(Fred Foster of Middle College with the #BOOM of the year / Photo by Harry Scull)
Tuesday night at the Buff State Sports Arena, three games determined regional qualifiers for Classes A, B, & C in the final boys high school basketball games played in WNY this season. Williamsville South, East, & Middle College were all winners in the classification crossover games, and each will play on Saturday in Rochester against champions from Section V, for the right to advance to Glens Falls and compete in the state final four.
Class A: Williamsville South 46, Olean 38
For just the second time in school history, Williamsville South has advanced to regionals. The Billies got a game-high 18 points from senior 1,000 point scorer Sam Castronova in a defensive struggle that ended the Huskies' streak of winning their last seven regional qualifiers, dating back to 2007. For South head coach Gabe Michael, he advances his squad out of the section in just his third season behind the bench. Also for the Billies, it will be their first time ever getting out of Buffalo, as the 2010 overall champion played its regional game at Buff State. South will travel to Rochester on Saturday night to face either Greece Athena or Rochester SOTA at 7 pm at Gates Chili HS.
The Billies struggled from the field early, finding points in the paint difficult to come by and the iron unkind on perimeter shots. Olean jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the opening quarter, limiting South to a single field goal in the first seven minutes. Myles Hall sparked his team with a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter, but South still trailed, 13-6 heading into the second quarter.
Perimeter shooting and defense allowed the Billies to even things up and then take a one-point lead before halftime. Castronova connected on a pair from beyond the arc and Kam Varner added another for South, who took an 18-17 lead into the break. The trend continued in the third quarter, as the South seniors, Castronova & Varner once again combined to knock down three treys, while the Billies' defense continued to give Olean trouble. The Billies went a stretch of 11:28 between the second and third quarters without allowing a field goal and took a 37-24 advantage into the final stanza.
Olean made one last stand in the fourth, pulling to within six points, 41-35, after an 11-0 run. However, with just over a minute remaining, the Billies broke Olean's press and finished it with a dunk from Matt Foster to effectively seal the victory for South. The defense played by the Dolan brothers was key in the victory, as Graham limited Huskies' sharp-shooting sophomore Ben Eckstrom to two points, while Greg made Olean floor general Jake Cavana work on every trip up the court all game.
Varner and Greg Dolan each scored nine points in the win for South, while Ramadhan's team-high 13 points led Olean. Chucky Martin added 10 points in his final game as a Husky.
Class B: East 72, Albion 54
After winning Class B2 in the two seasons prior, the Panthers can once again take their act to Rochester for the first time since 2011, when they went as the Class A representative for Section VI. Percy Bryant led five different Panthers in double figures with a game-high 16 point evening. East will face the winner of Leadership Academy/Wellsville on Saturday at 4 pm at Rush-Henrietta HS.
Despite his game-high scoring outing, Bryant didn't even get his name on the score sheet in the opening quarter. He did collect several steals and get his team flying in transition early on though, as the Panthers led 10-0 less than three minutes into the game and made it difficult for Albion to get into any form of rhythm. Even once the Purple Eagles seemed to adjust to the pressure and game speed of East, they allowed seven unanswered points to close the first quarter and trailed 25-10 after eight minutes.
Albion was not able to make up any ground in the second quarter, never getting any closer than 15 points and trailing 39-24 at the break. The Panthers' lead reached 21 points before the fourth quarter and they were never really threatened in the final frame.
Daquan Williams finished with 14 points for East, while Damone Brown scored 11 points, and Jovell Littlejohn and Dion Morrison each added 10 points.
Albion was led by Desmond Blackmon's 16 points.
Class C: Middle College 76, Tapestry 70
In just their seventh year of competition, the Kats have won five Section VI titles and are now headed back to the regional round for a fourth time, where they have never lost. Middle College has made it to the Class C state championship game in each of the three prior years its team made it to this point. The Kats will play at Rush-Henrietta this Saturday at 2 pm against either Lyons or Caledonia-Mumford.
Less than a minute into the game, the Kats trailed 8-1, as the Thunderhawks pressure got them started quickly. Middle College got right back into the game, capitalizing on several misses by Tapestry near the basket and converting to points at the other end. Middle College took a 17-16 lead after one. With a 24-22 lead midway through the second quarter, the Kats began a run and stole the game's momentum. Fred Foster ignited his team when he threw down vicious poster dunk over a defender that spurred a 14-4 spurt to take the game's first double-digit lead, as they headed off to halftime with a 38-26 lead.
After increasing to a 15-point lead after three quarters, Tapestry junior JaQuoine Fogan tried putting his team on his back and nearly carried them where they wanted to go. Fogan scored 13 consecutive points for the Thunderhawks, a 13-4 run in the game, to get the deficit down to 69-63 with 3:13 to go. But the Kats never let Tapestry any closer and played them evenly for the duration to take the overall Class C title.
JoJo Staton led the Kats with 22 points, while Foster finished with 20 points. Amir Jemes added 12 points and Brian Johnson chipped in 10 points for Middle College.
Fogan had a game-high 23 points, while DeJuan Owens ended with 14 points.
-centercourt
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