Exploding out to a 30-15 first quarter lead, Albion went on to defeat host Alden 74-43 in a non league basketball game this evening.

Liam Ward scored 10 and Bailey Blanchard and Kevin Hillman each added 6 to spark the Purple Eagles in the opening quarter.

Albion went on to lead by margins of 47-24 at the half and 61-35 after three quarters.

Blanchard finished with 18 and Ward 13 as Anthony Freeman added 9, Hillman and Deyonci Farley 8, Chris Shabazz and Elijah Lloyd 6, Damion Lattimer 4 and Michael DiCureia 2.

Impoving to 13-4 overall, Albion, which has already clinched at least a tie for the Niagara-Orleans League title, will visit runner-up Newfane in a key league finale Thursday. The Purple Eagles are 9-2 in the league and the Panthers 7-3.

Girls Basketball
Kendall romps to road win
Improving to 6-10, Kendall posted a 48-14 win over host Young Woman’s College Prep this evening in a non league game.

Brittney Marks had 16 points and 8 rebounds to set the pace for Kendall as Autumn Woodward, Julie Coble and Elizabeth Snyder each had 6 points.

Wilson 60, Roy-Hart 32
Undefeated (11-0) Wilson downed host Roy-Hart (4-7) 60-32 to lock up outright possession of the Niagara-Orleans League championship.

Kara Choate and Shelby Wolf each scored 8 and Ava Downs 7 for Roy-Hart.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Notre Dame’s Colin McCulley goes up for a shot against Kendall defenders Mason Kuhn and Braxton Zarpentine during the Irish’s win over the host Eagles this evening.

Getting double figure point production from all five starters, Notre Dame raced to a 103-56 win over host Kendall this evening in a Genesee Region League basketball game.

Colin McCulley poured in a game high 28 points, including five threes, to spearhead the Notre Dame attack as Gabe MacDonald added 18, Cody Henry 14, Mark Sanders and Keith Szczepanski 13, Ryan Fitzpatrick 8, Owen Mileham 7 and Alex Boehly 2.

Kendall’s Dale Steffen puts up a shot as Notre Dame’s Keith Szczepanski looks to block.

Derek Edick scored 20 and Dale Steffen 16 to pace Kendall as Braxton Zarpentine added 7, Mason Kuhn 6, Nicholas Spellan and Noah Rath 3 and Zach Barrett 1.

Setting the tone at the outset, Notre Dame roared out to a 24-8 lead as most of the points came on fast break layups off turnovers.

MacDonald scored 8, McCulley 6, Fitzpatrick 5 and Szczepanski and Henry 4 each in the opening period which finished with the Irish up 27-17.

Notre Dame upped its advantage to 21, 52-31, at the half as McCulley scored 11 on two threes, a three-point play and a layup and Szczepanski 7 on a three-point play and two layups in the second period.

The Irish lead soared to 34, 85-51, at the three-quarter mark as McCulley scored 11, including three threes and Sanders 9 in the third period.

Notre Dame improves to 13-4 while Kendall is 2-14.

The Tri County Midget Yellow team rallied to score a late goal and earn a 5-5 tie with Batavia today in an Empire Amateur Hockey League game.

Jake Esposito scored the equalizer with three minutes to go.

Tri County also scored first on a tally by James Hapeman but Batavia answered with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the opening period.

Tri County regained a 4-3 lead on second period goals by Ryan Wells, Zack Geitner and Patrick Ricker.

However, Batavia again answered with a pair of third period goals to regain a 5-4 lead setting the stage for Tri County’s late rally to gain the tie.

Tri County is now 15-1-1 in the league.

Roy-Hart/Barker/Medina to begin playoffs Friday
The Roy-Hart/Barker/Medina club hockey team will begin Western New York League playoff competition with a best of three series against ELPS next weekend.

RBM will visit ELSP at Cattaraugus at 7 p.m. Friday and then host the second game at 5:40 p.m. Saturday.

The Orleans County YMCA in Medina will host a sanctioned boxing event on Saturday February 15  from 2 to 5 p.m.

Event organizer and USA  Boxing Coach Theo Irwin, who teaches at the ‘Y’, states that the competition, which is sanctioned by USA Boxing, will have 30 boxers from all around upstate New York competing in 15 bouts. The boxers will include Reece Senke from Medina.

“This will be a first for the area,” said Irwin who notes that there will be an admission charge for the event.

Albion’s duo of Cameron Bell (195) and Cody Wilson (285) both earned second place finishes at the Section VI Class B wrestling tournament today at Cheektowaga.

Bell scored a pin in the quarterfinals and a 6-5 decision win in the semis before being pinned by Christopher Wheeler from CSAT in 1:40 in the finals.

Wilson notched pins of 2:58 in the quarterfinals and :37 in the semis but then dropped a narrow 3-2 decision to Jake Skinner of Fredonia in the title bout which went to an ultimate tiebreaker.

Albion also had Amilcar Morales (126) and Will Freeman (152) place fourth, Dayne Aina (170) fifth and Ellwood Hafner (132) and Bryce Kelly (220) sixth.

In the Class C-D tournament at Falconer, Medina had RaShawn Bloom (106) and Mitchell Silversmoith (285) place fourth, Riley Black (195) fifth and Miles Hartway (152)  sixth.

For Roy-Hart/Barker, Gavin Ciarfella (99) placed second, Nico Cacique (285) third, Brett Ricker (113) fourth and Colby Hancock (145) fifth.

Akron’s Josh Cummings (120) placed third.

Newfane had a quartet of champions including Andrew Lucinski (106), Adam Huntington (113), Ryan Nugent (145) and Jaden Heers (285) as Nik Voelker (138) placed second.

The top four finishers in each weigh class advance to next weekend’s Section VI state qualifier tournament.

Contributed Photo – Lyndonville’s seven Class B3 place finishers included, by weight class, Conner Bell (113), Sebastian Temisch (126), Brennon Munn (138), Rodney Davis (170), Maddox Stirk (182), Mario Fidanza (220) and Nick Hartwig (285).

Two Lyndonville wrestlers, Connor Bell (113) and Rodney Davis (170), both captured championships at the Section V Class B3 wrestling tournament held today at Bolivar-Richburg.

Bell decisioned Dominic Stone of Bolivar-Richburg 7-0 in his title bout. He advanced with a quick 32 second pin in the quarterfinals and a 7-3 decision win in the semis.

Davis scored a 15-1 major decision victory over Adam Sibley of South Seneca in the title bout. He gained the finals by posing quick pins of 22 seconds in the quarterfinals and 1:57 in the semis.

The Tigers also had Mario Fidanza (220) place second, Brennon Munn (138) fourth, Maddox Stirk (182) and Nick Hartwig (285) fifth and Sebastian Temich (126) sixth. Fidanza registered pins in both the quarter and semifinals but was then pinned in the title bout.

All seven of the Tigers place finishers advance to next weekend’s Section V state qualifier tournament.

In the Class B2 tournament at Warsaw, Holley-Kendall had three place finishers as Bruce Rasmusson (99) and Dawson Custer (152) both took fourth and Jayden Pieniaszek (138) sixth. All three advance to the Section V state qualifier tourney.

Contributed Photo – Medina’s winning 200 Medley Relay team included Chris Goyette, August Pietrafesa, Isaac Pace and Hunter Heil.

Medina and Roy-Hart each won two events and Albion one at the Section VI Class C swim championships held today at Maryvale.

Medina’s foursome of Hunter Heil, Isaac Pace, Chris Goyette and August Pietrafesa captured the meet opening 200 Medley Relay in a time of 1:46.28. The quartet also placed fourth in the 400 Free Relay with a new school record time of 3:34.46.

Pace also captured top honors in the 100 Breaststroke with a winning time of 1:06.53.

Heil placed second in the 100 Backstroke and third in the 100 Butterfly while Pietrafasa took fourth in the Butterfly.

Roy-Hart’s quartet of Ozzy Moore, Noah Stern, Carter Green and Will Rickard won the 200 Free Relay in a time of 1:33.54. The foursome also placed second in the 400 Free Relay.

Green scored a win in the 500 Free with a time of 4:59.11 and also placed second in the 200 Free.

Rickard placed second in the 50 Free and third in the 100 Free while Stern took fourth in the 100 free.

Albion’s Sam Sanchez won the 100 Butterfly in a time of :56.21.

The Purple Eagles also had Thomas Furmanski place fourth in both the 50 Free and 100 Backstroke.

Sanchez and Furmanski also teamed up with Jacob Coolbaugh and Ryan Krenning to place third in the 200 Medley Relay.

In the final team standings Roy-Hart placed second and Albion third.

Roy-Hart’s winning 200 Free Relay team included Noah Stern, Carter Green, Ozzy Moore and Will Rickard. The foursome also placed second in the 400 Free Relay.