(Alex Damiani and Lancaster host Jamestown on Monday / Photo by Mark Mulville)
Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:
Monday, January 25th
Burgard @ Grand Island - 6:30 pm
Jamestown @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm
Cleveland Hill @ Depew - 7:30 pm
Silver Creek @ Randolph - 7:30 pm
Portville @ Franklinville - 7:30 pm
Chautauqua Lake @ Pine Valley - 7:30 pm
Tuesday, January 26th
Walsh @ Canisius - 6:30 pm
Rochester East @ Lockport - 6:30 pm
Tapestry @ Grand Island - 6:30 pm
Southwestern @ Gowanda - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, January 27th
Pine Valley @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm
Thursday, January 28th
Health Sciences @ Timon - 6:30 pm
St. Mary's @ Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm
Roy-Hart @ Medina - 6:30 pm
Aquinas @ Canisius - 7 pm
Friday, January 29th
Cardinal O'Hara @ Walsh - 6:30 pm
North Tonawanda @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm
East Aurora @ Amherst - 6:30 pm
Lockport @ Lew-Port - 7 pm
Cleveland Hill @ Alden - 7 pm
Niagara Catholic @ Nichols - 7:30 pm
Chautauqua Lake @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm
Allegany-Limestone @ Randolph - 7:30 pm
Gowanda @ Portville - 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 30th
St. Mary's @ St. Joe's - 2 pm
Tapestry @ Health Sciences - 2:30 pm
Niagara Falls @ Bishop Kearney - 3 pm
RAP Classic at Aquinas
East Aurora vs. Livonia - 2 pm
Cheektowaga vs. West Irondequoit - 3:45 pm
Canisius vs. Greece Athena - 5:30 pm
Aquinas vs. Rush-Henrietta - 7:15 pm
Game of the Week - Jamestown @ Lancaster on Monday, January 25th
- On December 10, 2015, Lancaster won in Jamestown for the first time since Ben Drake took over as head coach of the Red Raiders in 1998. It was also the first league loss Jamestown had suffered in 17 games. Being that it was the league opener for the Red Raiders, they were suddenly 0-1 in ECIC I to start the season - something I cannot remember happening before then.
Meanwhile, the win for Lancaster propelled them to a 3-0 start in the league and a 7-0 start overall. The Legends spent a couple weeks as a ranked large school in WNY, while Jamestown was uncharacteristically on the outside, looking in on the top 10 this season.
Coming into this game, Lancaster has a 9-4 mark overall, and a 5-1 record in league after an earlier loss to Orchard Park. Jamestown has improved to 8-4 overall and is 5-2 in ECIC I after getting tripped up by league-leading Williamsville North, following the Lancaster loss.
While North is undefeated in ECIC I, there are still plenty of games that could effect the outcome of the league race, and this is definitely one of those games. Lancaster is just one game behind North, and still has both its games against the Spartans coming up. A win for Jamestown keeps the Red Raiders in contention for the league crown as well, with a rematch at North still upcoming in February.
Also impacted in this game will be the sectional seeding points. Both teams compete in Class AA and the result of this game will help determine where the two get seeded and could be the difference between a home game & a road game in the Section VI quarterfinals.
When the Legends defeated Jamestown in December, it ended a 36-game winning streak the Red Raiders had held against Lancaster. After Monday night, either Jamestown will have begun a new streak, or Lancaster will be boasting a 2-game streak against the defending ECIC I & Class AA champs.
-centercourt
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