Purple Eagles rally to edge rival Mustangs

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 17 December 2019 at 10:02 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Kevin Hillman drives to the basket against Medina defenders Tyler Chinn and Brian Fry during the host Purple Eagles come-from-behind win over the Mustangs this evening.

Rebounding from as much as a 17 point first half deficit, Albion came battling back to trim defending champion Medina 70-66 in a key early season Niagara-Orleans League game this evening at Albion.

Kevin Hillman scored 17 of his game high 24 points and Deyonci Farley 16 of his 18 in the second half to spearhead Albion’s big rally.

Bailey Blanchard added 8, Liam Ward 7, Xavier Cornick 6, Chris Shabazz 4 and Elijah Loyd 3 for the Purple Eagles which improve to 3-0 in N-O action.

Nate Sherman scored 21, Tyler Chinn 15 and Jarin Rhim 10 to lead Medina as Brian Fry added 8, Christian Drisdom 6, Dontae Rhim 4 and Joe Cecchini 2.

Medina’s Nate Sherman puts up a shot as Chris Shabazz defends for Albion.

Medina jumped out to a 10-2 lead at the outset sparked by three quick baskets by Sherman.

Albion though answered with s 10-2 run, including 5 by Hillman, to close the deficit to one, 13-12 at the end of the period.

The Mustangs quickly exploded out to a 17 point, 29-12, advantage by opening the second period with a 16-0 run including a three and a jumper by Jarin Rhim and a jumper and rebound bucket by Chinn,

Again Albion responded, this time with a12-3 run, eight by Blanchard including a three and a three point play to cut the deficit to eight, 32-24.

The Mustangs did take an 11 point, 35-24, lead at the half on a late three by Sherman.

The Purple Eagles though kept that late second period momentum going into the second half as they put together a decisive 17-4 to rally over the first four minutes of the third quarter to rally into the lead for the first time at 41-39.

A layup by Farley followed by a layup and a three by Hillman, both off turnovers, ignited that uprising.

Back-to-back threes by Farley and Ward followed by a layup by Farley pulled Albion even at 39-39. Cornick then put the Purple Eagles on top for the first time at 41-39 with layup off a turnover.

Medina though regained a 49-45 lead at the three-quarter mark by closing the period with a 10-4 run highlighted by a three by Drisdom and a pair of layups by Chinn.

However, Albion regained the lead for good at 58-51 by opening the final period with a key 13-2 run which featured two threes by Hillman and back-to-back layups by Farley.

Threes by Ward and Hillman kept Albion up by eight, 64-56 with three minutes to go.

This time it was Medina which came battling back.

The Mustangs put together a 10-4 to to slice the deficit to just two at 68-66 with 18 seconds to go. A three by Fry capped that rally which also included layups by Jarin Rhim and Chinn.

Medina though could not pull even as a turnover with seven seconds to go proved costly.

Albion finally put a lock on the exciting win on free throws by Ward and Farley in the final six seconds.

The loss drops Medina to 1-1 in N-O action.

(Click here to see Albion’s Bailey Blanchard hit 2 from the outside.)

(Click here to see Medina’s Tyler Chinn with the layup bucket.)

(Click here to see Albion’s Chris Shabazz with the rebound bucket.)

(Click here to see Medina’s Jarin Rhim with the short jumper for 2.)

Newfane 63, Roy-Hart 51
Trailing 36-27 at the half, Newfane outscored Roy-Hart 36-25 in the second half to claim a 63-51 N-O win.

Garrett Srock had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Josh Everett 18 points and Cade Littman 10 to lead the Panthers.

Canyon Wood scored 14 in the first half for Roy-Hart.

Newfane is now 1-0 and Roy-Hart 0-2 in N-O competition.

Akron 54, Barker 37