- I deserve to be fed to the gators! After publishing rankings on Sunday and settling into some NFL playoff action, I ended up receiving a couple text messages later that night - one asking me if I forgot and the other saying they were surprised about my decision. "Did you forget to rank A-L?" the first message read. I have copied and pasted my response back to that text:
"I forgot to rank them 🤢. Like I didn't forget about them, I just pasted the teams from last time and pulled them out to move them down and somehow lost my way. I feel so stupid."
Allegany-Limestone arrived at Salamanca last week undefeated and I had them as the #3 ranked small school going in. Due to the 19-point loss, I had intended to move them from #3 down to #5. My mistake and my sincere apologies to the Allegany-Limestone Gators.
- Westfield's Carson Swanson did 2K the right way, earning the 2,000+ point career milestone and an 87–40 victory over Maple Grove at home. The senior dropped a 43-point triple-double on the evening, with 12 steals & 10 assists.
- Tacari McCray accounted for 28 of his teams 47 points last week in Olmsted’s one-point victory at MST.
- CSAT picked up just their second victory of the season, but it came against a quality opponent in BASCS by six points, led by a game-high 27 points from James Floyd, and 22 points from Jayden Adams.
- Medina sophomore Preston Woodworth has been solid all season for the Mustangs and just scored a career high 33-points in the Mustangs 71–43 win over Newfane.
- Akron sophomore Derren Brooks is a legitimate big man for the Tigers and is part of what makes his team so imposing. He scored 15 points, grabbed 13 boards, & swatted 4 shots in the victory at Roy-Hart last week.
- Speaking of Roy-Hart, I hit the jackpot by heading there on Tuesday last week with one of the best games I’ve seen all season...a one-point victory for visiting Akron to remain undefeated. Dan Aquilina, a senior who is averaging 18.1 points & 6.9 rebounds per game for the Rams, scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half, drilled three big triples to change the momentum of the game, and grabbed 13 rebounds on the night.
- If you’ve never been to 'The Barn' in Roy-Hart for a game, it’s a great place to watch one with tight spaces - you get that small school feel for a high school game. Also, the cheerleaders there, along with their coach, are accommodating, gracious, and lovely. They were kind enough to share their cheer space when 'Johnny -Come-Lately' came strolling in right before warm-ups for the varsity game.
- Cheektowaga is 6-2 on the season and looks to have early control in ECIC III following a 17-point victory at Iroquois, who just earned a victory over Pioneer in the same league.
- Amherst picked up bounce back wins over Sweet Home and Williamsville South last week with Elijah Dixon continuing to light up the scoreboard. The senior guard is averaging 27 points over his last three outings. In the victory against Sweet Home, they also got a triple-double from Adam Sarzynski & a double-double from Antonio Andrews.
- Elijah Farmer was just two dimes short of a triple-double in Jamestown's 30-point victory at Williamsville North last week.
- Chris Fagnan registered a career high 27 points in the Spartans loss to Jamestown. The Williamsville North freshman is averaging 14.6 per routing on the season.
- Max Mancabelli and Brody Monaco each missed just one shot from the field in nine attempts during Orchard Parks 87–58 win at Lancaster. Mancabelli also added 7 steals & 5 assists in the win.
- After starting the year 0–6, East has rattled off 4 consecutive victories.
- Randolph led Silver Creek 47–8 at halftime on Friday night.
- Health Sciences took a 74-7 lead into the final frame against I-Prep on Wednesday.
- 11 Marauders scored in St. Joe's 30-point victory over St. Francis on Tuesday.
- Portville junior Aiden DeFazio scored a career high 32-points in an 81–28 victory over Cassadaga Valley.
- Timon freshman Malak Bontzolakes is shooting 45% from beyond the ark on 31 attempts and is perfect from the free throw stripe this season through 11 games.
- Franklinville did not allow a field goal in the first half against North Collins on Thursday, taking a 31–1 lead to halftime en route to a 64–20 victory.
- Forestville scored 36 points in the opening quarter against West Valley on Monday, the same number of points allowed the entire game, a 83–36 win.
- Speaking of Forestville, they are 1 of 3 remaining undefeated teams in WNY, along with Grand Island & Akron. I’m predicting the good times don’t last beyond Monday night, when the Hornets head to Franklinville. Grand Island receives a huge test on Tuesday night at Lockport, while Akron is in a good position to show up at the Centercourt Classic on January 31st unblemished, that is if they can win a second time over Wilson and not get tripped up at Medina on the 28th.
- Still 7 teams without a win out there in WNY.
- High school players will try to mimic everything they see in college & the pros, with the exception of going to the middle of the scorer's table and sitting down when they want to sub in. In most cases, they half squat in front of the person trying to do the scorebook, until tell them to either sit or go to the middle of the table because they can't see.
- Frank Wolf asked me during our weekly show what 3 gyms I am most excited to walk into a game for. After reflecting on the question, I realized that my three favorite gyms that I've always looked the most forward to walking into were #BuffState, JCC, & the arena in Glens Falls.
-🏀centercourt🏀
Comments