Jamestown win highlights Championship Saturday

 

Section VI Class AA Final

Jamestown 46, Niagara Falls 39

Losing three of the last four Class AA finals played against Niagara Falls seemed to have Jamestown on the defensive, which was not good news for the Wolverines.  The Red Raiders used a 2-3 zone against Niagara Falls and held the defending Class AA champs under 40 points, to win their third sectional title in the last four seasons.

 

Falls got off to a hot start against the zone and knocked down five of seven attempts from downtown in the opening quarter, including three straight to end the stanza on a 9-0 run to take an early 15-11 lead.  However, Jamestown stuck with its plan and became much more active in the zone for the remainder of the game. The top of the zone came out farther to contest perimeter shots, made possible from the interior effort of the Jamestown bigs.  Quinn Lee Yaw, Branden Kellam, Steve Carlson, and Jacob McBride were simply outstanding and kept the ball from even entering the post on many Falls possesions throughout the title game.

 

Trailing by three in the second quarter, the Red Raiders went on a 9-1 run to end the half, with seven of those points coming from Tommy Campion, to take a 25-20 lead that they would never relinquish.  Jamestown held Falls to just five points in the second quarter and 24 points over the final three quarters.  The Wolverines had closed the gap to three entering the fourth quarter, but Jamestown opened the final stanza on a 6-2 run to go back up by eight points. The Wolverines were held to a single field goal in the fourth quarter until Jermaine Crumpton dropped a '3' with nine seconds left in the game.

 

Kellam and Campion each finished the game with 13 points, while Zack Panebianco  scored 12 points in the win.

Crumpton ended his high school career with a game-high 15 points for Niagara Falls.

 

Section VI Class A1 Final

McKinley 63, Hutch-Tech 55

 The Macks won back-to-back Class A1 titles and their fifth in seven years, surviving a late-game rally from Hutch-Tech to sweep the Engineers in a third meeting between the schools this season.  Four McKinley players finished in double figures, led by 14 points from Marcus Morris.  Daequan Warren scored 13 points, Lovell Smith netted 12 points, and Reyzjon Jordan added 10 points.

Jovohn Owens led Hutch-Tech with 17 points.

 

Section VI Class A2 Final

Amherst 62, Iroquois 41

 After falling in the final last season, the Tigers broke through this year in grand fashion, winning their first Section VI championship since 2005.  Amherst steadily built upon its lead as the game progressed, led by 19 points from do-it-all senior guard, Johnny Belton.  Dion Lewis had his shot working as well, and finished with 13 points.

Amherst will play  McKinley at Buffalo State on Tuesday night at 8:45 pm, for the right to represent the section in the Class A regional on Saturday.

Phil Bowen scored 17 points for the Chiefs, and Nate Wilkinson added 12 points in defeat.

 

Section VI Class B1 Final 

Olean 82, Lackawanna 68

 The Huskies cleared their first hurdle in a quest for a state title by winning it all in Class B1 of Section VI for the sixth time in seven years.  Next, they'll look to advance to the regionals on Saturday if they can get past East on Tuesday.  

Three Olean staters, along with its sixth man, finished in double figures, during a fast-paced, high intensity game. Midway through the fourth quarter, Olean standout center Sam Eckstrom fouled out, but instead of a late-game collapse, the Huskies inceased their lead and put the game away. 

Eckstrom finished with a game-high 21 points, Max Portlow and Wil Bathurst scored 19 points apiece, and Nick Schmidt added 12 points.

Ahmad Abdo led the Steelers with 18 points, Shaquille Brooks and Damone Sylvers each netted 13 points, and Cam Smith ended with 12 points.

 

Section VI Class B2 Final

East 65, Fredonia 56

 For the fifth time in seven seasons, East High is celebreting a Section VI title. Last year, the Panthers fell in the Class B1 final to eventual state finalist Olean.  After dropping down in classification to a B2 this year, East will cut the celebration short and focus on beating Olean in the  rematch it earned by winning the B2 sectional. The Panthers will face the Huskies at Buffalo State on Tuesday at 7:15 pm for the right to advance to the Far West Regionals in Class B.

Johnathan Lewis scored 22 points, Jonathan Kinley scored 19 points, and Percy Bryant & Tyree Tyson each added 10 points in the win over the Hillbillies.

Sophomore John Piper led Fredonia with 15 points, while Dylan Meyer scored 12 points, and Nick Johnston chipped in 11 points.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42

Comments

[Go Tigers!]

So proud of my boys from Amherst. 1st in 8 years. you can Mckinley beleive in yourselfs.

[Gus Buster]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the magical ride comes to an end against McKinley. Amherst has no Stan Wier to take over the game like last year when McKinley was upset. Good year for Amherst but just too much speed to overcome on tues.

[Go Tigers!]

They are a team and they are gonna win as a team. It is a team game not about one player. Thats ok though the boys know they can do it!

[centercourt]

Section V schedule for Wednesday's crossover games:

5:45 pm - B Batavia vs. Hornell
7:15 pm - C Lyons vs. Mynderse/Clyde Savannah winner
8:45 pm - AA Bishop Kearney vs. Greece Athena

Games played at Blue Cross Arena

[centercourt]

Good news for Olean if they win a state championship in Class B - five-time defending Federation Class B champion Collegiate was eliminated in the NYSAIS quarterfinals.

[centercourt]

Collegiate should have been playing in Class A by now anyway.

[ilovethisgame]

As i said and agree with you CC,in Olean game it looked like Eckstrom fouling out was more of a distarction to Lackawanna than it was to Olean as Bathurst shrugged off all attempts made by the Steeler players getting in his face and jawing to him while he was shooting fouls.If Lackawanna had the discipline that Olean had they had a very remote chance at an upset bid but as good as they were it only seemed to amp up Bathursts play and he was the force for Olean that did them in.Havent seen enough of East to see if Tyree will be any trouble for Eckstrom to easily move around undernesth,should be a fun game to watch

[brian]

In East Aurora's crossover win vs. McKinley last year, it was a team effort. Stan Weir led with leadership, no doubt, and 17pts, Cox 16, and the other 22 pts spread over 4 others. The best team effort wins most of the time.

[centercourt]

I agree brian. There's no way East Aurora wins Class A last year without Stan Wier, but that team came together at the end of the season and was playing at a high level.

[ed]

I thought Irondequoit and Kearney lost..

[centercourt]

Greece Athena beat Irondequoit
Bishop Kearney beat Webster Schroeder

They play each other Wednesday night, winner gets Jamestown on Saturday.

[ilovethisgame]

i think BK new season is just that and they have to be playing and beating WS..my guess is they my finally hit stride just in time and if so i think the AA for JT ends in Rochester....i hope not but if BK is on their game...it will be tough to win...but i also would not bet very much against on a team with a kid named Tommy Campion either,but if BK is firing in all 8cylinders it will be a tough one to win IMO

[WNYHOOPS]

CC, I had my Franco's on Saturday, and the Red Raider's looked great. I think Coach Swierski should of picked up the tab, but Sterling does have one more year left...

Great to see my Red Raiders continue to show they are one of the best in WNY year in a year out, and Ben Drake is likely one of the top coaches in state. With Jamestown only graduating 1 senior this year(albeit an amazing senior pg), they should be at the top of WNY for at least a couple more years.

I was disheartened to read a lot of the comments on the Buffalo News blog during the game, it seems there was definitely a Niagara Falls/anti-Jamestown bias going on. But like the saying goes "If you aint first your last".

[jay]

I was on blog , and did not see anything to the tune of anti Jamestown goin on? And looking back still dont see anything.
Agree Coach Drake is a great coach.Not only during games making changes on fly , but his teams are always well prepared.
Falls team simply IMO is not versatile enough. They play only one way and don't change anything up. A team knows they are going to play the same way all game.
Next year Red Raiders should be back possibly against a Will North team with best player in the area Taplin.
Also would not be suprised to see Jamestown beat Kearney.

[Chuck Swierski]

WNYHOOPS, I was there in the second row right behind the scorers' table. It was me, coach Gorman and my wallet. Good luck to Ben and the Jamestown program for the remainder of their season.

[Lakemen Fan]

CC - Do you know if Olean has an 'open enrollment' policy and can you explain what it is? I have an idea, but am looking for clarification.

Thank you,

[centercourt]

In 2011, Jamestown became a favorite of non-WNY media in Glens Falls for being a disciplined, well-executing team, that still had style & flare. It's great to see that hasn't changed and that JHS is living in the moment and not taking themselves too seriously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRmRnaZsZUw&sns=em