Friday Roundup: Hamer becomes 1st Belfast girls player since 1983 to gain entrance into 1K-point club in GV/Belfast’s win over Warsaw; Cowburn’s clutch go-ahead 3 lifts Wellsville past Eugenio Maria

BELFAST — It’s something that hasn’t happened in just over 40 years. Many Lady Bulldogs have come and gone over the years, including Lisa Hayes, who was last to accomplish such a feat back in 1983.

That feat being a punching of the golden ticket into the school’s 1,000-point club.

After countless hours of hard work and dedication, that four-decade long drought was reaching its end. Right before the holiday break, Mary Hamer found herself just under 20 points away from history. In their December 21 road battle in Fillmore, the Genesee Valley/Belfast senior very nearly reached that mark before time expired.

The magic number to clinch it was now down to three. But the long wait began until the first week of the New Year.

The next time out on the court was Friday night in front of a packed home crowd in Belfast. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house for Genesee Valley/Belfast’s return to the floor against the Warsaw Lady Tigers, and right from the opening tip, the hosts in white assumed complete control of the action.

As a result, in just over a minute into the game, Hamer would rewrite the school’s history books. That 41-year wait was finally over.

After the defense capitalized off a Warsaw turnover deep in their own zone, the pace shifted back up court on offense where a series of passes worked its way to Hamer down low. With pressure up against her, Hamer did not hesitate one bit, as she went up for the jumper and knocked it down with ease to send the home crowd into an electric frenzy, as she became the first in the combined program’s history and just the second girls basketball player in Belfast school history to eclipse 1,000 career points to aid Genesee Valley/Belfast’s ascension to victory with a 47-27 win.

When the historic bucket went through the twine, a pause in the game was held for recognition of Hamer’s remarkable achievement, where she was presented a game ball and poster. In the midst of the celebration, Hamer’s head coach, Raegan Ryan spoke briefly about the hard work that Hamer has put in towards the highlight of her career. Afterwards, the microphone was passed along to a familiar face on the opposite side of the court.

A familiar face that has seen Hamer blossom into the player she has become since the very beginning of her basketball playing days back in fifth grade.

That being Bill Horn, Mary’s longtime coach in AAU who now serves as the head coach of the Lady Tigers. Along with Hamer, several other teammates she has played AAU ball with were also in attendance in the stands, as well as multiple players from the Lady Tigers along the sideline.

Emotions were at an all-time high, especially for Horn. The word “family” had never meant more than at that very moment.

“To see the companionship and togetherness that these girls have for each other puts a lot of things into perspective. It should show the people that it’s not about the winning and scoring, but about the friendships that you obtain,” he said. "Mary’s been with the organization since she was in fifth grade, and her sister has even played with us. She is not only a very good player, but she’s an even better person just willing to do what you ask, and willing to be humble and help with any other player to become better. It was a lot more emotional than what I thought. I’ve been doing this for so long, and to see her teammates from AAU come together to see this goal happen for her, it was really special to be a part of.”

Ryan added on Hamer’s achievement, saying that “I’m really thrilled for Mary. She has earned this recognition, and she has put in so much time to improve her game over the years and it’s very fulfilling to see it pay off. I’m so happy for her. She would be the first to give credit to the teammates she has had around her throughout her career, and acknowledge their role in achieving this milestone too.”

The two magical baskets Hamer tucked away in the early stages of the first quarter allowed Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-2) to set the tone right away by building an advantage they held securely as time passed on in the midst of what was a 20-2 run of Warsaw, with the hosts in white scoring 17 of those points consecutively.

Hamer went on to score 10 of her team-tying 12 points right in the opening eight minutes.

Abby Sullivan also came away with a 12-point performance, highlighting the early run with a couple of big three-pointers to set the stage. Following behind was Sophie Zillgitt, who chipped in with 11 points. Ava Aaronson had five points.

“I was very happy to get a win in our first game back from break. I give a lot of credit to Warsaw, they played very hard from start to finish. They are a program that will continue to improve under Coach Horn.” said Ryan.

Genesee Valley/Belfast is back in action on Tuesday with a big 7:30 p.m. visit to red hot Friendship/Scio — winners of seven of their first eight games, in Friendship.

Warsaw 2 11 4 10 – 27

Genesee Valley/Belfast 20 8 9 10 – 47

WARSAW: Evelyn LaWall 1 0-0 2, Emily Klump 3 1-4 9, Veronica Streamer 1 0-2 2, Kylie Britton 4 7-17 15. Totals: 9 9-23 27.

GV/BELFAST: Abby Sullivan 5 0-0 12, Sophie Zillgitt 5 0-0 11, Kendra Bigelow 1 0-0 2, Mary Hamer 6 0-0 12, Morgan Yackeren 1 0-0 3, Ava Aaronson 2 1-2 5, Jenna Hill 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 1-2 47.

3-point goals: Warsaw 1 (Klump), GVB 4 (Sullivan 2, Zilligitt, Yackeren).
Total Fouls: Warsaw 3, GVB 20. Fouled out: None.

Letchworth 37, Fillmore 34

FILLMORE — Compared to last year’s battle just a 15 minute drive up north, it was as tight of a defensive battle as you could imagine in The Rock on Friday. Points were going to be hard to come by, but when they mattered, it saw one team take advantage of their opportunities slightly more than the other.

After a finish that saw multiple trips to the charity line in the game’s final minute, visiting Letchworth was able to get the job done while playing the role of spoiler to hand the Lady Eagles of Fillmore their first loss of the season, as they survived with a 37-34 win to close out the week.

“We figured that this would be a low-scoring battle coming in. Despite their record, Letchworth has a nice team,” Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks said. “They’ve played a very strong schedule and have been on the opposite end of several one-possession games. Tonight, they found their way to the good side. We showed some resiliency after the third quarter, but ultimately turnovers hurt us tonight. We just couldn’t get into a rhythm because of it. We’ll learn from this one and get ready for a couple of important League games coming up.”

Letchworth began the constant shifts of momentum with an early first quarter lead over the Lady Eagles (6-1) behind their defense, as they held their opposition to just five points — the lowest frame Fillmore would produce in the contest. But the hosts in white and green started to see the gears shift their way after trimming their halftime deficit down to six.

Despite a hot start from the visitors in red, the Lady Eagles responded in a big way across the remainder of the time in the third quarter, they took what was a 13-point deficit and knocked it down to two behind an 11-0 run, setting up shop for an exciting finish in the last eight minutes.

It was anyone’s game across the fourth quarter, but when it was all said and done, some clutch defense and some big shots at the charity stripe allowed Letchworth to remain in the driver’s seat down the homestretch, regaining a lead that eclipsed at most, five points with less than a minute remaining to hang on for the victory.

Across a balanced offensive effort, Hope Russell and Emalyn Mucher led the scoring with seven points each, with Russell recording three steals along the way. Mattie McCumiskey chipped in with six points to go with 11 rebounds, while Rachel Hatch had five points. Grace Russell handed out five assists.

The Lady Eagles will look to bounce back on the road Tuesday night with a 7:30 p.m. visit to Andover/Whitesville, in Whitesville.

Letchworth 12 8 7 10 – 37

Fillmore 5 9 11 9 – 34

LETCHWORTH: Annika Milillo 6 2-2 14, Emily Perl 2 0-2 4, Alyssa Milillo 4 0-0 12, Abbie DeRock 0 1-2 1, Charity Scott 3 0-0 6. Totals: 15 3-6 37.

FILLMORE: Hope Russell 2 3-5 7, Grace Russell 1 2-2 4, Rachel Hatch 2 0-0 5, Kylee Ellsworth 1 0-0 2, Mattie McCumiskey 3 0-0 6, Preslee Miller 1 1-2 3, Emalyn Mucher 2 2-3 7. Totals: 12 8-12 34.

3-point goals: Letchworth 4 (Al. Milillo), Fillmore 2 (Hatch, Mucher).
Total Fouls: Letchworth 19, Fillmore 13. Fouled out: Al. Milillo (LET).

Oswayo Valley 44, Cuba-Rushford 16

CUBA — The Oswayo Valley Lady Green Wave were at the apex of their game Friday night above the border at Cuba-Rushford, as they made their presence known right from the very beginning on both ends of the floor, keeping the Lady Rebels on their feet with a complete performance that allowed them to claim a 44-16 victory in the Wighthouse.

In the opening eight minutes, the Lady Green Wave ushered in a dominant start of the Lady Rebels (3-7) by using an overload of defensive pressure to force multiple turnovers — the majority of which were cashed in on the following transition back up the court.

As a result, Oswayo Valley was able to build a massive 19-5 run to set a bar that the hosts in white and blue could not match, as they held the lead firmly within their grasp until the end.

The Lady Rebels were led by a team-leading six points from Cloey Larabee. Shae Maples had five points to add in.

Coming up next, the Lady Rebels will hit the road for a 7:30 p.m. contest against the Lady Eagles of Fillmore on Thursday.

Oswayo Valley 19 11 11 3 – 44

Cuba-Rushford 5 5 6 0 – 16

OSWAYO VALLEY: Charlotte Austin-Keech 4 1-6 9, Eva West 4 0-0 8, Layken Enty 3 0-0 6, Makenna Manning 7 2-6 17, Brooke George 2 0-0 4. Totals: 20 3-12 44.

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Cloey Larabee 3 0-0 6, Kendall Tompkins 1 0-0 2, Shae Maples 2 0-0 5, Brynn Lavery 0 1-2 1, Lilly Farwell 1 0-2 2, Raegan Poore 0 0-2 0. Totals: 7 1-6 16.

3-point goals: OV 1 (Manning), C-R 1 (Maples).
Total Fouls: OV 10, C-R 14. Fouled out: Enty (OV).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Wellsville 66, Eugenio Maria de Hostos 64

WELLSVILLE — Like the last meeting just over a week ago, Wellsville was in total command. With an early first quarter lead in hand, it was built upon several highlighting finishes. To name a few, a JJ Howard dunk in the second quarter and a hot three-point hand from Cooper Brockway in the third to open up the second half.

The advantage for the Lions reached as much as 18 at one point, but across most sports, no lead is ever safe. Eugenio Maria de Hostos answered that bell in the last eight minutes with a wild comeback, posting the biggest frame of the offense the night either side would see to claim the lead over the hosts in white and orange down the homestretch.

But with nearly a minute left to go, that comeback was put to rest with a signature shot. After a pass from Karson Grover at the top of the key, Aiden Cowburn let one fly.

With the visiting Hornets holding a one-point lead, the Wellsville junior knocked down a shot outside in the cold parking lot that hit nothing but twine on the way down, giving the Lions the two-point edge to hold onto for dear life until the final buzzer rang out, claiming their fourth win in the last five games by a 66-64 count.

“It was a wild ending, that’s for sure. With JJ having to sit the fourth quarter, they hit a few hail mary three-pointers to get back into the game,” said Lions coach Tom Muska. “But this says a lot about the kids and their perseverance to get a win with your best player getting hurt. Everything changed on both sides with him gone, and they pulled through for us. Tyler (Vogel) was great down low, Aiden’s three-pointer at the end was a big time shot, something I’m going to remember for a while and Alex Green did a great job holding the paint as well.”

It was a battle that the Lions (4-6) drove with the entire night, starting with an early 13-7 lead and branching it out before halftime with a 19-point second quarter that was propelled by both JJ Howard and Ty Vogel, as the two juniors combined to record 13 of the team’s points in the frame to keep the offensive blaze lit.

The third quarter would allow the Lions to branch out their lead even further, blossoming it to a dozen after the fiery hand of Cooper Brockway knocked down a pair of big three-pointers, and later on, to as much as 18 with five more contributors all helping fuel the cause. But in the final eight minute period, the Hornets put on one last clinic — a 30-point frame fronted by six enormous three-pointers, feeding them the momentum to claim the 61-60 lead going down the stretch.

With time of the essence, Wellsville had to find a way to respond. The perfect way to do that — knock down a three-pointer of their own. That courtesy of Cowburn after a great pass from his right by Karson Grover, as he knocked down the go-ahead trey with 1:14 left to go to put them back ahead essentially for good, as they survived a back-and-forth finish straight down to the wire to foil the Eugenio Maria de Hostos comeback.

Vogel was one of three different scorers to eclipse 10 points in the contest, as he led the Lions with a team-high 14 points. Cowburn would settle with 13 points, while Howard had 10.

After the weekend, the Lions will now make their way to the McLane Center at Alfred University, where they will take on the Attica Blue Devils in a 7 p.m. contest.

Eugenio Maria 7 16 11 30 – 64

Wellsville 13 19 18 16 – 66

EUGENIO MARIA: M. Thomas 1 3-4 5, M. Chevese 4 0-2 9, E. Joseph 5 3-3 15, S. Patterson 4 0-0 12, H. Vargas 4 9-10 18, J. Lewis 2 1-2 5. Totals: 20 16-21 64.

WELLSVILLE: Aiden Cowburn 4 3-4 13, Karson Grover 3 0-0 6, Cooper Brockway 2 2-4 8, JJ Howard 3 2-3 10, Ty Vogel 6 2-2 14, Ethan Bailey 2 2-2 6, Kamron Dodge 1 0-0 2, Alex Green 1 5-7 7. Totals: 22 16-22 66.

3-point goals: EMCS 8 (Patterson 4, Joseph 2, Chevese, Vargas), Wellsville 4 (Cowburn 2, Brockway 2),
Total Fouls: EMCS 22, Wellsville 22. Fouled out: Chevese (EMCS), Bailey (WLSV).

Arkport-Canaseraga 70, Alfred-Almond 18

ALMOND — With redemption over Dansville officially sought, the Arkport-Canaseraga Wolves have entered maximum overdrive. To close out the week on Friday, they remained on fire after their latest road trip to Alfred-Almond, where every single Wolf on the floor and on the bench all recorded at least four points to aid their 70-18 win over the Eagles.

It began right from the start in the first eight minutes of play where the tone was automatically set by the Wolves (8-1), as they scored the game’s first 23 points — their highest stand of offense in the battle, as they captured a lead they never relinquished behind a trio of scorers that all eclipsed double figures to help the team’s cause.

Among them was Caden Carey, as he led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, pairing them with five steals. Ibra Ford chipped in with 10 points to pair with five assists and three steals while Dan Clark had 11 points to put towards his first double-double of the season, grabbing 11 rebounds along the way.

Alfred-Almond was led by a seven-point performance from Jackson Jusianiec.

The Wolves will return to action Monday night back on the road, as they prepare for a 7:15 p.m. visit to the Wildcats of Jasper-Troupsburg.

Arkport-Canaseraga 23 16 19 12 – 70

Alfred-Almond 0 1 2 15 – 18

ARKPORT-CANASERAGA: Devin Moran 3 0-0 7, Connor Westfall 2 0-0 5, Caden Carey 6 3-5 16, Ibra Ford 4 0-0 10, Alex Vilkhu 2 1-2 5, Lucas Smith 2 0-0 5, Kohler Preston 3 0-0 7, Tim Vilkhu 2 0-0 4, Dan Clark 5 1-4 11. Totals: 28 5-11 70.

ALFRED-ALMOND: Jackson Jusianiec 2 1-4 7, Ryan Washburn 1 0-0 2, Brogan Donlan 2 0-0 6, Liam Ruthven 1 0-0 3. Totals: 6 1-4 18.

3-point goals: A-C 7 (Ford 2, Moran, Westfall, Carey, Smith, Preston), A-A 5 (Jusianiec 2, Donlan 2, Ruthven).
Total Fouls: A-C 7, A-A 9. Fouled out: None.

Hinsdale 33, West Valley 30

WEST VALLEY — In a back and forth battle from start to finish, the degree of separation was just three points. Those three points allowed the Hinsdale Bobcats to claim an advantage that was threatened by host West Valley, but never lost to assist in completing their two-game sweep of the Wildcats on Friday with a close 33-30 edge.

Stats for the Bobcats (4-3) and a complete box score were not made available to report upon publication.

Hinsdale will return to the floor again on January 22, when they get set to face the defending Class D2 champion Mount Morris Blue Devils in a 6 p.m. tip-off.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Portville 3, Bolivar-Richburg 0

PORTVILLE — The Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg hung right with host Portville for much of Friday night’s battle to close out the week. But across straight sets, the Panthers were able to dig themselves free to power their way forward towards victory that awaited in the end, as they scored the straight-set win by a 25-20, 25-13, 25-19 count.

Stats for the Wolverines (0-9) were not made available to report upon publication.

After the Midseason Tournament at Genesee Valley this afternoon, Bolivar-Richburg will return to regular season action on Monday with a 6 p.m. contest at Cuba-Rushford.

Allegany-Limestone 3, Fillmore 0

ALLEGANY — Behind 25 combined kills between AJ Riordan and Josh Nolder, along with a whopping 28 assists from setter CJ Ellison, the undefeated Allegany-Limestone Gators made it eight straight trips into the win column on Friday, as they brought out the brooms to perform a clean straight-set sweep against visiting Fillmore on Friday, 25-16, 25-15, 25-12.

Stats for the Eagles (4-4) were not made available to report upon publication.

Fillmore resumes play after the Midseason Tournament this weekend at Genesee Valley, on Monday, as they visit the Arkport-Canaseraga Wolves in a 6 p.m. first serve.

BOYS SWIMMING

Wellsville 95, Genesee Valley/Belfast 63 (Friday)

BELMONT — The bounce back from Tuesday’s defeat to the hands of the Olean Huskies in their home waters, was never felt more alive by the Lions of Wellsville on Friday. With Eli Brophy and Ben Jordan both fronting the pack, they would not be denied, as they scored nine total first place finishes to help set up a huge 95- 63 victory on the road against host Genesee Valley/Belfast.

Jordan and Brophy ignited the victorious fire for the Lions (6-2) in the water, each scoring a pair of victories to help set them up for success, with Jordan claiming his wins in the 50 freestyle (24.53) and 500 freestyle (5:28.08), while Brophy provided his wins in the 200 individual medley (2:33.97) and in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.04).

Sean Driscoll and Thomas Cooke both helped keep the momentum in Wellsville’s favor with one more win each, with Driscoll winning in the 100 freestyle (58.55) and seeing Cooke add a 100 backstroke (1:18.32) win to his resume. Aside from their nine total individual wins, the Lions would also record a clean sweep of all three relay events, claiming the winning times in the 200 medley (1:59.40), 200 freestyle (1:57.29) and the 400 freestyle (4:13.87) at the very end.

Genesee Valley/Belfast was able to garner a pair of first place finishes to pair with a multitude of secondary finishes, both by Nolan Hunter, as he came away victorious in the 200 freestyle (2:08.33) and the 100 butterfly (1:08.85). The team is back in the water this morning with a 10 a.m. visit to Alfred-Almond.

Wellsville hops back into the water on Tuesday back home, hosting Campbell-Savona in a 5:30 p.m. first swim.