(Noah Hutchins and Park flew past Cheektowaga on Saturday/Photo: Larry Scheur)
Canisius 56, Jamestown 42
Over the last seven seasons, Canisius and Jamestown have been elite large school programs in WNY. Despite both competing with young rosters, the two remain formidable thanks to the culture each has created. The factor that has driven both to so much success has been defense, as each has made it their calling card. When they got together in the finale of the ADPRO Challenge for the second time in four seasons, the game played out as the expected defensive slugfest.
"Playing Jamestown, they really have their style that really mucks things up a lot," Canisius coach Kyle Husband said. "You don't really get into a rhythm and it's hard to run your sets."
The Crusaders and Red Raiders combined to score 13 points in the opening quarter, and went to halftime with Canisius holding a 21-17 lead. Austin James got hot in the third quarter and scored 11 of his team-high 17 points to open things up a bit and give the Crusaders a 39-27 lead.
"Austin is a really talented player," Husband said. "When he gets it going, he's going to be hard to stop."
The third quarter would prove to be the most decisive stretch of the game, as Jamestown played even the rest of the way behind the playb of James Rojas. The senior finished with a game-high 26 points.
"I think offensively we're going to have peaks and valleys, especially early on." said Husband. "We need to stay true to who we are on the defensive side."
Canisius 7 - 14 - 18 - 17 = 56
Jamestown 6 - 11 - 10 - 15 = 42
Point Totals
Canisius: Austin James 17, Jayce Johnson 11, Nick MacDonald 11, Brendan Trapper 6, Jon Evans 4, Jack Collins 3, Patrick Weir 2, Ryan Bradley 2
Jamestown: James Rojas 26, Marcus Rojas 7, Henry Malarkey 6, Matt Hill 3
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Park 98, Cheektowaga 49
The Pioneers' speed, size, depth, and talent was on full display at the ADPRO Challenge and took full advantage of their opportunity to showcase what they have. Six players finished in double figures, led by Dan Scott's game-high 22 points. Scott also spent time defending Cheektowaga's Dom Welch, along with Noah Hutchins. The two did an excellent job of making Welch, on pace to eclipse WNY's all-time scoring record, work for all 21 of his team-high points through three quarters.
The whole team got in the act for Park defensively, which led to multiple fast break opportunuties after repeatedly turning the Warriors over.
"We haven't had a chance to display what our plan is," said Park coach Michael Battaglia. "Our plan is to play full court man-to-man, all game, all season."
Scott and Hutchins each had a pair of dunks in the game, with one of Hutchins' finishes coming off a standing broad jump. In the fourth quarter, freshman Jaylen Stewart wowed the crowd with a spectacular shooting display that saw him connect on five 3-pointers, with four of those coming in succession. He finished with 18 points in the game.
Joe Jones was a force inside during the second half, scoring 16 of his 18 points, controlling the glass, and swatting away shots. Brandon Smith and Marques Lowe gave their usual consistent performance throughout, and the pair of guards ended the game with 12 and 11 points respectively. Quentin Nnagbo continues to become more of a factor in each game for Park and added 10 points in the win.
Park 19 - 24 - 21 - 34 = 98
Cheektowaga 12 - 15 - 13 - 9 = 49
Point Totals
Park: Dan Scott 22, Joe Jones 18, Jaylen Stewart 18, Brandon smith 12, Marques Lowe 11, Quentin Nnagbo 10, Noah Hutchins 5, Julian Eziukwu
Cheektowaga: Dom Welch 21, Alex Bryant 11, Adrian Baugh 8, Rudy Bragg4, Vaughn Burdette 2, Jaquan Pugh 2, Keon White 1
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St. Francis 67, Kenmore West 50
The Red Raiders got a team-high 20 points from Bo Sireika, while Roburt Welch and Julian Cunningham added 16 and 15 points respectively, improving to 4-1 on the season. The Red Raiders took the lead within three minutes of the game starting and never trailed the rest of the way.
"If we get double digits out of our big three, we're going to win a lot of games," St. Francis coach Brian Ferris said.
Welch scored nine of his points in the second quarter on a combination of tough finish inside, a drive to the rack, a 3-pointer, and a pair of free throws. Now playing his fourth season at St. Francis, Welch has gotten off to a very good start this year.
"He's improved every year," said Ferris. "This is going to be the year he puts it all together."
Tyler Aquilina finished with a game-high 23 points for Kenmore West, with 16 of those points coming in the first half that saw him drill four 3-pointers in the second quarter. Tal James added nine points in the loss.
St. Francis 15 - 22 - 19 - 11 - 67
Ken West 13 - 16 - 13 - 8 = 50
Point Totals
St. Francis: Bo Sireika 20, Roburt Welch 16, Julian Cunningham 15, Sean Taggart 7, Lucas Theisan 3, Dorian Ivey 2, Connor Cummings 2, Devon Darrell 2
Kenmore West: Tyler Aquilina 23, Tal James 9, Dylan James 6, Kyle LaPlante 4, Kevin Carpenter 3, Erick Rainey 2, Jake Poummit 2, Tyler White 1
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Depew 64, CCA 47
Chad Biersbach continued his solid play this season, scoring a game-high 21 points for the Wildcats, while his team limited CCA to just 19 points in the second half en route to a fourth straight win to begin the season. The Crusaders led by a point after one quarter, before Depew kicked up the tempo and used an 11-3 run to take control of the game.
"We tried to keep the pace quick and keep things as physical as possible," said Depew coach Larry Jones.
After gaining a six-point advantage by halftime, the Wildcats went on a 13-3 spurt midway through the third quarter to open the game up. Biersbach netted seven of his points during that stretch which put Depew up 54-38, while CCA scoring leader Josh Tyson picked up his fifth foul in the process. The Crusaders managed to get back within 11 points heading into the fourth quarter, but found consistent scoring difficult in the final stanza without Tyson in the game.
"We knew who we wanted to take out and I think for the most part, we did," Jones said. "Obviously they got in a little foul trouble."
Depew 11 - 23 - 20 - 10 = 64
CCA 13 - 15 - 15 - 4 = 47
Point Totals
Depew: Chad Biersbach 21, Eric Jarrett 13, Tyler Biersbach 8, Jacob Mlodozeniec 7, Austin Pilley 6, Jordan Ciesielski 5, Sean Miller 3, John Mietus 1
CCA: Josh Tyson 12, Jared Moser 12, Zach Miller 11, Patrick Opferbeck 4, Ben Lekeuneu 3, Alex Fink 2, Noah Ewing 2, Daniel Tyson 1
- centercourt
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