(Amherst vs. Cheektowaga will be epic...again. Photo by Nick LoVerde)
Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:
Monday, January 19th
East vs. Franklin @ Monroe CC
Park @ Rochester East - 6:30 pm
Tuesday, January 20th
Timon @ Nichols - 6:30 pm
Kenmore West @ Lew-Port - 6:30 pm
Williamsville South @ Starpoint - 7 pm
Walsh @ St. Francis - 7 pm
Niagara Catholic @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm
Jamestown @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm
Silver Creek @ Randolph - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, January 21st
DaVinci @ Olmsted - 5:30 pm
I-Prep @ MST Seneca - 5:30 pm
Buffalo Arts @ Emerson - 5:30 pm
Thursday, January 22nd
Middle College @ East - 5:30 pm
Oracle @ Tapestry - 6 pm
Lackawanna @ Cleveland Hill - 6:30 pm
West Seneca East @ Starpoint - 7 pm
Depew @ East Aurora - 7:30 pm
Chautauqua Lake @ Cassadaga Valley - 7:30 pm
Frontier @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm
Portville @ Allegany-Limestone - 7:30 pm
Friday, January 23rd
I-Prep @ Olmsted - 5:30 pm
Emerson @ MST Seneca - 5:30 pm
City Honors @ Buffalo Arts - 5:30 pm
UPrep @ Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm
St. Mary's @ Park - 6:30 pm
Kenmore West @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm
Wilson @ Newfane - 6:30 pm
St. Francis @ St. Joe's - 7 pm
Cheektowaga @ Amherst - 7:30 pm
Sherman @ Panama - 7:30 pm
Nichols @ Niagara Catholic - 7:30 pm
Portville @ Allegany-Limestone - 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 24th
West Seneca East @ West Seneca West - 3:30 pm
Timon @ Canisius - 4 pm
Game of the Week - Cheektowaga @ Amherst on Friday, January 23rd
- A late January game on a Friday night, between the two best teams in the league, who have developed an exciting and competitive rivalry. The game that may decide if ECIC III is a shared title or if it's owned outright. A game critical to the Class A2 seedings for sectionals a month from now. The Game of the Week.
Back in mid December, round one at Cheektowaga was a wild & epic affair. The game wasn't decided until TC Brown's contested 3-point attempt from straight away went in off the glass as the final buzzer rang. It managed to live up to a lot of preseason hype that was generated from a triad of encounters from the season prior, a year that seriously fueled this burgeoning rivalry. It doesn't hurt that both of these teams have players either.
Last season, Amherst won the league for a third straight time. However it was Cheektowaga who advanced farther in sectionals, ending the Tigers season in a wild overtime affair to win the Class A2 title - the first in Warrior history. It was also the third straight win over Amherst for the Warriors, who had knocked the league champs off twice in the regular season as well.
Most of the faces from last season are back for both teams. Over the last four games in this series, these guys have become quite familiar with each other. Cheektowaga's Dominick Welch and Amherst's TC Brown are returning 5th Team All-Centercourt selections. Zak Ciezki of the Warriors was All-Centercourt HM and just eclipsed the 1,000 point scoring mark for his career last week.
The atmosphere at the Jungle in Amherst will be as good as it gets on Friday. Tiger fans will be loud, both teams will be proud, and I'll be at the center of it all. Literally.
-centercourt
Hmmmmm...I see #1 vs. #2 small school matchup on that same Friday night, and have to, respectively, disagree with you.
Posted by: Amateur Observer | Monday, January 19, 2015 at 07:40 AM
So is Burgard a contender this year or is East really just a pretender? I haven't seen them play but every time I look at the box scores, they're winning or losing very close games to some quality opponents.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 09:53 AM
I was just having this conversation with someone last night. They were telling me, without having seen East play yet, that East was overrated in light of its loss to Burgard.
My thoughts are, if you're comparing East to last year's team, they'll seem overrated. But last year's team was special. I think it's more of a credit to Burgard, because as you've pointed out, the Bulldogs are playing some very competitive games this year. They only lost to Middle college by six points, and MC beat East by two at the buzzer. Burgard just might be the sleeping giants of Class B1. No one has even uttered a whisper that Willie Jones' team could win a sectional title this year - but I just did.
The Panthers best label might either be inconsistent, or still a work in progress. They handled O'Hara early on, went to the buzzer with Middle College, and were a missed 3-pointer from Percy Bryant at the buzzer from sending its game with McKinley to overtime. In my world of high school hoops, no pretender threatens the Macks with OT.
So I say props to Burgard and keep it going. I'd love to see Willie Jones get his boys back to Buff State for the first time since 2006, when they nearly stunned eventual Class B state champion Lackawanna in the Class B1 final.
Posted by: centercourt | Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 01:51 PM
Without seeing Burgard, I would have to agree with you. Burgard is a legit contender and East is just inconsistent this year. I never thought McKinley would have given Canisius a game like they did and for East to give McKinley a game, they have to be legit, just extremely up and down team. Which we've seen in the past from a lot of East teams.
Luckily it'll all get sorted out in February and March.
I'm probably going to go catch the St. Mary's @ Park game on Friday as I'm dying to see this Park team.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 02:55 PM
Rumors running rampant that Coach Bryant deflated the balls at halftime of the Middle College game 2 make them more of how Percy likes 2 handle them 4 the second half. Can anyone confirm this? I only know what goes on because of this website so someone please let me know if this is true.
Posted by: Miguel is God | Friday, January 23, 2015 at 10:01 AM
I can confirm that you Miguel is God are an idiot.
Posted by: Rex Kramer | Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 01:23 PM