Wednesday Roundup: 2nd quarter run powered up by Lady Eagles helps them remain unbeaten; Estep’s performance paces And/Whi over GV in road edging

FILLMORE — In recent seasons, Emma Cole has been slowly risen to the top of the Allegany County leaderboard as one of the best to do it. In her Senior swan song this season, the hope is that she will continue to make a tremendous amount of noise on the hardwood.

Without a doubt, she will once again become one of the County’s top threats from down low again for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore. After what was her best performance of the season on Monday against Letchworth, the Lady Eagles center followed it up with a new season best, as she pulverized the paint down low with a season-high 24 points to pace Fillmore toward a 43-22 win over visiting Genesee Valley/Belfast, Wednesday night.

The first quarter saw some rough terrains being travelled by both Genesee Valley/Belfast and Fillmore, as both teams combined to record just eight points from the field, with Fillmore (4-0) finding their edge with six of those eight points to take the lead entering the second quarter.

Along the way, momentum was built on both ends of the floor, with the Lady Eagles finding the way led by the guidance of Cole down low, as well as providing numerous stops on defense back the other way to help account for a game-changing 16-4 run through the quarter to end the first half with the balance of power leaning majorly in their favor.

“I thought our defensive effort was strong again. GV/Belfast is a solid team, and they have a lot of great players,” said Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks. “For us to come out and hold them the way we did, I was pleased. We came out tentative, but that also had something to do with how they were playing. To start the second, we got a couple of runs out from our defense, and that lit the fire a little bit. We got into a rhythm, and we were able to play the type of game we were capable of playing.”

It was a 22-6 halftime lead over Genesee Valley/Belfast (2-1) that the Lady Eagles would never look back from as the game went on, going on to score one final outscoring in the third quarter to branch out their lead insurmountably before trading dead even blows in the final eight minutes to close it out.

To go with her season-best 24 points, Cole was heavily active off the glass, grabbing 12 rebounds to complete her double-double. Hope Russell added in 11 points of her own to pair with six steals, while Jadyn Mucher had four points to add. On special teams, Grace Russell handed out four assists.

On the other side, Alicia Borden led Genesee Valley/Belfast with a team-high nine points. Adison Grusendorf chipped in with seven.

Fillmore will now get set for tournament action over the road in Franklinville beginning Friday night, as they prepare to face Dunkirk in a first round battle with a 6 p.m. tip-off. As for Genesee Valley/Belfast, their road swing will continue onward to Addison with a 2:30 p.m. contest, Saturday afternoon.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 2 4 9 7 – 22

Fillmore 6 16 14 7 – 43

GV/BELFAST: Alicia Borden 4 1-2 9, Adison Grusendorf 3 0-0 7, Mary Hamer 1 0-4 2, Harley Proctor 2 0-0 4. Totals: 10 1-6 22.
FILLMORE: Hope Russell 4 3-8 11, Grace Russell 1 0-0 2, Rachel Hatch 0 0-2 0, Jadyn Mucher 1 1-2 4, Emma Cole 11 2-5 24, Madi Geertman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 6-17 43.

3-point goals: GV/Belfast 1 (Grusendorf), Fillmore 1 (Mucher).
Total Fouls: GV/Belfast 13, Fillmore 15. Fouled out: Drozdowski (GVB).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Friendship/Scio, Hinsdale fall in first round contests in Franklinville

FRANKLINVILLE — There was a common denominator that both Westfield and Franklinville shared in the first quarter of play — a massive 20-point quarter.

The two teams used a fast eight minute start to their advantage to kickstart a massive run of their opponents, as they both came away victorious to meet in this weekend’s championship game of tournament action over Friendship/Scio and Hinsdale, respectively on Wednesday.

To begin the night, Westfield accounted for three straight 20 point quarters against Friendship/Scio, including a massive 27-5 run through the opening eight minutes that ultimately set the tone of their evening of attack for the rest of the way. Four different Westfield scorers recorded double digit figures to help bolster the attack, with a 23-point effort from Darien Swanson leading the way.

Friendship/Scio (3-2) was led by Lazar Bulajic and his team-leading 12 points.

Later on in the night, Franklinville started their evening on the same exact foot, as they held Hinsdale to just five points in the opening eight minute period while capitalizing on a massive 20-5 run that saw them roll away toward a 57-23 win over the Bobcats to complete the night’s festivities with a championship berth.

Hinsdale (0-4) was led by Sam Cashimere, who had nine team-high points. Brad Bergstrom had six points.

Both Friendship/Scio and Hinsdale will face one another in the Consolation round beginning on Saturday back in Franklinville. Tip-off for the game has not been determined.

Friendship/Scio 5 4 14 5 – 28

Westfield 27 20 20 11 – 78

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Jacob Golden 4 1-4 9, Brenden Loucks 2 1-4 5, Ethan Davenport 1 0-0 2, Lazar Bulajic 5 0-0 12. Totals: 12 2-8 28.
WESTFIELD: Ethan Weingart 7 0-0 14, Josh Baressi 2 0-0 4, Tuah 1 0-0 2, Cole Holland 9 0-0 18, Darien Swanson 9 0-2 23, Carson Swanson 6 0-0 15, Rotunda 1 0-0 2. Totals: 35 2-8 78.

3-point goals: F/S 2 (Bulajic), Westfield 8 (D. Swanson 5, C. Swanson 3).
Total Fouls: F/S 9, Westfield 10. Fouled out: None.

Hinsdale 5 7 5 6 – 23

Franklinville 20 13 14 10 – 57

HINSDALE: Sam Cashimere 4 1-2 9, Parker Keenan 1 0-0 3, Brad Bergstrom 2 0-0 6, Cody Barton 2 0-0 5. Totals: 9 1-2 23.
FRANKLINVILLE: Beau Bielecki 4 0-0 8, Logan Green 4 0-0 8, Blake Frank 10 5-5 26, Connor Terwilliger 5 0-0 10, Noah Shenk 2 0-2 5. Totals: 25 5-9 57.

3-point goals: Hinsdale 4 (Bergstrom 2, Keenan, Barton), Franklinville 2 (Frank, Shenk).
Total Fouls: Hinsdale 9, Franklinville 6. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 56, Genesee Valley 50

BELMONT — For the majority of the opening half, Andover/Whitesville and Genesee Valley went toe-to-toe. Lead changes were traded, and runs were swapped. Each team would hold a lead after each quarter in the opening half, which saw Andover/Whitesville take the one-point lead at the break.

In the second half, the game remained wide open for the taking. At that point, a leader emerged from the shadows. That being Andover/Whitesville’s CJ Estep, as he continued to string buckets together to keep the offense together until the end, helping account for a massive third quarter run that gave them just enough room to squeeze by with the 56-50 win over the Jaguars.

“We played much better tonight, and I’m proud of them for coming out and fighting really hard,” said Jaguars coach Lintz Bliven. “They’re an amazing bunch. I yell at them more than I should, but they’re giving me their heart every night. I wouldn’t swap this group for much of anything. The Estep kid really hurt us tonight. He’s a really good player and he plays the game the right way. The rebounds hurt us big time too, we were out-muscled underneath. We played right with them, and we still had our best game of the season.”

Estep outdueled Genesee Valley’s Morgan Torrey to come away with the win, as he scored a team-high 21 points to lead Andover/Whitesville (2-4) and their offense. The visitors built an early lead out of the gate, but saw it become trimmed down to just a single point when the first half reached its conclusion.

But they would find a way to branch it back out some more with a third quarter that paid massive dividends, saving their best effort on offense for the frame while holding the Jaguars (1-4) to just 11 points to carry 39-30 lead into the last eight minute period.

Despite a massive 20-point final frame from the Jaguars to provide some late pressure on Andover/Whitesville, the third quarter run provided by the visitors was enough of a buffer to keep their lead in hand for good, for the win.

Finishing behind Estep for Andover/Whitesville was Luke Erdmann and Jayden Dix, who had 12 and 11 points respectively. For Genesee Valley, Torrey finished with a game-high 24 points. Max Wedge had 10 points, while Elden Aquila added in six of his own.

Both teams are back in action Friday night in a pair of 7:30 p.m. contests, with Andover/Whitesville paying a visit to the Belfast Bulldogs, while Genesee Valley prepares to host Bolivar-Richburg back inside The Jungle.

Andover/Whitesville 7 13 19 17 – 56

Genesee Valley 4 15 11 20 – 50

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Jayden Dix 3 2-3 11, CJ Estep 6 6-8 21, Gavin Cutler 2 0-0 6, Luke Erdmann 5 2-2 12, Spencer Mattison 0 1-2 1, Kohler Niedermaier 1 1-4 3, Will Kent 1 0-1 2. Totals: 18 11-22 56.
GENESEE VALLEY: Morgan Torrey 9 4-11 24, Brayden Cooper 0 1-2 1, Elden Aquila 3 0-0 7, Max Wedge 4 2-4 10, Thai Norasethaporn 1 3-4 6, Fisher Herdman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 10-21 50.

3-point goals: A/W 8 (Dix 3, Estep 3, Cutler 2), GV 4 (Torrey 2, Aquila, Norasethaporn).
Total Fouls: A/W 15, GV 15. Fouled out: None.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Arkport/Canaseraga 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 0

BELMONT — After dropping an absolute heartbreaker to the hands of Cuba-Rushford just 24 hours ago, the Wolves of Arkport/Canaseraga aimed for a shake-off back on the road to Genesee Valley/Belfast, Wednesday night.

They would go on and do just that to the hosts, as they recorded a dominating first set performance to help lay the foundation down for a straight-set victory, successfully rebounding behind a 25-12, 25-15, 25-19 count.

Leading Genesee Valley/Belfast (1-2) was Sean Mahon on defense, scoring five digs and three kills. Dominic Mara added in four more digs of his own to pair with two aces from the service line.

Genesee Valley/Belfast hops right back on their home floor tonight with a 6 p.m. first serve slated against Wellsville.