basketball

Elba's Phil Ostroski had a pair of solid games to earn Genesee Region League Division II Player of the Week.

Ostroski scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a win over Attica and then scored nine points with 12 boards in a win over Byron-Bergen.

Alexander guard Stephen George had 10 points, four assists and three steals in a loss against York, then helped his team snap a four game losing streak with an 11 point, four steal and four assist performance against Wheatland-Chili.

Oakfield-Alabama's Brynne Perfitt won the GR Division I honor for the girls while averaging 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals per game last week.

Notre Dame's Brittany Morelli had an impressive week to earn the Division II honor. The senior forward had a combined 28 points and 20 rebounds in wins over Holley and Oakfield-Alabama. 

 Jon Casper had a dominant performance Tuesday helping to lead his Le Roy wrestling team to a 59-27 win over Hornell.

Casper pinned Tyler Warriner in just 23 seconds at 215 pounds.

Jesse Brennan also had a pin for the Oatkan Knights at 119.

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Batavia downed Kendall on the mat with ease, winning 59-30 to improve to 16-5.

Nick Lazaroni pinned James Klafehn in just 1:15 at 112 pounds and Will Ely droppe Lance Requa in 5:10 at 125 pounds.

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Byron-Bergen (2-9) was able to hang with Northstar Christian, but a 21-8 third quarter allowed Northstar (9-3) to get the 56-40 boys basketball win.

Donald Harris had 13 points with seven rebounds, assists and steals while David Miller pitched in 11 points for Northstar.

David Garnish had a double-double for the Bees, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Tyler Sass added 10 points.

Alexander improved to 9-2 with a 47-35 win over Lyndonville and currently has the top seed in Class C.

Anni Lehtola poured in a game-high 19 points with Anna Dominick pitching in 11. Rachel Pettys only scored five points, but had 15 rebounds, seven steals and four blocked shots for the Trojans. Chelsea Turcer had eight points.

Molly Burgess and Miranda Feller had seven points apiece for the Tigers (6-6).

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Batavia beat Pittsford Sutherland at home, but Sutherland got revenge in Pittsford with a 66-40 win.

Junior forward Bridget Ryan scored her 1,000th career points and 25 in the game. Kayli O'Keefe added 17 points as Sutherland improves to 8-5.

Brittany Mazurkiewicz and Brittany Wormley had 12 points apiece for Batavia (11-2).

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Jenna Merica dropped in 24 points as the Le Roy girls picked up their first win of the season, improving to 1-11.

Allison Macomber had eight points with six dimes and Megan Lowe had six points and six steals. 

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Notre Dame improved to 8-3 with a 41-29 win over Pembroke. No scoring details are available at this time.

The Dragons fall to 6-6.

 The University of Rochester won the consolation game this past weekend and wound up taking third at the Chase Tournament, which features top area college basketball teams.

Batavia grad Mike Chmielowiec was injured in the semifinals loss to St. John Fisher, 71-66. Chmielowiec informed me this evening that the injury was a minor sprained ankle and he sat out the consolation game as a precaution.

He will be back in action on Friday as Rochester takes on Washington University.

St. John Fisher beat Roberts Wesleyan 72-55 in the finals. 

The Batavian has been all over the Empire State Games problems and recently wrote that the games scheduled to be in Hudson Valley were called off for financial reasons.

We had previously reported that there was plans to cut sports and start charging athletes up to $300 to compete. 

 There is currently an online petition that is being sent to Governor Patterson and Commissioner Ash, trying to bring the games back.

We, the undersigned, believe that canceling the Open, Scholastic and Masters divisions, the Senior Games and the Physically Challenged Games of the Empire State Games is something that needs to be reviewed. We believe that ALL divisions of the Summer Games and Winter Games, along with the entirety of the Senior Games and Games for the Physically Challenged should be reviewed on their merits and what they provide to New Yorkers. 

We have a very good understanding of the economic crisis New York State and the entire country are facing. However, we do not feel that the programs offered through the Empire State Games are a drain on the economy, rather we feel they help increase revenue in the regions where they are held, and they promote a healthy living style to ALL New Yorkers, some of the reasons for this follow. 

The Summer Games as a WHOLE entity brings in $10 to $15 Million to the local economy of the host city. The Winter Games brings in $1.5 Million to Lake Placid. If we add the $10 Million (low end) to the $1.5 million, the State tax on this comes to $460,000 directly back to the State in tax revenue. At a cost to the State of only $2 million, we feel this is a VERY wise investment. The Senior Games are Vital to the health of our maturing population and the Physically Challenged Games are the ONLY avenue these special kids have to participate in. In a time where you, yourself have shown interest in a healthy NY, what better way than these Games? The Masters division and the Senior Games already have a participation fee which should cover most if not all costs associated with their competition. Let the Scholastic, Open and Physically challenged kids continue to be assured a spot in these Games with no fee, to assure NO NEW YORKER IS LEFT OUT due to financial situation. 

In conclusion, we the undersigned, are not asking New York State to reinvest tax dollars in an event which is detrimental to the states long term (or short term) economic future, however, we are asking that someone looks at the WHOLE program called the Empire State Games and truly measures the economic impact these Games have on New York States overall economic plan as well as providing an opportunity for ALL New Yorkers to train and stay healthy. We do hope you will do the right thing here and re-institute these GREAT Games!!

It is great to see that there is a group out there trying save the ESG tradition. 155 people have signed the petition so far, and if you feel inclined to help keep our local athletes competing for Western New York, here is the link to sign the petition.

I posted the Genesee Region League Players of the Week a few days ago, and said there were no girls from the GR nominated, but had winners from other leagues.

At the time there wasn't anybody from the GR.  

But the day after my post on the boys, a pair of GR girls were announced.

Pembroke's Kelsey Lewis scored 22 points with nine rebounds and four steals in a pair of games with Byron-Bergen and Elba to earn the honor for Division I.

Lauren Drago of Wheatland-Chili won the D2 honor for her effort in one game. She scored a career-high 35 points with 12 rebounds, eight steals and five blocks on a win over Holley.

I will be posting Players of the Week for last week as soon as they are posted. Let's hope they get the boys and girls all up on the same day this week.

A big reason why Batavia basketball is so successful every year is that there is a solid youth program in place, the Genesee RAP.

The AAU teams are looking for volunteer coaches for the teams. The RAP plays in regional tournaments on the weekends in March and April.

 Anybody interested should contact Batavia varsity coach Buddy Brasky at 585-356-4050 or e-mail him at mbrasky@bataviacsd.org.

 The game might have been tight all the way through, but it looked like the Oakfield-Alabama girls were going to beat Notre Dame for the second time this season, on ND's home court.

The Hornets owned the paint and seemed to be in the right place at the right time for every loose ball. But the Fighting Irish battled in the closing minutes and came through with a huge 48-46 win.

Oakfield-Alabama took a 3-point lead with about five minutes left in the game when Hillary Bates scored a basket, making the score 40-37 in O-A's favor.

Notre Dame's Brittany Morelli answered with a bucket, but the lead was back to 3-points when Dani Sage scored at the other end. The Hornets had a chance to extend the lead when sophomore McKenzie Harris had a steal and was fouled going to the basket.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, she missed both free throw attempts.

Nichole Hart then made it a 1-point game with a basket seconds later.

After a turnover, Morelli scored with an and-1, giving the Fighting Irish a 44-42 lead with just under three minutes left in the game.

Christina Palillo tied the game with a basket on O-A's next possession, then was fouled on the team's next trip down the court. She hit both foul shots to give the Hornets a 46-44 advantage with just over two minutes left.

Again, it looked like O-A was going to win, just like they did in the consolation game of the Rotary Tournament.

But Notre Dame went inside the paint on the following possession, giving the ball to 6-foot sophomore Liz Geandreau, who was fouled while trying to get a shot off. She tied the score with two free throws.

Nobody scored for almost a minute and a half, but Morelli got to the foul line with 39 seconds left. She hit both attempts to give the Fighting Irish the two-point advantage.

The Hornets had one last shot with just seconds left on the clock, but missed a 3-pointer and couldn't get the rebound.

Morelli scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and Jill Marshall pitched in 14 points for the Fighting Irish, who improve to 7-3. Nichole Hart had 12 points.

Brynn Perfitt continues to be a strong scoring option for Oakfield-Alabama (6-6), scoring 11 points. Hillary Bates scored a team-high 12 points and Palillo pitched in eight points.

 The Batavia girls basketball team is 11-1, defeated every Monroe County League team its faced other than Pittsford Mendon, took down every non-league opponent and still is getting no love from the Democrat & Chronicle. 

The new polls are out and still no Blue Devils in the large or small school category for girls basketball. People question Batavia's non-league schedule, yet they have defeated Dansville, which is ranked sixth. They also beat local powerhouse Elba, which received a No. 9 ranking.

Alexander got an honorable mention.

The Batavia boys basketball team is 9-1, and also not ranked. The only loss for the boys was at Pittsford Sutherland, which they will get a chance to avenge next week at home.

We do have a couple of ranked small schools.

Oakfield-Alabama is at No. 7 and Notre Dame is at No. 9. The two battled last night, with the Hornets winning 9-1.

We have tons of schools ranked in the small school category for wrestling.

Attica is having a great season and is currently at No. 3, Holley is No. 6 and Batavia is No. 7.

Wheatland-Chili is ranked eighth for small school swimming.

Oakfield-Alabama is officially the top team in the Genesee Region League.

Tim Smithhad 19 points, eight boards and three swipes as the Hornets downed Notre Dame 70-60 Thursday.

Noah Seward had 17 points and 12 boards and A.J. Kehlenbeck pitched in 10 points and10 boards. Brad Riner had eight dimes as O-A improves to `9-1.

Kevin Francis had 22 points, six boards, six assists and four steals for the Fighting Iri (8-2).

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Max Torrey came through again, converting a 3-point play with 26 seconds left to give Elba a 41-39 win over Byron-Bergen.

Torrey finished with nine points while Sonny Giuliano had eight points and Phil Ostroski had six points and 13 boards.

Tyler Sass had nine points, four rebounds and four assists for B-B.

 The New York State Sports Writers Association announced its newest poll today and Batavia, Notre Dame and Oakfield-Alabama all moved up in the state.

Batavia jumped from No. 20 to No. 17 in Class A, with games through Jan. 11. The Blue Devils beat Greece Odyssey last night to improve to 9-1.

Oakfield-Alabama jumped from No. 17 to No. 15 in Class C and improved to 8-1 with a win over Wheatland-Chili on Tuesday.

Notre Dame was bumped up from No. 6 to No. 5 in Class D and are now 8-1 after beating Holley 68-42 on Tuesday.

 Former Batavia point guard Kevin Saunders is starting to score. I mean, he's really starting to score.

The junior captain just scored a career-high 22 points in a 66-59 win over Potsdam, helping Fredonia State improve to 9-2.

Saunders connected on 7-of-15 attempts from the floor and hit all six free throw attempts, while grabbing two rebounds and handing out two assists.

Saunders now leads the 9-2 Blue Devils at 11.5 points per game and is second on the squad with 30 assists.

Brynn Perfitt dropped in 19 points and Hillary Bates added 16 as Oakfield-Alabama dropped host Wheatland-Chili 51-42 in a GR girls game.

Lindsay Chatt added seven points for the Hornets, who are now 6-5.

Lauren Drago had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (3-5). Lindsey Hall added 20 points. 

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Nicole Sharick dropped in 13 points and Jackie Dubois pitched in 11 as Pembroke toppled Kendall 38-33.

Kelsey Lewis also had six points for the Dragons, who are now 6-5.

Meghan Fahy had 17 points and 12 boards for Kendall, which falls to 3-6.

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Nichole Hart had 16 points to lead the way as Notre Dame destroyed Holley 59-28.

Liz Geandreau, Jill Marshall and Trisha Pike each had eight points, with Geandreau adding seven boards.

Jessica Bower and Jenny Lesch had nine points each for Holley.

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Samantha Skryp had a huge game, scoring a game-high 22 points to lead Lyndonville to a 40-33 win over Byron-Bergen.

Mary Cocking had eight points to lead the Bees.

Lyndonville is 6-6.

 Pembroke's Ken Babcock earned Genesee Region League Division I Player of the Week for this past week.

The senior center had 22 points with six blocks against Byron-Bergen and 13 points, four blocks and 10 rebounds against Elba.

Josh Laureano earned the honor for Division II after scoring 24 points with five dimes and nine rebounds against Lyndonville and 27 points, 10 assists and nine boards in a win over Alexander.

Laureano had 15 points, five assists and eight rebounds in a loss against Wheatland-Chili.

The two squads played each other last night, with Kendall winning 59-56.

No girls players were nominated from the Genesee Region League.

For the past few years, I've heard how the officiating keeps getting worse; and it doesn't matter which sport it is.

According to the National Association of Sports Officials, the amount of high school officials is dropping at a rapid pace. This means there are many inexperienced officials doing games. Consider half of the varsity basketball team quitting and half the jayvee team being called up to replace them. 

The reason more than 3/4 of the NASO lists for the decline in officials is "poor sportsmanship by spectators".

John Moriello of the NYSSWA writes about an incident at a game between Schuylerville and Mohonasen in late December.

At a basketball game between Schuylerville and Mohonasen on Dec. 26, spectators became so unruly that the gym had to be cleared. It was a girls game . . . a JV girls game.

   "Parents have invested their whole freaking past, present and future in little Johnny going to Syracuse on a scholarship and, oh gosh, the ref made a bad call," Will Keim, co-author of "Fan Etiquette: How did the burning desire to win become the desire to burn?" said. "This ref is keeping their kid out of the NBA."

The basic lesson here is that if you are not liking what you see on the field or court, leave the officials alone and let them do their job. The more that quit, the less experienced officials we are going to get.