Holley nipped Barker 23-21 in overtime and Kendall downed Medina 65-15 this evening in the opening round of the Kendall girls basketball Tournament.

Tatum Gagne scored a basket at the buzzer in overtime to earn Holley the narrow win.

Harleigh Andrews finished with 8 and Gagne 4 for Holley while Alyssa Thompson scored 6 and Mia Herman 5 for Holley.

Libby Snyder poured in 23 points and grabbed off 21 rebounds to lead the way for Kendall. She tallied 13 in the opening quarter as the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 29-8 lead.

Emma Allen added 9, Julia Szczepanski and Alezya Brown 6 and Kailie Regan and Lauren Pilon 5 for Kendall.

Stella Poler scored 7 and Rylee VanNostand 4 for Medina.

Holley will now face Kendall in the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday. Barker will take on Medina in the consolation game at 2 p.m.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Gracie Johnson puts up a shot against Albion defenders Lucy Rivers (21) and Alison Gibson during the Lady Tigers win over the host Purple Eagles this evening.

Leading from wire-to-wire, Lyndonville romped to a 57-17 victory over host Albion this evening in the season opening non league girls basketball game for both teams.

A total of 10 players contributed to the scoring parade for Lyndonville as Lorelei Dillenbeck netted 11, Ella Lewis 9, Ashlee Stephens 8, Karlee Rounds 7, Addison Dillenbeck and Peyton McDonald 6, Haley Shaffer 4, Brynn Howell 3, Gracie Johnson 2 and Shelby Boring 1.

Abby Scanlan and Madison Hughson each scored 4, Aurora Serafin and Paige Newton 3, Kenzie Snook 2 and Lucy Rivers 1 for Albion.

Lyndonville jumped out to a 12 point, 16-4, first quarter lead as Lewis had a three and a three-point play and Lorelei Dillenbeck a three and a layup off a steal.

The Lady Tigers upped the lead to 21, 31-10, at the half as Addison Dillenbeck had three baskets, Rounds two and Howell hit a three.

Keeping the momentum, Lyndonville upped its advantage to 28, 42-14, at the three-quarter mark.

The Lady Tigers closed out the win with a 15-3 scoring edge in the final period including two threes by McDonald and one by Lorelei Dillenbeck.

Albion’s Olivia Krenning goes up to grab a rebound surrounded by Samantha Basinait (23), Ashlee Stevens, Kenzie Snook (4) and Shelby Boring (34).

Swimming
Albion earned a split with visiting Attica in a season opening non league swim meet today.

Albion won the boys’ meet 53-29 as Declan McCue took the 100 Backstroke and Dallas Ecker the 100 Butterfly.

Attica won the girls’ meet 53-29.

HAC defeated host Medina 91.5-77.5 in the boys’ meet and 81-52 in the girls’ competition.

Isaac Pace was a double winner for the Medina boys in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Ava Owens

Anchored by a group of four senior returnees, Roy-Hart will begin tuning up for the Niagara-Orleans League girls basketball season by visiting Alden at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Roy-Hart’s veteran quartet includes Kara Choate, Claire Halstead, Ryan Hiller and Ava Owens.

The Lady Rams lineup also includes senior Sydney Rhinehart, juniors Alexis Cacciatore, Julianna Buscarino, Makenna Elsenheimer, sophomore Julie Terwilliger and freshmen Kaitlin Mettler and Lila Brigham.

“It will be a nice blend of youth and experience,” said Coach Grace Swick.

Roy-Hart’s graduation losses included first team N-O All-League honoree Shelby Wolf along with Rileigh McCabe, Miah Glena and Mya Quinn.

Roy-Hart, which went 5-7 in N-O competition last season, will also visit Pembroke on December 7 and host Maryvale on Dec. 14, Starpoint on Dec. 17 and CSAT on Dec. 22 before opening the league season at home against Wilson on January 4.

Lyndonville edged past host Akron 53-50 this evening in a season opening non league boys basketball game.

Trenton Muck and Noah Poler both scored 14, Ian Mank 11, Jack Whipple 7 and Roman Heinsler 5 to pace Lyndonville.

Donny Kreher shared game high honors with 14 for Akron.

Lyndonville held narrow two point leads at the half (25-23) and after three quarters (44-42) as Muck scored 11 in the third period.

The Tigers then closed out the win in the final period as Mank and Whipple both hit threes and Roman Heinsler made two clutch free throws with 30 seconds to go.

“We’ve got a few things to clean up mainly rebounding but they played well and they played hard,” said CJ Knight who was making his debut as the Tigers new coach.

Lyndonville next hosts Wheatland-Chili in the Genesee Region League opener at 7 p.m. Monday.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Maddox Stirk, shown here in action during a match last season, and his Lyndonville teammates will open the season at the Byron-Bergen Tournament on Saturday.

Boasting a good nucleus of a dozen returnees, Lyndonville will begin tuning up to defend its Genesee Region League wrestling title by competing in the Byron-Bergen Tournament this Saturday and then hosting the annual Fred Large Memorial Tournament on December 11.

The Tigers large returning contingent includes seniors Maddox Stirk, Austin Schmitt, Shayne Nickerson, Noah Neff and Hunter Dix along with juniors Sam Doolan, Alex Farrell, Christian Garver, Payton Grabowski, Allan Heideman; sophomore Sabastian Temich and freshman Ty Holmes.

Doolan, Grabowski and Temich each topped the 10 win mark during last season’s abbreviated schedule..

Lyndonville’s graduation losses included Rodney Davis, Dillon Burt-Hodgins, Carson Dusett, Brennon Munn, Avery Wilcox and Connor Bell.

Davis went 13-0 while Burt-Hodgins, Munn and Wilcox also each topped the 10 win mark.

“We lost some real good kids but we’ve got a good group back,” said Jim Zeliff who is co-coaching the Tigers with Joey Suhr. “We’ve got some good experience and we’re looking for the kids to step up and fill the holes we have. We’re expecting good things.”

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s returning starting duo of Jarin Rhim, left, and Joe Cecchini are shown in action during games last season.

Facing a bit of a rebuilding task Medina returns only two starters as the Mustangs prep to defend their Niagara-Orleans League and Section VI Class B2 basketball championships.

Leading the Mustangs is the returning starting duo of seniors Joe Cecchini and Jarin Rhim. Cecchini averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds this past season and Rhim 8 points and 6.3 rebounds.

The Mustangs also return varsity experience in the senior trio of Hayden Woodroe, Anthony Rutty and David Berry.

Rounding out the Mustangs lineup are senior Greg Thompson, a transfer from Albion, juniors Cayden Lilleby and Josh Wilson; sophomores Kaedon Cleveland, Robert Arnold and Justin Pitts and eighth grader Jerrell Nealy.

The Mustangs graduation losses included four of their top six players – first team N-O All-League honorees Tyler Chinn and Brian Fry as well as Dontae Rhim and Christian Drisdom.

“There is a lot of learning that has to happen over the next month,” said Coach Tom Forrestel. “We’re looking for our guys to play hard and learn and to compete.”

The Mustangs will tune up for the January 4 N-O opener at Barker with a challenging schedule of seven non league games beginning this Friday at South Parker in Buffalo.

That non league schedule also includes road games at West Seneca East (Dec. 16), Middle Early College (Dec. 20) and Tapestry (Jan. 3) as well as home contests against Central Christian AMucademy (Dec. 10), Cardinal O’Hara (Dec. 14) and Bennett (Dec. 30).

“We like to get as challenging a non league schedule as we can as that competition really helps get us ready for the league,” said Forrestel.

The Mustangs captured the N-O crown with an 11-1 record last season and finished with a 14-1 overall mark.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Dominick Callara

Underclassmen dominate the lineup for the Medina High varsity wrestling squad which will begin tuning up for the Niagara-Orleans League season by competing in the Byron-Bergen Tournament this Saturday and Lyndonville’s Fred Large Memorial Tournament on December 11.

Junior Dominick Callara, who captured a Section VI title last season, heads Medina’s veteran group.

The Mustangs returning group also includes senior Rashawn Bloom; sophomores Conor Crandall, Sawyer Kiingsbury and Liam Castricone; freshmen Brody Fry, Bryden McEwen-Miller, Austin Seefeldt, Trenton Morely, Reese Senske and eighth grader Luke Duffina. The lineup has also been boosted with the addition of junior Gavin Ciarfella who previously wrestled at Roy-Hart.

“It’s a very young group,” said Coach Eric Gross. “Right now we are looking to get as much experience on the mat as we can and the Byron-Bergen and Lyndonville Tournaments will really help as they have both JV and Varsity competition.”

The Mustangs will open the N-O season at home on December 15 against rival Albion.

Contributed Photo – Leading the Roy-Hart swim teams into the Niagara-Orleans League season will be this group of seniors. They include, from left, Jay Heideman, Chris Ulrich, Zach Livergood, Captain Jake Hagen, Brooke Livergood, Molly Russell, Amanda Hill and Charles Rickard.

Anchored by a good veteran nucleus Roy-Hart is looking to keep the momentum from last season which saw the Channel Cats capture the Niagara-Orleans League boys championship and the girls finish in the runnner-up spot.

The boys squad, which went 10-0 in N–O competition, is led by seniors Jake Hagen, who placed third in both the 100 and 200 Freestyle events at the N-O All-League meet, Charles Rickard (3rd in Breaststroke, 5th in 50 Free), Chris Ulrich (4th in 500 Free), Zach Livergood (5th in Backstroke) and Jay Heideman (6th in 200 Free) along with juniors Andrew Ossont (3rd in 50 Free and 5th in Breaststroke) and Max Stern and freshman Sean Labiak (5th in 500 Free).

Mandy Hill, who won both the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Free at the All-League meet, heads the veteran group for the girls squad which went 8-2 finishing second to undefeated (10-0) Akron). That veteran contingent also includes seniors Brooke Livergood (4th Breaststroke) and Molly Russell (5th Backstroke) along with juniors Alexis Seib (5th 50 Free) and Nadia White (6th 50 Free and Breaststroke) and sophomores Sophia Santella and Julie Miles.

“Medina should be our toughest meets for the boys and Akron for the girls,” said Coach Dottie Barr. “We just have to go into every meet really mentally focused.”

Roy-Hart will tune-up for the December 14 N-O opener at Newfane with a pair of meets against Genesee Region League foes. The Channel Cats will host Wheatland-Chili this Friday (5:30 p.m.) and then visit HAC on Dec. 7 (:30 p.m.)

Albion Purple Eagles
The accent is on youth for the Albion swim squads.

The veteran group for the Purple Eagles girls squad, which is looking to improve upon last year’s 2-8 N-O record, includes senior Emily Harling; junior Clara Bolton; sophomores Devynn Pearles, Hannah Pahura, Autumn Flugel, Mia Olles, Julia Fuller and freshman Willow Gaines.

The boys squad, which went 4-6, returns seniors Jacob Foote, Declan McCue, Dallas Ecker and Jeff Brown along with sophomores Mason Giattino, Finn McCue and Joel Stack and freshmen Matthew Kania, Leo Bolton and Seth Krenning.

Albion, which will host Barker in the N-O opener on Dec. 14, will host Attica this Friday (5:30 p.m.) and then visit Wheatland-Chili on Dec. 7 in non league tune-up meets.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Veterans Lily Carpenter of Medina and Trinity Parfinski of Barker in action during games last season.

Light on veteran experience and with new coaches at the helm Medina and Barker will both open the girls basketball season by competing in the Kendall Tournament on Thursday and Saturday.

Thursday’s opening round will have Barker vs. Holley at 6 p.m. followed by Medina vs. Kendall at 7:45 p.m. The consolation and championship games are scheduled for 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday.

The trio of seniors Lily Carpenter and Aleigha Mitchell and sophomore Iyla Lilleby provide the veteran experience for Medina which is coached by Connie Heschke.

The Mustangs underclassmen dominated lineup also includes juniors Stella Poler, Rylee VanNostrand, Dani Williams, Phallon Rivera, Hilda Santiago-Bautista, Tatyana Baity, Aries McMurray and sophomore Chloe Anelli.

“We have only two seniors so it is a young group but they are looking promising,” said Heschke. “The main thing now is getting them working together and get a team chemistry.”

Barker likewise has only two veteran returnees, seniors Trinity Parfinski and Alyssa Thompson.

The Lady Raiders are also looking to seniors Cloey Sanders and Hannah Fiacco and junior Mia Herman.

“It’s a really young team so it will be a building year for us,” said Coach Jim Bachman who guided the JV team last year.