Stories and photo galleries by CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
The Championship Game of the 2024 IAABO Board 50 basketball officials tournament had a lot to live up to after an incredible double-overtime game minutes before tipoff when Bolivar-Richburg outloasted C.G. Finney.
Arkport-Canaseraga and Wellsville were coming off two close decisions from the previous night
For much of the battle, the Lions remained in control, but the Wolves never backed down one bit under the leadership of Caden Carey, who did everything in his power to keep his team within striking distance straight down to the wire.
Despite an incredible 38-point effort from Carey — a career-high, it was Wellsville that remained vigilant on defense to keep Arkport-Canaseraga at bay behind several key blocks and steals, along with some outstanding work at the free throw line, to come away as Allegany County IAABO Champions behind an MVP performance from Ty Vogel in what was a 60-55 victory.
“Arkport-Canaseraga was really tough tonight. I felt we did a good job of shutting down one of their shooters in (Devin) Moran, but Carey was really tough to slow down,” Lions coach Tom Muska said. “It was an odd thing. Normally a 16-foot fadeaway off the dribble is the shot we as a defense want them to take. But that’s his favorite shot, and in a way, we let him get too comfortable. But our guys hung in there and came together for a great team effort. The Seniors did a good job of closing out another win late.”
Right from the start, the Lions (3-2) came out swinging behind the guidance of Vogel, who wound up scoring the team’s first seven points to lay down the foundation immediately. With their defensive pressure continuing to keep the Wolves on their feet, Trent Green was the next Lion to add his contribution into the mix, sinking a triple from the top of the key to help finish up a 14-10 first quarter lead.
Wellsville’s lead would blossom to as much as 10 points during the second quarter, with Vogel and his tremendous first half efforts charging the way forward again following two more triples from inside the wing, setting up an eventual 30-23 halftime lead.
With the momentum now firmly in their possession, the floodgates began to open for the hosts in white and orange behind a hefty effort from the offense that jump-started an early 10-3 run. Because of it, the Wolves made the full transition to a full-court press on defense, allowing them to cash in on a couple of crucial turnovers to cut the deficit down to six, but a buzzer-beating shot from Vogel inside pushed the Wellsville lead back out to 10 heading into the last eight minutes.
Arkport-Canaseraga went all in on a fourth quarter of epic proportions, posting a 21-point frame that saw them knock down a large deficit of 12 points to just five during their two-minute drill against the Lions, with Caden Carey continuing to drive to the rim in the midst of Wellsville’s defensive pressure, along with a big shot from outside.
The foul game would proceed to commence in the last minute of play, with the Wolves knocking down one more triple off the hand of Devin Moran to pull within a possession, but they eventually would run out of time, as two big free throws from Aiden Cowburn with under two seconds remaining allowed the Lions to lock up shop and capture this year’s IAABO crown.
Vogel led all Wellsville scorers on his way towards MVP honors in the tournament, as he posted a team-high 22 points. Following up was Trent Green, who scored 15 points of his own. JJ Howard finished with eight points.
“We have a lot of multi-sport athletes and sometimes, it’s not until Christmas when you get the right feel for the basketball again,” Muska said. “Tyler is starting to get his feel back again and when his shot is on, he is a hard kid to try and slow down. It was definitely good preparation for us going forward. It always feels nice to leave a tournament with a new shirt. Hopefully, we can take this good energy into Corning and make some shots early, because we will need it.”
For the Wolves, Moran concluded with eight points behind Carey, while Fred Blumenthal had four points. Arkport-Canaseraga is at Hammondsport Tuesday for a 7:15 p.m. start.
Wellsville is at Corning on Monday at 7 p.m.
Championship
Arkport-Canaseraga 10 13 11 21 – 55
Wellsville 14 16 14 16 – 60
ARKPORT-CANASERAGA: Devin Moran 3 0-0 8, Caden Carey 14 9-9 38, Alex Vilkhu 0 3-3 3, Kohler Preston 0 2-2 2, Fred Blumenthal 1 2-4 4. Totals: 18 16-18 55.
WELLSVILLE: Aiden Cowburn 1 2-2 4, Karson Grover 3 0-0 6, JJ Howard 3 2-4 8, Ty Vogel 9 1-2 22, Nick Germain-Tardieu 0 1-2 1, Trent Green 6 2-4 15, Derek Coleman 2 0-0 4. Totals: 24 8-14 60.
3-point goals: A-C 3 (Moran 2, Carey), Wellsville 4 (Vogel 3, Green).
Total Fouls: A-C 12, Wellsville 18. Fouled out: None.
More stories and photos after this gallery:
B-R’s Barkley smashes school record in double-OT defeat to Finney
WELLSVILLE — You could use a wide variety of adjectives to describe the final day of this year’s installment of the Allegany County IAABO Tournament in Wellsville, Saturday afternoon. Frantic, dramatic, electrifying are just some of the words from our English language to put the Consolation and Championship games of the annual winter tournament into perspective.
Especially at the 12th hour of the time cycle, where Bolivar-Richburg and C.G. Finney commenced the proceedings in a Consolation round battle that will go down as perhaps one of the greatest performances in the tournament’s chronicled history.
Bolivar-Richburg’s Landon Barkley and C.G. Finney’s Ethan Krog displayed an incredible duel for the ages, as they both went the extra mile with their respective team on their shoulders from start to finish in a game that saw not one, but two overtime periods take place — times where they were needed more than ever.
Shot after shot and drive after drive, the two senior sharpshooters combined to record 85 of the game’s 141 total points, which included a stark-raving mad hayday from three-point range too, with both congealing together 17 triples out of 25 total for the game. After the Falcons went on to ultimately force double overtime right at the end of the first extra session, Barkley and Krog went on to put together one final encore performance for the crowd in attendance.
When it was all said and done, Krog emerged victorious, as he knocked down nine of the team’s 10 total points in double overtime, including a barrage of three-pointers down the stretch to seal the victory for the Falcons, as C.G. Finney went on to outlast Barkley and his school-record breaking performance for the Wolverines with a 74-67 win.
“I’ve been incredibly blessed to have some great kids over the years with Aydin (Sisson) last year, and now Landon this year. They simply do not make better kids than that,” Wolverines coach Justin Thomas said. “Everything that he has gone through all week, he still gave his maximum effort despite being sick all week. To put on a performance like he did today, it’s a testament to who he is as a person. It was exciting to watch, and he should be in store for some great accolades this year as a guy that is so deserving of it.”
As for how the two teams got to that double-overtime threshold? A back-and-forth exchange across the first half between both squads helped set the stage for what would become a 28-22 halftime lead for the Wolverines (3-3) over the Falcons. In the second half, more of the same settled in once again, with the Wolverines remaining out front behind two key baskets from Brayden Zilker on back-to-back drives before the Falcons knocked down a buzzer-beating triple to carve the deficit back down to a single point going into the last eight minutes.
In the fourth quarter, both teams were provided an opportunity to make a break, with the Falcons feeding off their buzzer-beating shot by continuing a scoreless run that consisted of 13 straight points, incepting with that basket, as Krog took the lead for the offense behind two big buckets from downtown to score a 50-41 lead of Bolivar-Richburg in the first three minutes.
The Wolverines shook out of their funk as time progressed however, as they fired right back 12 straight points themselves — all from long range, as Barkley and Julian Weekley joined forces to knock down four straight three-pointers from downtown to light the path back in front of the Falcons with a 53-50 advantage in hand.
With under a minute left to play in regulation time, C.G. Finney navigated their way back out in front going down the stretch, with plenty of fouling and timeouts being taken to occupy the last moments.
At the 12-second mark, following the conversion of one shot out of two chances at the charity stripe to score a 59-56 Falcons lead, the Wolverines were graced with one final chance to create level playing ground.
With it, Barkley was given the ball to do what he had done best all day long — knock the three-ball down. As ice coursed through his veins, Barkley went on to sink his game-tying shot through the twine just before time expired, forcing a 59-59 deadlock and the first of two overtime periods.
The duel between Barkley and Krog carried into the final two sessions of basketball they were offered in the afternoon, with Krog taking matters into his own hands to get the Falcons back from behind and into the lead following a massive turnover directly underneath the Bolivar-Richburg net landed in his hands, driving to the rim for the game-tying score to force a second overtime.
Krog would go on to aid the Falcons offense one more time with the orchestration of a 10-3 double-overtime run while Bolivar-Richburg entered foul trouble down the stretch, as they went on to provide the game’s final word with their eventual Consolation game victory.
“The boys responded in a big way,” Thomas said. “We got off to a much better start than yesterday, which certainly helped us out. A rough close to the first half and the beginning of the second half is what really did us in. When we get everyone back and healthy and put all four of these quarters together, it will be interesting to see what we can do. I’m looking forward to seeing how much more these guys can grow. We’ve come a long way since the start of the season. We’ve given maximum effort against two high quality teams this weekend.”
Krog finished with a game-high 44 points for the Falcons.
As for Barkley, he countered with 41 points of his own — 30 of those points off 10 three-pointers, which has established a brand new school record for Bolivar-Richburg, as he surpassed Adam Jones and his previous record of seven, for the most in a single game.
Barkley also pulled down 10 rebounds and chipped in five assists and four steals to complete his historic performance.
Following behind was Zilker, who had 10 points of his own to add alongside eight rebounds and a pair of steals, while Waide Karnuth grabbed 10 rebounds to further the special teams cause.
Consolation
Bolivar-Richburg 13 15 13 18 5 3 – 67
C.G. Finney 10 12 18 19 5 10 – 74
BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Julian Weekley 2 0-0 6, Maddox Davison 2 1-2 5, Landon Barkley 12 7-9 41, Brayden Zilker 4 0-0 10, Waide Karnuth 1 0-0 2, Mason Baldwin 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 8-13 67.
FINNEY: Pablo Molleja 2 2-4 7, Olin Pickens 2 0-2 4, JuJu Hunley 0 1-2 1, Ethan Krog 14 9-11 44, Braelen Broome 5 6-6 18. Totals: 23 18-25 74.
3-point goals: B-R 15 (Barkley 10, Weekley 2, Zilker 2, Baldwin), Finney 10 (Krog 7, Broome 2, Molleja).
Total Fouls: B-R 19, Finney 11. Fouled out: Davison (B-R), Zilker (B-R), Karnuth (B-R).
Saturday Roundup: Unbeaten Fillmore, C-R boys set stage for colossal showdown next week with big wins at Genesee CC over ND-Batavia, O-A; GV/Belfast girls claim Consolation victory in Franklinville
BATAVIA — They haven’t met since last year’s Class C3 Semifinal round in Letchworth for a game where the Eagles of Fillmore nearly wiped out a nearly 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to rally past Notre Dame-Batavia.
Entering their first meet-up since that day at the end of last February on Saturday, the Eagles were destined for redemption.
On the grounds of Genesee Community College, they were presented with such an opportunity while keeping their incredibly hot start to their campaign ablaze in the same swing. Right from the start, they looked to one of their most fiery hands as of late to come through.
That being Jonah Bialek.
Directly in the first quarter, the Fillmore sophomore caught fire from the outside, as he ignited the twine around the opposing rim with three gigantic three pointers to take full advantage of the action, as they went on to keep Notre Dame-Batavia at a near standstill along the way on defense to establish a lead they never lost, remaining undefeated with their fifth consecutive win by a 59-38 count over the Irish.
“I was a little nervous about tonight. On paper, I felt like we had an advantage, but Notre Dame-Batavia always plays with energy and swagger,” Eagles coach Randy Crouch said. “I knew it would be a great test for where we are at as a team. Jonah got us off to an electric start with three deep threes and we ended up really owning the first four minutes. From there we got a little too casual, settling for jump shots and allowed them to come back into it. Thankfully, our defense was solid all afternoon to keep us out in front.”
Fillmore (5-0) brought a big hammer down in the opening eight minute sequence to set up shop against Notre Dame-Batavia. Behind Bialek’s hot hand, the Eagles were able to construct and cement together a gargantuan 17-5 run of the Irish to take that full sprint ahead into the driver’s seat.
But the Irish fought their way back by assembling their strongest outing of offense in the game, seeing five different contributors all pitch in towards a 15-point second quarter to close the gap behind the Eagles to seven when halftime approached.
At that point, Crouch gathered his team around and offered them some crucial advice for the second half.
“At halftime, I reminded the guys to look to attack the rim and find open teammates. The first 12 minutes of the second half is really as well as we have played all season. Jonah and Cam (Mucher) get a lot of the attention, but guys like Jameson (Rhett), JD (Bialek), Isaiah (Sisson) and Carson (Sanasith) made huge plays for us this afternoon when we needed them. This was a game we needed to have, and we’ll enjoy it, but we will have to get focused and ready for a huge game on Thursday. Cuba-Rushford has been playing as well as anyone I’ve watched so far.”
The Eagles took the advice wholeheartedly and ran away with it, especially Cam Mucher who became a massive difference maker in the second half, posting 17 of his 19 points in the back 16 minutes of play — 10 of those points all in the third quarter alone to spark up a 19-point game-high frame that allowed them to maintain their advantage over the Irish permanently, fulfilling their quest for redemption while remaining undefeated on the campaign.
Finishing behind Mucher and his game-high 19 points was Jonah Bialek, who recorded one more triple in the second quarter to finish for four in the game, for 12 points. Jameson Rhett chipped in with 12 points of his own, while JD Bialek had nine.
The Eagles will now rest until they return to The Rock on Thursday for a mammoth Allegany County showdown of unbeatens, squaring off with the 4-0 Cuba-Rushford Rebels in a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Fillmore 17 10 19 13 – 59
Notre Dame-Batavia 5 15 11 7 – 38
FILLMORE: Jordan Bialek 1 0-0 3, Carson Sanasith 0 2-2 2, Isaiah Sisson 1 2-3 4, Jonah Bialek 4 0-0 12, Jameson Rhett 4 0-0 10, Cam Mucher 8 3-4 19, JD Bialek 4 1-1 9. Totals: 23 8-10 59.
ND-BATAVIA: Makyell Walker 3 0-0 8, TJ Cephus Jr. 4 2-3 11, Chase Antinore 4 4-6 12, Evan Fitzpatrick 1 1-2 3, Aiden Bellavia 1 0-0 2, Chance King 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 7-11 38.
3-point goals: Fillmore 7 (Jon. Bialek 4, Rhett 2, Jor. Bialek), ND-B 3 (Walker 2, Cephus Jr.).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 13, ND-B 17. Fouled out: None.
Cuba-Rushford 61, Oakfield-Alabama 57
BATAVIA — It is a big week ahead for the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, beginning on Friday with a tough victory over Andover/Whitesville in their home opener. Not even 12 hours later, they were back at it again with an early afternoon up north to Batavia, where they were challenged by the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets at Genesee Community College.
The Rebels had to overcome a slow start out of the gate. But when they did, it was a back-and-forth battle all the way to the finish line, with no lead between either side ever eclipsing larger than five points.
Through it all, Cuba-Rushford found a way to prevail, as they leaned upon their defense to keep the Hornets silenced during their final possession to claim a humongous 61-57 victory to remain unbeaten with their fourth consecutive win.
“We looked flat and tired at first, but we sure locked in the second half. It was a great, back-and-forth game. We really settled in defensively in the fourth quarter, really the second half as a whole. We didn’t give up any crucial turnovers and because of it, we ended up playing some really good basketball,” Rebels coach Pat Wight said. “Guys made some big time shots, including Zach (Deck) and Donovan (Breckenridge) from outside. Those were huge shots. We had missed a couple free throws with under 10 seconds left, but our defense kept them out with some great rebounding off the glass to put towards a big finish at the other end.”
Before both teams settled into a long back-and-forth duel to the end, Oakfield-Alabama was able to lock in early and deliver a big offensive punch in the first eight minutes, with five different scorers all contributing towards a 20-point frame that allowed them to claim a 20-15 advantage.
The Rebels (4-0) fought right back and ended the first half with a monster frame of their own — a 19-point second quarter led by the inside games of Donovan Breckenridge and Adam Roe, who combined to score 11 of the team’s points.
Although they trailed 27-24 going into the break, they flipped the script one more time in the second half to tie the game in the third quarter with triples from the hands of Breckenridge, Brown and Zach Deck propelling the Rebels attack.
In the fourth quarter, the team in blue and maroon buckled down and hung on for a big finish, as they looked to Breckenridge and Deck once again from the outside, each knocking down a gargantuan three-pointer to further the team’s cause.
Oakfield-Alabama foresaw another opportunity to close the gap with under 10 seconds left to play with Cuba-Rushford occupying the charity stripe. After a pair of misses, the fight for the basketball was on, but it was recovered by Roe for the Rebels, who shifted a pass right to a waiting Breckenridge next to the rim for the wide-open lay-in to push the lead to four, ultimately for good.
“I was very happy with the overall effort today after a tough one last night,” Wight said. “We were tired and could have easily made excuses, but the kids dug deep and they gutted it out. Eli (Sleggs) played a big role off the bench. He doesn’t really score a lot of points, but he makes a big difference with rebounding and his defense. He worked his butt off, which is what we needed today. We’ll need a similar game like this on Thursday against Fillmore. They have everything working for them right now.”
Roe led all scorers for Cuba-Rushford with his game-high 19 points, pairing them with eight rebounds off the glass. Breckenridge finished with 14 points to pair with seven rebounds, while Finn Ricketts continued the efforts off the glass with seven more boards of his own.
The Rebels are back on the road Thursday night, visiting the undefeated Eagles of Fillmore in an early December showdown beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Cuba-Rushford 15 19 15 12 – 61
Oakfield-Alabama 20 17 12 8 – 57
CUBA-RUSHFORD: Dean Frank 1 0-0 2, Adam Roe 9 1-1 19, Donovan Breckenridge 6 0-0 14, Eli Sleggs 1 0-0 3, Zach Deck 3 0-0 9, Carter Brown 3 0-0 8, Finn Ricketts 3 0-2 6. Totals: 26 1-3 61.
OAKFIELD-ALABAMA: Carson Warner 5 0-0 10, John Cianfrini 2 1-2 6, Mason Watterson 3 1-2 8, Avery Watterson 6 4-8 16, Brady Williams 2 0-1 4, Gabe Smith 6 0-1 12, Liam Gibson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 6-14 57.
3-point goals: C-R 8 (Deck 3, Breckenridge 2, Brown 2, Sleggs), O-A 1 (M. Watterson).
Total Fouls: C-R 11, O-A 5. Fouled out: None.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Roger Weiss Memorial Tournament Showcase
JAMESTOWN — Hornell improved to 4-0 with a 48 – 39 win over Randolph on Saturday.
Hornell’s Selena Maldonado was named MVP of the showcase.
The tournament gave out a Heart of a Champion Character Athlete Awards which was won by Hornell’s Jordyn Dyring and Randolph’s Sadie Stewart.
Hornell’s balanced scoring helped the team jump out to a 33-18 halftime lead the the Red Raiders cruised from there.
Selena Maldonado and Payton Bentley led Hornell with 13 points each while Jordyn Dyring had 11 points.
Raegan Evingham had eight points for Hornell and Mia Nasca added three points.
Hornell hosts Bath-Haverling on Wednesday night.
Rick Hughes Tournament at Franklinville
Consolation: Genesee Valley/Belfast 36, Chautauqua Lake 31
FRANKLINVILLE — The Genesee Valley/Belfast ladies battled tough alongside Chautauqua Lake in a battle for Consolation honors at the Rick Hughes Memorial Tournament in Franklinville on Saturday, as each team delivered an advantageous run across the first half before the second half had a different tale to tell in the time remaining ahead.
In that last 16 minute session the game offered, it was a key third quarter run, along with some clutch defense in the fourth quarter that helped pay massive dividends when the final buzzer sounded. Those elements were captured in essence by Genesee Valley/Belfast, who extended their lead at the right time, despite it being threatened by their opposition down the stretch, as they held on to secure a 36-31 win to split their tournament tenure.
Genesee Valley/Belfast (3-2) came out firing in the third quarter to place Chautauqua Lake on the heels of their feet right away, as they provided some big punctuations on offense while the defense held their opponent at bay in the process to hand-deliver an 11-3 first quarter run to set the tone right away.
As for Chautauqua Lake, they bounced back before the end of the half with a jaunt against Genesee Valley/Belfast of their own, with a couple of baskets inside along with a 5-for-8 outing at the charity stripe helping trim the deficit down at the break with a 9-2 second quarter run.
But the momentum ultimately reversed its course once again back in favor of Genesee Valley/Belfast, who collected a massive and quick start to their second half game behind a 12-6 run in the third quarter, led by Kate Calanni, Ava Aronson and Jenna Hill, as all three shooters combined to record the team’s 12 points within the frame — six of them off the hand of Calanni.
With a 25-18 lead in hand going into the last eight minutes, all Genesee Valley/Belfast had to do was hang on.
Despite Chautauqua Lake formulating five different responses in the fourth quarter to pin against their opposition, the teams exchanged near dead even frames of offense to wrap up the night, allowing Genesee Valley/Belfast to remain in the driver’s seat for the eventual five-point victory to finish their weekend in Franklinville strong.
Jenna Hill led all scorers for Genesee Valley/Belfast with a game-high 10 points. Behind her was Whitney Young, who had eight points of her own. Calanni, along with Bayleigh Tallman, had six points.
Coming up on Tuesday, Genesee Valley/Belfast now makes their return home to Belfast to welcome in the Warsaw Lady Tigers for a 7:30 p.m. visit.
Chautauqua Lake 3 9 6 13 – 31
Genesee Valley/Belfast 11 2 12 11 – 36
CHAUTAUQUA LAKE: Anna Reyda 1 0-0 2, Grace Gerring 3 2-4 8, Kaylie Tarr 3 2-6 8, Eden Ludwig 3 3-6 9, Brina Jacobson 1 2-4 4. Totals: 11 9-20 31.
GV/BELFAST: Bayleigh Tallman 3 0-1 6, Sophie Zillgitt 1 0-0 2, Whitney Young 3 0-0 8, Kate Calanni 3 0-0 6, Ava Aronson 2 0-2 4, Jenna Hill 5 0-1 10. Totals: 17 0-4 36.
3-point goals: GVB 2 (Young).
Total Fouls: CL 13, GVB 12. Fouled out: Hill (GVB).
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Oswald’s domination helps Wellsville open season at Houghton U
HOUGHTON — After another incredible season from the field filled with State Championship glory once again, Wellsville’s Kaylee Oswald picked up where she left off for the first day of Indoor Track and Field action at Houghton University, as she garnered top honors in both of her signature events to lead the way for the Lions with five Top-6 finishes, this past weekend.
Oswald assembled a strong performance from both throwing pits in the Shot Put and Discus events, advancing forward to claim gold with her winning distances of 40-3.75 and 42-9, respectively. Brooklyn Dahlgren accompanied her with a Top-6 finish of her own from the field, as she placed second in the High Jump.
As for the boys team, Collin Perkins came away with two strong performances of his own from the track, placing third in both the 1000 and 3000 runs.
