- Saturday's victory over St. Joe's marked the fourth consecutive in the series for Canisius. The Crusaders will now assume the top spot in the local rankings, and deservedly so, as they remain undefeated against competition in NYS. Trailing by 5 points with 2:09 left in the game, sophomore Jack Cullinan buried a 3-pointer to bring the Crusaders within 2 points of St. Joe's who they had trailed since early in the opening quarter. Then his steal and basket in the final minute tied the game, ultimately allowing the opportunity for Nicholas Purdie to sink the game winning '3' from the corner off an assist from Patrick Cullinan.
- Carson Swanson picked up 3 more 30 pieces for Westfield in victories just last week, one of them earning him 39 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 steals. That’s the second time this season he has scored at least 39 in a triple-double. He also netted 34 pts in a win at at Clymer & 30 pts against Allegany-Limestone.
- Randolph's Broden Brooks scored all 36 of his game-high total in a win over Frewsburg from long range. Those 12 triples were one shy of tying the local record set on February 17, 2010 when Joe Licata scored 41 points & canned 13 bombs in a 108-84 by Williamsville South at Iroquois.
- A couple scores to report from Randolph last week: a 74-12 victory along with an 82-30 decision. This includes shutting out a team out during a quarter and allowing just 7 points through three quarters in another game. Yikes.
Middle College also got into the mix of winning games by big margins last week, steamrolling Burgard 72-20. Undefeated Forestville even took notice, dropping a 70-22 decision on North Collins.
Ellicottville allowed just 4 points in the first half of a 45-28 victory at North Collins on Monday. Cattaraugus-Little Valley also got defensive in the first half at Cassadaga Valley, allowing just 4 points scored by the Cougars in the first half.
- On Wednesday night, South and Starpoint lit up the scoreboard with the Billies taking an 89-74 decision. The game featured 55 combined points from Carter Lampke and Nate Wilemski, along with 51 combined points from Jackson Griesmer and Cohen Vogel.
- Antonio Andrews now has 7 double-doubles this season, collecting two more last week. One of them was earned in a win at Williamsville East on Wednesday when the Tigers avenged an earlier loss. Andrews knocked down the game-winning shot from the corner with less than a second left.
- Amherst & South each have just one loss in ECIC II. The Tigers took Round 1 with the rematch scheduled for January 30th at Williamsville South.
- Justus Kleitz banged 10 triples in a 74-47 victory over Lackawanna, erupting for 45 points on the evening. The outburst was two points shy of his career-high, which he also earned this season in an overtime victory against St. Mary’s, which is also the WNY season-high in 2025.
- Another eruption I must mention is Wilson's Aidan Neumann popping off for 40 points in a victory over MST. The junior scored 13 times from the field, including a traditional three-point play and six 3-pointers. The performance came the game following his 30-point game in a 77-56 win over Barker.
- There now have been 5 occasions in which a WNY player scored 40 or more in a game this season. The 30-point mark has happened 61 times already in the 2025 season!
- Trailing by a point in the second quarter on Thursday night, Salamanca went on a 31-5 run against visiting Dunkirk to put the game out of reach quickly.
- Jamestown's Jaydian Johnson is the newest member of the 1,000 career point club, earning the milestone with a 34-point performance and a big victory over Frontier last week.
- Cheektowaga continues rolling along in league play, most recently taking a 30-point lead after three quarters on visiting Pioneer in a 71-50 win.
- And then there were two. With Akron’s loss at Albion on Friday night, just Grand Island and Forestville remain undefeated in WNY this season. That is until Sherman took down Forestville. The Vikings now stand alone.
- We are now down to 5 teams left in the area without a victory. That number would be 4, however, a game against a pair of winless squads was postponed last week.
- Just like last year, Timon is once again, the highest scoring team in WNY this season. They finish the season with a nonleague game at Jamestown, another team pouring in buckets at a rapid rate. Last season, the two teams got together and fired shots until a second half avalanche in South Buffalo put the game out of reach. Should be a much tighter contest this season and projects to be one of the most entertaining of the year.
-🏀centercourt🏀
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