(Cardinal O'Hara guard Avion Harris)
- Cardinal O'Hara is 5-0 to start the year, including wins over Canisius, Health Sciences, and Seton Catholic - the team that defeated Health in the Class B state final four last season. The team is loaded with talent and has the best front line in WNY, led by Justin Hemphill, Jaedin Cottman, and Haakim Siner, who came over from Niagara Catholic. But what has stood out to me as much as anything is the play the Hawks have gotten at the point from Avion Harris, another addition from Niagara Catholic. Harris was an All-Centercourt Defender as a sophomore last season and he remains in lock-down mode at that end, but his improvement at the offensive end has taken his game to the next level. Harris is shooting with touch and taking great shots, along with facilitating and staying within the flow of the game. That has allowed Jermaine Haynes to thrive as well, who is a pure scorer at the two guard for the Hawks.
- On Friday night, Jaylen Stewart scored 31 points in a win for Amherst over Sweet Home, while Trent Scott also hung 31 in Lew-Port's win over Kenmore East. But the game-high on the evening went to Ken East's Nate Murdie, who scored 32 in a loss.
- Speaking of Lew-Port, they made just enough plays in a defense of struggle, for a 96-84 win over Kenmore East. You know what they say, defense wins championships...
- As I tweeted last week, City Honors won a Class C state championship in 2003. I looked around their gymnasium and there's not a banner on the wall anywhere. I'll guarantee it's one of the proudest moments in the lives of all involved. Why not honor their accomplishment?
- Against MST Seneca, City Honors connected on 16 first half field goals. In the second half, buckets for the Centaurs were at a premium and they only made four. However, it was enough for the win, as Kevion Taylor came through with the game-winning 3-pointer with just three seconds left in a 56-55 victory. Taylor also scored a game-high 26 points to go with 10 boards in a win over St. Mary's on Thursday.
- East's Jaiden Green hauled in 25 rebounds, to go with his 20 points and five blocks in the Panthers' 79-68 victory over McKinley.
- Earl Howard scored 30 points in MST Seneca's 89-48 win over Riverside.
- Mike Schmidt was passing out buckets in Olean's 75-47 win over Maple Grove, dishing 16 assists on the night, to compliment his 18 points.
- Maurice Robertson had a triple-double in West Seneca West's 68-50 win over Orchard Park, scoring 11 points, with 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
- Elliot Bowen, a three-time First Team All-State selection for Ellicottville and now plays for Alfred, was the first player to earn Empire 8 Rookie of the Week honors.
- St. Joe's erased a 22-point deficit in the third quarter against Aquinas and led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter of a 68-60 victory.
- Southwestern, who went toe-to-toe with Jamestown in a two-point loss and knocked off Tapestry by 12 points, took one on the chin at Fredonia in a 65-44 loss.
- It's not even January yet and ranking the top 10 large schools has already gotten goofy. Williamsville North, who was rolling along undefeated, including a win over West Seneca West, loses at home to Clarence, who lost to unranked Jamestown & Timon. Health Sciences takes O'Hara to overtime a few days before the Hawks defeat Canisius. Falls loses at McQuaid right after Canisius wins there. St. Francis takes a pair of loses to Holy Trinity & UPrep. And West Seneca West cruises past Orchard Park and defeats Lockport to serve up a reminder to pollsters that they are in fact a top 10 large school, despite the four losses to begin the season.
- Tapestry's Tariq Eubanks was a huge factor in the Thunderhawks knocking off NYS Class C #4 Randolph on Monday night. The sophomore scored a game-high 25 points and kept the game at a frantic pace with his defense all night.
- Tyler Hind canned six 3-pointers and scored 34 points in Randolph's 64-55 win over Panama.
- Speaking of Panama, be on the lookout for highlights of Cam Barmore on Twitter. He's got some bunnies. #BOOM
- The Western New York single game-high on the season so far belongs to Lackawanna's Noah Grabar, who finished with 42 points in the team's win over Eden.
-centercourt
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