss to Ukraine. Medina, which finished the season with s 10-2-1 record, advanced to the playoff finals by defeating Buffalo Night 5-3 in the quarterfinals and LA United 3-1 in the semis.

– Banes captured both the Medina Women’s Softball ‘A’ League regular season and playoff championships. Banes, which went 8-2 during the regular season, scored a doubleheader victory over Jr. Wilson in the playoff finals by scores of 20-11 and 9-3.

– The Lyndonville girls basketball and softball teams both reached the Section V finals. On the basketball court, the Lady Tigers lost to top seeded Keshequa 58-41 in the Class D1 finals. On the softball diamond, Lyndonville lost 5-2 to Genesee Region League foe Notre Dame in the D1 title contest.

– The Akron field hockey team advanced to the state semifinals where the Lady Tigers dropped a narrow 1-0 overtime decision to Carle Place. Undefeated (12-0) Niagara-Orleans League champion Akron advanced to the state semis by nipping Medina 1-0 in the Section VI Class C title contest and then downing East Rochester 3-0 in the Far West Regional.

– Medina High junior Cole Callard had a huge fall season earning first team All-Western New York honors in soccer and second team All-WNY honors in football. He set Mustangs soccer record for most goals in a game with 7 and in a season with 28. The Mustangs placekicker in football he made 44 of 46 extra point kick attempts and 4 field goals with the longest being a school record 47 yards.

– Medina High senior Roosevelt Mitchell, a three year two-way starting lineman for the Mustangs varsity football squad, earned first team All-WNY honors and accepted a Division 1 scholarship from the University of Akron.

– Medina High graduate and University of South Florida senior Melanie Green earned American Athletic All Conference golf honors for the third straight year. She also earned Honorable Mention on the All American team.

– Sandstone and Elba split a pair of 4-2 games in the Albion Midget League finals. Albion won the 9U game and Elba the 12U contest.

– Lyndonville native Scott Bradley qualified for the 2024 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

– The Orleans FC U17 boys team won a Rochester District Youth Soccer League title and also competed in the NYS Cup in New York City.

– James Tee captured his third Shelridge Club title while Rich Wheeler, Deb Wood, Jeff Dobson and Marcia Zambito earned club titles at Hickory Ridge.

– The Orleans Outlaws 12U baseball team won the Blue Crab Diamond Tournament in Maryland with a 7-0 record.

– The Lyndonville Orange Tigers and Orange Majors both won regular season softball titles.

– The Medina Unified basketball team captured a Section VI title.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Austin Werth puts up a shot against Medina defender Elijah Doxey during the host Eagles tournament win over the Mustangs this afternoon.

Moving on top to stay with a big scoring burst to end the first quarter, Kendall went on to defeat visiting Medina 74-51 in the consolation game of the Eagles Holiday Basketball Tournament this afternoon.

Trailing 5-4, Kendall closed the first period with a 14-4 run to rally to take an 18-9 lead. Jacek Kwiatkowski hit two threes and Hunter Richards had three baskets to key that rally.

The Eagles nearly doubled their advantage to 17 (35-18) at the half after a foul filled second quarter which included a total of 25 free throw attempts. Louis Conte had a three and a two and Austin Wakefield a three to lead that Eagles surge.

Medina did rally back to within eight, 42-34, midway through the third period after a 10-2 run which included two threes by Justin Pitts along with baskets by Christian Moss and Cole Callard.

However, the Mustangs would get no closer as the Eagles quickly regained control by answering with an 11-2 run to close the period and open up a commanding 53-36 advantage. Wakefield scored 5 and  Conte 4 to lead that uprising.

Medina could get no closer than 14 in the final period.

Conte scored 17 to lead a quartet of Eagles to hit double figures as Kwiatkowski had 14, Richards 13 and Wakefield 12. Austin Werth chipped in with 9, Nick Cole 5 and William Kludt 4.

Jerrell Nealy led Medina with 15 as Pitts, Callard and Moss each added 8, Jason Beyer 4, Roosevelt Mitchell, Elijah Doxey and Cam Kenward 2 and Alex Benz and Preston Woodworth 1 each.

Kendall is now 3-5 and Medina 3-4.

Kendall’s Hunter Richards goes up for a shot against Medina defender Jerrell Nealy.

Medina’s Jason Beyer puts up a shot.

A second half come-back bid fell short as Holley dropped a 57-42 decision to host Pembroke this evening in a Genesee Region League boys basketball game.

Trailing by 21, 23-13, at the half, Holley came battling back. The Hawks cut the deficit to 10, 40-30, at the three-quarter mark and then to six, 48-42, late in the final period.

The host Dragons though turned back the challenge by closing with a 9-0 run to lock up the win.

Tyson Totten scored 30 to lead the way for Pembroke.

Dustin Kuyal scored 19, Vinny Golisano 13 and Ben Cox 8 to pace Holley.