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Playoffs next for R-H/Barker/Medina icers
The Roy-Hart/Barker/Medina Club hockey team will begin Western New York Club Hockey League playoff competition on Tuesday against Wilson/Newfane at Depew. The winner will face undefeated league champion East Aurora/Holland in the semi-finals.
RBM closed out the regular season on Sunday with a 15-2 loss to East Aurora/Holland at home.
After a well played first period in which RBM was behind 3-0, the sky fell in during the second when EA/H raced away to a 13-0 led before Corey Saj (Medina) scored from Joel Harris (Barker). In the third,
EA/H added two more scores before Harris scored from Ryan Mettler (RoyHart).
Medina football squad returns good nucleus
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina quarterback Xander Payne
Boasting a good veteran nucleus, especially at the skill positions, the Medina Mustangs football squad is prepping to begin their first season of competition in the Class C North Division.
Seniors Brian Fry, Tyler Chinn and Dontae Rhim along with juniors Joe Cecchini, Jarin Rhim and Iverson Poole provide experience at the running back and receiver spots, which also looks to be bolstered by senior Corey Saj and junior Hayden Woodroe.
Junior Xander Payne looks to open at the key quarterbacking position after calling signals for the JV team last fall. He will be backed up by Fry and Jarin Rhim.
Up front, the Mustangs look to have one of their biggest lines in several years including seniors Mitchell Silversmith (6-3, 340), and Robert Morehouse (6-1, 265); junior Colvin Stalker (5-11, 241), Chase Weese (6-0, 280), Zach Oliver (5-8 235) and sophomore Chris Johnson (6-2, 240).
Oliver, Cecchini, Fry and sophomore Noah Skinner look to man the key linebacker spots on the defensive unit which also has sophomore Dominic Latabee (6-7, 260) at an end spot.
“We do have a lot of returnees on both sides of the line especially at the skill positions and we have the biggest line we’ve had in some time,” said Coach Eric Valley. “We’ve really had to pack things into our practices because of the shorter preseason time and we’re in a new division but we’re excited to get a season in and were looking to be competitive.”
After playing for many years in Class B, the Mustangs will make their Class C North Division debut by hosting Newfane at Vets Park at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The remainder of Medina’s five game regular season schedule will have the Mustangs hosting Cleve Hill on April 16 and Wilson on April 23 and visiting Akron on April 9 and Tonawanda on April 29.
Wilson/Newfane nips R-H/Barker/ Medina
The RoyHart/Barker/Medina Club hockey team dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to third place Wilson/Newfane on Senior Recognition Day Saturday.
The opening period was scoreless as RBM’s defense was outstanding in their own zone and their were numerous shots on goal at the other end.
W/N scored late in the second period to take the lead.
Early in the final period, RBM tied the game with a goal by Joel Harris (Barker) assisted by Dayton Ruppel (Akron).
However, later in the period, W/N scored the winner on a rebound which careened to the opposite of the net for the easy shot.
Jaymis Taylor played a great game in goal for RBM.
Seniors recognized before the game were Conner McNeil of Medina and Dominic Peracciny of Roy-Hart as the first four year RBM players and Corey Saj (Medina) and Tagen Decker (Roy-Hart) as three year players.
Fredonia tops Roy-Hart for Class B3 title
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Tom Ragonese led Roy-Hart with 27.
A fourth quarter comeback bid fell short as No. 6 seed Roy-Hart dropped a 69-58 decision at No. 5 Fredonia this afternoon in the Section VI Class B3 championship game.
Trailing by 11, 48-37, at the three-quarter mark, Roy-Hart made two big runs at Fredonia down the stretch.
First, Roy-Hart sliced the deficit to just four, 48-44, at the outset of the final period after a 7-0 run on a three by Jon Gillings followed by layups by Aiden Petrie and Tom Ragonese only to see Fredonia answer with a 7-0 run ignited by one of the Hillbillies dozen threes.
Later, Roy-Hart pulled back to within six, 61-55, with 1:06 remaining after a three by Gillings but the Rams could get no closer as a layup followed by six free throws put a lock on the win and the title for the Hillbillies.
Tyler Putney scored 27, Mike Berg 18 and Ethan Fry 13 to lead the way for Fredonia.
Ragonese shared game high honors with a season high 27 for Roy-Hart as Rhett Goodwin added 16, Gillings 6, Petrie 5 and Gavyn Boyle 4. Ragonese scored 20 in the second half and Goodwin 14 in the first half.
Fredonia took a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter on a three at the buzzer. The Hillbillies hit four more threes in the second quarter to up the lead to 31-23 at the half and five more in the third to take a 48-37 advantage heading into the final period.
Hawks bounce back to down Silverbacks
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Jacob Affronti looks to break the tackle of Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville’s Drew Sandolfini in route to scoring a touchdown during the Hawks home field win over the Silverbacks this afternoon. The contest was the first ever for the Silverbacks. Click here to see a video of sights and sounds from the game.
Rebounding from a 50 point road loss in last week’s season opener, Holley posted a 50-28 victory over visiting Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville this afternoon in what was the visiting Silverbacks 8 man football debut.
Jacob Affronti scored five touchdowns on four runs and a pass reception from quarterback Destin Kuyal to spearhead the Holley offense. Chuck Turpyn also ran for one TD and caught a pass from Kuyal for another for the Hawks.
The Holley defense also came up big with five takeaways including an interception and fumble recovery by Michael Jacobs-Fallato, fumble recoveries by Turpyn and Broek Ostrom and an interception by Mason Neale.
Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville quarterback Aidan Mescall gets past Hawks defender Mason Neale to score the Silverbacks historic first ever touchdown in the opening quarter.
“The win is huge after last week,” said Holley Coach Wil Prince. “We challenged them during the week and they responded and really played football.”
“The big thing was our offensive line they really did a great job,” added Prince who cited the front line trio of Triston McFadden, Joseph Bissanti and David Farruggia.
Quarterback Aidan Mescall had a big day for the Silverbacks rushing for two touchdowns and passing to Thomas Roote for another. Rodney Davis scored the Silverbacks other TD.
Holley jumped out to a 16-6 first quarter lead as Affronti ran 3 yards for the first TD and caught a 15 yard pass from Kuyal for the other. Kuyal also completed a two-point conversion pass to Neale after the first tally.
Affronti, who rushed for some 300 yards on the afternoon, had runs of 22 and 27 yards to key the first drive and pickups of 13 and 18 to help set up the second tally.
Mescall ran 41 yards for the Silverbacks first ever touchdown in the opening quarter.
Holley running back Chuck Turpyn is tackled by the Silverbacks trio of Rodney Davis, Payton Grabowski and Maddox Stirk.
Holley upped its lead to 22-6 at the half as Kuyal turned a busted play into a 25 yard touchdown pass play to Turpyn late in the second quarter.
The Hawks then broke the contest open in the third quarter with three touchdowns on scoring runs by Affronti of 60, 21 and 39 yards to open up a 44-20 lead. Ostrom caught a pair of two-point conversion passes during that stretch one from Affronti and one from Kuyal.
The Silverbacks tallied twice in the free scoring quarter as Mescall first completed an 81 yard pass to Roote and then broke loose for an 81 yard TD run.
The Silverbacks did cut the deficit to 16, 44-28, at the outset of the final quarter on an 11 yard TD run by Davis who also added the two-point conversion. A 38 yard pass from Mescall to Joel Kubas helped set up that tally but the Silverbacks could get no closer.
Holley got that one back on an 18 yard touchdown run by Turpyn with 5:26 remaining to regain a 50-28 lead and put a lock on the win.
The Hawks defense stopped the Silverbacks last two possessions on an interception by Neale and a fumble recovery by Ostrom.
Holley will next host Frewsburg in a non league game at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday while the Silverbacks will entertain Perry in a league game at 7 p.m. Friday. Perry lost 68-34 this afternoon to Red Jacket which shutout Holley last week.
Rodney Davis picks up yardage up the middle as Triston McFadden and Jakob Silpoch converge to make the tackle for the Hawks.
Hawks quarterback Destin Kuyal drops back to pass.
Thomas Roote breaks loose for a Silverbacks touchdown as Ethan Creig makes a key block on Holley’s Michael Jacobs-Fallato.
Mustangs turn back late Steelers challenge to capture Section VI Class B2 championship
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina players and coaches celebrate with the championship trophy after downing visiting Lackawanna 68-57 this evening in the Section VI Class B2 title contest. In front are Hayden Woodroe, Matt Henning, Tyler Chinn, Brian Fry and Jarin Rhim. Standing are Assistant Coach Adam Hellwig, Christian Drisdom, David Berry, Dontae Rhim, David Rhim, Anthony Rutty, Joe Cecchini, Ricky Wood and Coach Eric Hellwig.
That 50 year long drought is over!
Turning back a late challenge, top seeded Medina downed visiting No. 2 Lackawanna 68-57 this evening to capture the Section VI Class B2 championship, the Mustangs first sectional title since 1971.
Medina went up by as many as 21 midway through the third quarter but Lackawanna came battling back to within 8 in the final two minutes. However, the Mustangs weathered the storm as baskets by Jarin Rhim and Tyler Chinn followed by free throws by Chinn and Brian Fry finally locked up the hard earned victory and the elusive sectional title.
Medina’s Brian Fry goes up for a layup as Shyheim Smalls defends for Lackawanna.
“I told the kids that the best things don’t come easy and they came back, regrouped and answered the challenge,” said Coach Eric Hellwig. “I think our experience was the difference. “It’s quite an accomplishment. The kids have a lot to be proud of. They are an incredible group. They are a real tight group.”
Fry finished with a game high 22 points, Chinn 19, Jarin Rhim 10, Joe Cecchini 9 and Christian Drisdom and Dontae Rhim 4 each.
Julienn Clement scored 28 and Ashlin Alexander 15 to lead Lackawanna.
Getting point production from six different players and capitalizing on a rash of Steeler turnovers, Medina jumped out to a 17-11 first quarter lead. Chinn and Fry both had a pair of layups, Jarin Rhim, Drisdom and Dontae Rhim one each and Cecchini a three in the stanza.
Tyler Chinn puts up a shot for Medina as Sunday Ikegwnonu and Ajiah Turner come in to defend for Lackawanna.
Keeping the momentum, the Mustangs used a 22-10 second quarter scoring edge to increase the advantage to 18, 39-21, at the half.
Fry scored 7, Chinn 6, Cecchini 3 and Jarin Rhim, Drisdom and Dontae Rhim one each in the stanza.
Interestingly 16 of Medina’s 17 first half baskets were layups.
The Mustangs advantage soared to 21, 48-27, three minutes into the third period after two layups by Fry, one by Jarin Rhim and a three by Chinn.
Lackawanna though came battling back. Three threes by Alexander and two by Clement helped the Steelers cut the deficit to 13, 55-42, at the three-quarter mark.
The Steelers pulled to within nine, 55-46, at the outset of the decisive final period after another three by Clement.
The teams then traded scores for the next four minutes as a fast break layup and a free throw by Fry along with a jumper by Chinn helped keep Medina up by nine, 61-52 with 3:20 remaining. A jumper by Jarin Rhim and a layup by Chinn then boosted the advantage back up to 13, 65-52, with 2:10 remaining.
Lackawanna though refused to fold. Baskets by Alexander and Archie Saeed and a free throw by Shyheim Smalls rallied the Steelers to within eight, 65-57 with 1:20 remaining.
However, the Steelers would get no closer as two free throws by Chinn with 1:02 to go and another by Fry at the 40 second mark finally put a lock on the victory and the title for the Mustangs.
“Lackawanna has a good team but they are young so I think our experience was the difference,” said Hellwig. “We got challenged in the second half but with our experience we were able to regroup, battle back and answer the challenge.”
Medina finishes the season at 14-1 and Lackawanna at 12-3.
The Mustangs advanced to the title contest by downing Niagara-Orleans League rival Newfane 64-55 in the semifinals while Lackawanna edged Akron 47-43.
Medina captains Tyler Chinn, Brian Fry and Jarin Rhim hold the sectional championship trophy high. Click here to view the last 30 seconds of the game and the presentation of the Sectional Championship patches.
Medina’s Jarin Rhim looks to put up asLackawanna defender Julienn Clement attempts to block.
Chrisitian Drisdom goes in for a layup for the Mustangs as Adam Almontaser defends for the Steelers.
Medina’s Joe Cecchini puts up a jumper against a block attempt by Julienn Clement.
Dontae Rhim with an acrobatic shot against Lackawanna defender Shyheim Smalls.
Kendall spikers down rival Holley
Improving to 3-2, Kendall downed rival Holley 25-14, 26-24, 13-25, 25-19 this evening in a Genesee Region League volleyball match.
Leading the way for Kendall were Madison Shonstsky with 10 kills, 7 assists and 9 digs; Lauren Pilon 11 digs and 5 kills and Shelby Kruger 4 kills, 4 assists, 5 digs and 2 aces as she went 21 of 21 from the service line.
In another G-R match, Elba downed visiting Lyndonville 20-25, 25-21, 25-12, 26-24.
Taylor Augello had 4 kills, Carolyn Sybertz 6 aces and Leah Bezon 4 aces to pace Elba.
Recalling Medina’s first sectional title win
Contributed Photo – It was just 50 years ago that Medina captured its only Section VI boys basketball title to date as the Mustangs downed Niagara-Orleans League rival Starpoint 84-73 in the 1971 Class BBB championship game held at Erie County Community College. Jimmy Wallace, who scored 24 points to lead Medina, here drives against Starpoint defenders Glenn Stom (23) and Scott Britton (45). Larry Amos added 17, Mark Dennis 14 and Mike Hogan 10 for the Mustangs which completed a near perfect 20-1 season. Ironically, the one loss was to Starpoint as the Mustangs and Spartans split a pair of N-O meetings Medina finished the N-O season in the top spot at 11-1 a game ahead of 10-2 Starpoint. The Mustangs advanced to the sectional final by defeating Cassadaga Valley 74-56 in the quarterfinals and then nipping Allegany 63-61 in the semifinals.Interestingly,Tyler Chinn, who will help lead Medina into tonight’s Class B2 championship game against visiting Lackawanna, is the grandson of Wallace.
Roy-Hart will visit Fredonia Saturday looking to end long sectional title drought
Cheryl Wertman/Contributed Photos – Roy-Hart’s Rhett Goodwin, left, and his Ram teammates will visit Fredonia at noon Saturday for the Section VI Class B3 championship game. Roy-Hart will be seeking its first sectional title since Bill Spencer, right, and his Ram teammates defeated Starpoint 51-46 for the 1969 Section VI Class A title.
Like Medina, Roy-Hart is also looking to end a very long sectional basketball title drought this weekend.
While Medina will be looking to end a 50 year long drought when the Mustangs host Lackawanna in the Class B2 final at 7 this evening, Roy-Hart will be looking to snap an ever longer, 52 year long drought when the Rams visit Fredonia in the Class B3 title contest at noon on Saturday.
Ironically, that last title for both Roy-Hart and Medina came with a victory over then Niagara-Orleans League rival Starpoint.
Roy-Hart captured the 1969 Section VI Class A championship with a narrow 51-46 victory over Starpoint as Bill Spencer scored 16, Tom Heath 13 and John Corser 11 to lead the Rams.
Interestingly, that Roy-Hart win started a run of four straight years in which N-O teams claimed a sectional title.
The following year Starpoint nipped Medina 58-54 for the Class BBB crown.
Medina though avenged that loss the following season in 1971 by defeating Starpoint 84-73 for the Class BBB championship which is the Mustangs only Section VI title to date.
Albion completed that N-O run by nipping Salamanca 67-66 in overtime for the 1972 Class BBBB title.
On Saturday, Roy-Hart will be looking to keep the momentum from Thursday’s come-from-behind 65-56 home court semifinal win over Cleveland Hill as the No. 6 seeded Rams visit No. 5 Fredonia.
Rhett Godowin scored 22, Tom Ragonese 15 and Aiden Petrie 14 in that semi win as the Rams rallied from a nine point, 34-25, halftime deficit to outscore Cleve Hill 40-22 in the second half to claim the win.
Fredonia romped past No. 8 Wilson 70-34 in the other semifinal.
The N-O League will also be represented in the Section VI girls Class B2 title game at noon on Saturday as top seeded N-O champion Wilson will host No. 3 Southwesterm.
Silverbacks will debut Saturday at Holley
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Thomas Roote takes a handoff from Aidan Mescall as Drew Sandolfini blocks during a Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville practice session earlier this week.
Their inaugural season was set to be last fall but like all other high school football teams across New York State the fledgling Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville Silverbacks 8 man squad was unable to take to the field due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
However, those restrictions have now been eased enough for high school football to resume across the state, be it with an abbreviated spring season, so the Silverbacks will now play their debut game at Holley this Saturday afternoon at 1:30.
“It’s been a whirl-wind year in getting the team organized,” said Head coach Joey Suhr. “We’ve got a good group of hard working kids and though they are from three different schools they have really embraced the idea of coming together as one group.”
The Silverbacks have good numbers (30 on the varsity) but lack experience playing the 8 man game.
“We’ve got kids who have played 11 man but not 8 man so that will be a huge advantage for Holley having played 8 man for three years now,” added Suhr. “We’re going to see if it is as wide open a game as they say. We know it will come down to a lot of one on one tackling.”
Freshman Aidan Mescall looks to open at quarterback for the Silverbacks whose other key players include seniors Rodney Davis (RB/LB), Carson Dusett (OL/LB) and Aidan Crosby (WR/RB/DB); juniors Andy Hill (OL/DL), Zach Hill (OL/DL), Thomas Roote (WR/DB) and Drew Sandolfini (RB/LB) and sophomore Sam Doolan (OL/DL).
The Silverbacks home opener will be against Perry on April 2 at Middleport at 7 p.m.
