Third period surge powers LeRoy past Albion; Roy-Hart rallies past Tonawanda

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 30 November 2017 at 9:16 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Demetrius Gardner drives to the basket against LeRoy defender Ryan Kettle during the Purple Eagles home court season opening loss this evening.

A huge third period scoring explosion powered LeRoy to a 72-45 victory over host Albion this evening in a season opening non league boys basketball game.

Leading by a slender two point, 33-31, margin at the half, LeRoy put together a 23-4 scoring burst to pull away to a commanding 21 point, 56-35, advantage at the three-quarter mark.

Coryon Roster scored 12 of his game high 30 points and Luke Stella 11 of his 17 to spearhead that LeRoy uprising.

Albion’s Kevin Hillman drives around LeRoy defender William Beswick.

Liam Ward led Albion on the night with 15 as Demetrius Gardner added 8, Bryce Pritchard 7, Dylan Fox 5, Shyheim Jakes and Hunter Webster 4 and Deyonci Farley 2.

Ward had the hot hand at the outset scoring 11 points in the first period, including a trio of threes and a pair of free throws at the buzzer, to spark Albion out to an 18-16 lead. Fox also had a three during that stretch which also included baskets by Gardner and Webster.

A layup by Pritchard kept the Purple Eagles even at 20-20 early in the second period.

However, LeRoy answered with a 9-2 run, including 6 by Roster, to take the lead for good at 29-24.

Albion did rally back to within two, 33-31, at the half after a three by Pritchard, a jumper by Webster and a pair jumpers by Jakes.

However, the Purple Eagles could not regain the lead as LeRoy, which dominated on the boards, pulled away for good with the whopping 23-4 third period scoring burst.

Albion next visits Lyndonville at 7 p.m. Friday in another non league contest.

Roy-Hart 58, Tonawanda 35
Trailing 17-10 after one quarter, Roy-Hart rallied to outscore host Tonawanda 38-12 over the middle two periods to earn a 58-35 non league victory.

Roy-Hart outscored Tonawanda 15-2 in the second period to take a 25-19 lead at the half. Keeping the momentum, the Rams then outpointed the Warriors 23-10 in the third to extend the advantage to 48-29.

Jake Bruning and Noah Kindron both scored 13 and Charlie Bruning 12 to set the pace for Roy-Hart which is now 2-0 on the young season.