Barkley Showcase: Jasper-Troupsburg’s 16-0 run of Edison, Ark-Can’s Ford provides 2nd quarter game-changer to headline two more Steuben County wins, take 4-0 lead over Allegany County
By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
ALFRED – For the first time in Barkley Showcase history, Allegany County was represented by a team outside of the area. But with it, it would bring a local connection into the mid-Winter event’s spotlight.
With the first three games of this year’s eighth installment being postponed due to the less-than-ideal conditions outdoors, the illumination shone down upon Belmont native Lenny Smith and his Thomas Edison Spartans of Elmira in their trip to Alfred State College to battle Jasper-Troupsburg to officially open the festivities, Saturday evening.
When he received that phone call to join the Showcase, there was no way Smith was going to turn it down.
“It meant a lot to get that phone call,” the Belmont native said. “We haven’t played a game out this way in the 20 years I’ve been at Edison. To get this opportunity to come here and play on a college court, to get that feel for the college environment with it, this is great for our kids. When I first walked out here as a coach, I got goosebumps. I have so many memories of being in basketball gyms around this area.”
As soon as those goosebumps subsided, it was game time.
A slow moving start to the first quarter settled in between both Edison and Jasper-Troupsburg, with a battle on special teams formulated at first. But soon after, the offense would come. And it was the Wildcats that dug in and delivered.
Lasting nearly the entire first eight minutes, Jasper-Troupsburg went on a run to keep Edison at a standstill, with a hot three-point game from Sawyer Troxel and some great runs to the inside from Landon Zver permitted the Wildcats to pick up a scoreless run of the Spartans, setting the tone with it immediately and never looking back to finish up what was a 52-27 victory in game three out of seven in the Showcase.
“We wanted to come out with some energy, step on the gas and get that lead,” Wildcats coach Louis Zver said. “We thought that was important. We limited them to one shot a lot of the time, which was good for us also. We’ve been really working on the 3-2 defense. We’ve spread the floor quite well with it. If we could force them to shoot outside shots, we would be successful. We moved it well offensively, and we had one guy with 15, one guy with 13, one guy with 12. It’s hard to beat teams when they have well-balanced scoring like that.”
Jasper-Troupsburg (4-7) rode the wave of momentum bright and early in the opening frame, surfing to the tune of 16 consecutive points against Edison behind a pair of triples from Troxel in the parking lot, along with six big points from Zver on the run to further the team’s cause before the Spartans were able to cash in on their first basket right at the buzzer from Dustin Morgan underneath.
The Wildcats remained out in front for the foreseeable future ahead, as they used another well-rounded effort on both ends of the floor to extend their advantage on the Spartans going into the break before wrapping up the victory in style with a 22-6 third quarter run.
“Slow starts have been the story of our season. We’ve had a difficult time battling back. A couple of kids off the bench really stepped up for us. It’s the back end of our season now, and some guys off the bench are starting to see some more minutes. We’ll see if we can use this to get a victory.” said Smith.
Troxel’s early three-point presence for Jasper-Troupsburg earned him Player of the Game honors, knocking down four of them in all for 12 points. Zver says that after missing most of the season due to injury, it was a great sight to have No. 5 back on the hardwood.
“It’s good to get Sawyer back,” he said. “He got hurt in the first four minutes of the first game we played this year, so we haven’t had that extra scorer out there. We graduated five seniors last year, and aside from that, we’re just getting better every day. I think we found something in our 3-2 defense today, and we’ll just look to keep building on that.”
Leading the scoring was Landon Zver, who recorded 15 game-high points. James Ainsworth chipped in with 13 points, while Jackson Hayes had six.
Edison was led by Jaden Bennett and his team-leading nine points.
After a 10th straight win for Steuben County dating back to last season, Genesee Valley/Belfast and Arkport-Canaseraga were next up in the Showcase’s nightcap, with major positioning in the Class C3 Sectional field up for grabs crossing the midway mark of the season.
In the game’s early stages, points were difficult to come by as both teams buckled down on the defensive end to limit the chances each would see on the attack. It would allow Genesee Valley/Belfast to spring out on top, but the lead was disrupted by the Wolves a short time later with a tide-turning moment.
Ibra Ford came to the rescue.
A second quarter surge was conducted by the Arkport-Canaseraga sophomore, as he went forth and scored the first 10 points of the frame — nine of which off three enormous three-pointers to give them a lift into the lead going into halftime. With it, came another opening that Caden Carey would provide in the same swing, posting the majority of his game-high 23 points across the second half to ensure a 10th victory of the season for the Wolves in a 61-42 win over Genesee Valley/Belfast.
“Ibra has that will to win. He’s so motivated. That was the JV backcourt last year that won counties. We knew that bringing them up, they were going to do a lot of damage,” said Wolves coach Max Houy. “Ibra starts sometimes, and he also comes off the bench and gives us that sixth-man boost that we need. He’s so humble, and he does anything we need him to do. There’s no ego to him.”
Before the Wolves ran the table in the second quarter, they would have to work through a first quarter filled with defense and special teams alongside Genesee Valley/Belfast (5-5), starting with a long Kadin Logue three-pointer that allowed the team in black to climb out front first after a series of interchangeables permitted a 10-7 lead going to the second.
The momentum was held by Genesee Valley/Belfast, but Arkport-Canaseraga (10-2) flip-flopped the propulsion in their favor completely behind Ford’s guidance after knocking down back-to-back threes to open the frame before adding another basket down low to begin a run that saw them score eight of the first nine points.
Ford then caught on fire to close out the first half, scoring a grand total of 10 points from within their 18-5 run of Genesee Valley/Belfast to take a 25-15 into the break.
“We played a really good team. They shot the ball very well,” said GV/Belfast co-coach Joe McCumiskey. “It’s hard to beat a team that shoots really well from outside. Our transition defense was not good tonight, and we did not rebound the basketball. That is something that we have to figure out going forward.”
In the second half, the Wolves picked up right where they left off with Caden Carey assuming control of the offense with his Player of the Game performance, posting 15 of his 23 points in the last two quarters — 11 of them in the third quarter alone to keep the hot shooting ablaze with a 41-25 lead going into the fourth quarter, hanging onto it until the end to record the victory.
“It was our pressure on the defensive end and pushing the pace of the game,” said Houy. “We have a lot of speed, a lot of guards and some bigs that can get up the floor. Genesee Valley/Belfast is very athletic, but we were able to just push the pace more than them tonight. We try to pressure and we have all this speed and all the shooting on the offensive end to create our playmaking, but defense wins championships. We try to use all of our guys to create pressure.”
Houy added on the team’s first time playing in the Dan Barkley Showcase, saying “It’s an honor. This is our first time here. It’s for an amazing cause in memory of a fantastic guy. We’re just honored to be here. The kids love playing on a Division-III floor. They love playing for a great cause.”
Following behind Carey and Ford for the Wolves was Devin Moran, who chipped in with 11 points. Tim Vilkhu had nine points. For Genesee Valley/Belfast, Kadin Logue and Ian McKenzie each bucketed a team-high 14 points. Jacob Borden provided six points.
Listed below are the next games for the three local squads that were in action:
Arkport/Canaseraga: vs. Campbell-Savona, Friday 7:15 p.m. (at Arkport)
Genesee Valley/Belfast: vs. Andover/Whitesville, Tuesday 7:30 p.m. (at Belfast)
Jasper-Troupsburg: at Addison, Wednesday 7:15 p.m.
Thomas Edison 2 10 6 9 – 27
Jasper-Troupsburg 16 12 22 2 – 52
EDISON: Landon Allen 1 0-0 2, Riley Cobb 1 0-0 3, Dustin Morgan 3 0-0 6, Marcquis Bradley Jr. 1 0-2 2, Jaden Bennett 3 2-6 9, Talon LaPlante 1 3-4 5. Totals: 10 5-12 27.
JASPER-TROUPSBURG: Braylon Lawson 1 0-1 2, James Ainsworth 6 1-2 13, Sawyer Troxel 4 0-0 12, Jackson Hayes 1 3-8 6, Zach Baker 1 0-0 2, Landon Zver 7 0-0 15, Matthew Foster 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 4-11 52.
3-point goals: Edison 2 (Cobb, Bennett), J-T 5 (Troxel 4, Zver).
Total Fouls: Edison 10, J-T 9. Fouled out: None.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 10 5 10 17 – 42
Arkport-Canaseraga 7 18 16 20 – 61
GV/BELFAST: Kadin Logue 5 3-4 14, Lannden Tilton 0 1-2 1, Matt Cater 0 4-6 4, Ian McKenzie 5 1-1 14, Thayne Cobb 0 0-2 0, Owen Heaney 1 0-0 3, Jacob Borden 3 0-4 6. Totals: 14 9-19 42.
ARKPORT-CANASERAGA: Devin Moran 3 5-5 11, Caden Carey 8 4-7 23, Ibra Ford 4 1-2 12, Alex Vilkhu 1 0-0 2, Kohler Preston 2 0-0 4, Tim Vilkhu 3 3-3 9. Totals: 21 13-17 61.
3-point goals: GVB 5 (McKenzie 3, Logue, Heaney), A-C 6 (Carey 3, Ford 3).
Total Fouls: GVB 16, A-C 14. Fouled out: McCumiskey (GVB).
Friday Basketball: Fillmore boys knock down 12 triples, energize 7th straight victory in offensive shootout with C-R in early County showdown; Clutch free throws aid And/Whi’s win at Houghton
FILLMORE — In recent memory, Cuba-Rushford and Fillmore have always found a way to pack a gym’s grandstand full of fans and spectators. Each and every time.
Despite the dreadful weather conditions outdoors, Friday night was another one of those exhilarating nights to watch some basketball in The Rock.
The offenses belonging to the Rebels and Eagles were out in full force across all four quarters of play, with one team starting off the game red hot while the other applied pressure with their best stand of offense to open the second half.
With Cuba-Rushford knocking on the door all night long, the Eagles responded.
Just ask Jonah Bialek.
At a time where big baskets were needed to stave off a potential momentum shift, Bialek was there to set the record straight from outside in the parking lot, knocking down four gigantic three-pointers in the second half out of his seven in total for the game — 12 for the entire team altogether, as the Eagles scooted past the Rebels with an 82-61 home triumph for their seventh straight trip into the win column.
“Zach (Sisson) and Jonah really stepped up and hit some big shots to stop the bleeding that was caused in the second half. Jonah is such a force himself as a floor general, but we haven’t needed him to score a lot recently. Tonight, he hit some daggers when we needed him,” said Eagles coach Randy Crouch. “My team laughs at me when I tell them this, but my favorite part of coaching is being in packed gyms on Friday nights against a great rival. Tonight was one of those nights with Cuba-Rushford. We got off to a great start and we were able to really dictate pace from there.”
The Eagles (9-2) came soaring out of the gate on fire against Cuba-Rushford, as they went straight to work with their premier frame of the night — a 25-point stand of offense, paced by the presence of their three-point game which saw five of them go down through the twine in the opening eight minutes.
Zach Sisson had two of those to pace a 10-point frame and because of it, Fillmore was able to run off with an early 14-2 run of the Rebels to jump out in front quickly.
More damage was provided later on across the second quarter when the Eagles showed no signs of slowing down, this time with Jonah Bialek taking command of the offense with 10 points of his own out of the 20 his team assembled in the same swing, beginning the frame with a 16-6 run of the Rebels (6-6) to set the tone on a strong finish to a brilliant first half.
“We had Zach, Cam (Mucher) and Layton (Sanasith) all pick up two fouls in the first quarter,” Crouch said. “I’m really proud of our bench guys, JD (Bialek), Jameson (Rhett), Isaiah (Sisson) and Mark (Wolfer) for coming off the bench and maintaining our lead. I knew Coach (Pat) Wight was not going to let them quit. He had them ready in the third quarter. Give them a lot of credit, they took it to us and chipped the lead down to where it was in reach.”
Trailing 45-26 to open the second half, Cuba-Rushford was ripping and roaring out of the gate, composing a powerful 24-point stand on offense led by six different scorers all finding the basket at least once.
Among them: Peyton Joy, who led the Rebels in the scorebook with 16 team-high points — eight of them in the third quarter alone.
With the Rebels closing in fast with a spurt that allowed them to cut their deficit down to as low as six, Fillmore needed a response back. For Jonah Bialek, his time was now, as his three-point game blossomed to life once again with four clutch triples from downtown in the second half to essentially put the game out of reach for the Eagles, as they evaded a late Cuba-Rushford rally.
Sisson and Bialek both came together to record 25 game-high points to pace the Fillmore offense. Cam Mucher chipped in with 10 points, while JD Bialek had nine.
For the Rebels behind Joy, Luke Brooks tallied 11 points while Eli Sleggs and Adam Roe followed with nine and seven points, respectively.
As of this moment in time, Cuba-Rushford’s first-ever appearance at today’s eighth annual Dan Barkley Showcase at Alfred State College has been officially postponed, due to weather. Their next scheduled contest will take place back home Thursday night with a 7:30 p.m. visit from Andover/Whitesville.
On Tuesday right back inside The Rock, the Eagles will go for their eighth straight win in perhaps their biggest game of the season thus far — a visit from the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines, where the battle for the top of the Allegany County League standings begins at 7:30 p.m.
Cuba-Rushford 12 14 24 11 – 61
Fillmore 25 20 21 16 – 82
CUBA-RUSHFORD: Braeden Wight 0 2-4 2, Kaden Bell 4 0-0 8, Luke Brooks 5 1-4 11, Zach Deck 2 0-0 4, Eli Sleggs 2 5-7 9, Finn Ricketts 2 0-0 4, Adam Roe 3 1-2 7, Peyton Joy 8 0-0 16. Totals: 26 9-17 61.
FILLMORE: Eben Schilke 2 0-0 5, Cam Mucher 4 2-2 10, Isaiah Sisson 1 1-1 4, Layton Sanasith 2 0-0 4, Zach Sisson 7 9-10 25, Jonah Bialek 8 2-2 25, JD Bialek 4 0-0 9. Totals: 28 14-15 82.
3-point goals: Fillmore 12 (Jo. Bialek 7, Z. Sisson 2, Schilke, I. Sisson, JD Bialek).
Total Fouls: C-R 15, Fillmore 15. Fouled out: None.
Andover/Whitesville 49, Houghton Academy 44
HOUGHTON — Andover/Whitesville was in control all game. But in the fourth quarter, host Houghton Academy upped the ante and made things interesting down the stretch with their largest frame of offense in the game, Friday night.
But despite it, it was pressure that Andover/Whitesville was able to handle with some massive help coming from Colton Calladine across all four quarters, as he aided the team’s pursuit of a hot start against the Panthers in the first half while adding more fuel to the fire in the next to fend off the fourth quarter pressure from their opposition to claim a 49-44 victory.
“Houghton is tough and Jeff (Prentice) has really worked hard with his guys,” said Andover/Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce. “The improvement from last year is very evident. Colton came through for us big time, and our only senior Derek Perkins also stood out with a massive performance on the boards and tough play overall to get himself into double digits. It was by far the best game I’ve seen from him. All in all, it was a pretty big game to get a win out of.”
Andover/Whitesville (5-4) knocked on the window of opportunity across the first quarter on both ends of the floor, holding Houghton Academy to just one shot from the field while punctuating a 13-4 run of the Panthers to break the ice.
The two foes would exchange a near-even amount of pleasantries to keep pace with one another, with Josh Davidson fueling a second quarter surge for the Panthers with a pair of triples from beyond the arc.
But when momentum was built, it evaporated quickly with aid from Andover/Whitesville’s defense once again, as they accounted for a 13-5 third quarter run to extend the advantage out to 14 going into the last eight minutes.
In that last session, the Panthers had one final card to play — a 20-point fourth quarter, led by both Jack Prentice and James Adenuga, who combined to produce 17 of the points.
But in the end, some clutch free throws for Andover/Whitesville paid off, as they laid claim to victory behind a 7-for-12 outing at the charity stripe.
Leading Andover/Whitesville was Calladine and his game-high 24 points. Derek Perkins finished with 10 points, while Vincent Joyce and Brody Vance each chipped in with six.
For Houghton Academy, Adenuga concluded with 15 points, while Davidson and Prentice followed behind with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Panthers will return to action on their home floor once again Tuesday night with a 6 p.m. visit from Keshequa.
If weather allows, Andover/Whitesville will make the trek to Alfred State College to participate in the eighth installment of the Dan Barkley Showcase, where they will open the day’s festivities with a tentative 12 p.m. tip-off against the Hammondsport Lakers.
Andover/Whitesville 13 12 13 11 – 49
Houghton Academy 4 15 5 20 – 44
ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: James Miller-Young 1 0-0 2, Derek Perkins 2 6-8 10, Vincent Joyce 3 0-0 6, Brody Vance 3 0-2 6, Colton Calladine 8 7-11 24, Gage Putnam 0 1-2 1. Totals: 17 14-23 49.
HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jack Prentice 4 3-9 12, Josh Davidson 4 3-3 14, James Adenuga 5 3-5 13, Jack Qi 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 9-17 44.
3-point goals: A/W 1 (Calladine), HA 6 (Davidson 3, Adenuga 2, Prentice).
Total Fouls: A/W 19, HA 18. Fouled out: Joyce (A/W), Vance (A/W), Zanini (HA).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Fillmore 52, Hammondsport 29
HAMMONDSPORT — Although a strong first quarter start was slowed by host Hammondsport, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore were able to work their way around it by the time the second half arrived, as Amelia Rose helped provided some massive third quarter gumption to completely turn the tide in their favor to leave town winners by a 52-29 count over the Lady Lakers on Friday.
“I thought we got off to a nice start but then, we caught the turnover bug in the second quarter and that became sloppy,” Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks said. “After halftime, we moved the ball better, we had more patience and we had a nice quarter to put it out of reach essentially. Amelia had a terrific game for us. She really got us going after the break with her nice run.”
Before the Lady Lakers were able to turn up the heat, Fillmore (8-1) was able to build a strong start to their game to grab the early advantage after a back-and-forth exchange with nearly two minute remaining.
With a 7-6 lead on the board, the Lady Eagles went off to finish the frame soundly with eight consecutive points in their 15-6 run of the hosts in white and purple.
Hammondsport would flip the script with some key plays on defense to keep the Lady Eagles on their feet across the second quarter, as they closed the gap to eight when halftime settled in.
But when the third quarter arrived, Amelia Rose presented Fillmore with a chance to break away from their opposition’s grasp, as she posted seven big points out of her game-high 15 total inside the stanza to propel the Lady Eagles over the top with a 16-7 run, giving them all the room they needed to take care of business.
Following Rose on the scoresheet was Hope Russell, who chipped in with 11 points. .Grace Russell had seven points, while Emalyn Mucher had five.
The Lady Eagles are back in action after the weekend with a 7 p.m. visit up north to Warsaw.
Fillmore 15 10 16 11 – 52
Hammondsport 6 11 7 5 – 29
FILLMORE: Hope Russell 5 1-2 11, Grace Russell 3 1-2 7, Rachel Hatch 2 0-0 4, Amelia Rose 6 0-0 15, Kylee Ellsworth 1 0-0 2, Mattie McCumiskey 2 0-2 4, Emalyn Mucher 2 0-0 5, Preslee Miller 2 0-5 4. Totals: 23 2-11 52.
HAMMONDSPORT: Gabby Doyle 1 0-0 2, LaZell Locey 4 1-2 9, Danica Dresser 3 4-9 10, Sam Pratt 1 1-2 4, Nichole Pratt 1 1-2 3, Alexis Hurd 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 8-17 29.
3-point goals: Fillmore 4 (Rose 3, Mucher), Hammondsport 1 (S. Pratt).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 13, Hammondsport 11. Fouled out: None.
Canisteo-Greenwood 52, Addison 22
ADDISON — Special teams can come in handy down the stretch of a tight basketball game.
They can become the x-factor in the blink of an eye, but for the Lady Chargers of Canisteo-Greenwood, it served as their best offense, as they went 21-for-36 against host Addison to ignite their ascension towards their sixth win in the last seven games by a 52-22 count over the road, Friday night.
With a first quarter advantage over the Lady Knights under wraps, the Lady Chargers (8-4) constructed even more on top of the foundation they would lay down, capitalizing across all fronts on both ends of the floor to extend their lead, beginning in a second quarter where they would run off on a 9-2 half-ending jaunt before putting the game away for good with a 13-2 second half-starting run.
The main cog in the machine: Bailey Mullen, who went 13-for-18 at the charity stripe to contribute towards her game-high 24-point performance for Canisteo-Greenwood alongside eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. McKenna Ferris chipped in with 15 points of her own, while Harlie McCaffery had six points to go with her 13 rebounds off the glass.
Sidney Drouin provided seven more boards to continue the special teams cause.
The Lady Chargers are now off from action until next Friday night back home, when they take on the Avoca-Prattsburgh Lady Titans in a 7:15 p.m. showdown.
Canisteo-Greenwood 13 9 13 17 – 52
Addison 7 2 2 11 – 22
CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Bailey Mullen 5 13-18 24, Kadyn Piliero 1 1-3 3, McKenna Ferris 6 3-4 15, Harlie McCaffery 2 2-6 6, Sidney Drouin 0 2-4 2, Peyton Peters 1 0-1 2. Totals: 15 21-36 52.
ADDISON: Ava White 1 0-0 2, Reagan Quick 1 0-0 2, Caidyn Jones 2 0-2 6, Julia Benton 0 2-4 2, Sadie Strauss 2 0-2 4, Breagan Jones 2 1-2 6. Totals: 8 3-10 22.
3-point goals: C-G 1 (Mullen), Addison 3 (C. Jones 2, B. Jones).
Total Fouls: C-R 16, Addison 25. Fouled out: Drouin (C-G), Quick (ADD), Jacobson (ADD).
