Led by a pair of underclassmen, the Raiders might be a year away from expecting big things. But when Barker hosted the N-O leading and fifth ranked small school Panthers on Tuesday night, they played like a team that was ready for the future to begin right now.
Junior Josh Haight and his brother, freshman Jake, have lead a Barker squad that has been very competitive this season, most recently giving the Panthers all they could handle. Barker, a Class C school, is the smallest school playing in the N-O against six Class B teams and one team in Class A. The Raiders only have seven players on their roster and often only have four players in the box score. Newfane ultimately came away with a 59-50 victory to improve to 10-1 in the N-O, but it took a late run to secure the win.
Barker got a 3-pointer from junior Josh Haight to open the game and held the advantage over the Panthers for the entire first quarter, leading 18-17 after one. Senior Dan Hambruch gave Newfane its first lead of the game at the start of the second quarter when he converted a four-point play. Hambruch scored a team-high 22 points, getting 10 in each of the first two quarters, including his team's first eight of the second quarter. Newfane outscored the Raiders 15-6 in the second quarter and lead 32-24 at halftime.
Newfane was in front, 43-38, heading into the fourth quarter, when a basket from Raider senior Xavier Mann followed by a '3' from Josh Haight tied the game up. After Newfane got a pair from the free throw line, Mann scored again for Barker and with 5:17 remaining, the score was 45-45.
However, as he has done on multiple occasions in his career at Newfane, senior Rohn Pierce stepped up and led a run that would put the game away for the Panthers. Pierce broke the tie with a basket on the following possesion and then after forcing a turnover, got to the charity stripe. After sinking the first shot, his second missed. Teammate Sean Seefeldt was able to secure the rebound and quickly dished it back to a cutting Pierce, who scored on a tough drive and then completed a traditional three-point play to give Newfane a 51-45 lead. The Panthers would score the next five points before a 3-pointer from Pierce completed a 14-0 late-game run that dashed the upset hopes of the Raiders. Pierce scored 11 of his 19 points in the final quarter.
Barker head coach Dan Luckman said after the game, "I think in the end, we just ran out of gas, but I'm so proud of my guys tonight". Luckman also spoke of how much he enjoys playing against Newfane for the competition it provides his team. "I wish we could play these guys five more times to get ready for sectionals, because playing a team with that depth and talent only makes us a better team" Luckman said.
Josh Haight finished with a game-high 24 points including six 3-pointers, while Xavier Mann added 11 points.
-centercourt
Great stuff from Barker.
Posted by: Keith McShea | Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 06:29 PM
Great post, I meant. Job well done by Barker as well.
Posted by: Keith McShea | Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 06:30 PM
Some serious problems with the News site.
Posted by: TML1000 | Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 09:44 PM
Well keep commenting there, TML, where is your top ten ?
Posted by: Lucky13 | Wednesday, February 02, 2011 at 10:48 PM
Large School Poll
1. Niagara Falls - Passed Ken West test with flying colors in 2nd half after tight 1st stanza. Bumped up to #1 in the state...are they worthy?
2. Jamestown - Finally have some games...BIG games...on the horizon. At Lancaster Friday, at North Monday...can they run the gauntlet?
3. Wil South - eased past Wil East and look well on their way to an undefeated league season. Here's hoping for a South/East High A-crossover.
4. St. Joe's - arguably the hottest team around in terms of the increase in their form. Can they keep it up and reclaim the MMA crown?
5. McKinley - rebounded nicely from the Bennett loss...huge game tomorrow that will spark the second half of the Yale Cup...can they make a big run in the AA bracket?
6. Canisius - Just seemed to be missing a spark against Joe's...already looking forward to the rematch and this coming from a guy who doesn't usually share the same enthusiasm for this rivalry as most.
7. East - looking for revenge in their home gym in tomorrow's big clash. The favorite in A-2...will they meet Maryvale in the final, AGAIN?
8. Bennett - looking to garner at least a #3 seed in A-1 to avoid South until the finals. Can they repeat there great performances in the 2nd half of the season?
9. Timon - seem to be flying under the radar ever since the loss to Joe's...they've played very good competition lately and will be battle tested come playoffs.
10. Riverside - still keeping them ahead of teams like Lancaster, Ken West and Maryvale due to how good I think they can be and have been. Can they turn around and play a mature game?
HM - Lancaster(win over Jamestown Friday will firmly entrench them in the top 10), Ken West(played NF close for over 6 of the 8 quarters this year...how many other teams could do that?), Maryvale(class of ECIC III...can they pull of more magic in the sectionals?), Wil North(took quite a tumble in the rankings...can bump right back up with a win or great showing against J-town), Hutch-Tech(nearly every loss to the top Yale Cup teams has been close...definitely a team a top seed does not want to see in sectionals)
Posted by: TML1000 | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 12:13 AM
TML, you couldn't post a comment? Arghgghhgghgghghghghghghghghghghghghghghgg.
Posted by: Keith McShea | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 01:47 AM
Riverside senior Deon Artis is one of the best and most exciting players in the area this year. If the unselfish forward shot the ball more often, he could easily be averaging close to 30 ppg. He is a very instinctive player who can do it all. The quiet leader is not only an accurate shooter but a good ballhandler and a great passer. When the 2011 Frontiers play at Buff State in the A2 quarters dont miss the opportunity to see this underrated talent He is worth the admission
Posted by: hollywood | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 09:12 AM
Holly woooooood!!! Good to see ya man! Hope you're doing well!!
TML is not the only one having problems with the site Keith. I couldn't even register. As you say, "Arghgghhgghgghghghghghghghghghghghghghghgg!!"
Posted by: hoopster | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 10:07 AM
Likewise for me Keith. It says that my e-mail is already used and when i try to retrieve a password for it it sends me to some other link and then I type everything again and after 5 mins i just get tired of it and come to Centercourt's site. I haven't tried it since the beginning of the season.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 11:07 AM
No...I can post a comment fine, the News site just wasn't loading for me at times last night before the chat.
Posted by: TML1000 | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 11:51 AM
My apologies on behalf of The News.
If anyone has had problems registering, email me at [email protected] with the email address/username you want to use and I'll see what I can do.
Posted by: Keith McShea | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 03:24 PM
Also, anyone having problems registering, see my comment at the Prep Talk chat Feb.2 post. We had the same thought, Keith. I just posted that.
Posted by: Lucky13 | Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 03:32 PM
can someone tell me how wilson is #2 in the girls poll? who have they beat? they have yet to even play a team who has a vote in the small or large school polls. the best team they played was holy angels and lost by 25.
Posted by: wilson girls #2 | Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 11:10 PM
its a shame public schools only play 18 games and private play 24. for example: would love to see joes play jamestown, canisius play will north or south, or even some city schools play more games vs the suburb public schools. too tough to vote accordingly in the polls. not to mention if you are in a small school league and your league is weak, how can you compare those teams when they only have 4 non league games, typically 2 of which are a joke when you host a tournament and bring in a few cup cakes. with the state economy and schools losing funding, the seasons are only getting shorter.
Posted by: 18 game seasons | Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 11:22 PM
It is a shame that the public schools are down to 18 games and some only get four nonleague games. Conversly, large school MMAA teams get 13 nonleague games.
To your point about it being tough to vote in polls, I'd love to have more to go on, but there are enough results you can look at. Generally speaking, good teams schedule well on a yearly basis, and it's no coincidence they're good each year.
I'd love to see Jamestown play St. Joe's also, but the Red Raiders opted to play strong competition out of the area over the Christmas break. We still saw them play Falls and South. As for the South/Canisius game you'd love to see - you should have been there, it was a great game...it happened.
While I'm not happy with the 18 games, I can say that all the top five large and small schools did the best they could with scheduling good competition in nonleague games, with the exception of Dunkirk. But they are also new to the polls this year, the other schools are annually strong.
Posted by: centercourt | Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 11:59 PM