Mustangs hand Purple Eagles first N-O loss

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 24 January 2020 at 8:42 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Brian Fry drives in for a layup as Albion’s Deyonci Farley tries to defend during the host Mustangs win over the rival Purple Eagles this evening..

Avenging an early season loss (70-66) Medina handed rival Albion its first Niagara-Orleans League loss as the Mustangs downed the visiting Purple Eagles 70-59 this evening.

Albion slips to 7-1 in N-O action while Medina regains the .500 mark at 4-4.

Nate Sherman scored game high 23 points and Brian Fry had 16 to lead the Medina attack as Joe Cecchini chipped in with 8, Jarin Rhim 7, Tyler Chinn 6, Dontae Rhim 5, Christian Drisdom 3 and Matt Henning 2.

Liam Ward netted 15, Deyonci Farley 14 and Bailey Blanchard 13 to set the pace for Albion as Anthony Freeman added 6, Xavier Cornick and Elijah Lloyd 4 and Chris Shabazz 3.

Medina’s Dontae Rhim tries to go up for a shot as Albion defenders Anthony Freeman and Xavier Cornick go up to block.

Medina jumped out to a seven point, 18-11, first quarter lead as Sherman hit two threes and Fry one.

The Mustangs extended the lead to 12 three times in the second period before Albion cut the deficit in half, 37-31, at the half after back-to-back late threes by Farley and Freeman.

Sherman and Fry each had a three and a two in the period for the Mustangs as Jarin Rhim added a pair of layups and Drisdom a 3.

Putting together a 10-4 run at the outset of the third period, which included two buckets by Sherman and one each by Chinn and Jarin Rhim, Medina moved back out to a 12 point, 47-35, lead.

Albion though again came battling back, this time with an 8-0 run on tallies by Farley, Cornick, Blanchard and Shabazz to slice the deficit to just four, 47-43.

Medina though gained a little breathing room as a layup by Sherman and a free throw by Fry put the Mustangs up by seven, 50-43, at the three-quarter mark.

Keeping the momentum, the Mustangs then opened the final period with a key 8-0 run which included a three by Fry and rebound buckets by Sherman and Cecchini, to extend the advantage back out to 15, 58-43, with 5:20 remaining.

Back-to-back threes by Blanchard and Freeman briefly pulled Albion back to within 10, 59-49, but Sherman answered with a three-point play and then a layup to quickly vault Medina back out to a 15, point, 64-49, advantage with 2:45 remaining.

Albion did cut the deficit to nine, 65-56, with 1:33 remaining after 7-1 run which included a layup and two free throws by Farley.

However, the Purple Eagles would get no closer as a rebound bucket by Cecchini with 1:16 to go which put Medina back up by 12, 68-56, put a lock on the victory.

(Click here to see a video of Albion’s Liam Ward going in for a layup.)

(Click here to see a video of Medina’s Brian Fry hitting a 3 pointer.)