1. St. Joe's (AA) - Defeated Cardinal O’Hara by more han they lost by at Long Island Lutheran and followed it up with a win over defending Class AAA champ UPrep from Rochester, getting a 26 point, 20 rebound, 4 block effort out of Nate Blenman. Williamsville East comes in on Tuesday night and SJCI finishes off the week at Nichols on Friday.
2. Canisius (AA) - The Crusaders have started the season 3-0 wins at St. Mary’s and against Jamestown & Cathedral Prep in the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament. Canisius has now won that event for 13 straight years, which is wildly impressive when you consider the caliber of competition they invite there each season. They have a pair of games against Rochester teams and finish the week against Cardinal O’Hara coming up.
3. Niagara Falls (AAA) - Dropped one to Cicero-North Syracuse on Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after a road victory at Nichols. Wolverines will enjoy a nice week off from gameplay and look forward to some fun practices with Coach Bradberry.
4. Timon (AA) - A pair of victories last week for the Tigers, at St. Francis and then over a tough UPrep team on Saturday. They head to St. Mary’s on Friday night, but not before a date with the Billies from Williamsville South this Wednesday.
5. Jamestown (AAA) - There was a lot to like about the way this team competed in a loss at Canisius on Friday. And despite a loss and quick road trip turnaround, they came back and buried Lyons the following afternoon by 34 points. On Saturday afternoon, they take the long trek north to face Lockport.
6. Health Sciences (AA2) - Clobbered Hutch Tech in their first action of the season.
7. Williamsville South (A1) - Had an impressive showing in a district rivalry victory at Williamsville North on Tuesday night and finished the week with a double figure victory over Kenmore West. Wednesday night's game at Timon will tell us a lot about where this team stands.
8. Lockport (AA1) - The Lions were clicking on all cylinders Saturday afternoon in a 20-point victory over visiting St. Mary’s. They will need all of those cylinders and a great week practice to get ready for a big game Saturday against an outstanding team from Jamestown.
9. Orchard Park (AA1) - Some new faces, but the same good brand of basketball being played at OP, opening the year with a resounding victory over Lackawanna. The Quakers face a nice challenge Tuesday night at St. Mary’s.
10. Grand Island (A1) - The Vikings looked terrific at the Cataract Classic and are now 2-0 following a 20-point win over BASCS. While I am anything but a fan of the unchallenging nonleague schedule they assembled, they are a good team that will pile up a boatload of wins this season. The team will look for two of those wins this week at Lew-Port and at Buffalo Arts.
Small Schools
1. Randolph (C) - It's been very quiet down in Randolph to start the year. That should change on Tuesday night when Falconer arrives. Friday night the Cardinals play Maple Grove.
2. Westfield (C) - Won a pair of games by a combined 63 points over Clymer and Sherman last week. They get a big test on Thursday at Class D favorite Panama and then participate in the Southwestern Tournament over the weekend, beginning against Ellicottville.
3. Panama (D) - The Panthers head to Maple Grove on Monday night, following a 16-point win at Chautauqua Lake. Then on Thursday night comes the Centercourt Game of the Week with Westfield coming to town.
4. Akron (B1) - A 31-point victory over Albion and a 26-point win against Barker for the league favorites in the N-O last week. The annual Jack Silvernail Tournament tips this week, with the Tigers beginning against BASCS. They also visit Wilson this Friday.
5. Olmsted (B1) - The Owls earned another victory with a 26-point shellacking of Riverside. On Thursday they are at Bennett and take on CCA on Saturday.
6. Salamanca (B2) - The season finally begins for the Warriors, they hope, on Monday at Olean, followed by another tough game at Fredonia on Thursday.
7. Fredonia (B1) - Destroyed Buffalo Culinary by a 64-point margin and then needed overtime to get past Falconer before dropping one at Harbor Creek from Pennsylvania in a no shot clock game. I would move to another state to be centercourt if NYS eliminated the shot clock.
8. Allegany-Limestone (B2) - The Gators are 2-0 in the Niagara-Orleans league, after a lengthy road trip over the weekend gave them a pair of nonleague games against those two from Niagara County. They will return to action in the best small school league in WNY with games against Southwestern on Monday and Dunkirk on Thursday.
9. Falconer (B2) - There’s no shame in an overtime loss at Fredonia, which leaves the Falcons to wonder if things would’ve gone differently had they not lost Mathis Baehr to an ACL injury during football season. Big game coming Tuesday night against the defending champions from Class C in Randolph, one day after, facing the Marauders in Dunkirk. If that wasn’t a tough enough week already, how about a game against Olean on Thursday?
10. MST (B2) - The Wolves enter the rankings on the strength of a victory over I-Prep and convincing victory over Bennett. They'll look to make it three straight wins on Wednesday against Burgard.
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