Wednesday Roundup: Fillmore returns to win column following loss at Ark-Can, use 1st half run to construct 40-23 win at GV/Belfast; C-R’s balance keys 10th win at B-R, And/Whi cruises past Fri/Scio

BELFAST — The wind was whipping, the snow was blowing and the temperatures, bitter. But despite Old Man Winter displaying his almighty power across the area on Wednesday, there was still basketball to be played between Fillmore and Genesee Valley/Belfast from within the confines of the Paul Vienna Memorial Gym in Belfast.

Both teams were looking to seek and earn their way back into the win column once again, with Fillmore aiming to bounce back after their first defeat over the road at Arkport-Canaseraga earlier in the week, while Genesee Valley/Belfast looks for victory once again after an eight-day lay-off since their triumphant performance against Warsaw.

For the two teams, the battle was on with a fair amount of exchanges in the early stages of the first quarter. But a big second quarter run from the Lady Eagles gave them a great deal of room to work with going forward, as they prolonged their advantage all the way into the second half to complete their rebounding performance with a 40-23 victory over Genesee Valley/Belfast.

The Lady Eagles (12-1) found their groove after Genesee Valley/Belfast opened the contest with a long-range triple from Sophie Zillgitt, with the team assembling the next six points in consecutive fashion. After another response by the hosts aided in closing the early gap, Fillmore was able to jump back out towards a 10-5 lead with a big Mattie McCumiskey three-point play sparking their advantage.

The scoring between the two clubs became limited in the last three minutes, but after another highlight from McCumiskey down low for the Lady Eagles with a blocked pass and steal directly underneath the Genesee Valley/Belfast (8-7) rim, the Lady Eagles junior was able to cash in on the opportunity to close out what was a 14-7 lead after the opening frame.

Fillmore then caught a bit of fire to help unfurl the second quarter. Along with their defense overloading the half-court against the hosts in white, turnovers were forced to aid the offense in return to resume control of the action on both ends of the floor with a 10-2 run of Genesee Valley/Belfast just across midway.

The Lady Eagles offense then sat idle for the last three minutes and change left remaining until halftime, allowing Genesee Valley/Belfast to score the half’s last five points in a row — three off the hand of Whitney Young from long range to close the gap to 10 entering the recess.

In the second half, the visitors in gray and green were able to maintain all control of their game, despite points being hard to come by, as they administered two big outscorings of their opposition. Among them, a 9-4 fourth quarter run to finish off the victory up the road in Belfast.

Leading the offensive efforts for the Lady Eagles was Emalyn Mucher, who posted a game-high 14 points. Mattie McCumiskey was right behind her, registering 12 points. Morghyn Ross had eight points to contribute.

For Genesee Valley/Belfast, Bayleigh Tallman bucketed a team-leading performance consisting of 10 points. Addisyn Ely had four points. The team will stand pat in Belfast until after the weekend, when they play host to Bolivar-Richburg at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Fillmore will head back home to welcome in Andover/Whitesville on Friday, with tip-off slated for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Fillmore 14 10 7 9 — 40

Genesee Valley/Belfast 7 7 5 4 — 23

FILLMORE: Tenlee Miller 1 0-0 2, Lily Sisson 1 0-0 2, Morghyn Ross 4 0-0 8, Emalyn Mucher 6 2-3 14, Mattie McCumiskey 3 6-7 12, Kelsie Songster 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 8-10 40.

GV/BELFAST: Bayleigh Tallman 5 0-0 10, Sophie Zillgitt 1 0-0 3, Whitney Young 1 0-0 3, Addisyn Ely 2 0-0 4, Ava Aronson 1 0-0 2, Jenna Hill 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 1-2 23.

3-point goals: GVB 2 (Zillgitt, Young).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 12, GVB 10. Fouled out: None.

Cuba-Rushford 52, Bolivar-Richburg 35

BOLIVAR — There was plenty of balance to go around for the Cuba-Rushford offense during their visit to Bolivar-Richburg on Wednesday. Behind the guidance of both Lily Tompkins and Lilly Farwell, the Lady Rebels were able to take advantage of the opportunity, despite some pressure from the Lady Wolverines in return, as they collected their 10th win of the campaign with a 52-35 road win.

The balance would settle in rather quickly for the Lady Rebels (10-6), with four different contributors all handing in efforts to counter a strong inside presence posed by Carmen Crowley for the Lady Wolverines in return, as they settled on an early 12-9 lead to start the contest.

“I was happy to see some different girls step up for us offensively tonight. Bolivar-Richburg came out with a good game plan and I thought our girls responded pretty well to it.” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight.

In the second quarter, the visitors in black and blue garnered some breathing room behind a long Aubrey Williams triple — a shot that helped set the music for a 13-point frame, as the Lady Rebels bucketed the first five consecutively to claim a 17-9 lead on Bolivar-Richburg (6-8) in the early-going. The advantage ultimately reached nine at the end of the first half for Cuba-Rushford, as they proceeded to score the last four points for a 25-16 lead.

The Lady Rebels maintained the momentum heading into the back 16 minutes of play, starting strong with eight of the first 10 points before Bolivar-Richburg flipped the switch and reversed the propulsion in their direction a short time later, coming away with the next six points in consecutive fashion themselves from Crowley and Raegan Giardini, who combined for all eight of the team’s points within the stanza.

Despite the Lady Wolverines chipping away at their deficit, Cuba-Rushford was able to finish off their visit on a high note with a magnificent 10-point fourth quarter from Lily Tompkins, as the Lady Rebels pulled away towards their fifth victory in the last seven games.

Tompkins led all scorers for Cuba-Rushford with a team-high 16 points. Farwell followed right behind her with 15 points of her own, while Cloey Larabee had nine to chip in.

As for Bolivar-Richburg, Carmen Crowley paved the way once again following a career-performance back on Monday against Campbell-Savona, posting a game-high 24 points. Jaelyn Kinnicutt and Raegan Giardini each had four points, while Sydney Faulkner scored a triple from long range to help finish off the scoring for the hosts. The Lady Wolverines are back on the floor Friday night with a 6 p.m. home battle against Hinsdale.

The Lady Rebels will head back home and await the Fillmore Lady Eagles on Tuesday, with tip-off set for a 7:30 p.m. commencement.

Cuba-Rushford 12 13 12 13 — 52

Bolivar-Richburg 9 7 8 11 — 35

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Aubrey Williams 1 0-0 3, Cloey Larabee 4 0-0 9, Kendall Tompkins 1 0-0 3, Lily Tompkins 8 0-0 16, Brynn Lavery 2 0-0 5, Mireya Rutkowski 0 1-2 1, Lilly Farwell 7 1-2 15. Totals: 23 2-4 52.

BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Jaelyn Kinnicutt 1 1-2 4, Raegan Giardini 1 2-2 4, Sydney Faulkner 1 0-0 3, Carmen Crowley 10 4-5 24. Totals: 13 7-9 35.

3-point goals: C-R 4 (Williams, Larabee, K. Tompkins, Lavery), B-R 2 (Kinnicutt, Faulkner).
Total Fouls: C-R 13, B-R 7. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 53, Friendship/Scio 28

WHITESVILLE — An early fight was on between both Friendship/Scio and Andover/Whitesville on a blustery Wednesday night. With the two foes trading blows across the first half, some steam was picked up by the hosts in the midst of it during the second quarter with a strong finish coming into fruition.

That foundational momentum was used for the remainder of the game by Andover/Whitesville, as they pushed the tempo into full throttle for the second half where they managed to pull away from Friendship/Scio with a massive 28-11 run to close out on top with a 53-28 victory in Whitesville.

After a close first quarter witnessed a 7-7 tie between the two teams developing, the back-and-forth pace continued into the second quarter where another deadlock was formed approaching midway across the next several minutes. With time winding down, Andover/Whitesville (11-1) saw an opportunity to garner a lead with additional cushioning, as they went on to score the next seven points in a row behind the leadership of Stella Bledsoe and Olivia Waters underneath.

Waters provided the bulk of the points, netting 12 of the team’s 18 points within the frame to help bring the curtain down on a 25-17 halftime lead.

In the second half, Andover/Whitesville put the pedal to the metal, especially in the fourth quarter to assemble a powerful finish to the evening, as they closed out the night with a 13-4 run of Friendship/Scio (2-11) to solidify their victory.

At the end of action, Waters led all scorers with a game-high 21 points. Stella Bledsoe finished with 15 points of her own, while Makenna Vance chipped in seven.

Friendship/Scio was led by Emily Lamberson and her team-high nine points. Alexiss Herring had eight points. The team is back in action Tuesday night over the road with a 6 p.m. visit to Hinsdale.

Up next for Andover/Whitesville is a road trip to Fillmore to take on the host Lady Eagles in a 7:30 p.m. contest on Friday.

Friendship/Scio 7 10 7 4 — 28

Andover/Whitesville 7 18 15 13 — 53

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Emily Lamberson 3 1-2 9, Kaydence Sadler 3 0-0 7, Huntar Hint 2 0-1 4, Alexiss Herring 4 0-0 8, Courtney Button 0 0-2 0. Totals: 12 1-5 28.

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Makenna Vance 3 0-0 7, Stella Bledsoe 7 1-2 15, Graci Lewis-Ellison 1 2-4 4, Lilly Harrington 1 0-0 2, Olivia Waters 7 5-6 21, Katrina Lewis 0 1-2 1, Reece Winters 1 0-0 3. Totals: 20 9-14 53.

3-point goals: F/S 3 (Lamberson 2, Sadler), A/W 4 (Waters 2, Vance, Winters).
Total Fouls: F/S 13, A/W 10. Fouled out: None.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Fillmore 3, Bolivar-Richburg 0

RICHBURG — With one more game left on their campaign before the County Playoffs settle in, a Wednesday night for the Eagles of Fillmore was utilized as a grand opportunity to bounce back and build momentum. During their visit to Bolivar-Richburg, they did just that, as they survived two narrow sets with the host Wolverines to settle on a straight-set, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23 sweep.

The successful rebounding efforts for the Eagles (4-7) were ignited by Anderson Wiltsey on the offense, as he led the way with a team-leading six kills to go with two aces. Skylar Freeman chipped in with a team-high 22 assists to go with four aces from the back line, while Aiden Freeman was also busy setting up the attack at the front, garnering 18 helpers of his own.

Statistics for the Wolverines (3-11) were not made available to report upon publication. Bolivar-Richburg ends their regular season, and will now begin County Playoff play beginning next Wednesday night with a 6 p.m. first-round contest at Cuba-Rushford.

Fillmore will officially close their regular season down tonight with a 6 p.m. trip back home to host Genesee Valley/Belfast.