Clarence 53, McKinley 37
Point Totals:
Clarence - Ryan Funk 16 Emaure Williams 15 Matt Sadowy 10
McKinley - Devin Morris 17
- Clarence has to be happy with where the team is right now, after its midseason hiccup. Two weeks ago, they dropped a 16-point decision to Williamsville North and then days later, fell by nearly twice that at Jamestown. Since then, the Red Devils avenged the loss to Jamestown and put one on McKinley. Now, it's gut check time for them as accomplishing their goals moving forward means winning every game between now and regionals.
- Trailing 2-0 to McKinley, Bryan Jost sank a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from straight away to spark a 15-2 run, as Clarence never trailed again and won going away.
- Matt Sadowy began the season as a starter for the Red Devils, but has recently been coming off the bench. His contribution against the Macks was enormous, as he came in during the second quarter and scored 10 of Clarence's 14 points and made several key plays in the paint throughout the game.
- Emaure Williams continues to improve and impress in his role with Clarence. The junior scored 11 of his team's 13 points in the 3rd quarter and seems more comfortable than ever as a second scoring option behind Ryan Funk, which allows Jost to focus on his floor general duties.
- McKinley scored a combined 89 points in its last two games and lost both. The last time the Macks lost two in a row, they followed it up with a tear through the competition that resulted in a Class A state championship.
City Honors 65, Lafayette 53
Point Totals:
City Honors - Matt Cieslik 21, Nolan Megna 20
Lafayette - Lester Diaz 27
- Lafayette's Lester Diaz is an outstanding basketball player and possibly the most competitive & scrappy one in WNY. That doesn't come through in Diaz's highlight video that I posted. He's like Ricky Rubio with an edge.
- As cool as it is to see Lafayette's gym, and while I understand its historic significance, there is such little space to manuver that it makes games look like a hectic, clustered mess. It has to be a nightmare for a referee trying to establish any consistency. There could literally be a foul called on every play.
- Lafayette was missing two starters in its loss.
- City Honors outscored the Violets by 20 in the second half after trailing by eight at the break.
- City Honors has a lot of size, which it used to its advantage late in the game for some easy baskets.
- Centaurs' junior Matt Cieslik was a huge factor in the game between breaking the press, scoring from both the field & the line, and defending Diaz for much of the game.
Canisius 71, Webster Schroeder 55
Point Totals
Canisius - Howard Washington 24, Stafford Trueheart 13, LaTerrance Reed 12, TJ Wheatley 10
Webster Schroeder - Emmitt Holt 23, Will Blake 12
- The Crusaders were all business in this trip to Rochester, particularly in the 2nd half.
- The game was full of foul calls at the start, which interupted the flow of the game.
- Howard Washington had a big second quarter, scoring 14 of his game-high 24 points.
- Canisius started the second half on a 16-4 run that put the game out of reach, sparked by its defense leading to offense.
- Washington had a two-handed dunk in the game, and I'm told it was the first HS game dunk of his career.
Greece Athena 82, Olean 72
Point Totals:
Greece Athena - Anthony Lamb 24, Zac DiSalvo 17, Deion Hamilton 13, Peter Florin 13, Jay Sarkis 11
Olean - Wil Bathurst 36, Sam Eckstrom 18
- One of the best HS games I've watched this year because of the competitive nature between two teams loaded with playmakers, in front of a huge crowd.
- The game featured 12 lead changes and four ties.
- Olean had a 12-0 run in the second quarter from hitting four consecutive 3-pointers. Three of those came from Bathurst.
- The run happened when Greece Athena's big man, sophomore Anthony Lamb, went to the bench in foul trouble. The Trojans were forced to double team Eckstrom in the post, which opened up the perimeter.
- Lamb finished off an alley-oop backwards, with two-hands.
- The Huskies led by 11 points at halftime, despite being out-rebounded, due largely in part to how well they were shooting. Greece Athena managed just 25 first half points. However, the Trojans outscored Olean in the second half, 57-36.
- The Trojans took the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter.
- Greece Athena starts four underclassmen, and rumor has it they could drop down to Class A next season. Yikes!
Jamestown 76, Rochester's East 69 in overtime
Point Totals:
Jamestown - Zack Panebianco 32, Stephen Carlson 11, Zacc Kinsey 11, Quinn Lee Yaw 11
Rochester's East - Dontay Caruthers 33
- The two teams were fairly evenly matched and it was a close game throughout
- Lee Yaw fouled out in regulation, but the Red Raiders still pulled it out in OT.
- Ben Larson & Panebianco each drilled key treys in the extra session.
- Sophomore Zacc Kinsey hit some clutch free throws and sealed the win with a timely steal in the final seconds of overtime.
** Despite a great day on the tour of high school games, the highlight and best game of my day was easily Syracuse's overtime win against Duke. I finished watching it at 3:30 am and had no idea how it ended until I was done watching it. Go Orange!!!
-centercourt
It's no rumor. It would take a startling adjustment of class cutoffs to keep Greece Athena from being assigned to Class A next year.
Posted by: John Moriello | Sunday, February 02, 2014 at 05:19 PM
Great recap CC and that Syracuse Duke game was the real Super Bowl. 21-0 best start ever!!! I am a bit worried about a letdown against Notre Dame just 2 days later (tonight) we shall c.
Nice 2 c a AA team finally get ranked this week from Section 6 :)
Posted by: McShea is God | Monday, February 03, 2014 at 10:10 AM
CC - Thoughts on Dontay Caruthers of East high? Never seen him play. Any comparisons you can make?
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Monday, February 03, 2014 at 12:18 PM
He reminded me of Lester Diaz of Lafayette - I doubt that helps.
He can shoot from anywhere and is extremely fast with the ball. He can slice through an entire defense to get to the basket. He's not real big, just highly effective. Has great instincts and is tough.
Posted by: centercourt | Monday, February 03, 2014 at 12:52 PM