The View From Centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings 2022 - Week 9

 

The ninth state rankings for the 2022 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #17

 

Class A

Canisius #10

Amherst #18

 

Class B

Olean #4

Timon #15

St. Mary's #23

 

Class C

Randolph #6

 

Class D

Westfield #4

Clymer #9

Pine Valley #17

 

According to the rankings...

- No one checked the Canisius results when ranking the teams in NYS Class AA.  Jamestown sits one spot ahead of Aquinas at #17.  The Red Raiders lost to Canisius by double figures, while Aquinas defeated Canisius twice this season, once on Delaware Avenue.  Apparently all small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, as the rankings see Victor heading past both of them on the way to states this year. 

- Chaminade will win a CHSAA Class A state championship, but will need to travel to Buffalo and win at Canisius before hand.  They are currently ranked #4 in the state, while Canisius sits at #10.

- East High of Rochester defeated Health Sciences at the Centercourt Classic.  Amherst is projected to do the same in the upcoming postseason, as the Tigers are ranked one spot behind East High and NYS Class A at #18.

 

- The only public school from here to Syracuse ranked in NYS class B is the Olean Huskies.

- Despite slipping to #15 in NYS Class B, Timon is still the team to beat for a CHSAA state championship.  Unless of course, they reach the Manhattan Cup Final, which would take them out of contention and send a knockout tournament winner as the best representative for a Class B state championship push.

 

- Lyons will defeat Oakfield-Alabama in Section V to reach the Far West Regional against Randolph at Buff State, where they are projected to beat the Cardinals also.

 

- Avoca-Prattsburgh win’s the class D state championship going away.  On Wednesday night, they defeated Lyons, who entered the game as the #1 ranked team in NYS Class C.  Currently there could only be two teams in all of Class C better than A-P, according to the rankings, as Lyons is now at #3.  I actually made the trip out and had the pleasure of watching that game and will attest that in my opinion, Avoca-Prattsburgh has all the makings of a state champion.   Crown Point will need both a backslash & a hyphen, along with some Wheaties.

 

Click HERE for complete NYSSWA State Rankings

 

-centercourt

Top Games of the Week: 1/31/22 - 2/6/22

 

Monday, January 31st

McKinley @ I-Prep - 6 pm

Canisius @ St. Mary's - 6:30 pm

Nichols @ St. Francis - 7 pm 

 

Tuesday, February 1st

Ken West @ CSAT - 6:30 pm

Iroquois @ Williamsville East - 6:30 pm

 Salamanca @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm

Allegany-Limestone @ Olean - 7:30 pm

Sherman @ Panama - 7:30 pm

Clymer @ Westfield - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, February 2nd

St. Joe's @ Aquinas - 6:30 pm

Jamestown @ Orchard Park - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, February 3rd

Burgard @ Olmsted - 6 pm

CSAT @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Lew-Port @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

Nichols @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Cheektowaga @ Depew - 7 pm

Canisius @ Health Sciences - 7 pm

 

Friday, February 4th

Centercourt Classic at Hamburg HS

Iroquois vs. Niagara Wheatfield - 6 pm

Cardinal O'Hara vs. Hamburg - 7:45 pm

 

Saturday, February 5th

Centercourt Classic at Hamburg HS

Nichols vs. Niagara Falls - 12 pm

Williamsville East vs. Olean - 1:45 pm

St. Joe's vs. Amherst - 3:30 pm

Canisius vs. Jamestown - 5:15 pm

Health Sciences vs. East High (Rochester) - 7 pm

 

-centercourt

Top Games of the Week: 1/17/22 - 1/23/22

 

Tuesday, January 18th

Lancaster @ Hamburg - 7:30 pm

Jamestown @ Williamsville North - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, January 19th

Health Sciences @ Nichols - 6 pm

St. Mary's @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Pioneer @ Cheektowaga - 6:30 pm

Williamsville East @ Sweet Home - 6:30 pm

St. Joe's @ St. Francis - 7 pm

 

 

Thursday, January 20th

Olmsted @ City Honors - 6 pm

MST Seneca @ Riverside - 6 pm

Frontier @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm

Williamsville North @ Orchard Park - 7:30 pm

Allegany-Limestone @ Salamanca - 7:30 pm

Panama @ Westfield - 7:30 pm

Southwestern @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, January 21st

St. Joe's @ Nichols - 4 pm

Hutch-Tech @ McKinley - 6 pm

Middle College @ South Park - 6 pm

Timon @ St. Francis - 6:30 pm

Cardinal O'Hara @ St. Mary's - 6:30 pm

Ken West @ Lew-Port - 6:30 pm

Sweet Home @ Tapestry - 6:30 pm

Niagara Wheatfield @ CSAT - 7 pm

Depew @ Pioneer - 7 pm

Jamestown @ Clarence - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 22nd

Rochester East High at Niagara Falls - 2 pm

Aquinas @ Canisius - 3:30 pm

Westfield @ Sherman - 6 pm

Park vs. Jamestown * at JCC * - 7 pm

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings 2017 - Week 9

 

The ninth state rankings for the 2017 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Park #7

Williamsville South #9

St. Francis #13

Timon #20

Amherst #24

 

Class B

East Aurora #16  

Middle College #23

Health Sciences #24

 

Class C 

Chautauqua Lake #3     

East #13

Randolph #25

 

Class D

Ellicottville #6 

Franklinville #8

Sherman #19     

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- Not a lot to comment on this week, as not much changed since the last rankings came out a week ago.

 

- Something I noticed in the Class AA rankings.  Aquinas has recently hosted the top two ranked NYSPHAA schools in Class AA, Fairport & Bishop Ludden.  While the Lil Irish struggled big time against Fairport, they only lost to Bishop Ludden by two points.  The fourth ranked NYSPHAA team is UPrep, who Williamsville South defeated.  So even though WNY doesn't have any Class AA teams ranked, on a whole, I think the best from our area stack up nicely against the best NYSPHAA teams in the state.

 

- Park dropped from #4 to #7 in NYS Class A, while Timon moved up from #25 to #20, following the Tigers' overtime victory on Friday night.

 

- Williamsville South slipped back two spots in Class A, from #7 to #9,  for the loss to Aquinas.  Meanwhile, St. Francis, who now sits at the top of the local poll in WNY, inched up one spot to #13 in NYS Class A.

 

- Amherst has finally made it out of Honorable Mention in Class A, landing at #24 in the rankings.  All it took was a five-point win over Sweet Home. 

 

- A couple weeks ago, I pointed out that Section V had teams ranked ahead of Section VI in every classification, with the exception of Class B.  Well, that's no longer the case.  When Health Sciences lost to Middle College, they plummeted in the Class B rankings.  Rochester's Early College is now the highest ranked team from NYS's Far West Region in Class B, indicating a potential sweep at regionals this year.  For what it's worth, Health Sciences defeated Early College in a head-to-head meeting in late December.

 

- Three of the top four teams ranked in NYS Class C are from the Far West Region, with one of them being Chautauqua Lake at #3.

 

- Defeating McKinley doesn't carry the weight it used to.  The Macks, a Class A team that won a state championship in 2013, were defeated by East last week.  The Panthers moved up from #14 to #13 in NYS Class C as a result.

 

- Randolph is now up to #21 in NYS Class C.

 

Click HERE for complete NYSSWA State Rankings.

 

- centercourt

Top Games of the Week: 1/30/17 -- 2/5/17

(Willard Anderson & East High will fight to stay in 1st place this week)

 

Monday, January 30th

McKinley @ East - 4:30 pm

Middle College @ South Park - 6 pm

Timon @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

Dunkirk @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm

Salamanca @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 31st

North Tonawanda @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Kenmore West @ Lew-Port - 7 pm

Wilson @ Roy-Hart - 7 pm

Jamestown @ Williamsville South - 7:30 pm

Hamburg @ Orchard Park - 7:30 pm

Depew @ East Aurora - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, February 1st

Nichols @ St. Joe's - 6 pm

Timon @ Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm

 

Thursday, February 2nd

McKinley @ South Park - 6 pm

St. Joe's @ Cheektowaga - 6:30 pm

Lackawanna @ Springville - 6:30 pm

Aquinas @ Williamsville South - 7:30 pm

Olean @ Dunkirk - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, February 3rd

Barker @ Wilson - 6 pm

Park @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Nichols @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

Grand Island @ Kenmore West - 7:30 pm

 Canisius @ St. Francis - 7 pm

  

 * Game of the Week - McKinley @ East on Monday, January 30th

 There's a traffic jam at the top of the standings in Yale Cup I and a pair of games on Monday that bare big implications on the quest to get your team's name inscribed on the coveted city trophy.

East, South Park, & Middle College are all sitting in a three-way tie for first place with league records of 7-1.  The back-to-back defending Yale Cup I champions from McKinley are sitting one game back with a mark of 6-2.  After Monday night, there are two possible outcomes that could help shape the race for the Cup.

If East defeats McKinley, the Panthers would be tied with the South Park/Middle College winner for first place.  However, a Macks victory would give the winner between the Sparks & Kats sole possession of first place.  So why isn't the game between the two teams currently tied for first place the 'Game of the Week' instead?  Because past history tells us just how good Monday's battle on Northampton will be.

The Panthers have been a WNY small school since 2012, while McKinley has been a staple of Class A1.  The Macks have won four of the last five Yale Cups ('12, '13, '15, '16) and went undefeated in all four of those title campaigns.  They also won a state championship in 2013.  But despite McKinley being a much larger school with a load of recent credentials that set them apart from the rest of the pack in the city, the Macks always find themselves in a serious dog fight when they take the court at East High.

Over the last five seasons, McKinley has won every trip to East - but the largest margin of victory in any of those trips was four points.  In the last five seasons combined, McKinley's wins at East came by a total of 13 points.  That means on average, the Macks have won at East by just 2.6 points.  That includes the state championship team of 2013 only getting out of East High with a 79-76 win.  Even in 2012, when East finished the season just one game above .500 and lost the first round at #MackHigh by 19 points, the Panthers home game against McKinley was a 67-64 game.

So with the defending champs coming into East High needing a win to avoid falling two games behind in the Yale Cup I standings, the hosts sitting in first place and believing they will finish there, and recent history all but promising a thriller in the city, the week of games ahead will get started in style - 'Game of the Week' style, with a 4:30 matinee between the Macks & Panthers!

 

- centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings 2017 - Week 7

 

The seventh state rankings for the 2017 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Park #5    

St. Francis #12

Williamsville South #16   

Timon #22   

 

Class B

Health Sciences #8    

East Aurora #24     

Cardinal O'Hara #25

 

Class C 

Chautauqua Lake #3     

East #18         

 

Class D

Ellicottville #6 

Franklinville #9 

Sherman #19     

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Section VI goes 1-4 in the Far West Regionals this year.  Section V has three ranked Class AA teams to our zero.  In Class A, there are three teams ranked ahead of our highest ranked public school.  In Class C, Section V has the NYS #1 in Perry.  And in Class D, Prattsburgh is ranked two spots ahead of Ellicottville.  Apparently Health Sciences is our only hope.

 

- Losing to an unranked opponent only cost the Pioneers four spots.  Park went from #1 to #5 in NYS Class A for its home loss to St. Francis.

 

- The reward for St. Francis?  They return to the state rankings at #12, only two spots higher than they were two weeks ago, before they were dropped completely last week.  What I'm trying to figure out is, what had them ranked #14 two weeks ago? Beating Cathedral Prep?  And if beating Cathedral Prep (from PA) was worthy of #14, how is a win AT Park only good for two spots better?

 

- Williamsville South was punished harder for losing to unranked Amherst on the road than Park was for a home loss.  The Billies dropped nine spots from #7 to #16 in NYS Class A.

 

- Meanwhile, Amherst, who has been in the state's 'Honorable Mention' for weeks, remains there despite the win.  Dear NYS rankings:  It's time to rank the Tigers!  I know that much stock is put into "records" when compiling the state rankings, with much less weight on who wins & losses come against.  Well the "too many losses" garbage argument might work for continuing to not rank Canisius with a 7-5 record, but there is no excuse to not have Amherst ranked. They are 12-2 with no bad losses, but some impressive wins. 

 

- Just to recap on Amherst, the Tigers have spent five weeks this season as a NYS Class A Honorable Mention.  Then they defeat Williamsville South, who comes in ranked #7 in NYS Class A.  The prize?  More Honorable Mention.  How?  Why?

 

- Staying in NYS Class A, Timon dropped FIVE spots, from #17 to #22 for losing on the road to UPrep (#5 in NYS AA).  So that road loss is more punishable than Park losing at home to an unranked Class A team???  Please!!!  It sounds so ridiculous, you'd think I just made this stuff up for your entertainment.

 

- Cardinal O'Hara's sixth straight win was enough to finally get them into the poll, barely, at #25.  But it took a double-digit victory over Walsh, who had been #22 before being dropped for the loss.  

 

- East Aurora dropped five spots in NYS Class B, from #19 to #24 for its loss at Cheektowaga.

 

- Sherman lost to Clymer last week and fell seven spots, but not out of the rankings.  The Wildcats, who's best win this season came against Frewsburg, went from #12 to #19 in NYS Class D.

 

- Finally there's the Class C developments to leave you scratching your head like you have a bad case of itchy scalp.  The only two teams that have been ranked all season, Chautauqua Lake & East, both had league road games last week against defending state champions.  The Thunderbirds lost at Olean by one, while East lost at Middle College by three.  As a result, Chautauqua Lake moved up THREE spots from #6 to #3.  East fell four spots from #14 to #18.  Makes sense right?  

 

Click HERE to see the complete NYSSWA State Rankings.

 

- centercourt

Top Games of the Week: 1/23/17--1/29/17

(Juilian Cunningham & the Red Raiders host Timon on Friday night)

 

Monday, January 23rd

Canisius @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 24th

Health Sciences @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Depew @ Niagara Wheatfield - 6:30 pm

Albion @ Medina - 6:30 pm

Williamsville South @ St. Francis - 7 pm

Amherst @ Jamestown - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, January 25th

Hutch-Tech @ Olmsted - 6 pm

Burgard @ Lackawanna - 6:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Canisius - 7 pm

  

Friday, January 27th

Franklinville @ Burgard - 6:30 pm

Bishop Kearney @ Canisius - 6:30 pm

CCA @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

Timon @ St. Francis - 7 pm

Cardinal O'Hara @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

Amherst @ St. Michael's - 7:30 pm

East Aurora @ Depew - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 28th

Orchard Park @ Medina - 6 pm

Barker @ Oakfield - 7:15 pm

RAP Classic at Aquinas

Williamsville South vs. UPrep - 2 pm

Jamestown vs. Irondequoit - 4 pm

Aquinas vs. Fairport - 7:30 pm

 

 * Game of the Week - Timon @ St. Francis on Friday, January 27th

In the 'No Nights Off' Monsignor Martin Association, Friday nights game between these two top five large schools should be a war.  Hailing from the same league, these guys have long been rivals!

The teams have much about their makeup in common.  Both have young coaches who have put their stamp on the program with a passionate approach.  Each team has some senior leadership, along with a crop of talented underclassmen to ensure they will both remain competitive in coming years and keep these battles ultra entertaining.

Last season, they faced off twice.  Both meetings went to the Tigers, but the first round required double overtime before Timon came out on top.  Each school reached the Manhattan Cup semifinals in Class A, before the two were eliminated by Canisius & Park.

It's been a long time since the Red Raiders knocked off their rivals from McKinley Parkway.  You have to go back to the 2010 season, before the current coaches had taken over the programs.  That's good for a 14-game winning streak for Timon against St. Francis.

What makes this year's rivalry so enticing?  For starters, the talent they both roll out on the court, but more so, it's the quality wins each has already earned this season.  Timon has the distinction of being the squad that finally clipped Canisius, after a lengthy win streak for the Crusaders over all the other WNY foes.  For St. Francis, there was a pretty major win earlier in the week at Park, who was not only #1 in WNY, but #1 in the state.  They won't be anymore and have the Red Raiders to thank for that.  A Friday night 'Game of the Week', South Buffalo style. As always, get there early!

 

- centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings 2017 - Week 6

 

The sixth state rankings for the 2017 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Park #1

Williamsville South #7

Timon #17 

 

Class B

Health Sciences #9

East Aurora #19

Walsh #22

 

Class C 

Chautauqua Lake #5 

East #14 

 

Class D

Ellicottville #6 

Franklinville #9 

Sherman #12 

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Still no teams ranked in NYS Class AA, still no surprise.  UPrep has made it all the way to #4 in the state's highest classification, and at 11-2, one of its loses came from Niagara Falls.

 

- Mount St. Michael is #9 in NYS Class AA and needed overtime (along with Noah Hutchins on the bench) to defeat Park, who remains #1 in NYS Class A.

 

- St. Francis losing at unranked Canisius by three got them dropped from NYS Class A, after being #14 last week.  The Crusaders also remained unranked by the state.

 

- Timon moved up from #22 to #17 in NYS Class A.

 

- Health Sciences was penalized three spots in NYS Class B, falling to #9 after losing at St. Francis, but the Falcons are back in the state final four again with no Rochester teams ranked ahead of them.

 

- Walsh dropped seven spots in NYS Class B, from #15 to #22, for losing by two points at unranked Nichols.

 

- Dunkirk's loss at Chautauqua Lake has them out of the state rankings in NYS Class B, where they were #19 last week.

 

- Meanwhile, East Aurora moves up five spots in NYS Class B, from #24 to #19, following a week that saw them beat Maryvale by 14 points.  Newark, who traveled to Buffalo and beat the Blue Devils by eight points without ever trailing, is ranked six spots behind EA at #25.

 

- Chautauqua Lake is once again the team from Section VI in NYS Class C after knocking off Dunkirk.  The Thunderbirds jumped from #11 to #5, while East, who had been ahead of Chautauqua Lake, dropped from #10 to #14 after its loss at the buzzer to unranked Cardinal O'Hara.

 

- The three Class D teams ranked in NYS, Ellicottville, Franklinville, & Sherman, all moved up one spot from last week's rankings.

 

Click HERE to see the complete NYSSWA State Rankings.

 

- centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings 2017 - Week 5

 

The fifth state rankings for the 2017 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Park #1

Williamsville South #7

St. Francis #14

Timon #22

 

Class B

Health Sciences #6

Walsh #15

Dunkirk #19

East Aurora #24

 

Class C 

East #10

Chautauqua Lake #11

 

Class D

Ellicottville #7

Franklinville #10

Sherman #13

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Still no teams ranked in Class AA.  The latest developments from here to Rochester - Fairport & UPrep (Class AA) have both lost to Irondequoit (Class A).  UPrep defeated Aquinas, both in Class AA.  Niagara Falls, who beat UPrep on December 3rd, lost at Aquinas over the weekend.  My prediction/speculation is that Lockport cracks the top 25 in NYS Class AA next week if they can beat Niagara Falls this week.

 

 -Williamsville South, who now owns the longest active win streak against WNY teams at 22 games heading into tonight against Iroquois, moves up one spot to #7 in NYS Class A.  The Billies also have the longest win streak of any team against Section VI competition at 29 games.  

 

- Thursday night at Park will feature #7 vs. #1 in NYS Class A as the Pioneers host the Billies.

 

- St. Francis is now the second highest ranked MMA team in NYS.  The Red Raiders have climbed to #14 in Class A.  They could move up even higher with wins over Health Sciences and Canisius this week.  

 

- Timon falls from #14 in NYS Class A to #22 following its second loss of the season at Park.  Canisius remains unranked for a second straight week, despite a lopsided win at St. Joe's, heading into tonight's game with #1 ranked Park.

 

- Walsh finally jumps in the NYS Class B rankings, landing at #15 - one spot ahead of St. Mary's, who was knocked out of the top 25.  Walsh defeated the Lancers in Lancaster on Sunday afternoon.  It was the second league loss in the same week for the reeling Lancers, who fell at Cardinal O'Hara also.

 

- East Aurora is back in the state rankings in Class B.  The Blue Devils took the #24 ranking at the expense of Lackawanna, who had been ranked #20.  EA beat the Steelers in their crib last Tuesday night.

 

- East and Chautauqua Lake each inched up one spot in the NYS Class C rankings, where the state still views THREE teams from Section V as superior to anything Class C has to offer.  Section V has only beat Section VI in the Class C regional once since 2009.

 

 

- Ellicottville returns to the top of the order of Class D teams tightly bunched in the NYS rankings.  

 

Click HERE for the complete NYSSWA State Rankings.

 

- centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings 2017 - Week 2

 

The second state rankings for the 2017 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #1

Park #2

Williamsville South #8

Timon #23

 

 Class B

Health Sciences #7

East Aurora #8

Lackawanna #17

Dunkirk #22

 

 Class C 

Chautauqua Lake #3

East #7

Silver Creek #11

Barker #18

 

 Class D

Ellicottville #6

Sherman #8

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- There are now at least three teams fro Section V ahead of Section VI in Class AA.  Fairport (9), Aquinas (19), & UPrep (25) are in ranked in NYS Class AA.  Niagara Falls has split with UPrep this season, with the loss coming this past weekend.  

 

- Canisius returns to the Class A Fed Final and wins it for a second time in three seasons.  The Crusaders are now the number one ranked team in NYS Class A.  They moved to #1 due to Albany Academy, the defending Fed champs, losing a pair of out-of-state games.  Canisius has started five juniors in their last two wins, so I guess we can go ahead and crown them for next season too.  In all seriousness, I don't understand what losing games out-of-state has to do with NYS rankings.  No offense intended to the boys from Delaware Avenue, but I suspect they would have gotten the same results as Albany Academy had they played those same two games.

 

- Williamsville South is now NYS Class A #8 (previously #9), while Timon climbed up two spots to #23.  This transpired after a week in which both faced Amherst.  South came back from six points down to force OT and take the win.  Timon beat Amherst by 19 and trailed for one possession in the first quarter.  The Billies travel to South Buffalo on Thursday night to battle Timon.  The state's early line has South -8.5.

 

- St. Francis isn't getting any love on the state level yet.  Some advice for the Red Raiders - try flirting with Neil Kerr.  Tell him you really like his hair or his sense of style.  Everyone likes a compliment...bound to get you the love you deserve.

 

- Cheektowaga debuted at #14 in NYS Class A last week and then was dropped from the rankings following the loss to Park.

 

- Four of the top seven teams in NYS Class C are from the Far West Region.  East Rochester (#2) & Northstar Christian (#4) from Section V and Chautauqua Lake (#3) & East (#7) from Section VI. 

 

- Silver Creek has quietly improved to 5-0 on the season and sits at #11 in NYS Class C.

 

- Barker fell three spots in NYS Class C for losing to Lyndonville, an unranked Class D team from Section V.  Something has to give here.  Either Barker should have fallen harder, or Lyndonville should be ranked in NYS Class D.  Lyndonville is 3-1, with two wins over teams in Class B and the third over a state-ranked Class C team on the road (Barker).  They lost to Elba, who is 4-0 and also unranked in NYS Class D.  The only other working theory could be that Class D is largely considered stronger as a whole than Class C this season.

 

- Staying on the Class C rankings, I say it's time to throw Randolph a bone.  The Cardinals have two losses, to Ellicottville and Franklinville.  They also own a recent win over South Park.  Even though the Sparks are clearly not the team I thought they were, that's still an impressive win for Randolph.  And those two losses are not bad ones - by now, you should all know I'm high on Ellicottville.  As for Franklinville...see below.

 

- Franklinville went from NYS Class D #19 to unranked for losing by three points at Walsh. Dropping a team from Class D rankings for losing to an undefeated Class B team sure sounds like crazy talk to me.  I have no doubt that Franklinville will be in the final Class D state rankings this season, so I encourage the panel to come around on them soon.  They are good.

 

Click HERE for the complete NYSSWA State Rankings.

 

-centercourt

ADPRO Public/Private Challenge - 2016 Lineup

 

For the next three nights, I will set up shop at centercourt from Depew High School to cover the ADPRO Public/Private Challenge.  The 10 game showcase is WNY's largest annual high school basketball event, pairing the teams from the Monsignor Martin Association against public schools from various leagues throughout Section VI.

 

The event was originated by former St. Mary's AD/Coach Kevin Kelleher and ADPRO Senior vice president & former Sweet Home coach Paul Schintzius and started out as the ECIC / MMA Challenge. Since it's inception, the event has grown, now billed as the "Public/Private Challenge" as it expanded past just the ECIC to include teams from all over WNY.   St. Mary's hosted the Challenge for years, before Canisius and St. Joe's each took a turn hosting the event.  This season will mark the second straight year the event takes place at Depew.

 

Below is the complete three-day schedule, and as you will notice, it includes multiple games that will impact Large & Small School Poll votes and be talked about for the rest of the season.

 

Thursday, December 15th

Starpoint vs. Niagara Catholic - 5 pm

Newfane vs. Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm

Friday, December 16th

Maryvale vs. Nichols - 5 pm

West Seneca East vs. St. Mary's - 6:30 pm

Amherst vs. Timon - 8 pm

Saturday, December 17th

Fredonia vs. Walsh - 12 pm

Depew vs. CCA - 1:45 pm

Kenmore West vs. St. Francis - 3:30 pm

Cheektowaga vs. Park - 5:15 pm

Jamestown vs. Canisius - 7 pm

 

Below are links to some past ADPRO Challenge coverage:

Saturday's games from 2015 ADPRO Challenge - Canisius vs. Williamsville South finale

Friday's games from 2015 ADPRO Challenge - Park vs. Amherst finale

Thursday's games from 2015 ADPRO Challenge - St. Joe's vs. Niagara Falls finale

Canisius handles Olean in the 2013 featured matchup

St. Mary's defeats Clarence at 2013 ADPRO Challenge

Olean defeats Canisius in epic battle of WNY's top small school vs. top large school from 2012 ADPRO Challenge

 

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Canisius wins 5th straight Keenan Tournament

(Jayce Johnson splits the Aquinas defense during the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament at Canisius)

 

For a fifth straight season, Canisius has opened its season with a pair of victories.  The Crusaders followed a 67-61 victory over Cheektowaga on Friday afternoon with a 43-38 win over Aquinas on Saturday, to claim a fifth straight Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament Championship.  The tournament final featured a pair of defending state champions.  Aquinas won the 2016 NYSPHAA state crown in Class AA, while Canisius won a second straight CHSAA state title last season.  The Crusaders took a pair of meetings last season over the Lil Irish, including a victory in last season's tournament championship game as well.

 

With a whole new lineup of starters, it was the same old result on Delaware Avenue.  The Crusaders rolled out five juniors in their starting lineup on Saturday, while Aquinas had just one starter back in its lineup from last season's title run.  The lone Aquinas starter, Jalen Pickett, was name Most Valuable Player following his game-high 23 points in the loss.  Pickett also added eight rebounds, three blocks, three steals, and three assists on the day.

 

"Right now, I don't know what to expect game in and game out," Canisius coach Kyle Husband said.  "Early on like this with a lot of new faces, to be able to pull out a victory against a really good team like that - certainly we'll take that."

 

The championship game was a defensive affair throughout and neither team shot the ball well.  The Crusaders made 15 of 51 attempts from the field and connected just three of their 15 attempts from long range.  Aquinas faired no better, taking six more shots than Canisius, while also hitting on just 15 shots.  Canisius held a slight edge on the boards, 42-36, which helped compensate for 15 turnovers.

 

Canisius built its largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter when they went up by eight, but the Lil Irish managed to cut the deficit to three points on a Pickett 3-pointer in the closing seconds, before the Crusaders sealed the game from the charity stripe.

 

Jayce Johnson led victors in scoring with 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds.  Brendan Trapper & Nick MacDonald each netted 10 points, with Trapper also grabbing eight rebounds.

 

Cheektowaga defeated Nazareth in the consolation game, 51-48.  Vaughn Burdette led the Warriors with 18 points in the win and Dom Welch added 17 points.  In the first round, Welch scored a season-high 40 points against the Crusaders, but his team's comeback attempt fell short after digging a big hole in the first half.  Welch, who is chasing the all-time WNY scoring record held by former Burgard star Ritchie Campbell (2,355), finished with 57 points in the two games over the weekend to push his career total to 1,794.

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Final for 2016

 

 

The final state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the Far Western Region teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Aquinas #2

Fairport #15

 

Class A 

Canisius #2

Park #6

Williamsville South #15

Batavia #16

Amherst #17

Pittsford Sutherland #18

Greece Athena #20

McKinley #24

 

 Class B

Olean #2

Fredonia #12

Wellsville #14

North Rose-Wolcott #17

Walsh #18

St. Mary's #23

Health Sciences #25

 

 Class C 

Middle College #1

Early College #2

Northstar Christian #6

East Rochester #10

Olmsted #12

Perry #16

 

 Class D

Panama #3

CG Finney #7

York #12

Genesee Valley #13

Elba #17

Ellicottville #20

Franklinville #21

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

- The Canisius vs. Aquinas, Canisius vs Park, and Park vs. Aquinas games were the type of elite level NYS games we thought they were.  Aquinas lost in the Class AA Federation Championship game by just seven points.  Canisius defeated the Lil Irish twice, Aquinas beat Park by five, and Canisius needed overtime to move past Park for the Manhattan Cup.

 

- McKinley took a bit of a snub.  With the Macks' only loses coming to Canisius and South (by four), they end up #24 in NYS Class A, behind #17 Amherst, who fell to the Billies by 10. With South, Batavia, & Amherst all bunched together in consecutive slots, McKinley seems a little far down seven spots behind Amherst.

 

- From the start of the season to the NYSPHAA Class B State Championship game, Fredonia was the only team to lose to Olean by single digits...and they did it all three times they played, including an overtime loss by two.  Yet for whatever reason, they end up #12 in NYS Class B, behind the likes of Marlboro & Hudson who the Huskies knocked off by double figures, Bishop Grimes who struggled with Marlboro, and three other teams that didn't even reach Glens Falls.  Sorry Neil Kerr, but even if you want to throw a bone to the other three teams that reached Glens Falls in Class B, the next team in line that didn't reach Glens Falls HAD to be Fredonia.  You dropped the ball on that one big time.  Do your research or listen to the Section VI rep who probably told you the same thing I'm saying!!!

 

- Championships don't matter to the panel, apparently.  Nichols wins the Class B Manhattan Cup and ends up unranked, while Walsh & St. Mary's get in.  If it's all about regular season records, don't have a postseason tournament.

 

- All season long, I mocked the Class C rankings for picking a new flavor of the week, while Middle College struggled to get in and then hovered around the middle of the Class C rankings because of the all-important record.  Scoreboard!  

 

- Staying with Class C for a moment, after seeing what was waiting for Middle College at Glens Falls and coming from WNY, we had it going on in Class C.  Teams like Silver Creek, Chautauqua Lake, East, Tapestry, Randolph, and Portville are all deserving of being in the top 20 and could have competed in that state tournament.

 

- Panama finished at #3 in Class D, which is right where I would have had them also.  Excellent season for the Panthers and the best in program history.

 

For complete state rankings, click here.

 

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Far West Regionals - 2016

(Jordan Buell lets the game-winning 3-pointer fly, which sent the Billies to Glens Falls / Photo by Harry Scull)

 

Class A:  Williamsville South 53, Batavia 51

 

The Billies got a 3-pointer from Jordan Buell with 10 seconds left to advance to the state semifinals - the school's first ever appearance in Glens Falls.

 

"So many emotions right now," said Buell.  "We knew it wasn't over...this is just amazing."

 

South:    13 - 13 - 15 - 12 = 53

Batavia:  6 - 14 - 16 - 15 =  51

 

FG%:  South 37.7%, Batavia 37%

3-Point %:  South 31%, Batavia 35.7%

Points in Paint:  Batavia 24, South 18

Second Chance Points:  Batavia 13, South 1

Bench Points:  South 5, Batavia 0

Rebounds:  Batavia 41, South 32

Assists:  South 11, Batavia 9

Steals:  South 7, Batavia 3

 

Williamsville South

Greg Dolan - 17 Pts, 6 Asts, 6 Rebs, 3 Stls

Graham Dolan - 16 Pts, 8 Rebs, 2 Blks, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Myles Hall - 9 Pts, 3 Rebs, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

Jordan Buell - 6 Pts, 3 Rebs, 1 Ast

Ryan Philipps - 5 Pts, 5 Rebs, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Matt Foster - 3 Rebs, 1 Blk

Cody Sanford - 1 Stl

 

Batavia

TeeSean Ayala - 20 Pts, 6 Rebs, 1 Stl

Malachi Chenault - 12 Pts, 5 Rebs, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Trevor Sherwood - 8 Pts, 14 Rebs, 3 Ast, 1 Stl

Jake Schrider - 6 Pts, 4 Rebs, 1 Blk

Ryan Hogan - 5 Pts, 3 Rebs, 3 Ast

Greg Mruczek - 5 Rebs, 2 Ast

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

Class B:  Olean 54, Wellsville 30

 

The Huskies started and slow faced a 10-point deficit, just five minutes into the game.  However, a 30-3 run followed when four of its first five field goals were 3-pointers, as Olean improved to 25-0 on the season and advance to Glens Falls for the 5th time in the last 10 seasons.

 

"We knew they packed it in, so we figured if we could get going from the outside, that would open things up for the penetration," Olean coach Jeff Anastasia said.  "In reality, we scored off our defense."

 

Olean -        10 - 15 - 16 - 13 = 54

Wellsville - 12 -  3 - 10 -  5 = 30

 

FG%:  Olean 41.7%, Wellsville 25.6%

3-Point %:  Wellsville 33.3%, Olean 29.4%

Points in Paint:  Olean 30, Wellsville 8

Points Off Turnovers:  Olean 25, Wellsville 10

Bench Points:  Wellsville 5, Olean 4

Rebounds:  Wellsville 32, Olean 30

Assists:  Olean 10, Wellsville 5

Steals:  Olean 13, Wellsville 3

 

Olean

Elijah Ramadhan - 20 Pts, 5 Rebs, 4 Ast, 4 Stl

Ben Eckstrom - 9 Pts, 7 Rebs, 4 Blks, 3 Stls, 1 Ast

Derek Schmidt - 8 Pts, 6 Rebs, 1 Blk

Jake Cavana - 7 Pts, 7 Rebs, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

Monty Shoemaker - 6 Pts, 3 Stls, 2 Rebs

Mike Schmidt - 2 Pts, 3 Ast, 1 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

Malakye Wofford - 2 Pts, 1 Stl

 

Wellsville

Liam Ebert - 11 Pts, 3 Rebs, 2 Ast

Dylan Griffiths - 6 Pts, 8 Rebs, 2 Stl

David Lawson - 4 Pts, 7 Rebs

Nick Brown - 3 Pts, 1 Reb

Cooper Buckley - 2 Pts, 4 Rebs, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

Mike Giopulos - 2 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Ast

Carter Hoffman - 2 Pts, 1 Reb

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

Class C:  Middle College Kats 62, Early College Cobras 58

 

After taking a 10-point lead by halftime, the Kats saw Early College fight back and threaten to end their season.  But unlike last year when Middle College went out in the regional, the Kats got clutch free throw shooting from Amir Jemes down the stretch, as the senior point guard calmly sank his last six attempts.  Middle College heads back to Glens Falls for the fourth time since 2010.

 

"When I first got to the line, I was a little shaky because I missed my first one & one," said Jemes.  "But when I got back there I had to make them...I couldn't go back to the same position I was in last year."

 

Middle College - 18 - 17 -  7 - 20 = 62

Early College -    15 - 10 - 14 - 19 = 58

 

FG%:  Kats 44.4%, Cobras 33.3%

3-Point %:  Kats 21.4%, Cobras 15.8%

Points in Paint:  Cobras 38, Kats 32

Points Off Turnovers:  Kats 9, Cobras 2

Bench Points:  Kats 4, Cobras 0

Rebounds:  Cobras 46, Kats 35

Assists:  Kats 8, Cobras 8

Steals:  Kats 5, Cobras 3

 

Middle College Kats

Jojo Staton - 20 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Stl

Gary Foster 13 Pts, 6 Reb, 3 Blk, 2 Stl, 1 Ast

Brian Johnson - 12 Pts, 8 Rebs, 4 Ast, 1 Blk

Amir Jemes - 8 Pts, 3 Rebs, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

Billy Rivera - 5 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Ast

Hakeem Dobbins - 4 Pts, 1 Reb

Lorenzo Truitt - 1 Reb, 1 Stl

 

Early College Cobras

Tajmin Holt - 23 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Blk, 1 Ast

Bryan Harrell - 22 Pts, 17 Reb, 1 Blk

Jagdeep Drumgoole - 8 Pts, 5 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Stl

Anthony Clermanso - 5 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Ast

Jamonte Forrest - 5 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl

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

Class D:  Panama 70, CG Finney 57

 

Despite being able to recruit from the City of Rochester, CG Finney, a private school located in Penfield, hides behind its enrollment numbers and competes against legitimate public schools from Class D.  After leading by nine points in the first half, CG Finney cooled off and watched Panama win the third quarter 23-10, as the Panthers overtook the Falcons, reaching Glens Falls for the first time in school history.

 

"They came out shooting lights out," Panama coach Ed Nelson said.  "In the second half, we had to work harder on defense, we had to make sure we closed out better and contested.  This is special right now - it's the first time Panama has been to the show and I'm proud of them."

 

Panama -     18 - 14 - 23 - 15 = 70

CG Finney - 18 - 16 - 10 - 13 = 57

 

FG%:  Panama 55.6%, CG Finney 38.9%

3-Point %:  Panama 50%, CG Finney 44.8%

Points in Paint:  Panama 24, CG Finney 14

Points Off Turnovers:  CG Finney 20, Panama 13

Bench Points:  CG Finney 15, Panama 0

Rebounds:  Panama 38, CG Finney 21

Assists:  Panama 13, CG Finney 12

Steals:  CG Finney 4, Panama 3

 

Panama

Josh Odell - 22 Pts, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

Chris Blose - 17 Pts, 10 Reb, 5 Ast

Jack Payne - 13 Pts, 3 Ast, 2 Reb, 1 Stl

Josh Eddy - 12 Pts, 16 Rebs, 2 Blks, 1 Ast

Jarett Yuchnitz - 6 Pts, 5 Rebs, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

 

CG Finney

Simeon Heard - 24 Pts, 3 Rebs, 2 Ast, 2 Stl

Dylan Ocorr - 12 Pts, 1 Reb

Xavier Smith - 7 Pts, 3 Rebs, 1 Ast

Max Harris - 6 Pts, 6 Asts, 2 Reb, 1 Blk, 1 Stl

Keegan Ocorr - 3 Pts, 2 Reb

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

Class AA:  Aquinas 65, Niagara Falls 42

 

An early 3-pointer from Breon Harris gave Niagara Falls a 3-1 lead, before the Lil Irish quickly took over and soon had the game out of reach.  Aquinas led by 25 points at halftime and led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter, to earn a return trip to Glens Falls where they will face defending state champion Shenendehowa in the semifinals.

 

"What could go wrong did go wrong," Niagara Falls coach Sal Constantino said. "At the end we didn’t want to quit...the final score is not going to dictate our season."

 

Aquinas -         18 - 20 - 15 - 12 = 65

Niagara Falls - 7  - 6  - 14 - 15 = 42

 

FG%:  Aquinas 51%, Niagara Falls 34%

3-Point %:  Aquinas 44.4%, Niagara Falls 13.3%

Points in Paint:  Aquinas 32, Niagara Falls 20

Points Off Turnovers:  Aquinas 20, Niagara Falls 11

Bench Points:  Niagara Falls 12, Aquinas 4

Rebounds:  Aquinas 34, Niagara Falls 28

Assists:  Aquinas 13, Niagara Falls 5

Steals:  Aquinas 5, Niagara Falls 5

 

Aquinas

Jason Hawkes - 20 Pts, 6 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 Stl

Earnest Edwards - 16 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

David Vito - 15 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast

Jalen Pickett - 10 Pts, 3 Ast, 2 Reb, 1 Blk, 1 Stl

Graycen Carter - 2 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk

Sincere Alston - 2 Pts, 1 Reb

Jamir Jones - 3 Reb, 1 Ast

 

Niagara Falls

Breon Harris - 10 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Stl, 1 Ast

Qeyion Williams - 9 Pts, 3 Ast, 1 Reb

Charles Lamar - 8 Pts, 3 Reb

Syquan Ralands - 5 Pts, 4 Reb

Devin Sanders - 4 Pts, 2 Stls, 1 Reb

Cortese Myles - 2 Pts, 3 Reb

Marquise Miller - 2 Pts, 1 Reb

Jamel Burton - 2 Pts, 1 Ast

Tyler Sanders - 1 Reb, 1 Blk

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 10 - 2016

 

The tenth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #2

Park #6

Amherst #7

Williamsville South #11

McKinley #14

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #13

St. Mary's #14

Health Sciences #20

Fredonia #23

 

 Class C 

Middle College #7

Tapestry #14

Cleveland Hill #19

 

 Class D

Panama #10

Franklinville #13

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Section V now has four teams ranked in Class AA, after Bishop Kearney entered the top 25.  Canisius, Park, Amherst, & Timon all beat the Kings this season, while Niagara Falls, St. Joe's, & East all fell to Kearney.

 

- In NYS Class A, WNY has five of the top 14 teams.  After Greece Athena, Section VI now has the next three public schools, meaning the top four public schools in NYS all hail from the Far West Region.  Whichever team emerges from our Class A will face Greece Athena at Buff State in the 'de facto' NYSPHAA State championship.  The winner gets Canisius in the Federation Championship.  Remember, this is according to the rankings.

 

- Section V has the top two teams ranked in NYS Class C.  That means the sectional championship between them (Northstar Christian & East Rochester) would also be a de facto state championship.  That is until they get to the regional at Buff State to find Middle College waiting for them, where the Kats will extend Section VI's winning streak in the Class C regional to seven years.  According to Neil Kerr, even a state championship would only get Middle College's record to 20-7 and he would still think Northstar Christian was better because of its stellar 23-2 record.

 

- Cleveland Hill enters the rankings again in Class C, landing at #19.  They made a one-week appearance a few weeks ago, but were dropped after losing to Cardinal O'Hara. My reason for never having Cleveland Hill ranked locally this year was they had no wins vs. ranked small schools, but had three losses to unranked small schools (Dunkirk, Nichols, & O'Hara).  However, finishing the season with wins over Eden, JFK, Tonawanda, Alden, & Depew got their record to 15-5, and the panel loves a good record.  Had they noticed Olmsted's 16-4 record in the same class, the Owls might have swooped into these rankings as well.

 

- Franklinville remained ranked #13 in NYS Class D, despite losing to unranked Ellicottville last week, finishing second to them in the same division, and surrendering the #2 seed in Class D, while falling to the #3 seed.  It's all about records for the state rankings.

 

 For complete NYSSWA State Rankings, click here.

 

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Aquinas upends Park

(Aquinas' Jamir Jones shoots over Park's Chris Efreteui / Photo by Jen Merkel)

 

In sports, there's the old cliche, 'you can't teach size'.  While that is true, if you're an opponent of Park, you better hope you can at least teach how to attack its size, because few high school teams are as imposing across the front line. On Monday night, in a battle of top state-ranked teams, Aquinas showed its formula for attacking size, which involved a lot of patience, combined with the ability to knock down shots and rebound the ones you miss.

 

The Lil Irish kept the ball moving against Park's massive 2-3 zone and continually picked the right spots to attack, earning a 55-49 victory over the visiting Pioneers.  The win improves Aquinas (#8 in NYS Class AA & Section V's #1 team) to 16-3 on the season, with its only losses coming to Canisius and Canada's top ranked team, Vaughan.

 

"Our guys are so unselfish, it makes it easy for me to coach," Aquinas coach Mike Grosodonia said.  "These guys share the ball so well, even though they were getting the ball inside, they weren't forcing it."

 

Earnest Edwards got off to a fast start for the Lil Irish, scoring eight points in the opening quarter and adding a pair of assists and steals.  After taking a 14-12 lead following the first eight minutes of play, Aquinas used a 13-2 run at the start of the second quarter to build a 27-14 lead.  The Lil Irish showed tremendous decision making on the offensive end, swinging the ball around the perimeter and feeding the high post, waiting for the perfect opportunity to score.  Edwards was especially adept at this, making the defense run out to challenge his open look, then swinging the ball to a teammate with even more space to shoot.

 

"Earnest is just a great athlete and plays very under control," said Grosodonia.  "We wanted to be patient on offense we didn't always take the first open look, sometimes making them guard a little longer would get us the same shot, but they're a little more tired now."

 

Just before halftime, Jamir Jones finished a shot in the paint and drew the contact, which enabled him to convert a three-point play that stretched the Aquinas lead to 34-19 at the break - the largest deficit Park had faced all season.

 

"I think they're very well coached - they run their offense, give the ball up, share the ball, and their spacing is good," said Park coach Michael Battaglia.

 

Edwards sparked a 7-2 spurt to begin the second half, scoring five of those points.  His 3-pointer midway through the third quarter gave Aquinas its largest lead of the game, 41-21.  The Pioneers had struggled mightily to get into any sort of offensive rhythm up to that point, largely due to the tenacious defense played by Aquinas.  The Lil Irish unleashed relentless ball pressure that resulted in 20 turnovers for the Pioneers.  Aquinas scored nearly half of its points in the game off of turnovers alone.

 

"We try to give a lot of ball pressure to bother every pass and bother every catch, create a little bit of chaos and make them make hard decisions," Grosodonia said.

 

The Lil Irish managed to rebound with Park all evening, despite the significant size disparity.  The Pioneers had just two rebounds more as a team in the game, but gave up 24 points in the paint, while scoring just 10 points inside.

 

"They have some really good rebounders in Jamir Jones, Jalen Pickett, & Jason Hawkes, and they rebound well as a team," Battaglia said.  "Sometimes it's hard to rebound playing zone.  You don't have a specific assignment - you're boxing out an area."

 

The Pioneers outscored Aquinas, 23-11, in the final stanza, and did make things interesting late in  the game.  Kyle Harris scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, as he connected on four 3-pointers in a comeback attempt that got Park within seven points with just two minutes remaining.

 

Edwards finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals to lead Aquinas.  Jalen Pickett scored 13 points, and added five rebounds, four steals, and four blocks.  Jason Hawkes scored eight points to go with seven boards, while Jamir Jones had seven points and six rebounds in the win.

 

Jordan Nwora scored 16 points for Park, while Chris Efreteui led the Pioneers with seven rebounds.  Joe Jones and Noah Hutchins each grabbed six rebounds for Park, with Hutchins also adding six assists.

 

Point Totals

Aquinas:  Earnest Edwards 18, Jalen Pickett 13, Jason Hawkes 8, Jamir Jones 7, David Vito 7, Graycen Carter 2

Park:  Kyle Harris 18, Jordan Nwora 16, Joe Jones 11, Chris Efreteui 2, Tony Ugboma 2

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 9 - 2016

 

The ninth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #2

Park #6

Amherst #7

Williamsville South #12

McKinley #16

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #14

St. Mary's #15

Health Sciences #20

Fredonia #25

 

 Class C 

Middle College #7

Tapestry #15

 

 Class D

Panama #11

Franklinville #13

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- There are at least four teams from Section V's Class AA that are better than whoever wins the title this year in Section VI.  Aquinas, Rochester East, & Fairport are all ranked, while Bishop Kearney is on par with those schools and just beat Fairport last night.

 

- The NYS Class A Federation Championship game would be Class A #1 Greece Athena vs. #2 Canisius.

 

- After Greece Athena, Section V has no teams ranked, while Section VI has three teams ranked, along with the two teams from the MMA (Canisius & Park).

 

- Olean would see North Rose-Wolcott (Section V) in the regionals.

 

- Olean & Walsh are both projected to win state championships.  If that happened, they just might meet up at the Federation Tournament.

 

- There are two teams from Section V ranked ahead of Middle College, and one of them (Northstar Christian) is ranked #1 in the state.  Yes, they are a private school in Class C. 

 

- Section V also has two teams from Class D ranked ahead of Panama & Franklinville.

 

- Based on state rankings, Section VI will go 1-4 at regionals, but Olean will win a state championship.  State rankings also currently predict state championships for Canisius & Walsh as well.

 

 For complete NYSSWA State Rankings, click here.

 

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Top Games of the Week: 2/7/16 -- 2/13/16

(St. Mary's will host Walsh in the 'Game of the Week' )

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, February 8th

Park @ Aquinas - 6:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Cleveland Hill - 6:30 pm

Williamsville North @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm

East Aurora @ Batavia - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, February 9th

East @ South Park - 6 pm

Wilson @ Roy-Hart - 6 pm

Barker @ Newfane - 6:30 pm

Timon @ Canisius - 7 pm

Kenmore West @ Lew-Port - 7 pm

St. Joe's @ St. Francis - 7 pm

Fredonia @ Southwestern - 7:30 pm

Silver Creek @ Gowanda - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, February 10th

Emerson @ MST Seneca - 6 pm

Cleveland Hill @ Tonawanda - 6:30 pm

Lancaster @ Williamsville North - 7:30 pm

Cheektowaga @ Maryvale - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, February 11th

McKinley @ Middle College - 6 pm

Barker @ Roy-Hart - 6 pm

Kenmore West @ Cheektowaga - 6:30 pm

Wilson @ Newfane - 6:30 pm

Jamestown @ Amherst - 7:30 pm

Starpoint @ Williamsville South - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, February 12th

Cardinal O'Hara @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

Portville @ Silver Creek - 6:30 pm

Canisisu @ St. Joe's - 7 pm

Walsh @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

Gowanda @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

Panama @ Sherman - 7:30 pm

Lancaster @ Health Sciences - 7:30 pm

 

Game of the Week - Walsh @ St. Mary's on Friday, February 12th

- The two teams that have occupied the #2 & #3 spots in the small school poll all season will get together on Friday night in my must see 'Game of the Week'.  While this could easily be a preview of the Manhattan Cup final for the Monsignor Martin Association's Class B, I can't wait that long to see these two - who feel no love loss for each other, get after it on the court.  Both are confident they have the better team.

St. Mary's got everyone's attention earlier in the season with a resounding victory over then #2 Health Sciences, who was fresh off a win at Middle College.  That win jumped the Lancers to #2 on my ballot, much to the dismay of Walsh, who felt they were not only better than the Lancers, but better than any small school, including #1 Olean.

The win over Health Sciences is just one of several quality wins for St. Mary's, who has quietly piled up quite an impressive resume this season.  The Lancers have wins over ranked schools like Williamsville North, Fredonia, Tapestry, and East Aurora.  They also own a 31-point win at St. Joe's, beat Section V Class A UPrep (who beat Timon & Middle College), and knocked off St. Francis (who just won at Walsh).  They have not lost to an unranked team.

The wins for Walsh this season have piled up consistently, though the quality of opponents on the nonleague side haven't measured up to the wins the Lancers have accumulated.  The Eagles' most notable nonleague wins this year came against Lew-Port & Maryvale.  Walsh does have one loss to an unranked team - the loss to St. Francis last week.

However, there's one result this year that trumps everything outlined above, and that's the head-to-head result from January 19th, when these two teams got together at Walsh.  That night, the Eagles won going away, taking a 63-47 victory.  That was the game that took Walsh to #2, where they've remained since.  

St. Mary's is eager to prove that they are better, and are confident that when the game is played in Lancaster, there will be a much different result.  Meanwhile, Walsh is doubtful that anything will change in a different venue.  To them, they've been the best small school in both Olean and WNY all season, and will be eager to get another crack at St. Mary's.  

And oh by the way, the result of this game should have a direct impact on the seedings heading into the playoffs.  It all sounds like 'Game of the Week' material to me. 

 

-centercourt

NFHS to host 'Battle at the Border'

                                 VS.

 

 

 

                               

 

 

 In 1980, The United States national team needed a "miracle on ice" to defeat the Soviet Union national team during the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.  When you look at the talent that Niagara Falls coach Sal Constantino is bringing in to the country from Canada to play in the first 'Battle at the Border' hosted by Niagara Falls High School, their opponents from this area of New York may need a miracle on the hardwood to pull out a victory at the event.  If you're a fan of high level high school basketball, or if you want to see some guys play in person before seeing them on your TV playing at the Division I level, then you won't want to miss this event coming up on Saturday, February 6th.  

 

Below is the three-game schedule:

 

 

Saturday, February 6, 2016

 

 

Timon (11-7) vs. Sir Allan MacNab (25-9)  -  3 pm

 

- Sir Allan MacNab from Hamilton has one of Canada's top freshmen in the 6-6 Tre Edwards.  

 

- Timon enters the game as one of the hottest teams in WNY, winning 7 of its last 10 games.  The Tigers are a deep and balanced team that has been a top 10 WNY large school all season, led by senior Quinton Lamar & junior Davion Warren.

 

 

Aquinas (16-2) vs. Vaughan (27-2)  -  4:30 pm

 

- Vaughan is led by sophomore Andrew Nembhard, a high level Division I prospect who has received interest from such schools as Michigan, Syracuse, & Duke. He will transfer to 2015 HS National Champion Montverde Academy next season, where he will replace WNY native and former Canisius Crusader, Howard Washington (2014 Second Team All-Centercourt) at point guard as he moves onto Butler.  Vaughan also boasts Oshane Taylor Douglas,  who is getting MAAC level interest. Vaughan is currently ranked #1 in Canada.  Vaughan's only losses were to Father Henry Carr.

 

- Aquinas enters the game on Saturday as the #8 ranked team in NYS Class AA.  The Lil Irish are led by senior point guard Earnest Edwards, who is averaging 16.3 points per game and has signed to play football at Maine in the fall of 2016.  Aquinas also has three other players who average double figure scoring in Jalen Pickett, David Vito, & Jason Hawkes.  Jamir Jones, who will play football at Notre Dame in the fall of 2016, gives the Lil Irish a strong presence inside.  Aquinas' only losses this season came at the hands of Canisius, the defending NYS Federation Champion who is ranked #2 in NYS Class A.

 

 

Niagara Falls (12-5) vs. Father Henry Carr (25-1)  -  6 pm

 

- Father Henry Carr  is led by 6-7 inside/outside threat, Shamar Bailey, who will attend JUCO next year, but is projected as a mid major Division I recruit.  The team also has four other Division I prospects in Shae Brown (interest from Binghamton & Vermont), Mychael Paulo (interest from Columbia), and John Akende (interest from Niagara).  Father Henry Carr's only loss this season was to Vaugha.

 

- Niagara Falls is led by senior Breon Harris, who is one of WNY's very best defenders.  Junior point guard Qeyion Williams has enjoyed his best varsity season and has come through in some key spots for the Wolverines this season.  Sophomore Syquan Ralands is an aggressive inside player for Falls with a high motor.  The Wolverines have been a top 10 large school in WNY all season and just clinched the division title in the NFL.

 

 

Niagara Falls High School is located at  4455 Porter Rd, Niagara Falls, NY 14305  -  Admission is $5

 

 

 -centercourt

NYSSWA - Week 8 - 2016

 

The eighth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #3

Park #4

Amherst #8

Williamsville South #14

McKinley #20

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #11

St. Mary's #16

Health Sciences #22

 

 Class C 

Middle College #9

Tapestry #16

 

 Class D

Panama #13

Franklinville #14

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Canisius beats #1 (Park) the week prior and moves up one spot from #3 to #2.  This week, they lost to #6 Greece Athena and slipped back to #3, as Athena took over the #2 spot.  

 

- Park slips to #4 in NYS Class A to make room for Greece Athena to get to #2 and continue to have Canisius (#3) ahead of Park as well.

 

I will make this rant very short...

 

 -Health Sciences falls three spots in NYS Class B for getting hammered at unranked Class A Timon by 35.  I guess I'm alright with that, but read below what happened to Walsh for losing to a ranked team in Class A by 15...

 

- Walsh loses on the road to NYS Class A #2 Canisius. The only other team in the state to beat the Eagles is Park.  Yet they drop Walsh FOUR spots in NYS Class B from #7 to #11.  What???  Do they put ANY thought into this stuff?  I feel like I'm on a hidden camera show as I'm typing this, and Neil Kerr, who heads these rankings, is about to come around the corner in his Mount Vernon T-Shirt and say "Gotcha!  You should have seen the look on your face when I said we dropped Walsh farther than Health Sciences for losing at Canisius!"

 

- Niagara Falls fell out of the rankings this after falling big at Bishop Kearney, also unranked in Class AA.

 

- Last week, Middle College hammered South Park by 20+ and completed the sweep of East, but lost to a team from PA, so they fell two spots in NYS Class C to #10.  This week, they move up to #9 after being idle all week.

 

For complete NYSSWA State Rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

Top Games of the Week: 1/31/16 -- 2/6/16

(Park and Canisius will battle again this Wednesday / Photo by James McCoy)

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, February 1st

Olmsted @ I-Prep - 6 pm

Niagara Catholic @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, February 2nd

McKinley @ East - 6 pm

Medina @ Wilson - 6 pm

Lew-Port @ Niagara Wheatfield - 6:30 pm

Niagara Falls @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Kenmore West @ North Tonawanda - 7 pm

Jamestown @ Williamsville North - 7:30 pm

Lancaster @ Orchard Park - 7:30 pm

Cheektowaga @ East Aurora - 7:30 pm

Randolph @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, February 3rd

MST Seneca @ Olmsted - 6 pm

Park @ Canisius - 6 pm

St. Joe's @ Timon - 6:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

St. Francis @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

Cardinal O'Hara @ Niagara Catholic - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, February 4th

South Park @ McKinley - 6 pm

Newfane @ Roy-Hart - 6:30 pm

Chautauqua Lake @ Panama - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, February 5th

Olmsted @ Emerson - 6 pm

Park @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Niagara Wheatfield @ Grand Island - 6:30 pm

Lockport @ Kenmore West - 6:30 pm

Lew-Port @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

Olean @ Fredonia - 7 pm

East Aurora @ Maryvale - 7:30 pm

Pine Valley @ Franklinville - 7:30 pm

Randolph @ Portville - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, February 6th

St. Joe's @ Bishop Kearney - 1:30 pm

Cathedral Prep @ Canisius - 3 pm

Jamestown @ Leadership Academy - 4 pm

Battle at the Border at Niagara Falls HS

Timon vs. Sir Allan MacNab - 3 pm

Aquinas vs. Vaughn - 4:45 pm

Niagara Falls vs. Henry Carr - 6:30 pm

 

Game of the Week - Park @ Canisius on Wednesday, February 3rd

- Yes, this was the 'Game of the Week' just two weeks ago.  But let's be honest, the Bernard J. Kennedy Field House is where everyone with a pulse for the local HS hoops scene will want to be on Wednesday night for the highly anticipated regular season rematch.  For most, it will be their first look at the two giants together on the same court this season.

Round One went to the Crusaders.  After Park got cooking early and flew out to a 13-point lead, the Crusaders dug in and nearly came all the way back before halftime.  As the second half wore on and Stafford Trueheart's big game performance kept getting bigger, Canisius took control and looked like the better team.  Park, who can generate instant offense better than anyone, didn't turn up soon enough and a desperation heave from behind half court to tie as the buzzer sounded was as close as they got at the end.

Since the first big game, the Crusaders have played three straight state ranked teams, defeating Walsh and Aquinas, before finally seeing its 22-game win streak against teams from NYS snapped by Greece Athena at the RAP Showcase on Saturday night.  They will have a chance to get right against Cardinal O'Hara on Monday, prior to the rematch with Park.

The Pioneers have only faced St. Francis since the first showdown, who they knocked off by nearly 50 points.  They'll attempt to tune up for the Crusaders with another contest against St. Francis on Monday, this time in their gym.

While the first battle of #1 vs. #2 was awesome because we finally got to watch the defending Federation Champions square off, the rematch will offer significantly more fanfare as the amount of spectators for this one will dramatically increase due to the venue.  I expect the basketball on the court to be equally entertaining to the show we were treated to on January 23rd, but for me, the view won't change.  I'll be right back in my usual spot at...

 

-centercourt

RAP Showcase 2016: Greece Athena upsets Canisius

 

(Athena's Anthony Lamb stole the show at the RAP Showcase with 35 points, 20 boards, & six blocks / Photo by Mark Edinger)

 

Greece Athena 71, Canisius 59

Game MVPs:  Anthony Lamb (Greece Athena)  &  Stafford Trueheart ( Canisius)

Point Totals

Athena:  Anthony Lamb 35, Kenny Speed 20, Nigel Scantlebury 7, Trevor Layne 6, Ryan Kubanka 3

Canisius:  Stafford Trueheart 20, Colby Moultrie 11, Will Atkinson 10, Madut Ayiy 7, Jayce Johnson 6, Justin Jones 5

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

 

Aquinas 74, Rush-Henrietta 56

Game MVPs:  Jalen Pickett (Aquinas)  &  (Rush-Henrietta)

Point Totals

Aquinas:  Jalen Pickett 20 Earnest Edwards 19 Jason Hawkes 16 David Vito 8 Jamir Jones 8 Josh Constantine 3

Rush-Henrietta:  Ja'Shaun Smith 21, Shemere Elliott 11, Shane Fanning 8, Reggie Robinson 7, Jared Gerbino 7, Steve Zarzycki 2

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

 

Irondequoit 60, Cheektowaga 43

Game MVPs:  Alex Goldsberry (Irondequoit)  &  Dominick Welch (Cheektowaga)

Point Totals

Irondequoit:  Ty'Sean Sizer 15 Alex Goldsberry 14 Mitch Senecal 9, Zach Stenglein 8, Jerimiah Zitz 4, Ty'Reek Sizer 3, DeRon Williams 1

Cheektowaga:  Dom Welch 23, Stephan Parker 11, Vaughn Burdette 5, Alek Bryant 4

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

 

Livonia 69, East Aurora 52

Game MVPs:  Rick Allen (Livonia)  &  Noah Thompson (East Aurora)

Point Totals

Livonia:  Rick Allen 25, CJ Richardson 14, Jon Mohnkern 14, Derek DeMartinis 6, Maddux Minton 5, Reid VanScoter 2

East Aurora:  Noah Thompson 20, Cal McTigue 10, Josh Denz 9, Nick Montgomery 7, Joe Montgomery 3, Liam Sheehan 3

 

-centercourt

Crusaders edge Aquinas

(Canisius' Stafford Trueheart finished this play for the game-winner)

 

Every season, the Crusaders put together one of the most challenging schedules you could logistically and realistically dream up.  The defending Class A Federation Champions are currently amidst a stretch of games that have them facing six state-ranked teams in 18 days. Last night, the Crusaders (#2 in NYS Class A) welcomed Aquinas to town, a team that plays up in Class AA and is ranked #6 in the state's largest classification.  What's even more impressive than the schedule the Crusaders play?  The fact that they keep winning.

 

Stafford Trueheart finished a spectacular reverse layup against two defenders with just five seconds remaining to lift Canisius past Aquinas, 56-55.  The victory is the 22nd consecutive win against competition from NYS, and the sixth against a state-ranked opponent already this season, with three more still upcoming.

 

"That's why we play these games, it was another great basketball game and hopefully we got better from it," Canisius coach Kyle Husband said.  "To make the play when it mattered makes it that much better."

 

The Crusaders had led the entire contest and took a 45-38 lead into the fourth quarter.  But just over two minutes into the final stanza, the Lil Irish tightened up defensively and strung together consecutive 3-pointers from David Vito and Earnest Edwards, to make it a one-point game, 47-46.

 

"We were over helping, which gave them a couple threes," said Husband.  "Once they started making a few threes, their defensive pressure picked up."

 

The teams traded two points back-and-forth over the ensuing, hotly contested possessions that followed.  After a pair of free throws from Aquinas' Jamir Jones to make it 51-50, the Lil Irish got a stop and went right back to their big man, who delivered inside for two more of his team-high 15 points and the first Aquinas lead of the evening, 52-51, with 2:17 to play.

 

After Trueheart scored to give Canisius the lead back, Jones added another free throw for Aquinas, followed by a bucket from Edwards that gave the Lil Irish a 55-53 edge.  

 

Canisius turned back to Trueheart, who was fouled and connected on one of two during a trip to the stripe with 30 seconds on the clock, to make it 55-54.  Aquinas then missed the front end of a '1 & 1' free throw situation, allowing Canisius to rebound and call timeout to set up a play with 17 seconds left.  The Crusaders called Trueheart's number once again, who threw the inbound pass and then moved to the far corner of the baseline, where Justin Jones fed him a pass just inside the 3-point arc.  From there, Trueheart did the rest.  The senior standout beat his man on the baseline and then beat two defenders that came to help with the game-winning reverse layup.

 

"In a tough environment on the road against a really, really good team, we made some plays in the fourth quarter to win the game," Aquinas coach Mike Grosodonia said.  "I didn't do a good job at the end preparing us to play defense and those last two possessions are on me after our guys did a good job getting back into it."

 

Canisius had built as much as an 11-point lead in the first half after a 13-3 run late in the first half made the score 33-22.  Aquinas, who went 7 of 15 from long range, had a stretch in the third quarter where it hit three consecutive treys in three straight possessions to get within three points.  Late in the third quarter, the Lil Irish made it a one-point game, before the Crusaders scored the last six of the stanza for the seven-point lead they took into the fourth quarter.

 

"Our guys did a good job fighting back, we didn't play the best in the first half," Grosodonia said. "Part of that is Canisius, and part of that is us."

 

It was definitely the type of game that should only benefit both teams, as they gave each other 32 minutes of intense, physical basketball, and each team had to respond to adversity during the game.

 

"It's always one of the toughest teams we play every year, their coach does a great job and their kids really respond to him," Husband said.

 

For Aquinas, who annually plays a brutal schedule similar to the one Canisius assembles, it hopes a tough road loss like this one can prevent one down the road in the postseason.

 

"These are the games that prepare you for sectionals moving forward," said Grosodonia.

 

Trueheart finished with a game-high 18 points, while grabbing seven rebounds.  Jones was fantastic on both ends of the floor, scoring 16 points, dishing eight assists, and recording five steals.  Madut Ayiy added 10 points and eight boards in the win.

 

Jamir Jones added eight rebounds to his team-high 15 points, while Jalen Pickett had seven assists to go with his 13 points for Aquinas.

 

Point Totals

Canisius:  Stafford Trueheart 18, Justin Jones 16, Madut Ayiy 10, Will Atkinson 8, Jayce Johnson 2, Jerimiah Wagstaff 2

Aquinas:  Jamir Jones 15, Jalen Pickett 13, Earnest Edwards 12, David Vito 9, Jason Hawkes 6

 

-centercourt

Top Game of the Week: 1/24/16 -- 1/30/16

(Alex Damiani and Lancaster host Jamestown on Monday / Photo by Mark Mulville)

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, January 25th

Burgard @ Grand Island - 6:30 pm

Jamestown @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm

Cleveland Hill @ Depew - 7:30 pm

Silver Creek @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

Portville @ Franklinville - 7:30 pm

Chautauqua Lake @ Pine Valley - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 26th

Walsh @ Canisius - 6:30 pm

Rochester East @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Tapestry @ Grand Island - 6:30 pm

Southwestern @ Gowanda - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, January 27th

Pine Valley @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, January 28th

Health Sciences @ Timon - 6:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm

Roy-Hart @ Medina - 6:30 pm

Aquinas @ Canisius - 7 pm

 

Friday, January 29th

Cardinal O'Hara @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

North Tonawanda @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

East Aurora @ Amherst - 6:30 pm

Lockport @ Lew-Port - 7 pm

Cleveland Hill @ Alden - 7 pm

Niagara Catholic @ Nichols - 7:30 pm

Chautauqua Lake @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm

Allegany-Limestone @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

Gowanda @ Portville - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 30th

St. Mary's @ St. Joe's - 2 pm

Tapestry @ Health Sciences - 2:30 pm

Niagara Falls @ Bishop Kearney - 3 pm

RAP Classic at Aquinas

East Aurora vs. Livonia - 2 pm

Cheektowaga vs. West Irondequoit - 3:45 pm

Canisius vs. Greece Athena - 5:30 pm

Aquinas vs. Rush-Henrietta - 7:15 pm

 

Game of the Week - Jamestown @ Lancaster on Monday, January 25th

- On December 10, 2015, Lancaster won in Jamestown for the first time since Ben Drake took over as head coach of the Red Raiders in 1998.  It was also the first league loss Jamestown had suffered in 17 games.  Being that it was the league opener for the Red Raiders, they were suddenly 0-1 in ECIC I to start the season - something I cannot remember happening before then.

Meanwhile, the win for Lancaster propelled them to a 3-0 start in the league and a 7-0 start overall.  The Legends spent a couple weeks as a ranked large school in WNY, while Jamestown was uncharacteristically on the outside, looking in on the top 10 this season.

Coming into this game, Lancaster has a 9-4 mark overall, and a 5-1 record in league after an earlier loss to Orchard Park.  Jamestown has improved to 8-4 overall and is 5-2 in ECIC I after getting tripped up by league-leading Williamsville North, following the Lancaster loss.

While North is undefeated in ECIC I, there are still plenty of games that could effect the outcome of the league race, and this is definitely one of those games.  Lancaster is just one game behind North, and still has both its games against the Spartans coming up.  A win for Jamestown keeps the Red Raiders in contention for the league crown as well, with a rematch at North still upcoming in February.

Also impacted in this game will be the sectional seeding points.  Both teams compete in Class AA and the result of this game will help determine where the two get seeded and could be the difference between a home game & a road game in the Section VI quarterfinals.

When the Legends defeated Jamestown in December, it ended a 36-game winning streak the Red Raiders had held against Lancaster.  After Monday night, either Jamestown will have begun a new streak, or Lancaster will be boasting a 2-game streak against the defending ECIC I & Class AA champs.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 6 - 2016

 

The sixth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No Teams Ranked

 

Class A 

Park #1

Canisius #3

Amherst #10

Williamsville South #19

McKinley #24

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #9

St. Mary's #15

Health Sciences #21

 

 Class C 

Middle College #8

Tapestry #15

Cleveland Hill #20

 

 Class D

Panama #16

Franklinville #18

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Consistent inconsistency is something to strive for.  Last week, Fairport (Section V) was all the way up to the #6 spot in NYS Class AA.  I could speculate as to how that ever happened in the first place, but instead I'll just say that there was never any chance Fairport was even the best team Section V, much less a top six team in NYS Class AA.  They ended up losing to Aquinas last week who had been #9, at home by double figures.  They follow that up by collapsing against unranked Edison Tech over the weekend.  That's two losses to Class AA teams from its own section in four days.  The result - Fairport stays in the state rankings, the top 20 even.  Remember, Tapestry dropped five spots last week for winning.  Remember, Section VI has no teams ranked in Class AA (not even Falls).  Remember, you drop spots in the poll for losing to the top team in a higher classification than you're in  (Class B St. Mary's fell two spots for losing to Class A #1 Park after smashing Class B & state ranked Health Sciences two days earlier).  

 

- Defending Class D State Champion Bridgehampton lost to Class C #1 Stony Brook, and fell one spot because of it.  This makes no sense to me, as I think it should be viewed as an expected loss - certainly not a bad loss.  I didn't think St. Mary's should drop for losing to Park for the same reason.  But in the name of being consistently inconsistent, the same Stony Brook team lost to #16 St. Anthony of Class A, and retained the #1 spot in Class C.  Wait, so it's OK to lose to #16 in Class A if you're #1 in Class C, but.....

 

- When Walsh, #6 in NYS Class B lost to NYS Class A #1 Park, they fall three spots to #9.  Consistently inconsistent!

 

- How about this one - Chautauqua Lake makes an appearance in the Class C state rankings last week, but got bounced right back out for losing to Class B #1 Olean. C'mon Chautauqua Lake, did you guys really think you'd get the Fairport treatment? You would need to lose games you had a much better chance of winning to get the Fairport treatment.  

 

- Besides Tapestry & Chautauqua Lake, Cleveland Hill is the latest Section VI Class C team that the state panel views as better than East.  Cleveland Hill debuts in the Class C state rankings this week at #20, while East continues to get snubbed.

 

- East Rochester and Northstar Christian are ranked #2 & #3 respectively in NYS Class C.  Middle College is ranked #8.  Raise your hand if you think Section V has two teams better than our best team in Class C.  The last time Section V beat Section VI in the Class C regionals was 2009.  Enjoy that inflated state ranking, reality check comes in March.

 

- McKinley's loss to Canisius knocked them down nine spots in Class A, from #15 to #24.  

 

- Tapestry fell five spots in NYS Class B for losing to Cardinal O'Hara.  Win or lose, Tapestry falls five spots per week. 

 

- Franklinville dropped nine spots in NYS Class D after losing to Pine Valley at the buzzer.

 

- Fredonia dropped out of the rankings in Class B following its home loss to Southwestern.

 

For complete NYSSWA State Rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 5 - 2016

 

The fifth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No Teams Ranked

 

Class A 

Park #1

Canisius #4

Amherst #12

McKinley #15

Williamsville South #23

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #6

St. Mary's #17

Fredonia #22

Health Sciences #24

 

 Class C 

Middle College #8

Tapestry #10

Chautauqua Lake #18

 

 Class D

Franklinville #9

Panama #17

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

There's still at least three teams from Section V's Class AA that are better than any team in Section VI.  Fairport #6, Aquinas #9, and Rochester East #23 all sit in the top 25.  Fairport hosts Aquinas on Wednesday night in a likely Section V Class AA final preview.  

 

- Amherst, McKinley, & Williamsville South all moved up one spot in Class A, while Park & Canisius remained where they were (#1 & #4 respectively).

 

- It will be interesting/laughable to see how they handle the result of Saturday's game between #4 Canisius and #15 McKinley.

 

- Panama enters the Class D rankings at #17, the second Section VI team to be ranked along with Franklinville.

 

And now for the fun part...all of the illogical movement this week, starting with Class B:

 

• St. Mary's smashes Health Sciences (who had been #20 in NYS Class B) by 31 points and beats Cardinal O'Hara, then loses a competitive game to Park (#1 NYS Class A).  St. Mary's drops two spots!
• Meanwhile, Fredonia beats unranked Dunkirk & Silver Creek by 10 points each, then loses a competitive game to Olean (#1 NYS Class B).  Fredonia makes its first appearance in the rankings at #22. 

*** Am I missing something???  The results of St. Mary's & Fredonia are similar, but definitely more impressive from a Lancers perspective.  Both won two games and lost one to the number one team in the state.  The difference, St. Mary's beat a state ranked Class B team by 31 and lost to #1 in Class A.  The Hillbillies beat unranked teams, one in Class C, by 10 apiece, and lost to #1 in Class B.  I'm fine with Fredonia entering the rankings, but how in the world does Fredonia move up and St. Mary's move down???  By the way, Health Sciences dropped four spots for that 31 point loss (while St. Mary's, who beat them,  dropped two spots).

 

Now for Class C, and it just keeps getting better:

 

• Tapestry played just one game last week, a win over Randolph.  They had been #5 in NYS Class C.  Following the win over Randolph, Tapestry drops five spots to #10.  Let that one sink in for a moment.  It's going to sound even worse when you keep reading.
• Chautauqua Lake debuts in the Class C rankings at #18, coming off a victory over a two-win Maple Grove team.  Now I'm alright with Chautauqua Lake being ranked, but they shouldn't be in over Randolph.  Prior to Randolph's one-point loss to Tapestry on Saturday, Randolph beat Allegany-Limestone by 29.  Chautauqua Lake lost to Allegany-Limestone by 23.  So again, looking at Tapestry dropping five spots for beating Randolph, while Chautauqua Lakes debuts over Randolph, should have scratching your head pretty furiously by now!
• Then there's Middle College, who helps illustrate just how silly the approach to these state rankings is and why they should always be taken with a heavy dose of salt.  The Kats go from unranked to #8 and the highest ranked team from Section VI in Class C. 

 

** I'd have been fine with Middle College being ranked all along.  But instead, they wait for the record to get above .500 because they are not Mount Vernon.  Middle College beating Riverside and Burgard did nothing to show they were a top Class C team in the state, so waiting for a .500 record and then jumping a team from unranked to #8 is so stupid!  And they drop Tapestry, FIVE SPOTS, for winning.  

 

For complete NYSSWA State Rankings, click here.

 

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 4 - 2016

 

The fourth state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

They have this "We do not rank teams below .500 policy".  I have never agreed with this policy, because if you really want to the best 25 teams in a classification represented in a somewhat accurate order, simply looking at records and standings will be very misleading.  But whatever right?  Policy is policy, thus teams like Middle College & East, who we all know are among the top 20 teams in NYS Class C (more likely top 10 for both) have to wait until they collect a bunch of lopsided league wins to counteract losses to highly ranked large schools from December's nonleague schedule.  Basically, punishing teams for creating and playing a challenging schedule designed make the team better.  But like I said, policy is policy, and as long as they stay consistent with that, we'll live with it.

But once you become inconsistent with your own policy, you quickly lose credibility.  That's what I've caught the state rankings doing this week, and that inconsistency makes a mockery of the same rankings in other classifications.  Here's what I discovered:

Mount Vernon had been #14 in NYS Class AA last week with a record of 1-1.  After collecting one win and two losses, with the second loss to Green Tech (#19 in NYS Class AA), Mount Vernon's record dropped to 2-3.  But it didn't drop them out of the state rankings - instead, you will find Mount Vernon sitting at #24 this week in NYS Class AA with a 2-3 record.  

Let me guess - you're confident Mount Vernon is in fact a top 25 team in Class AA and feel that a heavy front-loaded schedule is responsible for the sub .500 record, but come postseason time, Mount Vernon will be right there in the mix??  And they are undoubtedly better than other teams you could have put in the #24 spot that Lockport (with a 7-2 record) occupied last week, right??  

Well, I would agree 100%.  Mount Vernon should be ranked.  They are a top 25 team in Class AA. Duh!!!  But you can't just decided that in this particular case, an exception is warranted.  Stick to your inane, stupid, illogical policy that if you are below .500, you couldn't possibly be a team deserving of rank.  Let's not try getting it right this week just because it's 'Big Bad Mount Vernon'.  Instead, stand up and proudly exclaim "We do not believe Mount Vernon is a top 25 team at this time.  The sluggish 2-3 start suggests that Mount Vernon is no longer a top 25 power, at least not at this time.  This is our policy."

If it makes sense to the state rankings panel that Middle College is not one of the best 20 Class C teams in this state because they lost to Park and UPrep, then stay consistent.  If East (who just beat Class AA #24 Lockport) is to receive no consideration as a top 20 team in Class C because they have losses to the likes of Bishop Kearney, Edison Tech, McKinley, Timon, & Middle College before getting to eat up the cupcakes on its schedule, then don't make exceptions for other teams.  Lots of teams are worthy of the exception granted to Mount Vernon.

 

Class AA

No Teams Ranked

 

Class A 

Park #1

Canisius #4

Amherst #13

McKinley #16

Williamsville South #24

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #6

St. Mary's #15

Health Sciences #20

 

 Class C 

Tapestry #5

 

 Class D

Franklinville #10

 

** According to the rankings... 

 

- Lockport's consecutive losses to Aquinas & East got them dropped from the rankings in Class AA.

 

- Amherst bumped up five spots, from #18 to #13 in NYS Class A, after winning the Anthony Parlato Memorial Tournament.

 

- Williamsville South, who had been #20 in NYS Class A, falls to #24 after traveling to NYC and losing at Chaminade, who was ranked #9 in NYS Class A.  If South was Mount Vernon, they may have moved into the top 10 for that loss...

 

- McKinley moves up seven spots in NYS Class A, from #23 to #16, following wins over Nichols & Cheektowaga.

 

- Franklinville slid four spots to #10 in NYS Class D after suffering its first loss of the season.

 

For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

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Top Games of the Week: 1/3/16 -- 1/9/16

(Andrew Austin leads Lockport into Niagara Falls on Tuesday for the 'Game of the Week' / Photo by Lockport Star)

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, January 4th

Dunkirk @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 5th

McKinley @ South Park - 6 pm

Walsh @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

St. Joe's @ Park - 6:30 pm

North Tonawanda @ Kenmore West - 6:30 pm

Lockport @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

Canisius @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Niagara Catholic @ St. Francis - 7 pm

 

Wednesday, January 6th

Olmsted @ MST Seneca - 6 pm

I-Prep @ Emerson - 6 pm

East Aurora @ Cheektowaga - 6:30 pm

Willaimsville North @ Jamestown - 7:30 pm

Orchard Park @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm

Health Sciences @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, January 7th

Fredonia @ Olean - 7:30 pm

Salamanca @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, January 8th

Emerson @ Olmsted - 6 pm

Roy-Hart @ Newfane - 6:30 pm

Kenmore West @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Alden @ Tonawanda - 6:30 pm

St. Joe's @ Canisius - 7 pm

Medina @ Albion - 7 pm

Park @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

Maryvale @ East Aurora - 7:30 pm

United Way Showcase at Jamestown HS

Tapestry vs. Randolph - 6 pm

Jamestown vs. Cardinal O'Hara - 7:45 pm

 

Saturday, January 9th

Willaimsville South @ Aquinas - 2:30 pm

United Way Showcase at Jamestown HS

Dunkirk vs. Bennett - 12:30 pm

Fredonia vs. Silver Creek - 2:15 pm

Maple Grove vs. Panama - 4 pm

Sherman vs. Randolph - 5:45 pm

Olean vs. Jamestown - 7:30 pm

 

Game of the Week - Lockport @ Niagara Falls on Tuesday, January 5th

- In 2014 after getting hit hard by graduation, Niagara Falls rolled out a lineup of fresh-faced underclassmen that would carry them over the next three seasons.  That same year, Lockport boasted a senior-laden unit that would share league title honors in the NFL with Kenmore West.  That Lions team was the first to ever sweep the Wolverines in a season and wound up advancing to Buffalo State for the Class AA semifinals.

Last season, it was Lockport that turned to a new group in its rotation, while a year of seasoning had helped the young Wolverines to get back on top of the NFL, sharing league crown honors with North Tonawanda.  Niagara Falls returned to Buffalo State in Class AA last season and advanced to the sectional championship.

Entering this season, Niagara Falls came in with its best group since 2013 and were the preseason favorites to win both the NFL and Class AA.  The Wolverines second game of the season was against Park, the top-ranked Class A team in NYS, a game they only lost by two points.  That same night, Lockport caught the attention of area hoop followers with a 13-point win over St. Joe's.

Since that night, both Falls & Lockport have won all their league games.  But it was some nonleague results that really set the stage for the Game of the Week.  Starpoint played a game at Park and only lost by three points.  They followed that up with a win over Timon.  Then just three days later, the highly-regarded Spartans traveled to Lockport, and got thumped by 30 points.  That same week, Niagara Falls coughed up a late lead at the ADPRO Challenge and lost to the same St. Joe's team that the Lions beat.

Suddenly, Lockport was the only team from WNY ranked by NYS in Class AA and also moved ahead of Niagara Falls in the local large school poll.  The question that then arose - is Lockport now the favorite to win the NFL and Class AA this year? Maybe so, but I'm not making any proclamations just yet.  The Lions suffered their first loss of the season to Aquinas over the break in a complete rout, and followed it up with a loss the next night to small school East of the Yale Cup.  

Is Lockport back sliding or was it just a holiday slump?  Is Niagara Falls still the team to beat after allowing the St. Joe's comeback?  Thankfully we have the 'Game of the Week' to sort it all out, where I will be front & center(court) for - and yes, the winner will be the favorites in both the league and the section.

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 3 - 2016

 

The third state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Lockport #24

 

Class A 

Park #1

Canisius #4

Amherst #18

Williamsville South #20

McKinley #23

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #3

St. Mary's #18

Health Sciences #20

 

 Class C 

Tapestry #6

 

 Class D

Franklinville #6

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- Lockport will advance to the regionals in Class AA for the first time since the Charlie Croff era.

 

- Fairport is soooo much better than Park (Does anyone sense my weekly rant coming?).  

Going back a week, Amherst drops six spots after losing to Park, who is and was #1 in NYS Class A.  Days later, Greece Athena loses to Fairport (#9 in NYS Class AA) and falls...get ready for it....a whopping one spot.  Come on!  Maybe no one else notices these type of inconsistencies, but they irritate me.  Someone please explain why Amherst's loss to Park was viewed considerably worse than Athena's loss to Fairport.  And oh by the way, Greece Athena lost AT HOME!  Amherst lost on a neutral court.

 

- Olean is home to two of the top three teams in NYS Class B - the Huskies & Walsh, who draws from Olean's talent pool.

 

- Health Sciences cracks the top 25 in NYS Class B, following its win at Middle College, reaching #20.  The panel is awful slow to come around on the Falcons, who have only lost at Park.

 

- Tapestry is advancing to regionals in Class C.  They are now the only team from WNY ranked in the state in Class C.  Middle College dropped right out of the poll - they were #4 last week.  And East, who Middle College only beat by one, has never been ranked.  

 

 

- McKinley's undefeated start and lopsided results continue to not impress the state rankings panel, as they are still barely in,  occupying the #23 spot in Class A.

 

For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 2 - 2016

 

The second state rankings for the 2016 the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Park #1

Canisius #4

Amherst #19

Williamsville South #21

McKinley #24

 

 Class B

Olean #1

Walsh #6

St. Mary's #18

 

 Class C 

Middle College #4

Tapestry #5

 

 Class D

Franklinville #6

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- Our local Class AA teams are in a similar spot to last season.  There should be a very competitive race for the Section VI Class AA title, with teams like Lancaster, Lockport, Niagara Falls, Williamsville North, Jamestown, & Kenmore West all in the mix, but right now there is no top heavy team cracking the state's top 25.

 

- Aquinas, who has only lost to Canisius and owns big wins over Timon and St. Joe's, is only ranked #22 in NYS Class AA.  They aren't even the highest ranked team from Section V - that honor goes to Fairport, who sits at #10 in NYS Class AA.

 

- In Class A, Chaminade (#7) and Kennedy Catholic (#5) are the teams Canisius (#4) had to beat last season to win the CHSAA state title, so that race looks very similar to last season.  The only exception, Park has moved ahead of all three with its bump to Class A, and sits at the very top, #1.

 

- Losing to the #1 team in Class A (Park) by six points caused Amherst to fall from #13 to #19.  However, losing to the #4 team in Class A (Canisius) by 16 points had no effect on Williamsville South, who remained at #21.  Absolutely no logic behind that one!

 

- Meanwhile, McKinley is undefeated and straight torching teams, but impressing no one on the state level, as they remain at #24 and behind both Amherst & South from Section VI.

 

- While McKinley's wins aren't impressing the state rankings panel, they sure were drooling over the Walsh results this week.  Not sure if was beating CCA or Maryvale, but the Eagles soared up the charts in Class B, from #19 to #6.  They only played those two games since the last rankings, so someone on the panel placed a high premium on those results!

 

- Section V is the Class C capital of the world.  Not only do a quarter of the ranked teams from Class C hail from Section V, but two of them are now ranked ahead of Middle College, who slipped from #1 to #4.  The best part is, Middle College hasn't lost since last week, when they were ranked #1.  More logic.

 

- Franklinville is now the highest ranked team from the Far West Region.  If that holds up, they'd be favored to reach Glens Falls.

 

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

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Canisius wins 4th straight Tom Keenan Tournament

 

For a fourth consecutive year, Canisius has begun its by claiming the championship of the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament.  Stafford Trueheart was selected as Tournament MVP, following a 48-point two-game performance.  The annual event, held the second weekend of December at Canisius High School, always top programs from NYS and the teams in this year's lineup had some especially impressive recent credentials:

Canisius - NYS Class A Federation Champs, 2015

Aquinas - NYSPHAA Class AA Finalist, 2012 & Semifinalist, 2015

Nazareth - NYS Class A Federation Champs, 2013

Albany Academy - NYS Class A Federation Finalists, 2014 & 2015

 

Canisius won the championship game over Aquinas, 54-49, avenging a regular season loss to the Lil Irish from last season, prior to the Federation run.  After falling behind 6-2 at the start, the Crusaders used a 23-5 run to take a commanding 25-11 lead in the first half.  A defensive struggle throughout, Canisius held Aquinas without a FG in the second quarter and without a point for over nine minutes of gametime.  

 

"Early on we did a good job executing defensively what we've been talking about and working on", Canisius coach Kyle Husband said.

 

While the Crusaders never relinquished their lead the rest of the way, Aquinas did get back to within a point with just 1:07 left in the game, before Colby Moultrie and Stafford Trueheat sealed the win from the charity stripe.

 

Trueheart led the way with 25 points, 13 boards, and five blocks.  Madut Ayiy scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Moultrie and Will Atkinson each added eight points.

 

The Crusaders earned their trip to the championship game with a lopsided rout of Nazareth on Friday afternoon.  Canisius raced out to a 43-16 lead by halftime, enroute to a 65-38 win.  Trueheart, who was honored prior to the game for scoring his 1,000th career point in the NYS Class A Federation semifinal win over Scotia last March, was a perfect 11/11 from the floor and led the way with 23 points through three quarters.

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Final for 2015

 

The 2015 All-Centercourt Team & CC MVP will be published on Thursday, April 16th

 

** Click here for a link to 'Who deserves a spot on All-Centercourt **  

 

The final state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Aquinas #6

Jamestown #17

Niagara Falls #28 

 

Class A 

Canisius #1

Scotia #2

Greece Athena #3

Williamsville South #10

McKinley #13

Olean #23

Amherst #28 

Nichols #30 

 

 Class B

Park #1

Westhill #2

Leadership Academy #5

East #11

Fredonia #15

 

 Class C 

Lyons #3

Middle College #6

Tapestry #7

Silver Creek #10

 

Class D

I-Prep #4

Prattsburgh #5

Sherman #8

Panama #14

 

 ** According to the rankings...

   

- Canisius is the best Class A team in NYS.

 

- Park is the best Class B team in NYS

 

- Jamestown finishing #17 in the state in Class AA is fair, especially when you really look at the teams ahead of them in Class AA.  They finished four spots behind Green Tech, three behind Long Island Lutheran, and just two spots behind Abraham Lincoln.  At the state level, when you include the PSAL and CHSAA teams, Class AA is loaded.

 

- Aquinas finishes #6 in Class AA, while Mount Vernon ends up at #10.  

 

- The CHSAA is not a highly regarded association.  Kennedy Catholic, a two-loss team that Canisius beat for the state title, is only ranked #8.  Chaminade, who Canisius defeated in the CHSAA state semifinals, is only ranked #17  in Class A.  

 

- There were only three NYSPHAA teams that finished ahead of Williamsville South:

Scotia-Glenville, Greece Athena, & Spring Valley

 

- They ended up seeing I-Prep as the 4th best of the four teams that reached Glens Falls in Class D.  

 

- Section V has a total of 19 teams ranked at the end, while Section VI & the MMA have 17 teams ranked.  

 

- Class A was WNY's strongest classification this season, with six teams making the top 30 and two (Canisius & Williamsville South) finishing top 10.

 

For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here. 

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 14

 

The 14th state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Aquinas #6

Jamestown #17

Niagara Falls #28 *

 

Class A 

Greece Athena #2

Canisius #5

Williamsville South #10

McKinley #13

Olean #23

Amherst #28 *

Nichols #30 *

 

 Class B

Leadership Academy #4

Park #5

East #11

Fredonia #16

 

 Class C 

Lyons #3

Middle College #6

Tapestry #7

Silver Creek #10

 

Class D

I-Prep #4

Sherman #8

Panama #14

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

- Last week, I put an asterisk next to Niagara Falls at #28 in Class AA, because they had added five spots to include more teams.  Now they've done it in Class A also.  Suddenly, there's a top 30 in Class A, rather than the top 25 we've seen all season.  Come on!! What about the 32nd best team in Class A??? Shouldn't #46 get a shout out somewhere too???

 

- Last week, Chaminade (who lost to Canisius in the CHSAA state semifinal) was tied with Amherst at #25 in Class A. Neither team has played since, but this week, Chaminade is up to #19 , while Amherst dropped out of the rankings, or to #28 if you like the tee-ball, everyone deserves a ranking theory.  While I agree that Chaminade is significantly ahead of Amherst, I do not understand what the logic in moving both teams around that much when both of their seasons are over.

 

- Leadership, who narrowly escaped East, is #4 in Class B, while Park is #5.  Both should get a shot at Westhill before the season ends, which should finally be the evidence the committee needed to push the Pioneers (CHSAA Class B state champs) ahead of Leadership Academy.

 

- I-Prep is the worst of the Class D teams playing in Glens Falls, ranked #4 of the four teams headed there. I doubt that is really the case. 

 

For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

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Far West Regionals - 2015

(Jamestown's Zack Panebianco scored 65 points in his last two regional appearances / Photo by Harry Scull)

 

Class AA:  Aquinas 76, Jamestown 70

 

Aquinas:         17 - 20 - 16 - 23 = 76

Jamestown:  15 - 17 - 20 - 18 = 70

 

FG%:  Jamestown 60.5, Aquinas 53.7

3-Point %:  Jamestown 61.5, Aquinas 40

Points in Paint:  Aquinas 38, Jamestown 18

Rebounds:  Aquinas 22, Jamestown 21

Assists:  Aquinas 15, Jamestown 11

Steals:  Aquinas 15, Jamestown 9

 

Jamestown

Zack Panebianco - 31 Pts, 4 Asts, 3 Rebs, 2 Stls

Ben Larson - 14 Pts

Stephen Carlson - 11 Pts, 7 Rebs, 4 Stls, 2 Asts

James Rojas - 9 Pts, 4 Rebs, 2 Asts

Zacc Kinsey - 3 Pts, 3 Rebs, 2 Asts

 

Aquinas

Jalen Pickett - 18 Pts, 4 Rebs, 4 Stls, 3 Asts

DJ Roberts - 15 Pts, 4 Stls, 2 Rebs

Earnest Edwards - 14 Pts, 7 Rebs, 3 Asts, 2 Stls

Melvin Grayson - 11 Pts, 2 Asts

Patrick McLamore - 8 Pts, 3 Rebs, 2 Asts, 2 Stls

Griffin Kornaker - 6 Pts, 2 Asts, 2 Stls

 

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

 

Class A:  Greece Athena 62, Williamsville South 42

 

Greece Athena:           13 - 15 - 11 - 23 = 62

Williamsville South:   3 - 14 - 13 - 12 = 42

 

FG%:  Athena 41.9, South 28.3

3-Point %:  South 29.2, Athena 23.1

Rebounds:  Athena 54, South 26

Points in Paint:  Athena 38, South 16

 

South

Greg Dolan - 11 Pts, 4 Asts, 2 Stls

Kam Varner - 11 Pts, 3 Rebs

Sam Castronova - 10 Pts, 6 Rebs, 2 Asts, 2 Stls, 2 Blks

Graham Dolan - 3 Pts, 2 Stls

Myles Hall - 2 Pts, 5 Rebs, 3 Asts, 2 Stls

Matt Foster - 2 Pts, 3 Rebs

 

Athena

Anthony Lamb - 23 Pts, 21 Rebs, 3 Asts, 2 Blks, 2 Stls

Zac DiSalvo - 13 Pts, 6 Rebs, 3 Stls

Peter Florin - 8 Pts, 7 Rebs, 3 Asts

Brendon Wind - 8 Pts, 9 Rebs, 4 Asts

Tyler Kubanka - 8 Pts

 

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

 

Class B:   Leadership Academy 57, East 55

 

L.A.:  17 - 20 - 17 -  7 = 57

East:  17 -  8 - 15 - 15 = 55

 

FG%:  L.A. 37, East 34.4

3-Point %:  L.A. 42.1, East 28

Rebounds: East 45, L.A. 40

 

East

Percy Bryant - 17 Pts, 7 Asts, 3 Rebs, 3 Stls

Malik Doughty - 10 Pts, 6 Rebs

Damone Brown - 8 Pts, 8 Rebs

Dion Morrison - 7 Pts, 4 Rebs, 3 Stls

Jovell Littlejohn - 4 Pts, 12 Rebs

 

Leadership Academy

Keith McGee - 26 Pts, 4 Rebs, 3 Asts, 7/13 on 3-pointers

Shabazz Mosley - 17 Pts, 9 Rebs, 2 Blks, 2 Asts

Devante Hagins - 7 Pts, 9 Rebs, 5 Asts, 3 Stls, 2 Blks

 

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

 

Class C:   Lyons 67, Middle College 63

 

Middle College:  17 - 11 - 14 - 21 = 63

Lyons:                    19 - 13 - 17 - 18 = 67

 

FG%:  Lyons 46.2, Middle College 34.5

3-Point %:  Lyons 47.4, Middle College 34.8

Rebounds:  Middle College 43, Lyons 32

Points in Paint:  Lyons 30, Middle College 20

 

Middle College

Fred Foster - 22 Pts, 15 Rebs, 2 Asts

JoJo Staton - 15 Pts, 3 Stls, 2 Asts

Amir Jemes - 10 Pts, 4 Asts

Brian Johnson - 6 Pts, 10 Rebs, 2 Stls

Billy Rivera - 6 Pts

 

Lyons

Damon Hunter - 31 Pts, 8 Rebs, 4 Asts, 2 Blks

Deondre McDonald - 9 Pts

Daryn Carswell - 7 Pts, 3 Rebs

Jordan Aumell - 6 Pts, 2 Rebs

Chris Peay - 4 Pts, 8 Rebs

 

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

 

Class D:   I-Prep 83, Prattsburgh 79

 

I-Prep:             23 - 20 - 16 - 24 = 83

Prattsburgh:  19 - 14 - 15 - 31 = 79

 

FG%:  I-Prep 44.9, Prattsburgh 35.4

3-Point %:  Prattsburgh 34.8, I-Prep 20

Rebounds: I-Prep 56, Prattsburgh 48

Points in Paint:  I-Prep 64, Prattsburgh 30

 

I-Prep

Davon Gant - 27 Pts, 19 Rebs, 9 Blks, 3 Asts, 3 Stls

Terrance James - 20 Pts, 11 Rebs, 9 Asts, 2 Blks, 2 Stls

Xavier Maye - 20 Pts, 15 Rebs, 66% from field

Zack Bashir - 7 Pts, 3 Stls, 2 Rebs

Jeffery Townsel - 6 Pts, 5 Rebs

Daniel Santiago - 3 Pts, 4 Rebs, 3 Asts

 

Prattsburgh

Garrett Socola - 14 Pts, 20 Rebs

Cameron Baird - 14 Pts, 9 Rebs

Ben Byington - 13 Pts, 5 Asts, 3 Rebs

Jeffery Gilbert - 13 Pts, 4/5 on 3-pointers

Philip Derick - 11 Pts, 3 Rebs

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 12

 

The twelfth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #17

 

Class A 

Canisius #5

McKinley #7

Amherst #12

Williamsville South #14

 

Class B

Park #9

Fredonia #11

Cleveland Hill #19

 

 Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #6

Tapestry #11

 Randolph 25

 

Class D

Sherman #2

I-Prep #11

Panama 14

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

-  I've spent the last few weeks making snarky comments in this space about Webster Schroeder being ranked ahead of Jamestown in Class AA.  I will no longer have to do that this year, because Webster Schroeder , ranked #18 in Class AA last week, went out in the quarterfinals to Irondequoit on Saturday night.   And Jamestown is now ranked #17.  So I was right.

 

- Aquinas will advance to Glens Falls with a 22-0 record after beating Jamestown in the regionals.

 

- Cleveland Hill will beat East tonight.  The Golden Eagles moved up five spots in Class B, from #24 to #19, for hanging on to beat CSAT.

 

- Some matchups to look forward to, according to the rankings: 

 Sherman vs. I-Prep in the Class D Final

Middle College vs. Silver Creek in the class C crossover

Amherst vs. Will South in the Class A crossover

Park vs. Westhill in the Class B Federeation Championship

Canisius vs. Kennedy Catholic for the CHSAA state championship

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

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NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 11

 

The eleventh state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #22

 

Class A 

Canisius #5

McKinley #7

Amherst #12

Williamsville South #16

 

Class B

Park #9

Fredonia #11

Cleveland Hill #24

 

 Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #6

Tapestry #11

 

Class D

Sherman #2

I-Prep #11

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

-  Webster Schroeder is #18 in Class AA. Jamestown is #22 and Rush-Henrietta is #23.  Jamestown is better than Webster Schroeder and Jamestown lost to Rush-Henrietta by 14 points. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

 

- Scotia & Greece Athena will give us a NYSPHAA Class A state championship game featuring a pair of undefeated teams.

 

-  Canisius will win the state championship in the CHSAA Class A.

 

-  Amherst (#12 in Class A)  is almost back to where they were ranked (#11) prior to the loss in Jamestown.  My point, not much has happened to justify the recent climb, and the Jamestown loss didn't warrant such a drop.  They've been #11/#12 all along.

 

-  Williamsville South dropped six spots, from #10 to #16 in Class A for falling at home to Starpoint.

 

 - For the first time all season, Cleveland Hill has made the cut in Class B.

 

-  Park fell four spots, from #5 to #9 for losing at Canisius.  Alright, let's put some thought into this.  Is a Class B team losing at Canisius (ranked #5 in the state in Class A) really a punishable offense in the rankings?  The answer is obviously no.  I swear they'd drop Sherman to #10 in the Class D rankings for losing at Kentucky.

 

- Last week I wrote "Fredonia is up three spots in Class B, from #14 to #11 for winning at St. Mary's.  After the recent wins over Olean & East, they should continue to ascend".   This week, I'm saying "Hello? Did anyone notice the double-digit win for the Hillbillies over Olean? Or that the next night, with some clowns calling for a let down, they routed East"?  Fredonia remains ranked #11.

 

-  Tapestry fell three spots, from #8 to #11 in Class C for the loss to Health Sciences. The only thing winning in Salamanca later in the week did for Tapestry was get the Warriors dropped from the rankings.

 

-  I-Prep dropped only one spot, from #10 to #11 for a 15-point loss to DaVinci.  I guess the state view's those first eight wins in program history for DaVinci quite favorably.

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 10

 

The tenth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #24

 

Class A 

Canisius #7

McKinley #8

Williamsville South #10

Amherst #13

 

Class B

Park #5

Fredonia #11

 

 Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #6

Tapestry #8

Salamanca #17

 

Class D

Sherman #2

I-Prep #10

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

- Class AA is still a mess, mainly because this week, out of no where, they ranked 30 teams instead of 25 "to get some deserving squads in".  Um, if they don't deserve a spot in the top 25, they don't deserve a spot at all.  This isn't tee ball.  Let's not change the way we do business in the third week of February.  

 

- Webster Schroeder  remains ahead of Jamestown in the state rankings.  I watched them play prior to the Jamestown/Greece Athena game. Jamestown is better.

 

-  Amherst who was dropped five spots for losing to Jamestown two weeks ago, jumped back up three places for beating Pioneer?

 

- Randolph dropped eight spots, from 16 to 24 in Class C for WINNING two games last week.  I would have thought the loss to Maple Grove would have gotten them back into the poll...no?  

 

-  In two weeks time, Tapestry has gone from #19 in Class C to #8, for the following wins: Maritime, Buffalo Science, Buffalo Science again, & Global Concepts.  The jump would not reflect the loss to Health Sciences or last night's win at Salamanca, as the rankings were done prior to those games.  I like the Thunderhawks and they deserve a state ranking, I'm just not following the logic of such a significant leap over two weeks, considering the quality of wins.

 

- Park fell three spots for losing to Nichols, from #2 to #5 in Class B.

 

- Fredonia is up three spots in Class B, from #14 to #11 for winning at St. Mary's.  After the recent wins over Olean & East, they should continue to ascend. 

 

- St. Mary's has fallen out of the Class B rankings after back-to-back losses to Walsh & Fredonia. 

 

- Sherman will play for a Class D state title.

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 9

 

The ninth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #24

 

Class A 

Canisius #6

McKinley #8

Williamsville South #10

Amherst #16

 

Class B

Park #2

Fredonia #14

St. Mary's #20

 

 Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #7

Salamanca #8

Tapestry #12

Randolph #24

 

 

Class D

Sherman #3

I-Prep #9

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

- Class AA is a mess.  Somehow, Bishop Kearney, who just lost to unbeaten & defending Class AA state champion, Green Tech, by two points, no longer deserves to be ranked.

 

- Webster Schroeder managed to leap frog Jamestown into the AA rankings, landing in the #19 spot.  Like Jamestown, they lost to Rush-Henrietta.  They have a total of four losses to Jamestown's three.  One of Webster Schroeder's losses was to Greece Athena by 27 points. Jamestown lost to Athena by one.  And can anyone guess what Jamestown has that Webster Schroeder does not? Four starters back from the Class AA state finalist team.  Seriously, how does Webster Schroeder jump Jamestown and land at #19?  Totally ridiculous!

 

- Amherst had no business losing on the road at Jamestown to the above mentioned Class AA state finalists who returned four starters, including the CC MVP.  State rankings dropped them five spots, from 11 to 16 in Class A for that loss.  Really?

 

- Ready for this?  Randolph dropped eight spots, from 16 to 24 in Class C for WINNING two games last week.  No losses since the last rankings, but an eight-spot free fall???  Hello???

 

- But Tapestry, who Randolph beat three weeks ago, moved up seven places in Class C from 19 to 12, after apparently really impressing the panel with last week's wins over Maritime & Buffalo Science.

 

- I better just stop now, I'm too fired up today. They must have done the rankings this week on a conference call after some intense Super Bowl parties. 

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 8

 

The eighth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #25

 

Class A 

Canisius #6

McKinley #8

Williamsville South #10

Amherst #11

 

Class B

Park #2

Fredonia #14

St. Mary's #17

 

 Class C 

Middle College #6

Silver Creek #8

Salamanca #9

Randolph #16

Tapestry #19

 

Class D

Sherman #3

I-Prep #11

Panama #16

 

 ** According to the rankings...

 

- Jamestown got to watch its regional opponent, Aquinas, play after it lost to Greece Athena.  The Lil Irish are 13-0 and the top ranked Class AA team in Section V.

 

- A win over the #11 team in Class A (Amherst) and a heart-breaking loss to the #2 team in Class A (Greece Athena) will get your ranked again in Class AA.  Jamestown finally got back into the top 25 in Class AA this week, barely.

 

- Four of the top 11 Class A teams in NYS play right here in WNY.  

 

- Greece Athena, who just beat Jamestown in a thriller, will play defending Class A Federation champ, Scotia, for the state title.

 

- Park (#2 in NYS Class B) will play Westhill (#1 in Class B and defending Fed champs) for this year's Class B Federation championship - something I've been predicting since December.

 

- Old pals, Middle College and Silver Creek will get together in the post season for a fourth straight year.

 

- Losing to unranked Maple Grove (Class D) had no bearing on the rankings, as Panama remained ranked #16 in Class D.

 

- Every team from WNY moved up in the rankings this week, except for Randolph, Tapestry, & Panama, who stayed in the same spot, and Middle College who slipped one spot.

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 7

 

The seventh state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #7

McKinley #9

Williamsville South #11

Amherst #13

 

Class B

Park #4

Fredonia #16

St. Mary's #19

 

 Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #9

Salamanca #10

Randolph #16

Tapestry #19

 

Class D

Sherman #3

I-Prep #12

Panama #16

 

 ** According to the rankings...

  

- Jamestown faces an even bigger task this weekend than it had back in December against Canisius.  The Red Raiders play Greece Athena (#3 in Class A) on Saturday.  The Crusaders are #7 in Class A.

 

- The state now agrees with me about Aquinas (12-0).  I said at the beginning of the season I thought they were Section V's top Class AA team.  They are now ranked #11, ahead of Fairport #16 & Bishop Kearney #20.

 

- Section VI's Class A is on the rise.  All four teams the state has ranked moved up a spot this week, except McKinley, who jumped two spots.

 

- Whether it was Park's much more convincing win at Rochester's East High or the complete dismantling Aquinas put on them, Leadership Academy (Section V, Class B) is no longer ranked ahead of Park - something that bugged me for six weeks.

 

- St. Mary's losing a game it was supposed to (at Park) cost them two places in the poll.

 

- Fredonia's two wins over league opponents by a combined 75 points got them up from #22 to #16 in Class B.

 

- Silver Creek's win over Randolph got them ahead of Salamanca, who beat them.

 

- I-Prep's unbeaten league record in Yale Cup II is finally worth something - like the #12 ranking in Class D.

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

Top games of the week ending 2/1/15

(Jamestown faces Athena in a rematch of last year's Class AA regional. Photo by Scott Kindberg)

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, January 26th

Niagara Falls @ Timon - 6:30 pm

Park @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

Maple Grove @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 27th

North Tonawanda @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

Amherst @ Jamestown - 7 pm

Lew-Port @ Niagara Catholic - 7 pm

 

Wednesday, January 28th

Grand Island @ Tapestry - 6 pm

Timon @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Park @ St. Joe's - 7 pm

JFL @ West Seneca West - 7:30 pm

Randolph @ Portville - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, January 29th

Middle College @ McKinley - 6 pm

Canisius @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

Allegany-Limestone @ Salamanca - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, January 30th

Lockport @ North Tonawanda - 6:30 pm

Williamsville North @ Bennett - 6:30 pm

Sweet Home @ Starpoint - 7 pm

JFK @ Lackawanna - 7 pm

Depew @ Maryvale - 7:30 pm

Panama @ Maple Grove - 7:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Nichols - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 31st

St. Joe's vs. Canisius - 1 pm **at Canisius College

Randolph @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

RAP Showcase at Aquinas

Cardinal O'Hara vs. Charlotte - 12 pm

Jamestown vs. Greece Athena - 6:45 pm

 

Game of the Week - Middle College at McKinley on Thursday, January 29th

This game was originally supposed to be played on January 9th, but was postponed.

- After breaking the Yale Cup winning streak by winning 33 straight games against its competition from the Buffalo Public Schools, McKinley saw its run end at the hands of Middle College on January 31, 2014.  The Kats proceeded to go into Mack High a week later and defeat McKinley for a second time and went on to win the Yale Cup.

McKinley would go on to win a third straight Section VI title in Class A1, while Middle College also earned a third straight Section VI crown, and made it all the way to the NYSPHAA Class C state championship game.

Once again this season, the two programs are considered elite in both the city and in their respective classifications in the section.  The two games played between these annual powers will likely determine this year's Yale Cup champion just like a season ago.  The Kats  have already faced East twice and split with them.  The Macks defeated East in their first meeting with the Panthers and will enter the game unbeaten in the city.  A win on Thursday for the Kats is crucial to their chances of repeating as Yale Cup champions, as they will enter a game behind McKinley in Yale Cup I.  A win for McKinley would have them well on their way to a returning to the status of Yale Cup Champs, and re-establish them as the city's top program.

As of now, McKinley is the #2 ranked large school in WNY, while Middle College is ranked #3 among WNY small schools.

 

Since the above game is a repeat from weeks earlier:

 

Game of the Week II - Jamestown vs. Greece Athena on Sat., January 31st

- Last season, Greece Athena spent the season as the favorite to win Class AA in Section V, and were also viewed as the team that would advance to Glens Falls to represent the Far West Region (Sections V & VI).  The Trojans did capture the Class AA crown in Rochester, but Jamestown had other plans for who would be making the trip to Glens.

In a memorable championship game performance, Zack Panebianco took over for the Red Raiders and put the team on his back, enroute to a 34-point performance that helped advance his team all the way to the Class AA state title game.

This year, both teams from that regional game brought back four starters and are once again favorites to win their respective sections.  One big change, Greece Athena is now in Class A, meaning there is no chance of the two meeting up in the postseason.  Luckily, good teams get invited to showcases like the one held at Aquinas, and we'll get to see these two go at it once more.  A rematch of last year's Class AA regional with eight of ten starters back?  That's gotta be 'Game of the Week' material.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 5

 

The fifth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #10

McKinley #14

Williamsville South #18

Amherst #20

 

Class B

Park #5

St. Mary's #17

Fredonia #24

 

 

 Class C 

Middle College #4

Silver Creek #9

Tapestry #11

Salamanca #20

 

Class D

Sherman #3

Panama #13

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- Greece Athena of Section V's Class A is far more highly regarded than any WNY team this season.  The Trojans, who are ranked #4 in Class A, visited Fairport on January 4th and won by 28 points, yet Fairport continues to be ranked in Class AA (#19), while Jamestown is a mere honorable mention.  The Red Raiders got their shot at the mighty Trojans on January 31st in the RAP Classic at Aquinas.  We'll see if they can play a game closer than 28 points.

 

- Canisius' dismantling of Nichols last week was worth a two spot promotion in Class A, from 12 to 10.

 

- McKinley got bumped up three places in Class A, from 14 to 11, after beating East (unranked in Class B).

 

- The Canisius/McKinley game at the MLK Classic on Saturday will feature the #11 vs. #10 ranked teams in the state in Class A.

 

- Williamsville South has been unranked all season, but managed to leap frog Amherst into the Class A ranks this week, after downing Williamsville East.

 

- Beating Walsh in Walsh will cost you!  St. Mary's fell two spots in Class B this week, from 15 to 17, after winning at the buzzer at Walsh, a place Nichols lost by 10.  Completely irrational!

 

- Middle College is going to Glens Falls.

 

- The top three Class D teams from Section V are all...wait for it....private schools.  I know, shocker.

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 4

 The fourth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

No teams ranked

 

Class A 

Canisius #12

McKinley #14

Amherst #21

 

Class B

Park #6

St. Mary's #15

Fredonia #21

Walsh #25

 

 Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #9

Tapestry #12

Portville #16

 

Class D

Sherman #3

Panama #18

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- There are at least five teams innSection V's Class AA better than Jamestown:  Bishop Kearney (11), Aquinas (14), Fairport (20), Irondequoit (22), and Rush-Hentietta, who is unranked, but knocked off the Red Raiders by 14 points.

 

- The Canisius loss at Troy, a team with a losing record, was not much of a punishable offense.  The Crusaders also lost to Tampa Jesuit along the way, but fell just three spots from 9 to 12.

 

- Amherst's loss to Aquinas at the Jolly Boys Tournament actually earned them a bump, from 22 to 21 in Class A.  Either that, or they were really impressed that the Tigers beat St. Francis the following day.

 

- St. Mary's dropped three spots for each loss over break (Williasmville East & Pittsford Sutherland), dropping a total of six places, from 9 to 15 in Class B.

 

- Jamestown's win over Newark (#22 in Class A) in the Rush-Henrietta Tournament didn't impress the rankings committee.

 

- Fredonia losing a close game to Timon was a big deal.  The Hillbillies dropped six spots, from 15 to 21 in Class B.

 

- They finally came around on Walsh and ranked the Eagles in Class B (25), despite them being idle since the last rankings.

 

- Eight of the top 20 teams in NYS from Class C are from Sections V & VI.

 

- Much like I did, the state had a delayed reaction to Portville beating Walsh.  The Panthers are ranked this week in Class C (16).

 

- Panama's loss to Randolph at the United Way Showcase in Jamestown was costly.  They dropped 10 spots, from 8 to 18 in Class D.

 

- Sherman is going back to Glens Falls.

 

 For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

Top games of the week ending 1/11/15

(Middle College at McKinley on 2/8/14. Photo by John Hickey/Buffalo News)

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, January 5th

Bennett @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

Panama @ Clymer - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 6th

Canisius @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Walsh - 6:30 pm

Maryvale @ Cheektowaga - 6:30 pm

St. Joe's @ Timon - 7 pm

Lew-Port @ North Tonawanda - 7 pm

Fredonia @ Olean - 7:30 pm

Sweet Home @ West Seneca East - 7:30 pm

Allegany-Limestone @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, January 7th

East @ McKinley - 6 pm

 

Thursday, January 8th

Cleveland Hill @ Tonawanda - 6:30 pm

Iroquois @ Starpoint - 7 pm

Amherst @ Maryvale - 7:30 pm

Jamestown @ Williamsville North - 7:30 pm

Williamsville East @ Williamsville South - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, January 9th

Middle College @ McKinley - 6 pm

Lockport @ Lew-Port - 6:30 pm

North Tonawanda @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

Walsh @ Park - 6:30 pm

Amherst @ Sweet Home - 7 pm

Silver Creek @ Allegany-Limestone - 7:30 pm

Randolph @ Portville - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 10th

Canisius @ St. Joe's - 2 pm

Niagara Falls @ Aquinas - 5 pm

 

Game of the Week - Middle College @ McKinley on Friday, January 9th

- After breaking the Yale Cup winning streak by winning 33 straight games against its competition from the Buffalo Public Schools, McKinley saw its run end at the hands of Middle College on January 31, 2014.  The Kats proceeded to go into Mack High a week later and defeat McKinley for a second time and went on to win the Yale Cup.

McKinley would go on to win a third straight Section VI title in Class A1, while Middle College also earned a third straight Section VI crown, and made it all the way to the NYSPHAA Class C state championship game.

Once again this season, the two programs are considered elite in both the city and in their respective classifications in the section.  The two games played between these annual powers will likely determine this year's Yale Cup champion just like a season ago.  The Kats already own a victory over East, the only other team likely to challenge these two in the city, who McKinley hosts prior to facing the Kats, on Wednesday.  A win on Friday for the Kats would have them well on their way to a repeat, while a McKinley victory would establish a clear pecking order of the city's top programs.

As of now, McKinley is the #4 ranked large school in WNY, while Middle College is ranked #4 among WNY small schools.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 3

 

The third state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #20

 

Class A 

Canisius #9

Nichols #13

McKinley #15

Amherst #22

 

Class B

Park #7

St. Mary's #9

Fredonia #15

East #22

 

Class C 

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #10

Tapestry #13

Salamanca #18

 

Class D

Sherman #4

Panama #8

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- Section V will win all five games at the regionals this year, meaning we send no teams to Glens Falls.

 

- Aquinas is only the third best team in Section V's Class AA.  It is my belief that they are likely the best from Section V.

 

- Nichols loss to Walsh was seen as practically inconsequential.  The Vikings dropped just one spot, while Walsh continues to be unranked.

 

- Park is only the 7th best Class B team in the state.  If there are really six teams better, Class B may supercede Class AA as the most talented classification.

 

- Even Leadership Academy (Section V Class B) is better than Park.

 

- The Class B2 final at Buff State is the defacto overall Class B final (no Class B1 schools ranked).

 

- The deepest classification in Section VI is Class C (four teams ranked).

 

For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

NYSSWA State Rankings - Week 2

 

The second state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class AA

Jamestown #23

 

Class A 

Canisius #10

Nichols #12

McKinley #16

Amherst #23

 

Class B

Park #8

St. Mary's #11

Fredonia #16

East #23

 

Class C 

Middle College #6

Silver Creek #11

Tapestry #14

 

Class D

Sherman #4

Panama #8

 

** According to the rankings...

 

- Three teams from Section V - Bishop Kearney (13), Fairport (16), & Aquinas (18) - are better than what Section VI has to offer in Class AA.

 

- Canisius had a big week, knocking off two ranked Class AA teams: #4 Bishop Kearney & #10 Jamestown.  The Crusaders' reward was a nine-spot jump up from #19, but not ahead of Holy Trinity (#9), who beat St. Joe's by 15 and Nichols by three last weekend.  There are a total of four CHSAA Class A teams ranked ahead of Canisius.

 

- Jamestown and Bishop Kearney were treated differently for losing to Canisius.  The Red Raiders dropped 13 places in the Class AA poll to #23, after opening at #10 in Week 1.  Meanwhile, Kearney, who also lost to unranked St. Mary's (Manhasset, NY), only fell nine places from #4 to #13.

 

- Greece Athena is considered better than any team from WNY, ranked #5 in Class A.

 

- The only WNY team that will win a state title is Park in CHSAA Class B.

 

- A win at the buzzer over East was enough to overshadow a 19-point loss to St. Mary's, as Middle College moved up one place in the Class C ranking.  

 

- What the Kats' win over East did do? Dropped the Panthers 14 places in Class B, from #9 to #23.

 

- Silver Creek's loss to Nichols bore no consequence - they remained at #11 in Class C.

 

- Sherman's four-point win over Panama literally caused the two teams to flip places in the Class D rankings.

 

- For the complete NYSSWA rankings, click here.

 

-centercourt

Top games of the week ending 2/9/14

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, February 3rd

Niagara Catholic @ Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm

St. Joe's @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

Olean @ Timon - 7 pm

Jamestown @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm

Cheektowaga @ Depew - 7:30 pm

Lake Shore @ East Aurora - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, February 4th

Williamsville East @ Iroquois - 6:30 pm

Medina @ Barker - 6:30 pm

Kenmore West @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Cardinal O'Hara - 6:30 pm

Aquinas @ Canisius - 7 pm

Cleveland Hill @ Lackawanna - 7 pm

Randolph @ Allegany-Limestone - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, February 5th

Middle College @ McKinley - 6 pm

Amherst @ Cheektowaga - 6:30 pm

Timon @ St. Joe's - 7 pm

 

Thursday, February 6th

Cardinal O'Hara @ Holland - 6:30 pm

Cleveland Hill @ Tonawanda - 6:30 pm

Depew @ Maryvale - 7:30 pm

St. Mary's @ Niagara Catholic - 7:30 pm

Hamburg @ Williamsville South - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, February 7th 

Middle College @ East - 6 pm

Niagara Falls @ Lockport - 6:30 pm

Alden @ Lackawanna - 7 pm

Fredonia @ Silver Creek - 7:30 pm

Portville @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

Allegany-Limestone @ Salamanca - 7:30 pm

Bishop Kearney @ Olean - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, February 8th

UPrep @ CSAT - 1:30 pm

Iroquois @ Hamburg - 1:30 pm

Depew @ East Aurora - 2:30 pm

Cathedral Prep @ Canisius - 3 pm

Nichols @ St. Mary's - 3:30 pm

Silver Creek @ Randolph - 6:30 pm

Middle College @ McKinley - 6:30 pm

 

 Sunday, February 9th 

Bishop Kearney @ Timon - 3 pm

Williamsville South @ St. Joe's - 4:30 pm

 

Game of the Week - Williamsville East @ Iroquois on Tuesday, February 4th

- One of, if not the most competitive league in all of WNY this season, ECIC II has produced a compelling league race all season.  Not only did no team make it to the half-way point without a loss, but the first place team in ECIC II has two losses.

Iroquois is the team currently sitting atop the ECIC II standings, while Williamsville East is a spot behind in second place, locked in a tie with Sweet Home, Williamsville South, & Hamburg.  All the teams in second place in ECIC II have three league losses.

In the first meeting between the two, the Flames scored a nine-point home win over the Chiefs to account for one of the Iroquois losses.  The Chiefs later dropped a tight one at Williamsville South, but Iroquois has yet to lose on its home court this season.

A win for Williamsville East would force a five-way tie in the race for the ECIC II crown and make it more complicated than a three-legged burlap sack picnic race.  A win for the Chiefs over Williamsville East would all but ensure at least a share of the ECIC II title, while winning out would give Iroquois the title outright.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42

State Rankings - Week 4

 

The fourth state rankings of the season have been released by the NYSSWA.  Below are the WNY teams that made the cut:

 

Class A

Canisius #4

St. Joe's #21

McKinley #22

 

Class B

East #1

Olean #3

Nichols #17

 

Class C

Middle College #5

Silver Creek #18

 

Class D

Sherman #1

Clymer #14

 

** According to the rankings:

- Within one week, the two Section VI Class B powerhouses (East & Olean) knocked off the very best Section V has to offer. Greece Athena is the highest Class AA team ranked from Section V at #15, while Aquinas is ranked at #17 in Class AA.

- For a third straight week, not a single Section VI team is top 25 worthy in Class AA

- Canisius remains the top catholic Class A school in the state

- Nichols is the top catholic school in the state in Class B

- Middle College should cancel it's hotel reservation in Glens Falls. Clyde-Savannah of Section V has moved a spot ahead of them.

- Sherman is now considered the top dog in Class D in NYS

 

Click here for a complete list of state rankings.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42 

Top games of the week ending 1/12/14

 

Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, January 6th

Nichols @ Lackawanna - 7 pm

Bishop Kearney @ Timon - 7 pm

Cleveland Hill @ Alden - 7 pm

Randolph @ Salamanca - 7:30 pm

East Aurora @ Batavia - 7:30 pm

McKinley @ Clarence - 7:30 pm

Canisius @ St. Mary's - 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 7th

Barker @ CSAT - 6 pm

Niagara Falls @ Kenmore West - 6:30 pm

Williamsville East @ Sweet Home - 7:00 pm

Maryvale @ Depew - 7:30 pm

Clarence @ Lancaster - 7:30 pm

Maryvale @ Depew - 7:30 pm

 

Wednesday, January 8th

Hutch-Tech @ McKinley - 6 pm

St. Mary's @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

East @ Middle College - 7 pm

Aquinas @ Canisius - 7 pm

Williamsville North @ Jamestown  - 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, January 9th

Allegany-Limestone @ Randolph - 7:30 pm

Williamsville South @ Sweet Home - 6:30 pm

Hamburg @ Williamsville East - 7:30 pm

Silver Creek @ Fredonia - 7:30 pm

 

Friday, January 10th

Williamsville North @ McKinley - 6:30 pm

Timon @ Nichols - 6:30 pm

Lockport @ Niagara Falls - 6:30 pm

Lancaster @ Jamestown - 7:30 pm

Cheektowaga @ Maryvale - 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 11th

Canisius vs. St. Joe's - Round 1 @ Canisius College

Olean @ Aquinas - 5:30 pm

 

Game of the Week - Olean @ Aquinas on Saturday, January 11th

- Yes, I'm picking this game even though the Canisius/St. Joe's rivalry renews just hours before on the same day.  For me, it came down to which game I'm most excited to attend in the upcoming week.   In a week of great matchups throughout, the finale on Saturday night should be a grand one.

By now, I think many are coming around to the notion that the game of the season will happen on a Tuesday night in March at Buffalo State - an Olean/East Class B crossover rematch.  Well the Huskies northeastern journey on Saturday to face Aquinas is as close as we're getting to that one for a couple of months.

East will be just two weeks removed from a win at Aquinas when the Huskies roll in to Rochester, and Olean will be just one week removed from an incredible showing at home against Greece Athena.  At this point, the speculation over which Class B school is better, Olean or East, is running rampant in WNY.  We know for sure that both schools are legit, but Saturday night will offer us a common opponent between the two schools, played at the same location.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42

 

East wins tournament at Aquinas

 

One of the early season themes this year in WNY has been that Olean's once young squad is finally a senior laden group, expecting to make a push for a state championship in Class B, after preparing for 18 games with an ambitious independent schedule.  The only thing that has prevented local hoop followers from anointing them is the possibility that there might be a better team in Class B within the same section - the East High Panthers.  I've certainly discussed that East should be heeded, but have continued to give Olean the nod in the rankings, taking a wait-and-see approach.  Well the wait is over, and I saw all I needed to last night.  Forget about whether or not Rasheed Paul is available to East this season, forget about what happened last season or the one before, and forget about the cohesion & chemistry of other teams.  After the display I witnessed last night, I'm convinced that East won't lose a game this season - something they've felt since before the ball even began bouncing this year.

 

East battled through injury and foul trouble, and after making road trips to Rochester on consecutive days, captured the Mike Dianetti Aquinas Tournament championship by defeating the previously unbeaten hosts, Aquinas of Class AA, 75-62.  East's Johnathan Lewis scored a game-high 32 points, to go with seven rebounds and seven steals in the title game, and was awarded tournament MVP.  

 

In the early going, Aquinas jumped out to a 9-2 lead, held the Panthers without a field goal for the first three minutes and with just two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, the Lil Irish held a 17-9 advantage.  East got a spark from Lewis when he drilled his first of four 3-pointers in the game and they finished the last two minutes of the quarter on an 11-4 run that ended with a Percy Bryant trey at the buzzer.  Aquinas led 21-20 after eight minutes.

 

Just 30 seconds into the second quarter, East's big man Tyree Tyson who already had five points and three boards, went down to the hardwood after suffering a hyper-extended knee and was unable to return.  At the time, it seemed like Aquinas would be too much for the Panthers to overcome without his presence in the paint.  Instead, the Panthers continued to keep pace with the Lil Irish and even took their first lead of the game, before heading into the intermission trailing by three, 39-36.

 

Less than two minutes into the second half, East starter AJ Ayala was whistled with his fourth personal foul and forced to the bench.  Aquinas netted a pair of free throws to take a 43-38 lead and with two of East's starters off the court, it seemed like things would start to get away from the Panthers.  However, the backcourt tandem of Lewis and Bryant had other ideas.  On the ensuing possession, Lewis sank a trey from the side and the energy from East started to turn up.  A minute later, Bryant got a circus layup to fall and after East forced a turnover, he buried one from downtown.  Just like that, East had a 46-43 lead, and they would never trail again.  The '3' from Lewis had begun a sequence where the Panthers held Aquinas without a field goal for four minutes, as East used a 17-2 run to take a 55-45 lead late in the third quarter.

 

"They're the top pair of guards around, they're so quick and keep the pressure up the whole game" East head coach Starling Bryant said of Lewis & Bryant following the contest.  "They really took it upon themselves when Tyree went down to make sure we won this game".

 

Lewis and Bryant combined for 33 of the 39 second half points scored by the Panthers and were relentless on both ends of the court, controlling the game and dictating the tempo.  Their effort was contagious, as Ayala, Damone Brown, Shaun Young, and Ricardo Humphrey all combined to keep Aquinas off the glass and constantly pressured in its own end.  East held a 46-33 advantage on the glass and forced 21 Lil Irish turnovers.  

 

East never allowed the Lil Irish to get any closer than six points during the fourth quarter.  Every effort Aquinas made to close the gap was answered by the Panthers.  Over the final eight minutes, as the game became more hotly contested and things began to get chippy, East seemed more in its element than ever, and it became obvious they weren't going to let its lead slip away.

 

"This team is playing with a big chip on its shoulder and it got even bigger when Tyson went down.  They're tired of hearing about Olean and Canisius. I knew there was no way these boys were losing this game" Bryant said.  

 

As the season progresses and we move closer to the postseason, don't expect East to start looking over its shoulder...the chip that's sitting there is far too big to see over anyway.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42