Monday, March 2nd
Class A1 Semifinals at 6 pm & 7:45 pm
#1 North Tonawanda (15-4) vs. #4 Sweet Home (10-9)
- The Jacks finished as co-champs of the NFL with Niagara Falls, the Panthers tied for 3rd in ECIC II
- NT is led by Chris Woodard & Ryan Gilbert.
- Sweet Home is led by Jordan Heine and Brandon Smiley.
- The Jacks lost in the semifinals to Will South at Buff State last season
- The Panthers last appearance at Buff State was in 2013, when they lost to Hutch-Tech, 67-47, in the Class A1 semifinals.
- Last season, NT ended Sweet Home's season in the Class A1 quarterfinals.
- Best win for NT was at Niagara Falls.
- Best win for Sweet Home was against Williamsville East.
- I did not for for either team in this week's large school poll
#2 Williamsville South (17-2) vs. #3 McKinley (17-2)
- McKinley went unbeaten in the city to win the Yale Cup, South won league in ECIC II.
- South is led by Sam Castronova (returning All-Centercourt Honorable Mention selection) and freshman Greg Dolan.
- McKinley is led by Devin Morris (returning 5th Team All-Centercourt selection) and Shaquan Jones.
- These two met in the Class A1 final last season. McKinley won, 71-66.
- Best win for Williamsville South was at Williamsville North
- Best win for McKinley was at Williamsville North
- I voted McKinley #3 and South #5 in this week's large school poll.
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Tuesday, March 3rd
Class B2 Semifinals at 5:15 pm & 6:45 pm
#1 Cleveland Hill (16-3) vs. #5 East (11-8)
- The Golden Eagles were unbeaten ECIC IV champs, East finished 4th in Yale Cup I.
- Cleveland Hill is led by Jermaine Hairston & Anthony Sullivan.
- East is led by Percy Bryant (returning 4th Team All-Centercourt selection and 1,000 point scorer) and Damone Brown
- These two met in the Class B2 final last season. East won, 58-49.
- Best win for Cleveland Hill was against Salamanca.
- Best win for East was against Middle College.
- I voted East #6 and did not vote for Cleveland Hill in this week's small school poll.
#2 Fredonia (17-2) vs. #3 Wilson (16-3)
- The Hillbillies were co-champs with Olean in CCAA I West. Wilson won the N-O.
- Fredonia is led by John Piper (1,000 point scorer) and Patrick Moore.
- Wilson is led by Kyle Bradley and Evan Shank.
- The Hillbillies lost to Olean in the Class B1 final last season.
- Wilson's last appearance at Buff State was in 2012 when lost lost to CSAT in the Class B2 final.
- Best win for Fredonia was at St. Mary's.
- Best win for Wilson was against Niagara Catholic.
- I voted Fredonia #2 in this week's small school poll. I did not vote for the Lakemen.
Class AA Semifinal at 8:15 pm
#1 Jamestown (16-3) vs. #4 Lancaster (11-8)
- The Red Raiders were unbeaten champs of ECIC I, Lancaster finished 3rd.
- Jamestown is led by Zack Panebianco & Stephen Carlson.
- The Redskins are led by Alex Damiani and Collin Murray.
- Jamestown won Class AA last season and advanced to the NYSPHAA Class AA state championship.
- Lancaster's last trip to Buff State was in 2011, where they lost to Jamestown in the Class AA semifinals.
- Best win for Jamestown was against Amherst.
- Best win for Lancaster was against Cleveland Hill.
- I voted Jamestown #2 in this week's large school poll. I did not vote for the Redskins.
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Wednesday, March 4th
Class B1 Semifinals at 5:15 pm & 6:45 pm
#1 Burgard (13-6) vs. #5 Alboin (8-11)
- The Bulldogs finished 3rd in Yale Cup I, the Purple Eagles tied for 3rd in the N-O.
- Burgard is led by Jaelyn Hall and Isaiah Jamison.
- Albion is led by Austin Lloyd and Dez Blackmon.
- Burgard's last trip to Buff State was in 2006, when they lost to eventual state champion, Lackawanna, by two points in the Class B1 final.
- The Purple Eagles will make their first trip to Buff State. It's on Grant Street in Buffalo.
- Best win for Burgard was against East.
- Best win for Albion was against St. Francis.
- I voted Burgard #10 and did not vote for Albion in the small school poll.
#3 Medina (10-9) vs. #10 Maryvale (9-10)
- The Mustangs finished 2nd in the N-O, the Flyers finished 5th in ECIC III.
- Medina is led by Jason Hellwig and Justin Morgan.
- Maryvale is led by Mike Kelleher and Ray Blackwell.
- The Mustangs last trip to Buff State was in 2009, where they lost to Olean in the Class B1 semifinals.
- The Flyers lost to Cheektowaga, 72-53, in the Class A2 semifinals last season.
- Best win for Medina was against Wilson.
- Best win for Maryvale was at Depew.
- I did not vote for either team in the small school poll.
Class AA Semifinal at 8:15 pm
#2 Williamsville North (15-4) vs. #3 Niagara Falls (13-6)
- The Spartans finished 2nd in ECIC I, the Wolverines were co-champs with NT in the NFL.
- North is led by Dylan Lambert and Maceo Jack.
- Niagara Falls is led by Mikey Bermudez and Qeyion Williams.
- The Spartans lost in the Class AA semifinals last season to Clarence, 49-39.
- Niagara Falls' last trip to Buff State was in 2013, when they lost in the Class AA final to Jamestown, 46-39.
- Best win for Will North was against Timon.
- Best win for Niagara Falls was at North Tonawanda.
- I voted North #6 in this week's large school poll. I did not vote for Niagara Falls.
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Thursday, March 5th
Class A2 Semifinals
#1 Amherst (17-2) vs. #4 Cheektowaga (15-4)
- The Tigers were undefeated in ECIC III, the Warriors finished 2nd in ECIC III.
- Amherst is led by TC Brown and Dorian Billups.
- Cheektowaga is led by Dominick Welch and Zak Ciezki.
- They played in the Class A2 final last season, with Cheektowaga winning in OT, 69-68.
- Best win for Amherst was at Cheektowaga.
- Best win for Cheektowaga was against East.
- I voted Amherst #4 and did not vote for Cheektowaga in the large school poll.
#2 Starpoint (16-3) vs. #3 Olean (15-4)
- The Spartans finished 2nd in ECIC II, the Huskies were co-champs of CCAA I West with Fredonia.
- Starpoint is led by Brock Kroening and Christian Nodine.
- Olean is led by Chucky Martin and Connor Prizel.
- Starpoint's last trip to Buff State was in 2003.
- Olean won the overall Section VI Class B title last year and advanced to the NYSPHAA Class B state championship.
- Best win for Starpoint was at Williamsville South.
- Best win for Olean was against Fredonia.
- I voted Starpoint #10 in this week's large school poll. I did not vote for Olean.
-centercourt
Munjie Brown certainly would be one of Medina's best players -- had he not graduated last year. But then, there probably aren't many people in WNY who could name more than two players in our league.
Posted by: Coach Hellwig | Sunday, March 01, 2015 at 11:05 AM
The league has been slim pickin and the runs that teams made last year - Barker, only to get buried when they played a real team....B1 is weak...very weak...as the crossover game will point out. Theere are 5 teamsd in B2 that are better than anyone in B1 except maybe Burgard..who will roll to the champoinship...and in B2 Fredonia is theirs to lose....doubt that will happen. Wilson is Ok but they will learn what Barker learned last year.
aside from your Medina team there were a bunch of teams a few notches below....i saw Newfane play Medina tough at home with a great dunk by Sam Watkins but Medina very discplined and they still made a gasme of it....I looks for Medina to be at the top next year but if the boys put the work in over the summer they can at best improve and look like they are hungey and not playing pickup ball on game nites. Good luck to you guys and you already know Burgard ...I think...did Medina play Burgard this season???what was the score?? because Albion is not much to worry...i think on of Newfanes for wins was Albion...(not sure) but thought they won at home.
My boys each shared a league tilte..My oldest as a senior shared with wilson....then the next year my other boy won the title along with wilson. and the following year lost to csat twice by a total of 5 points and only other loss was to Akron by 2...3 losses combined 7 points...now thats fun stuff..was all league to..but none of my boys topped Dad!!!...we were sction6 B2 champs in 80...the only one Newfane ever had...my oldest took second that year. Best of Luck to you Coach...ill be there at courtside with that CC guy.
Posted by: GAME | Monday, March 02, 2015 at 11:47 PM
Trust me, I'm well aware Newfane won that 1980 game, as I was on the other bench for Starpoint! It was tough to swallow after we'd won two close games over the Panthers in the regular season.
No doubt the N-O and B-1 are down a bit this year. And CC does a great job with HS hoops, but I had to have a little fun with the Munjie thing. I'm glad three N-O teams get the chance to play on the big stage, regardless of the strength of the bracket.
Posted by: Coach Hellwig | Tuesday, March 03, 2015 at 10:56 AM
I definitely had that one coming...
Posted by: centercourt | Tuesday, March 03, 2015 at 01:10 PM
Congrats to Kyle Bradley on his monster game. He's a great kid and player, and now others know it, too. You did the N-O proud tonight.
Posted by: Coach Hellwig | Tuesday, March 03, 2015 at 10:54 PM
Hey GAME. Looks like you swung and missed on your predictions above. Albion beats Burgard and makes it to the finals. medina almost joins them while Wilson scares the pants off of Fredonia. Is the N-O an inferior league? I don't think so.
Posted by: Jimmy Dean | Wednesday, March 04, 2015 at 09:25 PM
So because Wilson gave Fredonia a game and Medina ALMOST won, that makes the N-O a legit league? There are no trophies for 3rd and 4th place. The N-O doesn't have a reputation for being a very good basketball league come playoff time. They have what, 2 sectional titles in the last 30 years, 3 if you include CSAT in 2012? I respect their competitiveness but history says it's an inferior league.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 09:54 AM
Just a random bit:
N-O stands for Niagara-Orleans.
Those 3 titles you refer to in the last 30 years were won by the two teams in that league from Erie County:
Akron 2009, 2010 & CSAT 2012
It's been 35 years since a team from the N-O in Niagara County won (Newfane, 1980) and 43 years for an Orleans County team (Albion, 1972).
Posted by: centercourt | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 10:15 AM
The prediction was that Wilson would get buried just like Barker did last year. Burgard would win B1 and they didn't. The statement was that the N-O "league"could not compete. But they did and that makes them better then what GAME projected them to be. You've got to be willing to take a hit when you step out predict and you're wrong.
Posted by: Cager Rager | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 12:18 PM
Class B teams that made it to Buff State:
N-O -- 3
Yale Cup I -- 2
ECIC III -- 1
ECIC IV -- 1
CCAA I -- 1
The Niagara-Orleans league may be down, but no more than WNY (public school) basketball in general. Especially when it comes to the smaller schools.
Posted by: half court trap | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 12:34 PM
That's a useless stat. A majority of those leagues have teams that are in different classifications than "B". Then you are discounting the teams that made it to the semi-finals at JCC. There are 7 teams in the N-O league, 6 of them are in Class B. There are 15 teams in the Yale Cup, 7 are in Class B. There are 6 teams in ECIC III, 3 are in Class B. CCAA I has 13 teams (East and West), only 2 of them are in Class B.
The Yale Cup sent 5 teams to Buff State and JCC. 3 of those teams will be playing for a championship. ECIC III sent 3 teams to Buff State and 2 of those teams will be playing for a championship. CCAA I sent 5 teams to Buff State and JCC and 3 (possibly 4) of those teams will be playing for a championship. The N-O league is down but the rest of WNY public school basketball is not.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 01:01 PM
state champ how can the N-O be down if in your previous post you state that they've never been up? Which is it?
Posted by: Jimmy Dean | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 04:24 PM
Where did I state that "they're never been up"? I stated that they won 3 sectional titles in the last 30 years. So on 3 separate occasions they've been "up" I guess if you want to call it that.
Posted by: StateChamps2003 | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 04:51 PM
I appreciate all of your statistical information. I never realized the N-O's history of not winning sectional titles. Kind of sad . I can see now why many people pay little attention to it.
Good luck to Albion on Saturday. Hopefully they can go against this trend.
Posted by: Jimmy Dean | Thursday, March 05, 2015 at 05:07 PM