Friday Roundup: Lady Lions stay red hot, earn 6th straight victory behind massive 2nd quarter jaunt of Letchworth
WELLSVILLE — After their latest win over Addison this past Monday, the Lady Lions of Wellsville found themselves in a position to capture one more win toward becoming Allegany County’s first team to reach 10 wins on the season. It was also a chance for the team to become avengers, with one of their only two losses coming to the Letchworth Lady Indians back in December.
On Friday, the Lady Indians paid a visit to Wellsville in hopes to take the season series away from the Lady Lions. But the hosts in white and orange made sure it didn’t happen. With a 13-6 lead after the opening quarter, Wellsville, behind a big three from the hands of Jaylynn Mess, built momentum from the second quarter onward, holding Letchworth to just three points on defense to pull away with a 42-34 win to capture their seventh consecutive victory.
“Our defense has been really, really solid the past few games. In the first two or three possessions, they turned the ball over and we capitalized on it,” Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord said. “We got some momentum from it, and from there we kind of pulled away after Jaylynn hit a big three. We’re a pretty balanced team, three girls had double digits and other girls made some contributions along the way.”
After the Lady Lions (10-2) took a 13-8 lead after a couple of threes jumpstarted the run, the team buckled down on defense in the second, holding the Lady Indians to just three points in the midst of what became a game-changing 16-3 jaunt that put a 29-11 halftime lead in Wellsville’s back pocket entering the locker room.
Letchworth, despite falling behind quickly in the first half, managed to make up lost ground in the second half as they outscored Wellsville in the next two quarters of play, including a 14-7 fourth quarter run that ultimately eliminated their double digit deficit, but it remained a deficit that was too much to overcome in the end.
“I didn’t think we’d get to 10 wins this quick, but the girls are really coachable,” Alvord said. “We’re continuing to get better every game, they’re playing well together, and it’s a lot of fun to see these girls try and bring the best out of each other. You know your kids are going to play hard, and I don’t question it at all. They really rallied around to avenge this loss to Letchworth earlier in the season. Give a lot of credit to them, the (Hannah) DeRock girl is out for the season, and they still had girls stick with us after a big lead.”
Three different Lady Lions eclipsed the double digit plateau on offense, with Emily Costello leading the way with a team-high 13 points to pair with her six rebounds, and five assists. Marley Adams and Regan Marsh each added 10 points, with Adams handing out three assists. Kaylee Coleman led the glass game off the backboard, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.
Wellsville will now take the weekend to prepare for their first matchup with the undefeated Lady Eagles of Fillmore in the Alvord coaching era, as they come to visit the Lion’s Den on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
“We scrimmaged them a couple times, including before the season. I’m definitely looking forward to this. They’re a real young team similar to ours, but they have some size that we have to match up against. I’m glad to have Tom (Parks) on our floor. They’re returning Sectional champions. It will be a nice game for us to see if we can keep this little streak we have going.”
Letchworth 8 3 9 14 – 34
Wellsville 13 16 6 7 – 42
LETCHWORTH: Gabbi Goodrich 2 1-2 5, Brooke DeGroff 6 2-2 14, Phoebe Conklin 1 0-2 2, Kiyla Enario 1 0-2 2, Jane Bliss 4 1-2 9, Jamie Krenzer 0 2-2 2. Totals: 14 6-12 34.
WELLSVILLE: Marley Adams 2 4-10 10, Jaylynn Mess 2 1-2 6, Emily Costello 5 2-2 13, Emily Robbins 1 1-4 3, Regan Marsh 5 0-2 10. Totals: 15 8-20 42.
3-point goals: Wellsville 4 (Adams 2, Mess, Costello).
Total Fouls: Letchworth 20, Wellsville 14. Fouled out: None.
Lima Christian 41, Friendship 27
FRIENDSHIP – 24 hours after a narrow defeat to the hands of visiting Mount Morris, the Lady Golden Eagles of Friendship looked to bounce back with Lima Christian in town on Friday. But the Lady Saints had other plans as they came away with a 41-27 victory.
For the second straight game, Kadence Donohue found herself at the top of the Friendship (1-8) scoresheet, netting a team-leading seven points. Navaeh Ross and Logan Roberts each recorded six points, while Aaliyah Harmon chipped in with four.
A complete box score was not made available upon publication.
The Lady Golden Eagles are back on the floor on Wednesday, as they visit the Belfast Lady Bulldogs for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Whitesville 53, Friendship 52
WHITESVILLE — It came down to the wire in a thrilling fourth quarter in Whitesville on Friday. With both teams coming out of each quarter almost evenly. Even though the Golden Eagles of Friendship outscored the host Blue Jays, they could not complete their rally in time before the final buzzer, as Whitesville managed to hang on by the slimmest of margins with a 53-52 win for their first victory of the season.
“These guys really needed this win tonight. It was a good team win with five plays scoring seven or more points,” Blue Jays coach Scott Bledsoe said. “We go right back over to Friendship on Monday, and hopefully we can play well, get another win and start gaining some momentum.”
Jessie Pensyl and CJ Estep both took charge of the Whitesville (1-7) offense, as Pensyl was the team’s overall leading scorer with 13 team-high points to pair with his 11 rebounds to complete a double-double. Estep was not far behind, recording 12 points of his own. Robert Whitesell and Dylan Acor both tallied eight points, with Acor grabbing 14 rebounds.
Ian Romero led the Friendship (1-8) offense with a game-high 26 points. Blake Hewitt followed with 13 points, while Micah Hosley chipped in with nine for the Golden Eagles.
Both teams will finish off their home-at-home series after the weekend, traveling to Friendship for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Monday.
Friendship 11 8 17 16 – 52
Whitesville 15 8 17 13 – 53
FRIENDSHIP: Micah Hosley 4 1-1 9, Blake Hewitt 5 1-6 13, Ian Romero 11 1-5 26, Alex Smith 1 0-2 2, Dekota Stewart 1 0-2 2. Totals: 22 3-16 52.
WHITESVILLE: Chris Gullett 2 1-3 5, Jessie Pensyl 6 1-5 13, CJ Estep 5 0-1 12, Robert Whitesell 3 0-0 8, Colby Gaines 2 3-3 7, Dylan Acor 4 0-0 8. Totals: 22 5-12 53.
3-point goals: Friendship 5 (Romero 3, Hewitt 2), Whitesville 4 (Estep 2, Whitesell 2).
Total Fouls: Friendship 16, Whitesville 19. Fouled out: Gaines (WHI).
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Bolivar-Richburg 3, Scio 1
RICHBURG — The Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg established some momentum heading into Saturday’s Mid-Season Tournament at Genesee Valley, as they took a four-set victory on their home floor over visiting Scio on Friday by a 25-12, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22 count.
Jordon McDonald garnered a team-high nine assists at the net to go with five kills, five aces and three digs to assist in leading the charge for Bolivar-Richburg (4-2). Jaydon McDonald added seven assists along with five kills, five digs and three aces from the service line. Hunter Stuck had four aces at the service line to pair with three kills, three blocks and three assists.
Scio (2-3) was led by Patryk Pietruszka, who recorded a game-high 13 kills on offense along with four blocks. Jude Marion led the service work with 11 service points, while Elia Travaini had nine service points to add with nine assists at the net.
The Genesee Valley Mid-Season Tournament begins Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
WRESTLING
Canisteo-Greenwood 48, Wellsville 36
WELLSVILLE — The Lions returned home from a memorable experience down south in Charlotte for their first official match of the new year, hoping to use the newly acquired confidence booster against one of the area’s elite wrestling programs — Canisteo-Greenwood, a team coming off a runners-up finish at the Class D2 Duals Tournament in Geneva on Wednesday.
Through the first half of the match, both teams battled back and forth on the mat with the Lions eventually finding their way to a 30-24 lead of Canisteo-Greenwood with six matches left. But the Redskins found their way back on top behind a pair of forfeits and pin fall victories in a consecutive fashion to overtake the Lions with a 48-36 victory on Friday.
The Lions tallied seven victories overall with Blake Pratt earning the team’s first victory at 138 pounds, scoring a 7-5 decision victory over Canisteo-Greenwood’s Ean Magill. Damian Moultrup added a forfeit win at 145 pounds, while Blake Beckwith had the team’s quickest pin at the night at 160 pounds, pinning his opponent in just 21 seconds.
In the heavyweight matches, Wellsville went on a run with three of the next four matches in the win column with Hunter Brandes (182 pounds), John Layfield (195 pounds) and Eagan Enke (285 pounds) all recording wins respectively. But Canisteo-Greenwood managed to pull ahead for good with wins in four of the last five matches of the night, before Dale Ableidinger closed out the match with one last victory for Wellsville at 126 pounds behind a 2:47 pin fall victory.
The Lions will now head for Franklinville for their annual Duals Tournament beginning Saturday morning.
Results:
99 – Gavin Bob (C-G) def. Jayden Acer (WLSV) by pin, 2:16.
106 – Lucas Mason (C-G) by for.
113 – Tyler Burdick (C-G) by for.
120 – Xavier deJesus-Remchuk (C-G) def. Brock Hadfield (WLSV) by pin, :27.
126 – Dale Ableidinger (WLSV) def. Beau Zeh (C-G) by pin, 2:47.
*132 – Luke Kilmer (C-G) def. Cole Hadfield (WLSV) by pin, 4:59.
138 – Blake Pratt (WLSV) def. Ean Magill (C-G) by dec, 7-5.
145 – Damian Moultrup (WLSV) by for.
152 – Trevor Mochol (C-G) def. Braiden Black (WLSV) by pin, 1:59.
160 – Blake Beckwith (WLSV) def. Caleb Kitka (C-G) by pin, :21.
170 – Ryder Slayton (C-G) def. Finn Stevens (WLSV) by pin, 1:06.
182 – Hunter Brandes (WLSV) def. Jared Davis (C-G) by major dec, 3-2.
195 – John Layfield (WLSV) def. Jacob Evingham (C-G) by pin, 3:03.
220 – Nathan Button (C-G) def. Evin Rought (WLSV) by pin, 1:42.
285 – Eagan Enke (WLSV) def. Jacob Mullen (C-G) by pin, 5:44.
