The Aquinas Lil Irish have an actual irish adult little person dressed as a leprechaun, and during timeouts, the team's mascot would come on the court to invoke the crowd. I think more schools should use real mascots. Hopefully schools like Maple Grove, Timon, or JFK read this and take action.
Grand Island freshman Quinn Carey scored a game-high 25 points in a 62-57 loss to North Tonawanda.
Depew trailed Springville 7-0, before a 26-0 run propelled the Wildcats to a 61-34 win.
Blake Fisher of Iroquois tied the school record for 3-pointers in a game with six, as the Chiefs defeated Lake Shore, 69-60.
At the MLK Classic against City Honors, a Lackawanna guard brought the ball a few feet over half court and as his defender sagged off of him, Steelers' coach Tim Foley called out to his guard "don't pick up your dribble". The dribble was picked up, almost on cue, and the player was trapped. Foley had a seat next to him waiting for the player.
Lamont Little had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists to lead Riverside past Bennett, 60-48.
During the Section V thriller between Aquinas and Bishop Kearney, AQ guard Jahmahl Pardner and BK guard Antwoine Anderson were near the sideline, awaiting an inbounds pass. Some AQ fans yelled to Pardner, "make him go right, he can't go right, he has no right". Anderson turned to the fans, and with a wink and a smile, said "I know".
Aaron Frasier scored 29 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished eight assists in MST Seneca's 76-75 win over I-Prep.
Jesse Lalka became Tonawanda's all-time leading scorer with a 21-point effort in the Warriors 46-41 win at Lackawanna.
At the MLK Classic, I watched a player do the slap the ground thing, to indicate he was really going to D-up. Then the guy he was guarding blew past him, scored, and drew a foul. What's up with the ground slap anyway?
East Aurora senior Stan Wier scored 28 points and ripped 20 boards to will his Blue Devils past OTC/MEC in overtime, 68-61.
Riverside big man Mike Leonard had 16 rebounds and 11 blocks in the Frontiers' 68-63 win against Hutch-Tech.
OTC/MEC coach Randall Rich needs a normal sized dry erase board. He brought a massive board that needed a tripod to prop it up to the MLK Classic. It had to be placed sideways between chairs during the game and served as a partition between two players.
Justin Bangert had 19 points and 15 rebounds, both career-highs, to lead Williamsville North past Clarence, 68-59.
If Olean doesn't lose again before March, what would St. Mary's have to do to move past them in the small school poll? If they had beaten Canisius? If they win at Timon?
Milton's Shaquille Johnson dunked seven times against Niagara Falls, in going 9-11 from the floor. Three of those dunks are the top three dunks I've ever seen in a high school game. They included a take-off from the free throw line, a windmill, and a soaring two-hander where his face was level with the rim before throwing it down.
Stan Wier was awarded "McShea is God 2012 POY" after being named 2nd Team All-WNY in 2010. Congratulations to Stan. Only one spot remains on his first team next to Wier, Aaron White, Jonathan Lewis, and Sterling Taplin.
-centercourt
Where you going tonight CC? I'll be @ the old Wilson Junior High gym, errr I mean at CSAT watching the Lakemen play.
Posted by: Lakemen Fan | Friday, January 20, 2012 at 12:54 PM
ECiC III talk is always about East Aurora and Depew. Not much mention of Amherst, I guess you have your favorites. Even though Amherst beat Depew but not EA.
It's easy enough to focus on teams that have better records from last year...guess you may have to learn how to spell some new names before this season is over.
Posted by: Northtownfan | Friday, January 20, 2012 at 01:39 PM
Tonight's lineup of games is pretty underwhelming for a Friday night in the middle of January.
The one that I think has the most potential is Lockport @ Kenmore West at 7 pm. Lockport had size inside, a shooter in Diantre Cullens, and now has Sean Allen on the team to handle the ball. Allen was not with the team for the first meeting between the two that KW won 70-57 at Lockport.
KW has only lost two games this year, to the top two teams in WNY. I'm interested to see if KW can back up the number seven large school poll vote I've been giving them.
I'll start at either Wilson/CSAT or Holland/Tonawanda. Right now, I'm leaning towards going to Tonawanda. That game gives me a chance to see Jesse Lalka again and possibly the last time I'll ever see Holland's Jordan Farrant.
CSAT could be a trap game for Wilson - lots of talent and a tough place to play, but Barker was able to win there and Wilson has never lost there. In fact, CSAT has never gotten closer than within 17 points of the Lakemen.
Posted by: centercourt | Friday, January 20, 2012 at 01:52 PM
One of the Nichols freshman has transfered out reportedly to Niagara catholic.
Posted by: guest | Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 10:38 AM
Expect a good game today @ Joe's. Unfortunately not in town, so if anyone is going would appreciate some real time reports. Thanks.
Posted by: hoopster | Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 11:53 AM
How packed was the Joes gym? Could anybody get in after halftime? I listened to most of 2nd half on broadcast, but was out earlier and wanted to then drop by before going home but had no idea how far along game was or how crowded or how far away I would have to park. Now , I'm dying to know.
Posted by: Lucky13 | Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 07:07 PM
great wins for canisius and joes,mm will be alot of fun for next few weeks. glad to hear pat moran feeling better, read about his illness. now the season gets fun.
Posted by: sal | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 09:53 AM
First things first! Hadn't read nor heard Pat Moran was ill. Best wishes for a quick return to excellent health Pat!!!
Congrats to St. Joe's on a marvelous win! Really makes things intewresting going forward now that they shown they deserve to be mentioned among the best in WNY. The MMA should be a real horse race, which is when the league is at its best,
D1 thanks for the updates!! Much appreciated!!
Posted by: hoopster | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Looks like I missed quite a weekend...two huge MMA wins and a good slate of Friday action. Unfortunately the two NBA games I went to, Sixers/Hawks and Nets/OKC were both duds. This coming week is a little light on games...Timon/Marys should be good on Tuesday...Friday has a pretty good slate.
Posted by: TML1000 | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 01:16 PM
article on scout.com says paige is getting interest from moorehead st.,tenn. tech and marshall according to is hs coach, he could of gottten that back here in jamestown
Posted by: guest | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 01:53 PM
Hoopster not a problem on the updates. Very exciting game; both teams made the kind of defensive commitment I would like to see more WNY teams make.
Posted by: Division1 | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 07:10 PM
CC I made the second and third quarter of the St Joes game after the Canisius game. Glad I stopped by, St Joes was the better team during the time I was there. AQ didn't handle the SJCI defense very well (triangle and two on White and Valenti). SJCI seemed like a team with something to prove and AQ wasn't able to match their intensity. Nice wins, for both SJCI and Canisius. Still feel Canisius is a better team but not sure that they have any answer for Reggie down low should make things interesting.
Posted by: PJB | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 08:28 PM
Guest, Nichols Freshman dropped out, couldn't keep up in the classroom. Washington will help that team out more than him next year anyways
Posted by: Bill | Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 11:00 PM