(Park visits the first place Red Raiders on Friday night)
Monday, February 6th
Middle College @ East - 6 pm
South Park @ Burgard - 6 pm
MST Seneca @ Olmsted - 6 pm
Gowanda @ Randolph - 7:30 pm
Salamanca @ Allegany-Limestone - 7:30 pm
Franklinville @ Ellicottville - 7:30 pm
Tuesday, February 7th
Canisius @ Park - 6:30 pm
Cheektowaga @ Kenmore West - 6:30 pm
Niagara Falls @ Grand Island - 6:30 pm
Wilson @ Medina - 6:30 pm
Lancaster @ Jamestown - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, February 8th
Sweet Home @ Kenmore West - 6:30 pm
Timon @ Aquinas - 7 pm
Nichols @ Niagara Catholic - 7:30 pm
Thursday, February 9th
East @ Burgard - 4:30 pm
McKinley @ Middle College - 6 pm
Newfane @ Medina - 6:30 pm
Chautauqua Lake @ Dunkirk - 7:30 pm
Salamanca @ Gowanda - 7:30 pm
Friday, February 10th
Tapestry @ I-Prep - 6 pm
Park @ St. Francis - 6:30 pm
Cardinal O'Hara @ Walsh - 6:30 pm
Grand Island @ Lockport - 6:30 pm
Cleveland Hill @ Lackawanna - 6:30 pm
St. Joe's @ Canisius - 7 pm
Lancaster @ Williamsville North - 7:30 pm
Maryvale @ Depew - 7:30 pm
St. Mary's @ Niagara Catholic - 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 11th
Timon @ Olean - 2:30 pm
* Game of the Week - Park @ St. Francis on Friday, February 10th
I try not to repeat teams when selecting a Game of the Week. Park had its game with Canisius and St. Francis hosted Timon in 'Games of the Week' earlier this season. But as I looked at the lineup of games that I'd be covering this week, I asked myself, why am I over-thinking this? Park at St. Francis on Friday night is gonna be awesome!
For starters, let's look back at what happened when the two got together in Round One of the series on January 18th. There was a nice crowd on hand at Park that night, but unfortunately not a sellout. At the time, people were still sleeping on the Red Raiders. They had never beat Park and at the time, were in a multiple season drought against both Timon and Canisius as well. So why should anyone have expected that night could turn out the way it did? Well, this geek who immerses himself in high school hoops for four months a year dubbed it the 'No Nights Off Monsignor Martin' in the preseason for a reason and was voting them #2 after Park before the game was even played...but I digress.
The first game was quite simply an epic evening. Park took a 21-point lead in the first half and led by 19 points at the break. St. Francis methodically chipped away in the third quarter to make it a two-point game heading to the fourth quarter. The Pioneers quickly went back up by eight points to begin the final frame, but in the end, had to score last to take the Red Raiders to overtime. Then another overtime. When the smoke cleared, St. Francis was a 70-66 winner at the home of the top ranked Class A team in NYS. For all the details of that game with point totals, box score, and quotes, click here.
Since that night, both teams have just one loss. Frannies got clipped on their home court by Williamsville South and Park lost a second league game at Timon. Also since that night, the Red Raiders have earned wins over Timon and Canisius. The result: St. Francis now sits in first place in the league standings, ahead of Park, Timon, and Canisius, thanks to beating them all. All of a sudden, Park finds itself in the position of needing a win on Friday night to avoid falling two games out of first place heading into the Manhattan Cup playoffs. That's providing the Pioneers get past Canisius first on Tuesday night. Remember, No Nights Off!
- centercourt
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