Monday Roundup: Undefeated Fillmore erupts with titanic 4th quarter finish to pull away from Lady Rebels; GV/Belfast ladies edged out by Addison, C-R volleyball sweeps Ark-Can at home
FILLMORE — The Fillmore Lady Eagles are Allegany County’s last undefeated team standing in the girls basketball realm. In their seven battles thus far, four of them have been decided by no less than 10 points. Every time that Fillmore has faced adversity, they have charted their course in navigating over top of it towards victory each time.
Monday night, they were approached by the Cuba-Rushford Lady Rebels who, despite falling behind the eight-ball early, made the Lady Eagles work for every point possible.
In the second half, the Lady Rebels gained a big burst of momentum from their defense to stay within reach of the hosts. But in the last eight minutes however, the momentum dissipated rapidly.
The Lady Eagles went on to produce one whale of a finish.
After the visitors in gray and blue posted their biggest frame of the night on the attack, Fillmore buckled down and went all-in on a fourth quarter expedition. Despite all the pressure in the world from the Lady Rebels right on their coattails, the Lady Eagles managed to telescope their advantage insurmountably with a game-sealing shutout, as they rolled their way towards an eighth straight victory on the campaign by a 55-26 count in The Rock.
“We had some very uneven play through the first three quarters, but it all came together for us in the fourth,” Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks said. “Brynn Lavery had an outstanding third quarter for Cuba-Rushford to keep them in it. We really couldn’t find a way to slow her down. For us, even though she didn’t put up a big number on offense, I thought Mylee (Miller) played a really great game defensively and controlled the paint and boards. Emi (Mucher), Morghyn (Ross) and Mattie (McCumiskey) all had big nights for us on the offensive end.”
The Lady Eagles (8-0) kicked off the first quarter of play on fire, as they fought off a burst of pressure from Cuba-Rushford to produce a hefty 13-4 lead behind a fast start with five of the first seven points in the contest. After the Lady Rebels trimmed their deficit to as little as four points approaching halfway, the buffer was re-established again for the hosts in white and green behind the first of three total triples from Emalyn Mucher.
In the second quarter, a much different story, as both teams slowed one another down across a quarter-long defensive exchange, with both teams remaining off the board through the first three minutes of play. Following a shot at the line from Lily Tompkins and the Lady Rebels (7-5), they sought a long three-pointer from Brynn Lavery to aid the team back into the game before Fillmore found a way to branch their advantage back into double-digit territory going into the break.
At the start of the second half, the offenses turned up the heat from start to finish, with Cuba-Rushford and Fillmore going back-and-forth with constant exchanges, with the advantage for the Lady Eagles reaching as high as 12 points during one juncture of the frame.
With a 35-26 lead remaining intact, the Lady Eagles used the last eight minutes to their utmost convenience by cashing in on a massive scoreless jaunt, holding Cuba-Rushford absolutely scoreless from the field to wrap up the night on a 20-0 run of the Lady Rebels, as they rolled towards their eighth consecutive victory.
Leading the way was Emalyn Mucher, who recorded a game-high 23 points. She was one of three different Lady Eagles to all record at least 10 points, with Morghyn Ross and Mattie McCumiskey following behind with 12 points each.
For the Lady Rebels, Brynn Lavery led the offense with a team-leading 15 points, including all three of the team’s triples from downtown. Cloey Larabee chipped in with six points. Cuba-Rushford will look to rebound back on the road Wednesday night in Whitesville in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against host Andover/Whitesville.
Fillmore will now seek their ninth straight win to open their campaign coming up on Friday, hosting Bolivar-Richburg back inside The Rock at 7 p.m.
Cuba-Rushford 4 4 18 0 – 26
Fillmore 13 5 17 20 – 55
CUBA-RUSHFORD: Cloey Larabee 3 0-0 6, Lily Tompkins 1 1-2 3, Brynn Lavery 6 0-0 15, Lilly Farwell 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 1-2 26.
FILLMORE: Mylee Miller 0 1-2 1, Tenlee Miller 1 0-0 3, Morghyn Ross 5 0-0 12, Emalyn Mucher 8 4-6 23, Mattie McCumiskey 6 0-2 12, Kelsie Songster 2 0-0 4. Totals: 22 5-10 55.
3-point goals: C-R 3 (Lavery), Fillmore 6 (Mucher 3, Ross 2, T. Miller).
Total Fouls: C-R 7, Fillmore 9. Fouled out: None.
Addison 36, Genesee Valley/Belfast 33
BELMONT — In a game of back-and-forth proportions, it would all come down to the final moments of Addison and Genesee Valley/Belfast’s battle Monday night in the Jungle.
It was a later fourth quarter lead that reached, at most, six points for the Genesee Valley/Belfast ladies entering the last minute of regulation. But then, the Lady Knights rose to the occasion to cement their largest frame of attack. Despite all the pressure, a long Caidyn Jones triple, followed by an amalgamation of shots from the charity stripe, would make all the difference for Addison, as they finished the game on a 9-0 run to complete their late comeback with a 36-33 victory.
Each team would trade a lead at the end of each stanza in the first half, with Addison garnering the first off an early three-point game led by Khloe Snow and Kailee Myeka, both posting one to aid in establishing a 7-4 first quarter lead over Genesee Valley/Belfast (6-5) heading into the second. In the last frame before halftime, the hosts then turned the ship around to claim a 13-11 advantage behind a Whitney Young triple along with some additional inside help from Bayleigh Tallman, Addisyn Ely and Jenna Hill, each scoring a bucket to help set up shop.
The back-and-forth trade of scores re-commenced in the second half, with the two foes working their way towards an 18-18 tie before both offenses kicked it into high gear in the last eight minutes to provide a thrilling conclusion to their lone battle of the campaign.
In the fourth quarter, Addison and Genesee Valley/Belfast continued to battle for the driver’s seat, with the hosts in white ultimately gaining control of it in the last two minutes of play. As time wound down, Addison began to mount the momentum against their opposition, inching back to within reach once again off a clutch triple from Jones in the last minute of play to make it a one-possession battle.
The long basket served as the inception of a game-ending scoreless run the Lady Knights conducted, utilizing a massive 11-for-13 fourth quarter outing at the charity stripe along the way — three of those points coming off back-to-back trips to the stripe with less than 20 seconds remaining after forcing Genesee Valley/Belfast to return possession back into their favor on each occasion.
The Lady Knights went on to make all three shots to reclaim the lead once and for all, as they held off one last attempt from the hosts to tie the game at the buzzer to secure the victory.
Genesee Valley/Belfast was paced by Bayleigh Tallman and her 10 team-high points. Sophie Zillgitt and Whitney Young each chipped in with eight points.
Up next, Genesee Valley/Belfast will hit the road to visit the Hinsdale Lady Bobcats in a 6 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday.
Addison 7 4 7 18 – 36
Genesee Valley/Belfast 4 9 5 15 – 33
ADDISON: Khloe Snow 2 0-0 5, Caidyn Jones 3 6-7 13, Marley Atherton 3 6-8 12, Alivia Sullivan 0 0-2 0, Sophia Sabol 1 1-2 3, Kailee Myeka 1 0-0 3. Totals: 10 13-19 36.
GV/BELFAST: Bayleigh Tallman 5 0-2 10, Sophie Zillgitt 3 2-2 8, Whitney Young 3 1-2 8, Addisyn Ely 1 0-0 2, Ava Aronson 0 0-4 0, Jenna Hill 2 1-2 5. Totals: 14 4-12 33.
3-point goals: Addison 3 (Snow, Jones, Myeka), GVB 1 (Young).
Total Fouls: Addison 14, GVB 17. Fouled out: None.
Andover/Whitesville 49, Campbell-Savona 32
CAMPBELL — Following an advantage that was gained through the opening frame of play, the Andover/Whitesville ladies made no mistake in constructing even more momentum on top of their foundation Monday night at Campbell-Savona, as they manufactured their strongest spurt of offense to set the tone for the remainder of battle, rolling towards a 49-32 road win over the host Lady Panthers.
The second quarter saw Andover/Whitesville (6-1) break free from Campbell-Savona’s grasp after developing an early 8-4 lead out of the gate, punching straight down on the gas with 12 of the first 18 points in the frame before wrapping all of it together with the frame’s last eight points in consecutive fashion to hold all the momentum going into the break.
From within the frame, five different Andover/Whitesville scorers all pitched in at least a bucket. When it was all said and done, Andover/Whitesville proceeded to finish off a 20-8 jaunt of the Lady Panthers.
From the second half onwards, the visitors in black went on to maintain their advantage over the Lady Panthers to officially lock down their victory.
Leading the scoring for Andover/Whitesville was Olivia Waters, who bucketed a game-high 18 points — nine of them stemming off a 9-of-12 outing at the charity stripe. Following behind was Stella Bledsoe and her 12 points. Graci Lewis-Ellison chipped in 10 more points.
Andover/Whitesville will now head back home to host Cuba-Rushford in Whitesville on Wednesday beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Andover/Whitesville 8 20 7 14 – 49
Campbell-Savona 4 6 11 11 – 32
ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Makenna Vance 1 0-0 2, Stella Bledsoe 6 0-0 12, Graci Lewis-Ellison 4 2-2 10, Aine Brown 0 1-2 1, Lilly Harrington 3 0-0 6, Olivia Waters 4 9-12 18. Totals: 18 12-16 49.
CAMPBELL-SAVONA: Willow Koperczak 1 2-2 4, Ashlynn Stratton 3 0-4 6, Olivia Zimar 2 5-6 9, Maggie Hawken 5 3-5 13. Totals: 11 10-17 32.
3-point goals: A/W 1 (Waters).
Total Fouls: A/W 16, C-S 15. Fouled out: None.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Alfred-Almond 47, Hinsdale 39
HINSDALE — The first eight minutes allowed the Alfred-Almond Eagles to garner the start they wanted to have on Monday, as they established a monstrous run of host Hinsdale to set the tone right off the bat. Despite a late rally from the Bobcats in the last eight-minute quarter, the Eagles were able to fend off the final push to lock down a 47-39 road win.
The Eagles were soaring almost immediately from the opening tip at mid-court, as they rolled off on a 21-4 run of the Bobcats (2-8) in the first eight minutes — a frame that served as the bedrock to Alfred-Almond’s lead, which was held all throughout the contest. After near-even exchanges through the next two stanzas, the hosts in white and blue would make one final run in the last eight minutes.
Hinsdale advanced forward to finish the game on a strong 16-9 run of the Eagles. But the early deficit that Alfred-Almond created, ultimately proved to be too much to overcome in the end, as the Eagles held on to claim the victory.
A complete box score was not made available to report upon publication.
Hinsdale will return to action in quick turnaround fashion tonight, hosting the Fillmore Eagles in a 6 p.m. contest.
Alfred-Almond 21 5 12 9 – 47
Hinsdale 4 7 12 16 – 39
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Cuba-Rushford 3, Arkport-Canaseraga 0
CUBA — The halfway point to the campaign was officially reached when the annual Mid-Season Tournament at Genesee Valley took center stage for this past weekend, as the entire Allegany County League all met under one roof to battle for this year’s crown.
When it was all said and done on Saturday, it was the Cuba-Rushford Rebels that walked away champions with a clean sweep of the action across the board, finishing a perfect 10-0 to become this year’s champion.
Fast forward two days later back home in the Wighthouse, the Rebels were looking to build off of the championship with a colossal showdown with Arkport-Canaseraga to start the new week on Monday.
One thing was for certain: Cuba-Rushford was not going to be denied victory, as they survived a back-and-forth exchange across the opening set with the Wolves to pick up the lead, never losing it to carve their way towards a 3-0 straight-set sweep to climb back over the .500 threshold for the campaign with the 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 victory on Monday.
Leading the Rebels (4-3) on the attack was Hunter Jahnke, who recorded a team-leading seven kills to pair with five digs and a trio of blocks at the front of the net. Helping the offense shift into high gear was the helping hand of Chase Haas, who dished out 14 assists to his teammates while accounting for six digs on defense and an ace along the way to further the team’s cause.
Arkport-Canaseraga (6-2) was led by Aydan Button, as he recorded four kills, two blocks and an ace. Cameron Kernan chipped in three big blocks up front to pair with an ace from the service line. The Wolves will travel to Fillmore to visit the Eagles on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Cuba-Rushford is now off until Thursday, when they return to their home floor to battle Bolivar-Richburg in a 6 p.m. first serve.
