Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Lorelei Dillenbeck practices a spike as the Lady Tigers prep for Tuesday’s Genesee Region League opener at Pembroke.

Lyndonville, Holley and Kendall will all be in action on Tuesday as the Genesee Region League girls volleyball season gets underway.

Lyndonville will visit Pembroke, Holley will host Byron-Bergen and Kendall will entertain Wheatland-Chili.  Lyndonville’s home opener will be Thursday against Attica while Holley travels to Pembroke and Kendall visits Notre Dame that evening. Lyndonville will also visit Holley on Saturday.

Lyndonville is led by the veteran quintet of sophomore Lorelei Dillenbeck and seniors Chloe Stinson, Tessa Heideman, Alissa Klinetob and Cianna Button.

The Lady Tigers lineup has also been boosted by the addition of a trio of newcomers including Ella Lewis, Gracie Johnson and Karlee Rounds, all juniors.

Holley, which graduated eight seniors, is led by veterans Rachel Howard, a senior, and Adrianna Botello, a junior.

The Lady Hawks lineup also includes juniors Halee Passarell, Tatum Gagne, Kayleigh Neale and sophomore Tia Hoffarth.

Kendall is led by a group of six returnees including seniors Karlee Robb and Nicolette Buzard along with sophomores Madison Shonitsky, Lauren Pilon, Taigan Guerrero and Sara Mattle.

The Lady Eagles newcomers include juniors Grace Levett and Julie Coble.

Kendall lost four seniors to graduation including Brittney Marks.

Falling behind 4-0 in the opening period, the Roy-Hart/Barker/Medina Club hockey team went on to drop a 9-0 decision to visiting Jamestown Sunday in a Western New York Club Hockey League contest.

Jamestown scored four times in the first period, three in the second and two in the final period.

RBM, which is in a truly rebuilding year (only four Seniors), was further handicapped as they played without their second and fourth leading scorers (both Ninth Graders).  Jamestown’s size and experience proved to be the major difference.

Besides the four Seniors, RBM’s roster includes four Juniors, one Sophomore, nine Freshmen and one 8th Grader,

RBM’s last two games of the season are both at home: Saturday, March 27 against Wilson Newfane and the following day against first place and undefeated East Aurora/Holland.

Lyndonville had one individual weight class champion in Rodney Davis (172) at the Section V Class B3 tournament held today at South Seneca.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Rodney Davis, shown here in action during an earlier season match, captured the 172 lb. championship at the Section V B3 tournament held today at South Seneca.

Davis decisioned Mike Stanley from Red Creek 13-8 in the title bout. He advanced to the finals with quick pins of 1:28 and :28 followed by a 9-3 decision win in the semifinals.

Lyndonville’s Brennon Munn finished second at 138 as he dropped a 6-2 decision to Cesar Batlle from Keshequa in the finals. He advanced to the finals with a pin and a decision win.

The Tigers also had Christian Garver (102) place third and Sebastian Temich (152) and Maddox Stirk (189) both place fourth.

In the final team standings Lyndonville placed sixth out of 14 teams. South Seneca took top team honors.

Holley-Kendall competed in the Section V Class B2 tournament at Byron-Bergen as William Kruger (102) finished third and Bruce Rasmusson (110), David Farruggia (160) and Zane Christakes (285) all placed fourth.

Avenging an earlier season loss (36-29), Barker bested visiting Albion 48-26 this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League girls basketball game

Sarah Outten scored 14, Courtney Hillman 11 and Sydnie Luckman 10 for Barker which led 20-10 at the half.

Abby Scanlan scored 8 and Honesty Little 5 for Albion.

Barker evens its N-O record at 5-5 while Albion slips to 4-5.

Wilson 46, Newfane 38

Defending champion Wilson stayed perfect at 9-0 with a 46-38 win over rival Newfane as Julia Faery scored 13 and Maddy Seeley 12.

Rachel Chunco scored 13 and Angelina DiTullio 8 for Newfane which is now 5-3.

Akron 51, Roy-Hart 36

Jessee Jonathan and Giahna LaFromboise each scored 14 to lead Akron past Roy-Hart 51-36 as the Lady Tigers improve to 6-4.

Shelby Wolf scored 13 and Ava Owens 10 for Roy-Hart which is now 4-6.

Akron led 25-16 at the half.

N-O Standings: Wilson 9-0, Akron 6-4, Newfane 5-3, Barker 5-5, Albion 4-5, Roy-Hart 4-6, Medina 0-10.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Rhett Goodwin takes an outside shot against Akron defender Josh Mazza during the host Rams narrow loss to the Tigers this afternoon.

Improving to 7-3, Akron edged past host Roy-Hart 50-48 this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League boys basketball game.

Adam Mietz scored a game high 20 points and Jake Mazza added 17 to lead the way for Akron.

Jon Gillings and Rhett Goodwin both scored 12, Aiden Petrie 11, Gavyn Boyle 7 and Tom Ragonese 6 for Roy-Hart which slips to 3-7.

Up 24-20 at the half, Akron maintained a 39-34 advantage at the three-quarter mark as Mietz scored 8 and Mazza 6 in the third period. Goodwin had a three and a two and Gillings a three for Roy-Hart during that stretch.

Roy-Hart did cut the deficit to two, 41-39, at the outset of the final period after a layup by Petrie and a three by Gillings.

Akron though answered back with a three-point play by Mietz and a free throw by Mazza to go back up by six, 45-39.

Once again the Rams closed to within two, 45-43 with 3:20 to go after a rebound bucket by Boyle and a layup by Ragonese.

However, once again the Tigers answered back, this time with a three and a layup by Mietz, to open up a seven point, 50-43 advantage.

Roy-Hart did battle back to within two one more time by closing with a 5-0 run on a free throw by Boyle followed by rebound baskets by Ragonese and Petrie.  However, the Rams could not get off a good shot in the final 10 seconds.

Roy-Hart next visits Medina on Tuesday.

Now at 9-1 Medina, which drew the bye today, holds a one game lead over 8-2 Newfane which downed rival Wilson 50-42.

Newfane 50, Wilson 42

Breaking away from a 15-15 half-time deadlock, Newfane went on to defeat rival Wilson 50-42 as Jeremy Foltz scored all of his 20 points in the second half.

Jared Jaques scored 14 and Ben Lyman 12 to lead Wilson.

N-O Standings: Medina 9-1, Newfane 8-2, Akron 7-3, Albion 5-5, Roy-Hart 3-7, Wilson 3-8, Barker 1-10.

Roy-Hart’s Aiden Petrie puts up a shot as David Kalinowski tried to block for Akron.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Damion Lattimer goes up for a shot between Barker defenders Nicholas Guevara and Brad Cantrell.

A big second quarter scoring surge keyed Albion to a 74-51 win over visiting Barker this afternoon as the Purple Eagles regain the .500 mark  (5-5) in Niagara-Orleans League boys basketball competition.

Leading by a narrow four point, 13-9 margin at the end of the opening period, Albion outscored Barker 24-10 in the decisive second quarter to open up a commanding 18 point, 37-19 half-time advantage.

Barker’s Joey Brandt puts up a shot as Bailey Blanchard and Chris Shabazz defend for Albion.

Damion Lattimer spearheaded that Purple Eagles uprising by pouring in 16 points, including a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Jahmeek Riley also chipped in with 6 in the stanza.

The Purple Eagles maintained a 21 point, 57-33, lead at the three-quarter mark as Christian Doty tallied 6, Bailey Blanchard 5 and Lattimer 4 in the third period.

Lattimer finished with a game high 22 as Blanchard and Rilley both had 12, Doty, Elijah Lloyd and Kyle Woolston 6, Luqman Cornick 5, Zach Coleccechi 3 and Tony Freeman 2.

Joey Brandt led Barker with 17 as Devonte Hill added 10, Brad Cantrell and Nathan Meza Ray 9, Nicholas Guevara 2 and Steven Class, Shane Gerhardt, Andrew Hill and Camren Szafeanski 1 each.

Barker, which is now 1-10, next hosts Newfane on Tuesday and Albion visits Akron.

Albion’s Zach Coleccechi takes a long range shot as Brad Cantell and Shane Gerhardt come in to defend.

Darren White- NY MADE FOOTBALL

The Football Championship Subdivision (better known as FCS) is the second tier of Division 1 football, formally known as Division 1AA.  The pandemic forced the FCS to postpone their season until this spring, with it just recently starting.  There are some opportunities to this spring format for some teams as not every team (more than 120 play normally in the FCS) will participate this spring.  The Ivy League has opted out entirely as well as more than 20 other teams.  This opens playoff positions to programs that are not normally in the hunt them.  In addition, the FCS is the only brand of football playing right now so it has larger exposure than normal.

Two area freshmen will partake in this once-in-a-lifetime spotlight, hailing from Albion and Kendall respectively:

CODY WILSON: SACRED HEART PIONEERS- Offensive Line (Freshman)

Cody has outstanding size (6’6) and a great frame to transform into a prototypical Division 1 lineman.  He played three seasons on Albion’s Varsity Squad as a two-way starter and was a finalist for the prestigious Trench Trophy given to the top lineman in Section 6.  The Pioneers have two returning starters to their offensive line (both seniors) with 8 of the 13 linemen rostered experienced upperclassmen.  Cody will provide depth to this line and looks to crack the rotation.  Sacred Heart went 7-7 in 2019 and looks like a contender in the Northeast Conference.  The Scared Heart Pioneers lost their opener this past Sunday vs Duquesne.  The Pioneers (0-1) host the LIU Sharks (1-0) this Sunday 3/14 @1pm with the game stream on ESPN+.

KEITH SZCZEPANSKI: VALPARAISO CRUSADERS- Offensive Line (Freshman) 

Keith is a giant among men, standing 6’7 and weighing 370 pounds.  He lettered in football for 4 years at Notre Dame of Batavia, achieving All-State honors twice at Left Tackle.  Of the 16 offensive linemen rostered by the Crusaders, 13 of them are freshmen (the other 3 are sophomores) as the program did a complete overhaul of their line.  Only two are returning starters so Keith’s size (largest rostered) and experience playing against much older competition may lead him into a starting role.  Valparaiso was 1-11 last season with the being the current coaching staff’s first season.  They were ranked 5^th in the Pioneer League Pre-Season Ballot however as they have had two strong recruiting classes.  The Valparaiso Crusaders kick-off their SPRING season versus Butler on 3/13/21, ESPN 3 or streaming on ESPN+.

No. 2 seed Williamsville South downed visiting No. 4 Roy-Hart 95-75 this evening in the Section VI Ontario Bracket championship swim meet.

South took first place honors in 10 of 11 events.

Roy-Hart’s Carter Green won the 500 Freestyle and placed second in the 200 Free.

Noah Stern also placed second in both the 50 Free and 100 Free for the Channel Cats.

Niagara-Orleans League champion Roy-Hart advanced to the Ontario Bracket finals by defeating No. 5 Medina 102-66 in the quarterfinals and top seeded Springville 89-87 in the semifinals.

Putting together a big second half surge, Newfane downed visiting Roy-Hart 32-23 this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League girls basketball make-up game.

Trailing 13-9 at the half, Newfane rallied to outscore Roy-Hart 23-10 in the second half to claim the victory.

Rachel Chunco scored a game high 17 points to lead the way for Newfane which improves to 5-2.

Shelby Wolf scored 8 and Ava Owens 6 for Roy-Hart which slips to 4-5.

Newfane next visits rival Wilson and Roy-Hart travels to Akron on Saturday.

N-O Standings: Wilson 8-0, Newfane 5-2, Akron 5-4, Albion 4-4, Barker 4-5, Roy-Hart 4-5, Medina 0-10