The View From Centercourt

Class B1 Sectionals

Dates and times of postseason games for both Section VI and the MMAA can be found here.

 

Pre-Quarterfinals

(9) Buffalo Arts 44, (8) Akron 39

(10) Medina 56, (7) Roy-Hart 53

(6) Alden 57, (11) Eden 50

 

Quarterfinals

(1) Dunkirk 83, (9) Buffalo Arts 43

(5) Lackawanna 64, (4) JFK 56

 (2) Newfane 79, (10) Medina 40

(3) Tonawanda 48, (6) Alden 40

 

Semifinals @ Buffalo State

(5) Lackawanna 48, (1) Dunkirk 39

(2) Newfane 63, (3) Tonawanda 38

 

Class B1 Final @ Buffalo State

(5) Lackawanna 58, (2) Newfane 35

 

2011 Section VI Class B1 Champions - Lackawanna Steelers

 

-centercourt

Random Smatterings - Week 5

A guy named Gary Lantinen from Barker, actually took the time to write the local paper in Lockport to complain about Newfane's student section, The Blue Zone, for chanting "airball"  and "start your tractors".   I'll probably put up a separate post on this at another time, but for now I have these thoughts. First, you're giving thick-skinned farmers a bad rap by being so overly sensitive (besides, they all know you shouldn't run those machines cold).  Second, he may have set the stage for numerous "Gary needs a hug" chants the next time the Raiders visit Newfane. 

 

After suggesting that Maryvale might lack scoring options beyond Blair Estarfaa, the Flyers dropped 99 points on Pioneer.

 

Maryvale's 99 points were the fifth most scored by a WNY team this season.  The top four are Jamestown  106, Newfane 102, Chautauqua Lake 101, and Bishop Timon-St. Jude 100.

 

There are only three teams in WNY that remain undefeated: Niagara Falls, McKinley, and Dunkirk.

 

Don't be surprised if Cleveland Hill starts rattling off victories and finds itself in the thick of the ECIC IV race.  After some early season struggles following last season's appearance at Buffalo State, the Golden Eagles are finally healthy, with both Daryl Spencer and Julian Glover back in the lineup.

 

Cassadaga Valley moved up to Class B2 this season.  Of its 18 regular season games, only two are against a Class B school (both against Falconer).   Three games are against Class D schools and the rest against Class C.

 

After losing at McKinley, East took out its frustrations on Lafayette, beating them 85-28.

 

Niagara Falls has gotten some some good contributions recently from Ramir Burton, who was brought up from the JV team after Dale Stewart left the team.

 

Lockport will be without the services of its leading scorer, Andrew Bailey, for the remainder of the season, after he was dismissed from the team.

 

There is a very good possibility that we will see a Falls/McKinley game at Buffalo State.  That matchup would create a major buzz among hoop fans, as we are rarely treated to a game between Falls and a Buffalo school.  The last two times it happened were in 2008 when Falls played Grover in the MLK Classic at Hutch Tech and in 2005 when Falls played Riverside at Buffalo State for the AA championship.

 

When I-Prep at Grover was playing against Canisius at the MLK Classic, it looked like the Crusaders were playing against themselves.  The Presidents new uniforms are a dead ringer for the Canisius jerseys, except they say "Prep".

 

Speaking of Prep, some of the fine bloggers from Section V get quite worked up over schools like OTC, I-Prep at Grover, and Tapestry Charter, because they think of them as true "Prep" schools like the one Paul Harris attended his senior year (Notre Dame Prep).  Even though we all know that the aforementioned schools don't get their pick of the city's best players, I say we perpetuate this myth and make them think I-Prep is compiling a team that will rout the Falls next year.

 

-centercourt

 

 

Random Smatterings - Week 4

I already mentioned this on Inside High School Sports, but it's a promotion worth repeating.  Anyone who sends a link for this blog to ten friends will receive free admission to the Pastor-Cooper Tournament next year.

 

 Two teams picked up their first league wins of the season on Tuesday night with identical scores.  Grand Island beat North Tonawanda and Akron beat Barker, each by a score of 39-37.

 

We're into the second week of January and there hasn't been a single comment from a Bulldog fan about the lack of respect his team is getting.  Obviously noone from Alden is aware of this blog.

 

The Williamsville Schools (North, South, & East) are off to a combined start of 21-4, and one of the four losses was South's win against North.

 

Westfield senior Michael Bova posted a triple-double and broke a school record along the way during a win at North Collins on Monday.  Bova scored 26 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, and blocked a Westfield record 19 shots.

 

Newfane junior guard Sean Seefeldt is also the starting quarterback for the football team.  He shoots left-handed on the court and throws right-handed on the field.

 

When Lafayette senior Davon Ferguson missed a dunk against Riverside, he grabbed the miss and dunked it again...all while still hanging on the rim.  He was assessed a technical foul and the dunk did not count.

 

Maryvale has experienced some major struggles in a pair of recent games.  Leading Cleveland Hill by 10 points after three quarters, the Flyers were outscored 15-2 in the fourth and lost 51-48.  A week later, Maryvale was up 35-23 at halftime against Cheektowaga, but were outscored 13-4 in the third and 24-4 in the fourth, to lose 60-43 to the Warriors.

 

Some major props go out to Williamsville North for the defensive game plan against David Hill of Clarence.  Hill, who has scored 40 before and gone over 30 multiple times, was held to one point in the Spartans 60-55 overtime win against the Red Devils.

 

While checking the box scores last week, I saw Roy-Hart 33, Akron 27.  I quickly scrolled back up to the top of the page thinking I had gone too far down into the girl's scores.

 

Tapestry Charter head coach Earl Schunk said of his Thunderhawks game at Grover on Thursday, "we're bringing the green back to Grover".  The Presidents hope when Tapestry leaves, they're blue.

 

During the Prep Talk live chat last week, Patrick Moran of Buffalo Sports Daily said "NOBODY can shoot three for three with Timon, and I'll admit a bit of biased, but that's a fact, Jack.  And while I haven't seen nearly as many games around WNY this year as Mr. McShea I can say with complete confidence that nobody can shoot threes with Timon". 

Bold prediction time  - when Timon visits Williamsville South on February 11th, the Billies will connect on as many or more 3-pointers.

 

In Lackawanna's 46-35 win over Tonawanda last week, only six players made it into the box score...from both teams combined.  Each team got all its scoring from three players.

 

Maple Grove and Westfield had to switch home games.  The Red Dragons played host in their win against Westfield Tuesday night rather than travel there, because one of the Wolverines JV players dunked and shattered the backboard before Westfield left to play at North Collins on Monday night.

 

 -centercourt

Tonawanda off to a good start

After winning just four games a season ago, the Tonawanda Warriors are already one win away from equaling that total after starting the 2010-11 campaign at 3-0.  The start by Tonawanda is even more impressive when you look at how they are winning...by a lot.

 

The Warriors opened the season with a 35 point win over Roy-Hart and followed that up by beating Alden by 20.  Last night, Tonawanda went on the road to face division foe Cleveland Hill, finalists in Class B2 last year.  For the third straight time, the Warriors were victors by at least 20, beating the Golden Eagles, 45-25.

 

Tonawanda has a solid starting five, led by junior Jesse Lalka, who scored a game-high 19 points in the win over Cleveland Hill.  Lalka is a pure scorer who can shoot from anywhere and also put the ball on the floor.  Senior Kyle Schroeder has good size and is tough on the boards inside.  Schroeder also has good hands and passed the ball well when it came to him inside against the zone.  Sophomore Clayton Hess is tall and broad, and is a nice inside/outside threat.  During the second quarter, Hess showed a soft touch on a pair 0f 3's and defended well in the post.  Steve Stich handles the point and came up with several timely steals.  Stich, along with Shane Foster, make good decisions with the ball and do a good job setting up the offense.

 

The improvement from Tonawanda this season should make for a good league race in ECIC IV, where Lackawanna is going through some early season struggles.  JFK looks like a formidible team as well, after wins against Niagara Catholic and Cleveland Hill.  The Warriors visit the Bears on January 4th and host Lackawanna on January 7th.  If the early season success continues for Tonawanda, they could also be a factor during sectionals in Class B1, where Lackawanna, JFK, Newfane, and Dunkirk all look to be contenders.

 

The fast start for Tonawanda also makes for an intriguing non-league rivalry game next week.  Last year's NFL champ  and Class AA semifinalist, North Tonawanda, will host the Warriors at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 22.  I'm sure Tonawanda would be happy with any margin of victory in that one.

 

-centercourt

Classifications & Leagues

    Class AA                                                                         Class A1

    Niagara Falls - NFL                                                       Hamburg - ECIC II

    Lancaster - ECIC I                                                         Sweet Home - ECIC II

    Lockport - NFL                                                               Williamsville East - ECIC II

    Frontier - ECIC I                                                            Kenmore East - NFL

    Clarence - ECIC I                                                           Hutch-Tech - Yale Cup I

    Orchard Park - ECIC I                                                 Bennett - Yale Cup I

    Jamestown - ECIC I                                                      Grand Island - NFL

    Kenmore West - NFL                                                   Williamsville South - ECIC II

    Williamsville North - ECIC I                                     Lafayette - Yale Cup I

    West Seneca West - ECIC I                                        Iroquois - ECIC II

    North Tonawanda - NFL                                             West Seneca East - ECIC II

    Niagara Wheatfield - NFL                                           Starpoint - ECIC II

    McKinley - Yale Cup I                                                   Lake Shore - ECIC III

 

    Class A2                                                                          Class B1

    Amherst - ECIC III                                                        Tonawanda - ECIC IV

    Riverside - Yale Cup I                                                   Lackawanna - ECIC IV

    Buffalo East - Yale Cup I                                              Newfane - N-O

     Albion - N-O                                                                     Dunkirk - CCAA I

    Lew-Port - NFL                                                                 Alden - ECIC IV

    Cheektowaga - ECIC III                                               Medina - N-O

    Pioneer - ECIC III                                                          Eden - ECIC IV

    Maryvale - ECIC III                                                       JFK - ECIC IV

    Burgard - Yale Cup I                                                      Buffalo Arts - Yale Cup II

    South Park - Yale Cup I                                                Akron - N-O

    Olean - CCAA I                                                                 Roy-Hart - N-O

    East Aurora - ECIC III

    Springville - ECIC III

    Depew - ECIC III

 

    Class B2                                                                      Monsignor Martin

    Fredonia - CCAA I                                                         Canisius - A

    Cleveland Hill - ECIC IV                                             St. Joe's - A

    Emerson - Yale Cup II                                                 Bishop Timon-St. Jude - A

    City Honors - Yale Cup II                                          St. Francis - A

    Southwestern - CCAA I                                               St. Mary's - B

    Wilson - N-O                                                                    Cardinal O'Hara - B

    Gowanda - CCAA I                                                         Nichols - B

    Falconer - CCAA I                                                          Niagara Catholic - B

    Allegany-Limestone - CCAA I                                  Archbishop Walsh - B

    CSAT - N-O

    Cassadaga Valley - CCAA II

 

    Class C                                                                             Class D

    Salamanca - CCAA II                                                   Pine Valley - CCAA III

    Oracle Charter - Independent                                  Brocton - CCAA III

    OTC Middle College - Yale Cup II                          North Collins - CCAA III

    Maritime Charter - Independent                            Ellicottville - CCAA IV

    Holland - ECIC IV                                                         Forestville - CCAA IV

    I-Prep at Grover - Yale Cup II                                 Panama - CCAA IV

    Silver Creek - CCAA II                                                Olmsted - Yale Cup II

    Cattaraugus-Little Valley - CCAA II                      Sherman - CCAA IV

    Tapestry Charter - Independent                             Clymer - CCAA IV

    Randolph - CCAA II                                                      West Valley - CCAA IV

    Frewsburg - CCAA II                                                     Ripley - CCAA IV

    Portville - CCAA II

    Westfield - CCAA III

    Buffalo Science Charter - Independent

    Maple Grove - CCAA III

    MST Prep at  Seneca - Yale Cup II

    Chautauqua Lake - CCAA III

    Franklinville - CCAA III

    Barker - N-O

Random Smatterings - Week 1

When I wrote a preview for Prep Talk, I gave a preseason top ten for the large and small schools.  The hardest part was easily the first four large schools, which I had: 1. St. Joe's; 2. Williamsville South; 3. Jamestown; 4. Canisius.  Then I saw the Crusaders play twice.  Now I'm not changing anything yet, because I haven't seen the other three, and I'm confident they will all be quite impressive as well.  But I do think those four schools are bunched together at the top and it will be a lot of fun watching that sort out.  Oh yeah, then there's Niagara Falls, who might be quietly hiding in the shadows of a team that underachieved a year ago.  If they are (I'm guessing that's the case), make it a top five.

 

After seeing multiple city schools from Buffalo this week, I think the Yale Cup large schools will be a lot of fun to watch this year and very competitive.  East and McKinley both won at the Pastor-Cooper Tournament, while Riverside and Hutch Tech each looked good as well.   Bennett brings back a lot from last year and under the new format, every team plays a home-and-home, meaning Lafayette gets everyone once in its gym - never an easy place to win at.

 

St. Mary's hopes to rebound this week after losses to McKinley and Grover.  The Lancers next face a pair of top ten small schools and the elite of the N-O League, when they host Newfane tomorrow and play against Wilson on Saturday.  Then next week, they get Class AA finalist Clarence.  No other small school opened its season with a tougher schedule.

 

I was chatting with a fellow hoops junkie who questioned what Maple Grove had back to make them competitive.  When I began rattling names off, he said "now you're just reading names from their roster".  Now I realize that Chris Secky was nothing short of phenomonal in leading the Red Dragons to the Class D title last season, but I also saw them play seven times and there are a lot of good players back from that championship team.  They all benefitted from playing a grueling independent regular season schedule and finished by defeating the top Class D teams in the state. 

Well I'm not sure how many noticed, but Maple Grove opened its season by going on the road and defeating the defending four-time overall Class B champion Olean Huskies, 50-43.   Go ahead and tell me Olean is down this year...my response...Olean is Olean and they are a Class A2 school.

 

Tremmell Fisher was awesome in his 34 point effort against OTC Middle College, leading his East High Panthers back from a 10-point halftime deficit.  He plays strong inside, handles the ball well, shoots the three, and is very good defender.  Look for a big-time season from Fisher.

 

Davon Alexander gets most of the hype at OTC Middle College and he was very effective in the Kats first two games.  But OTC has several weapons on the team hoping to repeat as Class C champs.  Junior Khalid Brown has averaged 17 points in the first two games, Emmit Middlebrooks came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points in the loss to East, and Curtis Harper is solid player running the point.

 

Looking for this year's version of Clarence, a team that surprises many with its vast improvement?  Well it just may be the Williamsville East Flames, who interestingly enough started the season with a double-digit win over Clarence and won the Amherst tournament. 

 

Tomorrow the Buffalo News high school basketball preview is out.  Check out these team previews from the Niagara Gazette: Niagara Falls, Grand Island, Lew-Port, Niagara Wheatfield, Lockport, and Niagara  Catholic.

 

A player who is primed for a breakout season is Connor Rehbaum from St. Joe's.  He has all the tools to be one of the top guards in WNY and is coming off a solid performance in the Empire State Games this summer.  I heard that new Marauder Reggie Agbeko turned heads with a nasty baseline dunk on Friday night, as St. Joe's beat host Lockport, 60-43. 

 

The Barker Raiders got a pair of double-doubles from a pair of underclassmen in their 67-44 victory over Section V's Byron Bergen.  What makes it more interesting is that the pair are brothers.  Junior Josh Haight scored 28 points and grabbed 10 boards, while freshman Jake Haight netted 18 points and 13 rebounds. 

 

Kenmore East defeated Alden and host Iroquois to win the Greg D. Martin Tipoff Tournament.

 

Lackawanna opened its season with a one-point victory over St. Francis, while Frontier cruised past Hamburg in the first round of the Hamburg Lions Tournament. 

Starpoint lost a hard fought battle at Lew-Port on Saturday night.  The Spartans started freashnman Julian Mott at point guard after the former starter, senior Lucas Smith, left the team.

 

I found this pretty interesting: Section V's CG Finney is back is Class D after playing up in B2 last year.  On Saturday night, Finney defeated McQuaid, a Class AA school, 63-58.  McQuaid will be in Buffalo on December 17th to play Canisius and December 18th to play St. Mary's as part of the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament.  Finney opened its season by winning the Allegany IAABO Tournament.  In the championship game, Finney beat Portville (Section VI Class C) by five - the same margin as the win over McQuaid.  Portville held an early 10-point lead in that contest.

 

Hinsdale has joined Section V and will compete in Class D2 there.

 

* Tomorrow night, I'll be at St. Mary's to watch the Lancers take on the Newfane Panthers.  It should be a very good game.  If you can't make it out, I'll have a post on the game.

 

By the way, there's a comments section on this blog.  Pick a name, use an email address, and say something.  It's that easy - no registration required.  

 

-centercourt

Tonight's games at Daemen postponed, other postponements, two games still on

Tonight's consolation matchups at Daemen College have been postponed due to weather cancelling school for all four teams.  It is a strong possibility that the same thing could happen tomorrow night.

 

As of right now, a decision on a makeup date and time has not been made, but tournament officials and coaches are looking into options for making games up on Saturday. 

 

UPDATE - A tentative plan is in place for making up the boys consolation games.  The games are currently rescheduled for Saturday morning, begining at 9:30 am.   However, that plan is contingent on the Buffalo Public Schools being plowed out and back in class tomorrow.  If the Buffalo Schools are closed again tomorrow, the championship games would also be postponed...which could wind up changing everything.

 

FINAL UPDATE 12/3/10 

****************************************************************************************

The Greg D. Martin Tipoff Tournament at Iroquois (Alden, Kenmore East, East Aurora, Iroquois) has been postponed.

 

The Town of Hamburg Lions Tipoff tournament at Frontier (St. Francis, Lackawanna, Hamburg, Frontier) has been postponed.

 

The James Walker Tournament at Lew-Port (Lafayette, Starpoint, Lew-Port) has postponed the first game between Lafayette and Lew-Port.  ** This is a round robin tournament format with only three teams.  Friday's game between Lafayette and Starpoint will be contingent on whether the Buffalo Public Schools are in session.  Saturday night's contest between Starpoint and Lew-Port will take place @ 7 pm.

 

Cheektowaga @ Emerson has been postponed.

 

Clymer @ Pine Valley and Falconer @ Cassadaga Valley are both still being played this evening at 7:30 pm.

 

-centercourt

The 2010-2011 preview is out

Following an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday weekend, it's finally time for some high school basketball.  I've completed a preview for the upcoming 2010-2011 season, which is available in its entirety at the Prep Talk blog. 

 

Portions of the preview will be featured here as posts in the coming days, beginning tomorrow.

 

I did my best to include as many schools as possible in the preview, but unfortunately I wasn't able to touch on every school in WNY.  My apologies to anyone left out.  Also, only returning varsity players were featured.  If you know of any impact players who are new to the varsity level, please tell us about them on the main event post.

 

My favorite part of writing a preview is making preseason predictions and putting them in print.  In a post tomorrow, we will take a look back at how the predictions from the 2009-2010 preview went.

 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, after you've finished reading the new preview at Prep Talk.

 

-centercourt