Medina tops Newfane in clash of unbeatens

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 13 January 2017 at 10:24 pm
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Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Jalin Cooper and Newfane’s Chad Dunbar battle for a rebound during the Mustangs key win over the host Panthers this evening.

Taking over sole possession of first place Medina posted a 77-65 victory over host Newfane this evening in a key early season Niagara-Orleans League clash of unbeatens.

Jalin Cooper scored a game high 23 points, Alex Allis 16 and Izaiah Rhim 11 to lead the way for Medina which improves to 4-0 in N-O action. Johnny Salone added 9, Tyrellis Atkins 7, Vincent Montague 6, Mason Lewis 3 and Trenton Jones 2.

Max Weber tallied 21 and Kyle DeVoogel 11 for Newfane which slips to 3-1. Andrew Boudeman and Connor Hill both added 7, Brandon Gross 6, Chad Dunbar 5 and Caleb Russell and Sam Klline 4 for the Panthers.

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Medina’s Alex Allis drives around Newfane’s Andrew Boudeman.

Medina jumped out to a an 8-2 lead at the outset on two layups by Rhim, a rebound bucket by Salone and a fastbreak layup by Montague.

Back-to-back threes by Lewis and Allis helped boost the Mustangs lead to 13, 21-8, at the end of the first period.

A fastbreak layup by Montague then helped up the Medina advantage to 16, 24-8, at the outset of the second period but Newfane came battling back.

The Panthers rallied back into a 24-24 tie by outscoring the Mustangs 16-0 over the next five minutes as Weber poured in 11 during that stretch including two threes and a pair of layups off turnovers.

Turning back the challenge, Medina regained 7 point, 33-26, advantage at the half by closing the period with a 9-2 run capped off by a three by Cooper at the buzzer.

The Mustangs then outscored the Panthers 24-12 in the third period capped off by a burst of three straight threes by Allis to open up a 19 point, 57-38, advantage at the three-quarter mark.

Layups by Cooper and Salone kept Medina up by 19, 61-42, early in the final period but Newfane came battling back one last time.

The Panthers closed the gap to 8, 65-57, with just under two minutes to play after a 15-4 run including two buckets by Dunbar and one each by Weber, DeVoogel and Gross.

However, the Mustangs again turned back the challenge as back-to-back layups by Rhim and Atkins quickly upped the lead back to 12, 70-58.

The Mustangs then closed out the win at the free throw line as four foul shots by Cooper and three by Allis put a lock on the victory.

In the JV game, Medina nipped Newfane 42-41 as Tyler Chinn scored 12, Nate Sherman 9, Emmanuel Taylor 7 and Brian Fry 6.

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Johnny Salone puts up a shot for Medina as Caleb Russell tries for the block for Newfane.