Medina rolls to Class B1 quarterfinal victory avenging 2025 sectional loss to Alden

Avenging a 27 point (65-38) loss in last year’s opening round, No. 5 seed Medina posted a 53-35 victory over No. 4 Alden in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B1 boys basketball playoffs this evening at Alden.

The victory advances Medina’s to Saturday’s B1 semifinal at 4 p.m. at SUNY Fredonia against No. 9 Southwestern which upended top seeded Middle Early College 65-54.

Jerrell Nealy and Preston Woodworth each scored 16 points to spearhead the Medina offense which was sparked by an aggressive, pressing defense. Christian Moss added 9, Kendrick Russaw 5, Jayzon Wills 4, Jimmy Dieter 2 and Carlos Doval 1.

Eli Peresan led Alden with 13.

Trailing 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, Medina rallied into a football like score of 17-14 at half-time. Woodworth scored 8, including a three, to lead that surge.

Keeping the momentum the Mustangs used a 20-9 third period scoring surge to extend the advantage to 14, 37-23, heading into the final period. Moss scored 6, Nealy 5 and Wills 4 to lead that uprising.

The Mustangs then closed out the win by outpointing the Bulldogs 16-12 in the final stanza as Nealy scored 7, including a three, Woodworth hit a three and Moss had a three-point play.

Medina improves to 15-6 heading into the semifinals.