Alexander

 Andrew Hoy showed the maturity that a scoring leader needs to have, and Dakota Irvin continued his hot play as the Batavia boys basketball team came back from one of the biggest deficits the team has had in years to beat host Pittsford Mendon 51-50 Wednesday night.

"This is a group that had never really been behind like that, ever," Batavia coach Buddy Brasky said. "We were down 18 points and (assistant coach) Gene Cairo said that he's been with us for five years and he can't remember a game when we were down double figures before the half. To fall behind 18 points and believe we can win; that's why we are champions. We have the heart of champions."

Mendon had actually opened up a 28-10 lead in the first half before Hoy overcame a rough first half shooting the ball and hit a 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds left in the half to get Batavia to within 15.

Batavia only scored 13 points in the first half and went just 5-of-26 from the field. The Blue Devils only hit 3-of-18 3-point attempts.

"We knew we had to live or die by the jump shot and we were dying by it today," Brasky said. "We had wide open shots and couldn't knock them down. Our defense kept us in the game."

Hoy hit two 3-pointers early in the third quarter and Batavia wound up cutting the deficit to two points with four minutes left.

But Mendon opened it back up to a 10-point edge seconds later.

Brasky had went away from the full court press, but went back to it, and it paid off as Batavia had three straight turnovers that led to six points.

Irvin scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and is a big reason why the Blue Devils won the game.

"He's been a pleasant surprise," Brasky said. "He had a good offseason. He was playing well in the fall, but I didn't know if he'd be a starter. He earned it in the scrimmages. For him to come up so big early in the season has been a pleasent surprise."

 The Alexander wrestling team topped Pavilion 48-30 last night.

The Trojans had four pins in the victory, topped by Steve Geyer, who pinned Ray Colvin in just 13 seconds at 119 pounds.

Lucas Trzecieski downed Mike Thayer in 47 seconds at 130 pounds, with Dylan Shea (152 pounds) and Dan Ognibene (285) also recording pin fall victories.

You can see complete results from the match here.

 The Alexander girls basketball team returns four starters, have a foreign exchange student with some talent and are expected to make a run at a Genesee Region League title.

The Trojans went 9-12 last season, and were upset by Gananda in the opening round of the sectional tournament last season. 

Two of the stars in that game - Anna Dominick and Katie Kochmanski - are returning with fellow starters Rachel Pettys and Chelsea Turcer.

Dominick scored nine points per game with three steals and Pettys averaged eight points with seven rebounds. Turcer had five points and three dimes per game.

Pettys and Kochmanski were stars in the paint as Kochmanski pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go with her seven points per game.

Rebounding is a huge part of coach Marcia Hirsch's coaching philosophy. She preaches rebounding first and foremost, with the belief that if you win the battle on the boards, you are probably going to win the game.

Even with those four returning players, you would expect the Trojans to have a pretty strong team. But they got a nice surprise when the season started.

Foreign exchange student Anni Lehtola from Finland, has a ton of game. The 5-foot-9 guard/forward is a strong rebounder, scorer and defender; which adds a huge boost to an already stacked team.

Alexander has already shown signs of what they can do.

In the opening round of the Attica Tournament last weekend, the Trojans were beating Class A Batavia before the Blue Devils came back late in the game and won 57-48. Alexander then went on to beat Attica 44-32 in the consolation game.

While Division I should be tough this year, Alexander might very well have the pieces in place to be the top dog in that division. 

It wasn't too long ago that the Alexander boys basketball team was one of the worst programs in all of Section 5, even going 0-20 one year.

But coach Wayne Hanley has done a nice job building the program in recent years and the Trojans went 9-10 two years ago - sharing the Division I title - and finished 8-13 last season. Now Hanley's squad is looking to take that next step and become an above .500 squad that can compete for league and sectional titles every year.

The 2008-2009 Trojans have the potential to be the team that can start competing with the best league teams night in and night out.

The reason Alexander can look for bigger things this year is a strong group of returners, along with a pair of talented sophomores playing on the varsity squad.

It has been a long time since Alexander won a sectional game and last year's was able to hang with Caledonia-Mumford in the first round last year, but wound up losing 66-52. Kyle Woodruff was the second-leading scorer last season and returns as the go-to guy this year.

The GR honorable mention all-star of a year ago can shoot the 3 and was a nice compliment to Josh Bender, who was the top scoring option. He now becomes the guy expected to lead the team in scoring on most nights.

Seniors Andy Bittner, Mike Galletti, Tyler Sheeler , Matt Zaso and Jordan Leitten were all contributers last season as well, giving the Trojans six seniors to lead the team.

Junior guard Stephen George also saw action last season.

But the biggest impact on the team could be the youngsters, a pair of sophomores that are starting the season on the varsity squad.

Guard/forward Troy Shelnut might be one name you've heard already. The 6-foot-2 scorer poured in 18 points in his varsity debut, a 72-70 loss to Geneseo in the opening round of the Alexander Tournament last Friday (George and Bittner were also in double figures in that game). Shelnut followed that up with a team-high five points in a 71-25 loss to Livonia in the consolation game.

The other sophomore is guard Jared Quinn, who also scored five points to lead the Trojans in the second game.

While the Trojans aren't expecting to be a dominant team in the league this season, there is no reason why the team can't contend for a league title and try and win a playoff game or two.

The Batavia girls basketball team is already feeling the impact of hiring Bill Wade.

The Blue Devils were down 22-14 at halftime, but went on a 12-0 run in the third quarter and went on to beat Alexander 57-48 in the opening round of the Attica Tournament Friday.

Brittany Mazurkiewicz scored all 16 of her points in the second half and Jaycee Shirk pitched in 19 points with 10 rebounds, five steals and three blocks. Mazurkiewicz also dished out five dimes and had six steals.

Brittany Wormley and Kristen Klein added six points apiece for the Blue Devils (1-0), who will play Dansville in the finals.

Anna Dominick had 16 points to pace the Trojans (0-1), with Chelsea Turcer adding 11 points and Rachel Pettys finishing with 10.

The Mustangs (1-0) advance to play Batavia after thumping host Attica 55-25.

Ashley Amidon led the way with 17 points, with Margaret Infantino pitching in 14.

Jackie Algiers scored seven points to lead the Blue Devils (0-1).

The finals are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

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The Pembroke boys opened up with a non-leaguer against host Penn Yan and fell short, losing 57-54.

The Dragons got big games from stars Ken Babcock and Andrew Wright, but not much else. Wright had 23 points with seven boards and Babcock poured in 21 points with nine rebounds, but the only other players to score were Kyle Stocking (7 points) and Andy Gabbey (3).

James Wilson led Penn Yan (1-0) with 18 points and 13 boards.

Pembroke starts off 0-1.

 The first Genesee Region League wrestling match of the season took place on Monday as Kendall downed Alexander 51-27.

The quickest victory of the match took place at 112 pounds as Kendall's Gabe Sobiersky pinned Kyle Shea in 1:49. Complete results of the match can be found here.

 Three Genesee Region League teams will tip-off the high school boys basketball season Friday night in tournament play.

Alexander is hosting a tournament and will be playing Geneseo at 7 p.m. Wellsville and Livonia are the other two squads in the tourney and are scheduled to play at 3 p.m.

The winners will be in the finals on Saturday.

Wheatland-Chili is in the Northstar Tournament and Attica will be in the Warsaw Tournament.

 Jenna Porter had a pretty impressive freshman season at Nazareth College. Now she returns for a sophomore year where she will be one of the top runners on the squad.

Porter set the Nazareth school record in the 55-meter sprint (7.72) and 60-meter sprint (8.42) last season, and was a member of the school-record setting 800-meter and 1600-meter relay teams.

She carried that success on in the spring as she broke the school record in the 100 (:12.93), 200 (:26.28) and 400 (:59.73). She also ran on the 400 and 1600 relay teams that set records. She was actually named team MVP for the outdoor season, and was awarded Empire 8 all-star honors.

Porter was a star for the Alexander track team as well, helping to win two state titles in the 400 relay. She also made states in the 200 and led the Trojans to five consecutive Genesee Region League championships.

Naz kicks off the season on Dec. 6 at the Cornell relays.

Barker avenged a regular season loss to Alexander, winning a Pool Play game 45-20 Saturday.

Greg Brown and Tyler Mason led the Raiders charge as Mason picked up 186 yards and a touchdown and Brown added 134 yards with two scores.

Mason also had three tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries.

Josh Dubois also caught three passes for 40 yards.

There was a blocked punt and two kickoffs returned for TDs for Trojans, who end up 4-5.

Barker is 3-6.

 Barker (1-6) at Alexander (4-4)

2:30 p.m. Saturday

The Trojans are looking to end the year on a positive note. They lost to Canisteo-Greenwood in the opening round of the playoffs before beating Red Jacket 31-20 last weekend. Jay Schafer leads the squad with 779 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. The Raiders are led by Greg Brown.

Bolivar-Richburg (3-5) at Elba/Byron-Bergen (3-4)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

The Lancers won for the second consecutive week, beating Warsaw 19-12 in a Pool Play game. Zach Green has been putting up big numbers all year and they've gotten insane in recent weeks. He ran for 205 yards with three touchdowns last week.

The Alexander Girl's Soccer team outplayed many peoples predictions and gave Geneseo all they could handle in the 2nd round of the class C sectionals and lead 1-0 at halftime, but Geneseo came from behind in the 2nd half and put two in the net to win the game 2-1 and move on to the semi-finals to face York.

Geneseo came out hot in the 1st half and peppered the Alexander goal with shots but only a few found the target and were turned away by Sophomore goalie Hannah Wilson.  Alexander struggled with Geneseo's formation in the first 15 minutes and had to make an adjustment, but settled down after the inital Geneseo flury and played quite well from there on out.

Alexander struck first on their first good chance of the game as Junior Anna Dominick found her sister 8th grade Midfielder Maria Dominick on a cross to put Alexander up 1-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half.  Alexander held the lead into halftime and knew they were in for a fight in the 2nd half.

Alexander held strong for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half but #14 finally got lose down the left flank and crossed a ball that just eluded a leaping Wilson at the near post and was ran into the goal by #3.  Alexander didn't back down and kept working hard all over the field.  With #11 on the bench Alexander saw the 2nd goal find their net as #2 had a great little play inside the 18 and fired it inside the right post to make it 2-1.  Alexander kept attacking but just couldn't get a ball in a dangerous spot.  Anna Dominick had a cross that was grabbed by the keeper with 5 minutes left and Alexander had 2 corners in the final 2 minutes but couldn't get either in a dangerous spot.

Lost in the scoreline was the play of 8th grade marking defender Abby Shilvock who held Sarah Bono (who has 23 goals this year) to under 5 shots on net throughout the game.  Shilvock seemed to be inside Bono's head reading her moves and winning the ball throughout the game.  Sophomore Tessa Bigelow did an equally strong job on #10 from Geneseo who is another fantastic player.

Great performances were turned in by Sophomore defender Savannah VanSon, 8th grade defender Gabby Kwiatek, 11th grade defender Leah Johnson, 10th grade midfielders Claire Hartl and Autumn Atkinson, 9th grade midfielder Julia Pettys, and Senior Midfielder Rachel Pettys.  Great minutes were contributed by 10th grade Mid Ashley Szymanski and 10th grade forward Morgan Mattice off the bench.

Congrats to Geneseo on a great game and a great season.  I am very proud of the way that all my girls played in this game, you all really stepped up to the plate in this game and gave Geneseo all they could handle.  Great job to all of you - you should be very proud.

 Holley (0-7) at Bolivar-Richburg (2-5)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

Guy Hills and his Holley football team are looking to get their first win of the season. It has been a long, difficult struggle but Pool Play is for building for the following year and that's exactly what coach Chad DeRock is looking to do.

Warsaw (0-7) at Elba/Byron-Bergen (2-4)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

The Lancers won a much needed game last week, dropping Section 6's Bishop Walsh 34-16. Zach Green continued to impress, gaining 255 yards with two touchdowns in the game. Elba/B-B is looking to build on that victory and get the returning players from Elba and Byron-Bergen confidence heading into the offseason.

Barker (1-6) at C.G. Finney (4-2)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

Barker nearly shocked top-seeded Clyde Savannah in Class DD last week, showing how good the Genesee Region League is, losing 7-6. Greg Brown and his teammates can be proud of that effort, but will be tested against Finney, which was upset by Perry last week in Class D.

Red Jacket (1-6) at Alexander (3-4)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

The junior-filled Trojans were thrilled after a 3-3 regular season and then disappointed after penalties killed them in a 28-14 loss to Canisteo-Greenwood last week in the opening round of the playoffs. The juniors just want to keep playing and getting better.

Alexander came away with a 2-0 win over Perry at Wheatland-Chili Tuesday night in what was less than ideal weather.  Williamson and Canisteo-Greenwood had played before at 5pm and the field was in very good condition despite the game prior to ours.

We cut our warmup shorter than usual to avoid getting completely soaked before the game even started and hoped to come out quick.  We attacked right away and put some pressure on Perry's net with 5 shots in the first 8 minutes of the game.  Alexander went ahead 1-0 as Junior Anna Dominick crossed the ball to Senior Rachel Pettys and she fired a shot high in the far left corner to make the score 1-0 in the 11th minute of the game.  Alexander dominated possession in the 1st half and had several chances to go on top 2-0 but none found the back of the net.

Alexander came out in the 2nd half and continued to dominate possession but could not find the net, as has been the case all year long.  Perry had some dangerous moments and had 5 corners in the game but Alexander's defense stood strong and Sophomore goalie Hannah Wilson came up big on several saves throughout the game to earn her 7th shutout of the year.

A trio of sophomores did a great job in the middle, none of which started at the beginning of the year.  Morgan Mattice, Claire Hartl, and Ashley Szymanski logged all the minutes in the center of the pitch, won a majority of the headers, and had some great quick movement of the ball in and out of the field.  9th grader Julia Pettys and 8th grader Abby Shilvock were both moved from the positions they have played all year to the outside mids and did a fantastic job creating as Alexander saw a great improvement in the overall play of their midfield.

Alexander iced the game with 55 seconds left as Julia Pettys sent a cross from the left side of the field to Anna Dominick who settled, took a touch and beat the keeper high over her to give Alexander the 2-0 lead.

Alexander's defense played qutie well and was lead by Sophomore Savannah VanSon who logged her 19th straight start at sweeper and kept things organized.  8th grader Gabby Kwiatek, Junior Leah Johnson, and Sophomore Tessa Bigelow all did a great job in front her sticking with marks despite difficult footing throughout the game.

8th grader Maria Dominick and Senior Rachel Nielans both contributed key minutes at outside mid throughout the game.

Alexander's record improves to 9-6-4 on the season and they move on to play Geneseo on Friday at 6pm in Geneseo.  Geneseo is ranked in the top 10 in the state in the last poll that was released.

Alexander and Holley played to a 0-0 tie Thursday and Holley earned the Division 1 title with the tie.  It was a great defensive game from both sides and arguably the two most skilled goalies in the league showed why they have earned that reputation as they each had one huge save to keep the other team off the scoreboard.  Hannah Wilson stopped Holley's Emily Troup with a quick reaction save diving to her left to get a hand on a shot that Troup ripped from 10 yards and Wilson collected the rebound to keep Holley off the board in the 1st half.  Julie Brooks stopped Alexander late in the game on a scramble in front of the net that was eventually cleared by a defender to keep Alexander from sneaking in a late goal to steal the win.

It was a very even game with both teams keeping fantastic shape in the back and holding strong on their marking to only give up a handful of shots.  Alexander will be the 6th seed in Class C Sectionals and Holley looks to be the 4th seed in Class B Sectionals.

 Canisteo-Greenwood (2-4) at Alexander (3-3)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

You can call this Season 3 for the Alexander football team.

The first season was one in which the squad was pummeled by Oakfield-Alabama, Pembroke and Attica in the first three games of the season. The second was three straight wins over Holley, Elba/Byron-Bergen and Barker.

Now it is playoff time.

When Lucas Czechowski booted a field goal to give Alexander a 9-8 win over Holley in the fourth week of the season, it was just the start to a run that has earned the Trojans a home game in the Class DD playoffs.

His team now looks to make a run through the playoffs with Canisteo-Greenwood on tap in the opener and likely Caledonia-Mumford waiting in the finals.

The road ahead is a challenge as C-G has played some pretty stiff competition in teams like Le Roy and Cal-Mum during the regular season, probably Clyde-Savannah in the semifinals and the Red Raiders getting a bye week in the opening round.

Cal-Mum gets a rest during the opening week of the playoffs because Lyons had to cancel the rest of its season.

Alexander coach Dave Radley and his squad are not looking that far in the future just yet as the Redskins await in the opening round.

C-G has an offense that will keep the Alexander defenders on their feet on every play. The Redskins spend most of the game in a shotgun formation and run a lot of motion and option plays out of it.

Quarterback Mark Ahearn is a good runner and does a great job of drawing in linebackers before pitching the ball to running back Brett Marlatt.

The Trojans have seen a lot of different looks during Genesee Region League competition, but no team as diverse on the offensive side of the ball as Canisteo-Greenwood.

Ryan Piechoki, who is playing with a broken hand, leads the Alexander defense with 53 tackles and will get help from Ryan Wilson (26 tackles), A.J. Dybala (25) and Jordan Leitten (23).

Alexander will try to run the football and take advantage of scoring opportunities.

The offense has not put up any huge numbers this season but can move the ball and play the field position game as well as anybody.

Jay Schafer is the top rusher and has gained 514 yards with four touchdowns on 81 carries. Mike Woodrow has gotten more reps as the season goes on and finished the regular season with 210 yards and two scores on 39 attempts.

Piechoki has scored five times on 35 carries and will see carries in short yardage situations.

There has not been much of a passing game, which could be something the team will need in the playoffs to make a run.

Zach Burke completed 24-of-59 pass attempts for 291 yards, but has six interceptions to go with just one touchdown. His top target has been Czechowski, who has eight receptions for 104 yards, but he will also look in the direction of Steven George and possibly Leitten, who has big-play ability.

This is the second first round home game Alexander has ever hosted.

Just a reminder, high school football previews will be posted as I finish them tomorrow.

I will also be doing special playoff previews for Notre Dame and Alexander, which kick off their playoff runs on Saturday. 

Ryan Piechocki had a huge game for Alexander as the Trojans move up to No. 3 in the Section 5 Class DD playoff bracket, beating Barker 23-12.

This happened because Avon lost to Letchworth Friday night.

"We avoid Cal-Mum until the finals, if we can make it there" Alexander coach Dave Radley said. "That's a big step. Clyde-Savannah is a good team and if we beat Canisteo-Greenwood next week, we see Clyde instead of Cal-Mum. That's  nice for us."

Piechocki had three short touchdown runs, caused 12 tackles and forced a fumble for the Trojans, all while playing with a broken hand. He had seven yards and three scores on three carries.

Lucas Czechowski added a 38-yard field goal for Alexander and Chris Lambert blocked a punt to set up one of Piechocki's TDs.

Greg Brown scored twice for the Raiders (2-4).