Centercourt 'Game of the Week'
* Tuesday, January 14th at 6:30 pm *
Grand Island Vikings (8-0, 3-0)
Class A1 - NFL - Ranked #8
at
Lockport Lions (7-3, 4-0)
Class AA1 - NFL - Ranked #6
* Centercourt & 2017 Coach of the Year Ryan Mountain on the call *
** Brought to you by Empire Electric **
-🏀centercourt🏀
- I deserve to be fed to the gators! After publishing rankings on Sunday and settling into some NFL playoff action, I ended up receiving a couple text messages later that night - one asking me if I forgot and the other saying they were surprised about my decision. "Did you forget to rank A-L?" the first message read. I have copied and pasted my response back to that text:
"I forgot to rank them 🤢. Like I didn't forget about them, I just pasted the teams from last time and pulled them out to move them down and somehow lost my way. I feel so stupid."
Allegany-Limestone arrived at Salamanca last week undefeated and I had them as the #3 ranked small school going in. Due to the 19-point loss, I had intended to move them from #3 down to #5. My mistake and my sincere apologies to the Allegany-Limestone Gators.
- Westfield's Carson Swanson did 2K the right way, earning the 2,000+ point career milestone and an 87–40 victory over Maple Grove at home. The senior dropped a 43-point triple-double on the evening, with 12 steals & 10 assists.
- Tacari McCray accounted for 28 of his teams 47 points last week in Olmsted’s one-point victory at MST.
- CSAT picked up just their second victory of the season, but it came against a quality opponent in BASCS by six points, led by a game-high 27 points from James Floyd, and 22 points from Jayden Adams.
- Medina sophomore Preston Woodworth has been solid all season for the Mustangs and just scored a career high 33-points in the Mustangs 71–43 win over Newfane.
- Akron sophomore Derren Brooks is a legitimate big man for the Tigers and is part of what makes his team so imposing. He scored 15 points, grabbed 13 boards, & swatted 4 shots in the victory at Roy-Hart last week.
- Speaking of Roy-Hart, I hit the jackpot by heading there on Tuesday last week with one of the best games I’ve seen all season...a one-point victory for visiting Akron to remain undefeated. Dan Aquilina, a senior who is averaging 18.1 points & 6.9 rebounds per game for the Rams, scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half, drilled three big triples to change the momentum of the game, and grabbed 13 rebounds on the night.
- If you’ve never been to 'The Barn' in Roy-Hart for a game, it’s a great place to watch one with tight spaces - you get that small school feel for a high school game. Also, the cheerleaders there, along with their coach, are accommodating, gracious, and lovely. They were kind enough to share their cheer space when 'Johnny -Come-Lately' came strolling in right before warm-ups for the varsity game.
- Cheektowaga is 6-2 on the season and looks to have early control in ECIC III following a 17-point victory at Iroquois, who just earned a victory over Pioneer in the same league.
- Amherst picked up bounce back wins over Sweet Home and Williamsville South last week with Elijah Dixon continuing to light up the scoreboard. The senior guard is averaging 27 points over his last three outings. In the victory against Sweet Home, they also got a triple-double from Adam Sarzynski & a double-double from Antonio Andrews.
- Elijah Farmer was just two dimes short of a triple-double in Jamestown's 30-point victory at Williamsville North last week.
- Chris Fagnan registered a career high 27 points in the Spartans loss to Jamestown. The Williamsville North freshman is averaging 14.6 per routing on the season.
- Max Mancabelli and Brody Monaco each missed just one shot from the field in nine attempts during Orchard Parks 87–58 win at Lancaster. Mancabelli also added 7 steals & 5 assists in the win.
- After starting the year 0–6, East has rattled off 4 consecutive victories.
- Randolph led Silver Creek 47–8 at halftime on Friday night.
- Health Sciences took a 74-7 lead into the final frame against I-Prep on Wednesday.
- 11 Marauders scored in St. Joe's 30-point victory over St. Francis on Tuesday.
- Portville junior Aiden DeFazio scored a career high 32-points in an 81–28 victory over Cassadaga Valley.
- Timon freshman Malak Bontzolakes is shooting 45% from beyond the ark on 31 attempts and is perfect from the free throw stripe this season through 11 games.
- Franklinville did not allow a field goal in the first half against North Collins on Thursday, taking a 31–1 lead to halftime en route to a 64–20 victory.
- Forestville scored 36 points in the opening quarter against West Valley on Monday, the same number of points allowed the entire game, a 83–36 win.
- Speaking of Forestville, they are 1 of 3 remaining undefeated teams in WNY, along with Grand Island & Akron. I’m predicting the good times don’t last beyond Monday night, when the Hornets head to Franklinville. Grand Island receives a huge test on Tuesday night at Lockport, while Akron is in a good position to show up at the Centercourt Classic on January 31st unblemished, that is if they can win a second time over Wilson and not get tripped up at Medina on the 28th.
- Still 7 teams without a win out there in WNY.
- High school players will try to mimic everything they see in college & the pros, with the exception of going to the middle of the scorer's table and sitting down when they want to sub in. In most cases, they half squat in front of the person trying to do the scorebook, until tell them to either sit or go to the middle of the table because they can't see.
- Frank Wolf asked me during our weekly show what 3 gyms I am most excited to walk into a game for. After reflecting on the question, I realized that my three favorite gyms that I've always looked the most forward to walking into were #BuffState, JCC, & the arena in Glens Falls.
-🏀centercourt🏀
Large Schools
1. St. Joe's (AA) - After flying past St. Francis by 30, the Marauders earned a 10-point victory in South Buffalo, something they didn’t even do during the 2021 Manhattan Cup Championship season. The big week is here finally, so after a trip to Park on Monday, preparations will be in full swing for a Saturday afternoon dance at…
2. Canisius (AA) - Delaware Avenue, Home of the Canisius Crusaders, a team who has owned the rivalry series with St. Joe’s on the hardwood. These guys aren’t buying the power shift suggestion from my season preview for one minute and aim to show WNY who the real McCoy is on Saturday. They earned a couple victories over Nichols & Park last week, and will need to do the same at St. Francis on Monday. Then we get to finally watch the top two teams in the area dance!
3. Niagara Falls (AAA) - Nothing to report here on the Wolverines front, except a pair of double-digit victories over a pair of programs you may have heard of… Health Sciences & Aquinas. Falls is really good, something Williamsville South will find out on Monday night when they visit the Cataract City.
4. Timon (AA) - Knocked off Park to start the week off, before falling at home to St. Joe's on Friday. The Tigers get right back to it on Monday with a trip to O’Hara and then host another Friday night special, this time against what has been a most competitive Nichols squad.
5. Jamestown (AAA) - The Red & Green are going to start calling league games 'Hammer Time' if this keeps up. A 30-point victory at Williamsville North, followed by a 21-point victory at Orchard Park make it three straight double-digit victories in league play to open the season. They return to the cozy confines of 'The Mac' and will try to keep that trend going with visits from Lancaster & Frontier this week, before ending the week with a nongame against St. Mary’s on Saturday.
6. Lockport (AA1) - Earned a hard-fault victory over visiting Ken West by just three points, before returning to form with a 40-point blowout at CSAT. The energy should be at a fever pitch on Tuesday night when undefeated Grand Island visits, can’t wait!
7. Health Sciences (AA2) - Took an early 9-point lead on Niagara Falls Thursday night, before getting schooled for three quarters. The Falcons are winning their Yale Cup games by an average margin of 48 points, a 61-point margin if you take out the McKinley win by eight points. They face Hutch-Tech for a second time on Friday.
8. Grand Island (A1) - Knocked off Ken East by 28 points and then took down Maritime by a lot more than that. Time to find out how good these Vikings really are on Tuesday when they put their 8-0 record on the line against a most legitimate Lockport team at the Lions' Den.
9. Amherst (A1) - Bounced back with a 13-point victory at Sweet Home and then earned their way into the rankings with a 13-point win over rival South on Friday. The division in ECIC II has started off every bit as competitive as it looked like it would and there’s plenty more fun ahead with Amherst taking to the road for games at Williamsville East and Hamburg, before finishing the week with a third straight Friday night home game, this time against Starpoint.
10. Williamsville South (A1) - Improved to 6–1 with a 12-point win at Hamburg to start the week before the rubber met the road on Friday night and the Billies were forced to hand over possession of Main Street at the hands of Amherst. Besides the ultra competitive league they moved into, they also signed up for a grueling nonleague schedule to prepare for another championship run this season. They won’t find many challenges bigger than the one they signed up for on Monday, a trip to Niagara Falls. Right back at it on Wednesday against Starpoint, and then their first of two tilts with Williamsville East on Friday. So many good games to monitor this season, love this stuff!
Small Schools
1. Randolph (C) - The team that hasn’t lost a league game in years is up to their old tricks, demolishing divisional opponents again. A win at Portville by 34 points was followed by a 72–19 shellacking of Silver Creek. So great news for Frewsburg and Cassadaga Valley, the two teams that host the Cardinals this week.
2. Westfield (C) - A 47-point victory over Maple Grove on 2K night in Swanson Land was followed by a 16-point victory over Chautauqua Lake. Undefeated locally with games at Brocton and then against Clymer on the slate this week.
3. Salamanca (B2) - One of those Class C teams is going to have to lose for me to move the Warriors ahead of them, but they have certainly handed in an application that would qualify them for a higher ranking. A 25-point win over Niagara Wheatfield followed by a 19-point victory over previously undefeated Allegany-Lmestone. Yes, Lucus graduated, it’s just those Southern Tier hoop teams you know? Salamanca heads to Falconer on Monday and then welcomes in Dunkirk Thursday. I know I said I wouldn’t make it down before the 28th, but you’ve got me reconsidering plans.
4. Akron (B1) - All these guys do is win exciting games...well at least that was the case last week. I got to watch an exciting one-point victory for the Tigers against an equally tough Roy-Hart squad, and then predicted a thriller that delivered just that, when North Tonawanda visited Friday night. Akron earned their second overtime victory of the season against the Jacks that night after taking down BASCS in the extra session before the holiday break. Those are the kind of games you need to play in!
5. Panama (D) - Victors for the third straight time by a lot of points when they knocked off Clymer last week. The Panthers are at Sherman on Monday and then host Chautauqua Lake on Thursday night.
6. Falconer (B2) - Suffered a tough three-point loss at Allegany-Limestone last week. Any sting left from that one would be long gone with a victory over visiting Salamanca on Monday night. They also visit Southwestern on Thursday and take on Rochester SOTA at SUNY Fredonia on Sunday.
7. Holland (C) - The Dutchmen stated their case with a 57-55 victory over Olmsted and now sit at 8-3 on the season with no bad losses. They’ll get a chance to add a couple good victories to their résumé against a pair of teams just under them in these rankings, with games against Eden and MST coming up.
8. Olmsted (B1) - After getting clipped by Holland, they were the ones doing the clipping when they took a one-point decision over MST on Wednesday. The Owls will go for the season sweep over Middle College on Wednesday.
9. MST (B2) - The Wolves dropped a heartbreaker against Olmsted on Wednesday and are now eyeing up three more tough games this week, been beginning with a trip to Wilson, where a victory will not come easy, if at all. On Wednesday, they host Bennett and then Saturday they take on Holland over at McKinley.
10. Eden (B2) - Remember these guys? The Raiders are still playing good basketball this season and they’ve earned their place in these rankings. They will need a victory on Monday against visiting Tapestry, a team they’ve already defeated once. Then on Wednesday, Holland comes to town.
-🏀centercourt🏀
Centercourt 'Game of the Week'
* Thursday, January 9th at 7 pm *
Niagara Falls Wolverines (3-5)
Class AAA - Independent - Ranked #3
at
Health Sciences Falcons (5-2, 4-0)
Class AA2 - Yale Cup I - Ranked #6
* Centercourt & 2017 Coach of the Year Ryan Mountain on the call *
** Brought to you by Empire Electric **
-🏀centercourt🏀
- In 2023, Niagara Falls had a 23-point lead at halftime over Canisius, but behind Shane Cerone’s career-high 43 points, the Crusaders won that game in overtime. Last season, Canisius trailed by 13 points against Niagara Falls, but a 27-4 run flipped the game. On Saturday afternoon, the Crusaders trailed by 16 points, before a 29-3 run got them back in a position to win.
- Saturday's game between Canisius and Niagara Falls was just the 6th time the two teams have squared off in the last 15 years, with the Crusaders winning the four most recent meetings. Canisius hosted matchups in 2011 2020, and this season. The other three games were played on a neutral court, in 2019 at the Centercourt Classic, Hilbert in 2023, and last season at D’Youville.
- Kirill Sorkin and Elijah Dixon treated fans to a classic scorer's duel on Friday night, going back-and-forth with big moments and big shots as both players finished with 35 points by game’s end. It was a career-high mark for both players.
- The 80-69 victory for Williamsville East at Amherst on Friday night was the first league loss for the Tigers since January 11, 2022 (at Will East), snapping a 32-game league winning streak. The victory for the Flames was the first time Amherst has lost a league game at home since February 13, 2018 against Hamburg. The last time the Tigers had lost by double figures at home was against the Gabe Michael & Greg Dolan led Williamsville South Billies on December 22, 2017.
- Iroquois junior Justus Kleitz dropped a career-high 47 points in an overtime victory against St. Mary’s and followed it up with two more performances of 30+ points. His career scoring total is now past the halfway point to the all-time record set by Jaiden Harrison last season. More importantly, he has led his team to a 6-1 start to the season.
- Kleitz is one of two players along with Westfield's Carson Swanson to have four games of 30 points or more this season. Falconer's Roger Markham has done it three times, while Tacari McCray (Olmsted), Chris Krencik (Eden), Jackson Griesmer (Starpoint), Carson Kwiatkowski (Allegany-Limestone), & Carter Brink (Panama) have all accomplished it twice.
- Two of Falconer junior Roger Markham games over 30 points came against the same opponent, Dunkirk , with the 2nd coming in an overtime victory against the visiting Marauders.
- There have been 38 occasions so far this season where a WNY player has netted 30+ points in a game.
- Some recent Tournament MVPs:
Frewsburg Tournament - Roger Markham (Falconer), Live Like Luca Tournament - Matt Zielinski (St. Francis), Westfield Winter Classic - Carson Swanson (Westfield), Clarence Tournament - Riley Lincoln (Clarence), Greg Martin Tournament at Iroquois - Justus Kleitz (Iroquois), Maryvale Tournament - Jaleel Flowers (BASCS), CCA Tournament - Jayce Wylke (Grand Island), & Tully Tournament - Drew Hind (Randolph).
- The Tonawanda Timberwolves have played just three games this season.
- At the Hoops for Hope Tournament over break, the Fairport/Timon game was one of the best I’ve watched this season. Nakyhi Harris had just scored with 5 seconds left to put the Tigers in front, before the Red Raiders went the length of the court and got a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer from Landon Brunken off an incredible assist from Leshard Lowry.
- The last second victory for Fairport prevented a game taking place between Health Sciences and Timon, instead moving Fairport onto the championship game. These two annual Top 10 programs in WNY should be getting together on the hardwood every season to entertain fans.
- The Hoops for Hope Tournament was my first look at Health Sciences on the new season. The additions of Nas Young and Zayvion Hawkins to the backcourt and the way the Falcons are able to attack offensively reminds me similarly of when they had Amir Moye and Xavier Benton in that same role. Two players who really stood out for Health over the two games were Joel Ball and Angel Pedro.
- Antonio Andrews recorded a 22 point/20 rebound double-double in Amherst's 72–53 win over McKinley. In that same game, junior Adam Sarzynski earned a triple-double with 15 points, 12 dimes, & 10 boards.
- Without naming the team, there was an instance recently where a team was left looking for a game after deciding not to reschedule, due to the reason in the game was postponed in the first place. A team actually backed out of a contest because a player was on vacation and another was injured and thought their opponent would kindly reschedule. You can’t make this stuff up!
- Grand Island senior Jayce Wylke scored 26 points in the team's victory over CSAT on Friday night, which placed him in the career 1000 point club.
- The change in venue for the NYSSPA state championships to Binghamton has also tweaked the format for the times games are played. This season a state championship game in Class B will be played at 10 am and a state championship game in Class A tips at 11:45 am. I just want know why there is such a hurry to get home on a Sunday night that games couldn't at least start in the afternoon hour as they always have for at least 40 years? These kids will have reached a state championship, and it says to me that there is more concern for getting home from a long weekend than allowing the game to be played at an appropriate championship time. It's rare to see a random nonleague game on a Saturday in January tip prior to noon or 1 pm. I think the kids deserve better here.
- Just 6 teams remain unbeaten in WNY on the season:
Grand Island, Orchard Park, Akron, Olmsted, Allegany-Limestone, and Forestville.
- There are still 8 teams in WNY without a victory on the season.
Grand Island, Orchard Park, Health Sciences, McKinley, and Westfield all continue to have a point differential over +20.
- The 8 highest scoring teams in WNY in order this season:
Grand Island, Timon, Westfield, McKinley, Panama, Lockport, Cheektowaga, & Orchard Park.
- The 8 teams allowing the fewest points this season in order:
Grand Island, Randolph, Health Sciences, Allegany-Limestone, Forestville, Westfield, Silver Creek, and Salamanca.
-🏀centercourt🏀
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