A strong fourth quarter comeback bid fell just short as Medina dropped a 65-61 decision to host CSAT this evening in a non league boys basketball game.

Trailing by 16, 53-37, at the three-quarter mark, Medina put together a big 23-7 scoring burst to rally back into a 60-60 tie. However, the Mustangs could not gain the lead as CSAT used a basket and three free throws to lock up the win.

Jalin Cooper spearheaded the late Medina rally with 12 points as Mason Lewis added 4 and Alex Allis 3.

Cooper had a total of 22 on the night, Lewis 9, Allis 8, Izaiah Rhim 5, Nate Sherman and Tyler Chinn 4 and Brendan Luthart, Jorge Phillips and Trenton Jones 2 each.

CSAT led 13-10 after one period and 29-23 at the half before putting together  a big 24-14 third period surge to extend the advantage to 16, 53-37, at the three-quarter mark.

Medina next hosts Roy-Hart at 6:30 p.m. Friday in a Niagara-Orleans League game.  The Mustangs will then face Franklinville in the Centercourt Classic at Williamsville South at noon Saturday.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Brittney Marks tries to drive by Rochester Prep defender Nadia Riley during the host Lady Eagles non league victory this evening.

A big third period scoring burst keyed Kendall to a 49-37 victory over visiting Rochester Prep this evening in a non league girls basketball game.

Leading by a narrow three point, 21-18, margin at the half, Kendall put together a big 18-6 scoring surge in the third period to open up a 15 point, 39-24, advantage.

Consecutive baskets by Jenna Regan, Lyndsay Wright and Taylor ReQua ignited that decisive uprising.  ReQua had a total of 7 points in the period as Regan and Wright both had 4.

Kendall’s Lyndsay Wright puts up a shot against Rochester Prep defender Alexia Kelly.

The Eagles extended the lead to as much as 17, 45-28, midway through the final period after baskets by Wright, ReQua and Katherine Pearson.

Rochester Prep did cut the deficit to eight, 45-37, but would get no closer as Kendall answered with layups by Regan an ReQua to close out the win.

ReQua finished with 13 as Wright and Regan both had 12 to lead Kendall’s balanced attack. Pearson added 5, Brittney Marks 3 and Lizzie Sutphen and Kaitlyn Gregory 2 each.

Kyla Grant and Dnique Brooks both had 10 for Rochester Prep.

Kendall jumped out to an 8-2 lead at the outset on baskets by Sutphen, Regan, Wright and Marks.

Rochester Prep though answered with a 10-2 run to close the period, including a pair of threes by Brooks, to rally into a 12-10 lead.

Two threes by Nadia Riley upped the Rochester Prep lead to six, 18-12, early in the second period but Kendall came battling back.

The Eagles answered with a 9-0 run to close the period, including baskets by Regan, ReQua, Gregory and Wright to regain the lead for good by a score of 21-18 at the half.

Kendall improves to 5-9.

In another non league game Holley lost to Rochester Academy Charter 64-32.

Falling behind 2-0 after one period, the Roy-Hart/Barker/Medina Club hockey team dropped a 4-2 decision to Cheektowaga on Saturday.

RBM got an unassisted goal from Michael Kuchey in the second period.

Cheektowaga took a 3-1 lead in the third period, before Jason Kuchey scored for RBM.

However, Cheektowaga answered back with a goal to complete the 4-2 win.

RBM’s record falls to 7-8, with just three regular season games left before the playoffs.  Their next game is  Feburary 3rd at home against Olean at 9 p.m.

Jumping out to a commanding 22-4 first period lead, Batavia went on to defeat visiting Albion 60-26 this afternoon in a non league girls basketball game.

Ryann Stefaniak poured in a game high 21 points while Bryn Wormley and Emma Krolczyk both chipped in with 10 for Batavia which extended its advantage to 32-11 at the half.

Sarah Gregori had 7, Natalie DiCureia, Janae Doty, Lexi Wolck and Caitlynn Snook 4, Sierra Newton 2 and Natalie Lathrop 1 for Albion.

Batavia is now 9-7 and Albion 6-7.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Individual weight class champions at today’s Gary Gross Memorial Tournament include, in front, Travis Kauffman and Wyatt Kauffman (Attica/Batavia),Tristyn Moyer (Holley-Kendall), Jesse Pitoni (Churchville-Chili) and Colby Petrie (Medina). In the middle row are Ty Raines (Churchville-Chili), Ian McKenna and Daniel Tauroney (New Hartford), Jeremy Browe (Holley-Kendall) and Cody Fouts (Lew-Port). In the back row are Blake Pariso (Attica/Batavia), Ben Restivo (Albion), Elijah Sones (Medina), Matt Lange (Wilson) and Tambren Bennett (New Hartford).

Eight teams shared in having wrestlers earn championships at Medina’s annual Gary Gross Memorial Wrestling Tournament this afternoon.

The local champions included Colby Petrie (126) and Elijah Sones (195) from Medina, Tristyn Moyer (113) and Jeremy Browe (152) from Holley-Kendall and Ben Restivo (182) from Albion. Browe, who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weight classes, had his day highlighted by a pin over two-time state representative Mason Compton of Attica/Batavia.

Medina’s DaRon Bellan works toward a win over Albion’s Chase Carleton.

Attica/Batavia had a trio of champions in Travis Kauffman (99), Wyatt Kauffman (106) and Blake Pariso (170) as did New Hartford in Ian McKenna (138), Daniel Tauroney (145) and Tambren Bennett (285). McKenna earned the MOW award for the lower weight classes.

Rounding out the list of champions were Cody Fouts (160) of Lew-Port, Matt Lange (220) of Wilson, and Jesse Pitoni (120) and Ty Raines (132) of Churchville-Chili. Pitoni earned the Aggragate Pin Award.

The award for the quickest pin, in just 15 seconds, was shared by Holley-Kendall’s Jayden Pieniaszek and Lyndonville’s Cullen Heveron.

Second place finishers in the round-robin event included Tim Wells (160), Donamic Farley (195) and Cody Wilson (220) from Albion; Jayden Pieniasek (113) and Dylan Spellan (170) from Holley-Kendall; Cullen Heveron (126) from Lyndonville; Allan Schultz (106) from Wilson; Kaden Marucci (120), Eddie Strezelec (145), Mason Compton (152) and Josh Barker (285) from Attica/Batavia along with Nick Williams (99), Joe Sundine (132), Nate Sanborn (138) and Michael DiFlorio (182) from Churchville-Chili.

The third place finishers included Preston Flugel (138), Ugene Harrison (152) and Jessy Cruz (170) from Albion; Dylan Clemons (106) and Cade Aina (145) from Holley-Kendall; DaRon Bellan (132) and Cody Crane (220) from Medina; Trent Reid (99) and Jack Pryce (120) from Lew-Port; Josiah Carnegie (285) from Wilson; Cormac McInTosh (160) from New Hartford along with Quinn Bannister (113), Noah Stachowiak (126), Ethan Jennings (182) and Mason Hinze (195) from Attica/Batavia.

The tournament honors the memory of Gary Gross, the father of Medina Coach Eric Gross, who was a long-time very avid supporter of the Mustangs wrestling program.

Medina’s Colby Petrie works toward a win over Lyndonville’s Cullen Heveron to earn first place honors at 126.

Contributed Photo – Aro Kruger of the Holley-Kendall Youth Wrestling Travel Team goes for a pin against his Hilton opponent.

The Holley-Kendall Youth Wrestling Travel Team has had a very busy, yet successful, couple of nights this week.

The team traveled to Hilton on Thursday night, where they scored a 48-12 victory.

Holley-Kendall then traveled to Penfield on Friday night to participate in a tri-meet.   The team lost to Churchville-Chili 37-36, but came back strong to beat both Webster 51-22, and Penfield 30-27.

The team next travels to Brockport on Monday, February 6.

Moving on top to stay in the second period, the Tri County Midget hockey team went on to defeat Monroe County 5-1 this evening.

Breaking away from a 1-1 deadlock, Tri County got second period goals from Matt Neilson and Jake Donoghue to take the lead for good.

Third period goals by Luke Grabb and John Pilon then locked up the win.

Victor Benjovsky scored in the first period for Tri County.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Natalie DiCureia grabs a rebound from Medina defender Maddie Williams during the Purple Eagles win over the host Mustangs this evening.

Leading from wire to wire, Albion completed a home-and-home season series sweep over rival Medina by downing the host Mustangs 41-32 this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League girls basketball game.

Natalie DiCureia poured in a season high 18 points to lead the way for Albion, which also bested Medina 27-16 earlier in the season on the Purple Eagles court. Brylie Hapeman added 8, Caitlynn Snook 6, Lexi Wolck 3, Elisabeth Baker and Natalie Lathrop 2 and Kirsten Struble and Tess Pettit 1 for the Purple Eagles.

Je’ne Brown led Medina with 12 as Maddie Williams added 7, Camri King 6, Maleyah Brewer 4, Hannah Sones 2 and Shamaria Howard 1.

Albion jumped out to a 16-7 first period lead as DiCureia scored seven including a three.

Brylie Hapeman puts up a shot for Albion against Medina defender Je’ne Brown.

The Purple Eagles maintained a 20-16 lead at the half despite scoring only one basket in the second quarter, a jumper by Hapeman with 20 seconds to go.

Je’ne Brown tallied six in the period to keep Medina close.

Medina closed the gap to one, 21-20, early in the third period on a pair of layups by Je’ne Brown but the Mustangs would get no closer.

DiCureia answered with a big three to give Albion a little breathing room. The Purple Eagles went on to outscore the Mustangs 8-4 over the rest of the period, capped off by a three by Hapeman and a jumper by DiCureia, to extend the lead to 32-24 at the three-quarter mark.

Medina closed back to within four, 35-31, midway through the final period on a rebound basket by King but the Mustangs could mange only one more point over the final four and a half minutes as two baskets by DiCureia helped Albion lock up the win.

Albion, which has won four of its last five N-O games improves to 5-2 in N-O action while Medina slips to 0-6.

Newfane 61, Roy-Hart 44
Front-rrunning Newfane improved to 8-0 with a 61-44 victory over Roy-Hart (0-6).

Paige Emborsky poured in 29 and Emily Foltz added 11 to lead the way for Newfane while Meghan Washington tallied 10 for Roy-Hart.

Wilson 48, Akron 40
Wilson trimmed Akron 48-40 leaving both teams at 4-3 in N-O action.

Skylar Munnikhuysen scored 17 and Emily Kelly 7 to lead Wilson.

Attica 49, Lyndonville 24
Jumping out to a 23-9 half-time advantage, Attica went on to defeat visiting Lyndonville 49-24 in a Genesee Region League game.

Ella Lewis scored 11 and Alecia Hinkson 6 for Lyndonville.

In another G-R game Alexander trimmed Kendall 39-33.

Boys Basketball
Wheatland-Chili 47, Holley 43
Trailing 19-17 at the half, Wheatland-Chili used a 19-11 third period scoring edge to key a 47-43 G-R win over Holley.

Andrew Moseman scored 14, Patrick Bower 10 and Ryan Andrews 9 for Holley.

Oakfield-Alabams 64, Barker 49
Oakfield-Alabama built up a 36-17 half-time lead in route to posting a 64-49 non league win over Barker.

Ryan Douglas took game high honors for O-A with 29 as Malik Smith tallied 16 for Barker.

Medina’s Divere Brown puts up a shot against Albion’s Elisabeth Baker as Shamaria Howard moves in for the Mustangs.