The Section VI postseason begins Tuesday evening with 5 First Round matchups between Class B1 & Class C. as Medina heads to the Southern Tier to face Southwestern. The winners move on to participate in the Pre-Quarterfinal Round, which begins on Wednesday night at 7 pm. Between Friday & Saturday, 32 Quarterfinal games will decide which teams move on to Buffalo State and JCC for the semifinals. See all the postseason matchups with dates, times, & locations, along with updated results at Brackets Central 2024
Below I take a look at some of the best matchups we could potentially see in the Pre-Quarterfinals, Quarterfinals, & Semifinals, and project the classifications with the best championship game, along with sleepers, some winning streaks, & predictions.
** Please note that many of the games below are based on my predictions of who will win in prior rounds.
Most exciting brackets, top to bottom:
9. Class D
8. Class AAA
7. Class AA2
6. Class B2
5. Class A1
4. Class A2
3. Class C
2. Class AA1
1. Class B1
- How do I love thee?… Let me count the ways! I was fired up for this bracket the first time I took a gander at the classification breakdown in the Section VI Handbook back in November. There were literally good teams everywhere, starting with the defending champions from Fredonia. Remember Davion White who kicked the doors down at #BuffState last March when - Lew-Port and Salamanca thought they were on a collision course all season? How about Mike Hahn, who hasn’t missed a 3-pointer since grade school? Yeah, those guys are back.
- Newfane has had a lot of good teams over the years, but I haven’t seen the community this excited about a squad since I’ve been doing this. They spent the regular season steamrolling teams and earned the highest state ranking ever attained by the school. Then they lost Akron.
- Yes, the Akron Tigers, a team that has been in the Top 10 among WNY small schools all season, anxious to make some noise in this bracket. But they’re not the only cats out there sick of hearing about this Newfane team.
- The Kats of Middle College are another small school Top 10, who just happened to win a pair of games over McKinley this season, along with beating Williamsville East. They also have a two-time state champion coach. No big deal though.
- Meanwhile, the Queen City has a few more squads piling up victories in anticipation of WNY‘s second season. Olmsted, Burgard, and BASCS are all in this bracket, and all of them have 14 wins on the season. Olmsted almost beat Starpoint last week, Burgard just beat Olmsted, and BASCS has its best team in program history.
- Now would probably be a good time to talk about East Aurora, the boys who just knocked off Eden and won ECIC V. They own the longest winning streak in WNY with 10 straight victories.
- Well, I guess that’s it, although I feel like there were like 10 teams in this bracket with double digit wins, and I’ve only named eight. Gee, who could I be missing? Oh, that’s right, it was just one week ago today that news broke of Salamanca and Cleveland Hill joining the force. I would’ve made a bigger deal about this, but it’s not like either of those schools have been to Glens Falls recently or have been ranked #1 all season...
Sleepers from each bracket
AAA - Lancaster: There was no shortage of qualified candidates to select as the sleeper for this bracket. However, after heavy contemplation and much council with trusted basketball heads across the state, I have decided to select the Legends as my sleeper in the newly formed Class AAA bracket. They were undefeated for the first month of the season. They own wins over the likes of Orchard Park, Williamsville North, & Frontier, who they swept - a clear indicator they aren’t afraid to attack the paint. They have the same amount of victories this season as the classification's favorite from Niagara Falls with one less game played. And they have Jordan Alexander who is averaging 26.3 points per game this season and was a standout in the Class A Far West Regional last season. Did you just yawn?
AA - Frontier: At the start of the 2024 season, these Falcons were absolutely soaring. They marched into Athol Springs and won the St. Francis tournament, defeating the hosts and Health Sciences, along the way. They didn’t even lose a second game, until the calendar was about to flip to February. Then they got clipped a couple times, like every team did in ECIC I this year, but somehow these dudes show up to the postseason as the #7 seed? They have the best front court in WNY in Matt LaRousch and Nate Errington. Those two are literally literally sleeping giants! See you in the final.
AA2 - North Tonawanda: I have a conspiracy theory to offer up here. Last season ends for the Jacks in one of the most epic quarterfinal games I’ve ever witnessed between NT and Williamsville East. The Flames marched on that night, despite North Tonawanda connecting on 17 three-point bombs. Prior to the start of the season, Ryan Mountain stepped down as head coach and Chris Juergens took over. Surprise move, or all part of a revenge plot against Williamsville East? The Jacks commit to flying under the radar all season, carefully selecting which games to emerge victorious in, all in an effort to earn that quarterfinal rematch at Williamsville East. Without Mountain behind the bench, they’ll never see this coming. Then in the regular season finale, North Tonawanda is handily defeated by Lancaster as Williamsville East scouts, hoping all their players are nodding off during film study the next day. Zzzz.
A1 - South Park: Sure, the Sparks have only won nine games this season. However, a third of those victories have happened in the last two weeks, including a 12-point victory over East, who just took Hutch Tech to overtime. Did you ever watch that show South Park? It comes on late at night, just when you’re starting to get sleepy.
A2 - Lew-Port: Last season, the Lancers arrived at #BuffState ranked #1 and the top seed in their bracket. It’s tough when every team in the bracket is staring you down as the one to beat. So this season, the Lancers are approaching it differently, arriving as the #10 seed after dropping 10 of their last 11 games. The neighbors in the apartment downstairs are complaining about how loudly the A2 bracket is snoring on these guys. Perfect!
B1 - Fredonia: Well, well well. After catching everyone napping last season and marching on to the Far West Regional, it looks like Fredo is up to its old tricks. Once again, Uncle Elmer and the Hillbillies are playing that sweet lullaby with their fiddles and making everyone drowsy, while they hang out at the #8 seed. But they won’t be playing that fiddle on the ride to Salamanca Saturday morning. Fredonia’s bus is tricked out with custom tweeters and subwoofers, and the team is blaring Metallica‘s Enter Sandman on repeat all the way there… Say your prayers little one!
B2 - Allegany-Limestone: In 2022, the Gators went on a serious postseason, run, suffocating the competition all the way to Glens Falls, then came back strong last season, only to drop a heartbreaker in the quarterfinal at Newfane. They’ve only won nine games this season and arrive as the #6 seed in Class. B2. However, two of those wins were their most recent games, both by double figures. Last season, my Class B2 sleeper won the whole bracket. I’m looking for a repeat last seasons, prediction success, so why don’t you go take some melatonin and get some rest so you’ll be wide awake to watch them play on championship Saturday.
C - Maple Grove: Due to the very flawed seeding system used by Section VI, Maple Grove is the #10 seed, despite having 12 wins. That’s four or more victories more than the three teams seeded ahead of them. When I started covering high school basketball, these guys were winning state championships. They made a brief return to the state rankings in 2024. And, they are called the Red Dragons, which sound significantly more angry than Green Dragons. Better not show up with any pillow marks left on your face when playing these guys!
D - West Valley: Sure, the Wildcats have struggled a bit this season. However, the players and coaches there signed up to compete this season, and when they were given the option to sit out of the sectionals, after a winless regular season. They declined the offer!! I admire a coach who wants to continue to earn his paycheck, and provide opportunities for his kids! Every day is a chance to get better, and Thursday at Forestville is another day. You stay awake during 100% of the naps you don’t take, or something like that.
Top 7 Pre-Quarterfinal Games
7. City Honors @ Middle College (B1)
6. BASCS @ Fredonia (B1)
5. Ellicottville @ Chautauqua Lake (C)
4. Medina vs Burgard *at MST (B1)
3. Gowanda @ Panama (C)
2. East @ Allegany-Limestone (B2)
1. Williamsville North @ @ Clarence (AA1)
Top 12 Quarterfinal Games
12. Holland @ Randolph (C)
11. Falconer @ Roy-Hart (B2)
10. Burgard @ Newfane (B1)
9. Middle College @ Olmsted (B1)
8. Ken West @ Starpoint (AA2)
7. Frontier @ Lockport (AA1)
6. East Aurora @ Akron (B1)
5. Grand Island @ Clarence (AA1)
4. Allegany-Limestone @ Tapestry (B2)
3. McKinley @ Niagara Wheatfield (AA1)
2. Clarence @ Jamestown (AA1)
1. Ferdonia @ Salamanca (B1)
Most Exciting Potential Semifinals
10. Allegany-Limestone vs Eden (B2)
9. MST Seneca vs Falconer (B2)
8. Iroquois vs Depew (A2)
7. Salamanca vs Akron (B1)
6. Lackawanna vs Olean (A2)
5. Hamburg vs Williamsville East (AA2)
4. Randolph vs Panama (C)
3. Pioneer vs. vs Williamsville South (A1)
2. Jamestown vs Orchard Park (AA1)
1. Newfane vs Middle College (B1)
Most Exciting Championship Games
5. Class A2
4. Class AAA
3. Class AA1
2. Class C
1. Class B1
Winning streaks heading into sectionals
East Aurora: 10
Panama: 9 & 15 of the last 16
MST Seneca: 9
Westfield: 18 of the last 19
Health Sciences: 13 of the last 14
Amherst: 12 of the last 13
Lockport: 11 of the last 12
Lackawanna: 11 of the last 12
Iroquois: 10 of the last 11
Hutch Tech: 9 of the last 10
BASCS: 8 of the last 9
Akron: 7 of the last 8
Hamburg: 7 of the last 8
Cleveland Hill: 6 of the last 7
Predictions
AAA - Niagara Falls
AA1 - Jamestown
AA2 - Health Sciences
A1 - Amherst
A2 - Lackawanna
B1 - Salamanca
B2 - Allegany-Limestone
C - Randolph
D - Clymer
-centercourt
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