Friday Roundup: Lady Sea Lions finish another regular season undefeated, roll past Let/Perry to send Seniors out swinging; Song’s late 2nd half score powers Houghton Academy’s shutout of B-R
By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
WELLSVILLE — For the very last time this season in their own waters, the Lady Lions of Wellsville raced towards perfection on Senior Night, as they sent all five of their senior leaders out swinging in the biggest of ways Friday evening with one final regular season performance to finish off another undefeated campaign with a 93-77 victory over visiting Letchworth/Perry.
The Lady Sea Lions (6-0) totaled nine first place finishes across the night, with a pair from Morgan Mattison helping lead the charge, as she scored winning times in the 200 individual medley and in the 500 freestyle.
Following up was Megan VanEtten, Emily Budinger and Ashley Oswald, as they all chipped in wins of their own to complete a perfect first half of swimming for the defending Class C Champions, with VanEtten becoming triumphant in the 200 freestyle, Budinger in the 50 freestyle and Oswald off the Diving board.
In the second half of the meet, the victory was cemented even further with two more wins from Grace Kinnicutt and Jasmine Outman, as the two Lady Sea Lions coasted towards wins in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, respectively.
Wellsville would also add two relay victories — the 200 medley and 200 freestyle, along the way.
Wellsville head coach Steve Hand spoke about his seniors, noting that their growth over the years has been an incredible sight to behold, leading towards amazing guidance they provided to each and every one of his younger swimmers on the team.
“The juniors and underclassmen did an amazing job of getting ready to send our seniors off on a sad, but happy note,” said Lady Sea Lions coach Steve Hand. “Each team identifies a successful season differently. This group of seniors has not lost a meet in four years. Each of the girls, only twice in the two years prior to that. That was never our goal. Our goal was to qualify as many girls for Sectionals as we could, and these girls have done that each year. This year, they hope to defend their LCAA and Sectional titles before they move on from high school. The rest of the team had learned from these five how to win, but to be humble while doing it. There’s always a team or a swimmer or diver that can go faster or score more points on a dive. Next year will be a different year for sure.”
Hand continued, saying that “These girls have helped train the younger girls and I can only hope the team’s success can continue. Tonight’s meet was fun, having the four swimming seniors swim three relays together and their favorite individual event. The younger girls are working hard, and they remain hopeful to get a little faster to help the team in Sectionals.”
Another perfect 6-0 regular season campaign for the Lady Sea Lions is now officially in the books, as they now begin their preparation for the Livingston County Championship meet, and then soon after, the Section V, Class C Championship Diving and Team Meet at Bath-Haverling all coming in the weeks ahead.
BOYS SOCCER
Houghton Academy 1, Bolivar-Richburg 0
HOUGHTON — It was a closely-knit fight across the board on a misty Friday night. Bolivar-Richburg and Houghton Academy were neck-and-neck across nearly all 80 minutes on the board. It would take about 65 of those minutes to find what would be the first and only goal that would reach the back of the net.
Ricky Song was the recipient of the goal for the host Panthers at the most crucial of times in the game. With the door beginning to close on regulation, and another door leading to overtime beginning to open, the Houghton Academy sophomore slammed that second entryway shut with an enormous strike — one that would allow them to finish the job through a tremendous second half effort, as they squeaked past the Wolverines with a 1-0 shutout at home.
“This is a big win. They’re a great team, and both teams really had to adjust to some new players being in new positions. They dominated play, and we looked slow. But as the game went on, we matched their intensity,” said Panthers coach Jeff Prentice. “I have to give a lot of credit to our midfield, they all played their hearts out with some solid play. Defensively, Reiss Gaines is a great player, and Marco (Zanini) made some really quality saves on quite a few of his shots to keep us in it.”
Song’s goal broke a game-long scoreless deadlock, ringing in with 14:28 left in regulation, beginning with possession being held by Josh Davidson just past midfield. With it, a shot was chipped straight over the Bolivar-Richburg defense and straight into the wheelhouse of Song, where he went in for a 1-on-1 matchup against David Abdo, winning that battle by sending the shot straight to the left-hand corner to ultimately give the Panthers (5-7-1) the victory at the end of the night.,
The goal was one of 16 total shots Houghton Academy applied, as they outshot Bolivar-Richburg by a 16-6 count.
Marco Zanini would stop all six shots seen to record the shutout, while Abdo made 15 saves for the Wolverines (6-6-1), who will now continue their road trip this afternoon with a 12 p.m. visit to Alfred-Almond.
Houghton Academy will now pay a visit to Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Andover.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 4, Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg 1
BELFAST — Senior Night under the lights at the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast was a complete success for host Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they used a 2-0 advantage at the end of the half and built upon it later on against Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg to finish off what was a 4-1 victory on Friday.
Evan Turybury led the goalscoring for Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-4-1) with three of the team’s four markers, all sandwiched in between a free penalty kick opportunity for Chris Weaver. The four shots were part of a 12-shot entourage across all 80 minutes, as they outshot their opposition by a 12-5 total count.
Brody Vance was the lone recipient of Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg’s (5-8) score, capitalizing on a penalty kick opportunity of his own to eliminate the shutout.
In net, the win belonged to Kyle McCumiskey, as he made four saves for Genesee Valley/Belfast, while Robert Bradley made eight saves on the other side for the visitors.
Both teams are back on the pitch this afternoon in a pair of 11 a.m. first kicks over the road, as Genesee Valley/Belfast prepares for a big matchup with Arkport/Canaseraga, while Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg looks to get back on track with a visit to Cuba-Rushford.
Cuba-Rushford 5, Friendship/Scio 1
FRIENDSHIP — Five different goalscorers helped set up shop right away for the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford on Friday, four of them serving as the first marker of their Varsity careers, as they went on the offensive to get back on track over the road in Friendship with a strong 5-1 win over host Friendship/Scio.
“It was a great team effort tonight. We had five different goalscorers, four of them for the first time in their careers,” said Rebels coach Rob Wight. “It’s always fun to get new guys involved. I saw Friendship/Scio play twice earlier in the year and they’ve come a long way. I’m impressed with how far they have come. This was our first of five games in seven days. I’m happy with the way the guys came ready to play to kick off this tough stretch.”
The Rebels (7-4-1) were fast and furious in the first 10 minutes of play with the first of many first career Varsity markers on the night, as Kaden Bell was the first to break the ice on his marker.
At the 19:20 mark, the lead was extended upon by Carter Brown and his first career unassisted marker before Luke Brooks connected with his first career tally on a penalty kick just seven minutes later.
The lead over Friendship/Scio (2-13) would reach 4-0 with Jake Elliott scoring his unassisted marker with 7:49 left until the break, but the shutout would end near midway in the second half for the hosts as Charlie Taylor connected with the team’s lone goal off an assist handed along by Noah Roberts to cut the deficit to 4-1.
After over 60 minutes in between the pipes for Cuba-Rushford, Alex Baron saw some time on the attack to help close out the victory, as he posted his first career marker to finish up a 22-shot performance on offense.
Baron, along with Caleb Elliott, combined to record the three-save shutout in goal for the Rebels.
Deacon Brown made eight saves in between the posts for Friendship/Scio, who now gets set for a 5 p.m. first kick against Bolivar-Richburg right back in Friendship on Wednesday.
Cuba-Rushford heads back home to play host to Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg today at 11 a.m.
Fillmore 6, Cuba-Rushford 0
HINSDALE — For the ninth consecutive year, a piece of the Allegany County Division I League Championship will be claimed by the Fillmore Lady Eagles, as they traveled over the road to Hinsdale for a battle under the Friday night lights and came back home victorious is dominant fashion with a 6-0 shutout of host Cuba-Rushford to remain undefeated with their 13th straight win.
Out of the six goals that found the back of the net, four of them came directly in the first 40 minutes of play to pace Fillmore’s (13-0) edge. In back-to-back fashion, Hope Russell scored two of her first four goals off assists dished along by Grace Russell and Kylee Ellsworth to help capture an early 2-0 lead in the beginning stages of the battle.
Russell finished off her first half hat trick with her third of the game off another assist from Grace Russell to branch out the team’s lead. Grace would then reach the board herself three minutes removed from the last marker, connecting with Allie Mills on her helper to close out the first half strong.
Fillmore would go on to score two more times in the second half, as Preslee Miller and Hope Russell each scored in a minute’s span to close out the victory.
The Lady Eagles totaled 16 shots against Cuba-Rushford (6-7), as they outscored the Lady Rebels by a 16-1 count. In goal, the win belonged to Miller, who combined with Grace Clark for the shutout.
On the opposite end, Lilly Johnson-Clark made 10 saves for the Lady Rebels, who now hit the road for a 7 p.m. contest in Wellsville.
Next up on the docket for the Lady Eagles is a visit from Genesee Valley/Belfast on Wednesday for a battle that will likely determine the outcome of this year’s Allegany County Division I League Champion, beginning at 7 p.m.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Wellsville 3, Hinsdale 0
WELLSVILLE — After a brilliant night of Senior night volleyball back on Wednesday, the Lady Lions of Wellsville maintained all the momentum they had build and received across their straight-set shutout of Fillmore, using it in Friday night’s home clash against Hinsdale in the strongest of ways to power up another 3-0 sweep in a 25-16, 25-12, 25-4 decision.
Natalie Adams led the offensive firepower for the Lady Lions (7-2), posting 10 big kills to go with two aces. Following up were Makenna Dunbar (four aces) and Averee Palmatier (three aces), as the two combined to chip in eight kills, while Lindsay Stuck provided a solid night of service at the back line, recording five aces to go with three kills of her own.
The team’s setter, Maddy Parks was outstanding, handing out 25 assists to go with her eight aces.
Statistics for the Lady Bobcats (1-11) were not made available to report upon publication. Hinsdale will do battle once again on Wednesday back home, hosting Bolivar-Richburg in a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
After partaking in tournament action at Lyons this weekend, Wellsville marks their return to the floor for a big battle up north on Tuesday, as they prepare for a 6 p.m. visit to Avon.
Bolivar-Richburg 3, Fillmore 0
BOLIVAR — Carmen Crowley and Kori Thomas were at the very tops of their game on Friday, as the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg rebounded after Wednesday’s defeat to the hands of Cuba-Rushford with a straight-set victory back home against Fillmore, claiming the 25-11, 25-22, 25-13 decision to get back on track.
Crowley paved the way towards big success for the Bolivar-Richburg (8-2) offense with a game-high 18 kills to go with five digs on defense to keep the ball off the floor. Thomas followed behind with another stellar effort on the attack, garnering 10 kills to go pair with two aces and two big blocks at the net.
On defense, Brena Walp (two aces) collected 16 digs, while setter Hannah Mascho (three aces) handed out 30 assists.
Statistics for the Lady Eagles (7-7) were not made available to report upon publication. Fillmore is back on the court Wednesday night back home in The Rock with a 7:30 p.m. visit from Genesee Valley/Belfast.
Bolivar-Richburg will look to keep firing on all cylinders on their home floor Tuesday, as they prepare for a clash with Oswayo Valley at 7:30 p.m.
