Friday Sectionals: No. 3 Finney outpaces No. 4 Scio to win Class D2 title in 3-0 shutout; Ark/Can-Fillmore Class D1 title game postponed due to rain

Scio junior Brenden Loucks (13) looks to continue possession downfield while under pressure from the C.G. Finney defense during Friday night’s Class D2 Finals at SUNY Geneseo. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Scio’s Ethan Davenport (5) jousts with C.G. Finney for the loose ball near the sidelines during Friday night’s Class D2 Finals at SUNY Geneseo. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Scio junior Frankie White (12) traps the ball while under pressure from the C.G. Finney defense during Friday night’s Class D2 Finals at SUNY Geneseo. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Scio sophomore Greg Wesche (3) looks to send the ball downfield during Friday night’s Class D2 Finals against C.G. Finney, at SUNY Geneseo. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Scio senior Carter Silsby (15) sends the ball downfield into the offensive zone during Friday night’s Class D2 Finals against C.G. Finney, at SUNY Geneseo. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

GENESEO — Like Tuesday night in Bolivar, the downpouring rain, the chilly temperatures and some slight wind all made its presence known. Mother Nature was at full force, bringing conditions that are some of the harshest to brave and combat through.

Scio did it against top-seeded Hinsdale last round to punch their ticket to the Finals. All they had to do at SUNY Geneseo on Friday was do it one last time to capture the coveted Class D2 championship brick. Standing in their way, is known Class D2 power C.G. Finney, who steamrolled past No. 2 Northstar with a 6-1 Semifinal victory to earn their spot next to the Tigers in the Finals.

It would set up a fast paced matchup through the rain. For the most part, both Scio and C.G. Finney raced side by side with one another from the start until the deeper portions of the second half. Trailing 1-0, the Tigers did their very best to try and apply the pressure on the Falcons.

But the Class D2 power would not allow it to happen.

After taking a 1-0 lead over Scio at the break, the Falcons maintained discipline, as they took control of the midfield battle for much of the evening, using it to keep the Tigers pinned on defense to grab a pair of massive insurance goals in the last 10 minutes of play to secure their advantage for good to win this year’s Class D2 title with a 3-0 shutout victory.

“I thought giving up that first goal early on, it was setting us up behind the eight ball. We knew goals were going to be hard to come by given the circumstances, so getting down like that didn’t help our cause,” Tigers coach Dillon McFall said. “But, we were able to keep it a one-goal game all the way until the end, until they scored some insurance. We gave ourselves a chance, but we never really generated enough on offense, halfback and forward. We never put any pressure on them, and the last two goals, we switched things up to get a little more up front, but it didn’t work.”

The midfield battle would rage on early between the Tigers (9-7-2) and Falcons immediately after the opening kick, with both teams trading possessions along the way. C.G. Finney would hold much of the possession for most of the game, beginning with a nearly dominant first half, which resulted in the lone goal coming from Octavio Gefell, who made a run down the far sidelines against the defense for a shot on goal.

The shot would ricochet straight off the gloves of Landon Arnold and right next to the far left-side post to garner a 1-0 lead for the Falcons with 27:51 left in the half.

All the way until the buzzer, the two teams re-engaged in their battle across the field, but it would help build momentum that would allow the Falcons to keep in their favor going into the half.

“I thought Finney’s speed, not only with the ball, but without it in general, it was a lot quicker than us,” said McFall. “Playing the ball offensively and defensively, and on defense they were a lot more physical than we were. They wanted this more than we did tonight, and it showed. That hurt us some, and we don’t really see a lot of what we saw tonight.”

The Falcons would knock on the door with quite a few scoring opportunities right out of the gate in the second half, including a header in front of the Scio net which Arnold was able to make the stop on to prevent further damage. On the other side, the Tigers could not reach the C.G. Finney goal, as they recorded just two shots compared to the 10 for the Falcons back the other way.

The team’s best chance to strike came from Lazar Bulajic, who timed a C.G. Finney defensive miscue perfectly to make a play on their miss, weaving his way past a pair of defenders for a shot on goal, but was quickly covered up a short time later by the Falcons netminder.

While holding Scio’s offense in check, C.G. Finney would take the opportunity to add some massive pieces of insurance to keep their lead in tact, extending it to a pair with 11:11 left in the game with the assistance of Nolan Mancuso, who received a feed from the left wing to toss over the head of Arnold and into the net.

The Falcons would add one last goal with under five minutes left from Cosimo Ragionieri, beginning off a play in the middle set up by James Sidorishin, feeding the ball up the sidelines to Martin Helguera along the way before Ragionieri finished the play off with the last goal to put a bow on their championship-clinching victory, and ending Scio’s season in the process.

Arnold was active in between the pipes for Scio, providing stops on seven shots in his final start of the year.

After starting 2021 with an 0-4 record, the Tigers were able to overcome adversity all season long, as they finished their last 15 games with a 9-4-2 run all the way until the end, as they finished with an overall record of 9-7-2 to reach the Class D2 Finals for the second time in three seasons.

McFall says that making it to the last dance was an added bonus for his team’s hard work all season long.

“Losing tonight stinks, but when you look at the big picture, we started 0-4 and we ended the season 9-4-2, which is amazing,” he said. “To add onto that, a trip to the Finals and play for a title is a great fee in itself. We were one of those 16 teams playing for a title, and to start the season in the way that we did, we could have folded and it could have gone down south. But the guys hung in there, and they reaped the benefits of improving every day. It got them to the Finals, and we had a great run. We beat Houghton in overtime, we beat Hinsdale in the monsoon at Bolivar. We had a really great season.”

Scio will lose just four Seniors to graduation next June, as they say good bye to Carter Silsby, Jaxson Warboys, Jude Marion and Corey Field — four Tigers that have now been to the Finals twice in their careers, a notable accolade that McFall says helped his younger group rise to the challenge alongside his veterans.

“We had four Seniors in Carter, Jaxson, Jude and Corey. I gave a lot of props to those guys for a couple reasons,” he said. “First, they’re Sectional champions from two years ago, they were sophomores back then. Second, they played in two title games now in their careers, and not very many players from Scio can say that they have done that in their careers. It was great experience they built to put on this young group that we have here. To get to the title game this year, and if we can put the work in again this offseason, we should have a great core coming back to hopefully do all of this again.”

After the conclusion of the Class D2 title game, both No. 5 Arkport/Canaseraga and No. 2 Fillmore took the field to end the evening with the Class D1 Finals. The game would go through nearly 30 minutes of play before the officiating crew halted play to officially deem the game unplayable, due to the poor field conditions with the ongoing rainstorm.

The Wolves and Eagles will continue their Finals clash this weekend with 10:42 remaining on the clock in the first half, with both teams engaged in a scoreless tie. A time and site for the postponed battle has not been made official, as of yet.

We will keep you posted on this situation when we learn more.

FOOTBALL

Class D First Round

No. 5 Caledonia-Mumford/Byron-Bergen 27, No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg 20: No Report

8-Man Sectionals

No. 4 Canisteo-Greenwood 24, No. 5 Wellsville 6

CANISTEO — Through the mud and the rain, the 8-Man Sectional race began in one of the messiest conditions you could imagine Friday night. No. 5 Wellsville and No. 4 Canisteo-Greenwood went toe-to-toe to battle out who would survive and advance.

The Lions would get within reach of Canisteo-Greenwood by as much as six, but some big late plays down the homestretch to distance their lead for good, remaining in the driver’s seat to wrap up shop in the win column, ending Wellsville’s season in the process with a 24-6 home win.

Wellsville (3-5) was in scoring position on four different occasions all throughout the night, but could not come away with the score to get on the board, with two drives ending on turnovers and two more drives being plagued with penalties. Canisteo-Greenwood would take advantage of the turnovers to record a pair of scores, going up 12-0 on the Lions.

However, Wellsville marched back down the field on their next drive and scored, when Alex Perkins found senior Dalton Ketchner in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown to cut the lead to six.

But, Canisteo-Greenwood came away with a pair of scores in the second half — once in the third and once in the fourth to seal the win to move onto the next round, eliminating Wellsville.

The Lions season is over, as they wrap up their first season under head coach Bob McMorris and their first in the 8-Man format with a record of 3-5 overall. The team will graduate eight Seniors in all at the end of the year in Perkins, Ketchner, John Layfield, Jere Havens, Caleb Price, Austin Stirk, Connor Ferguson and David Anderson.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Class C Quarterfinals

No. 8 Midlakes 3, No. 1 Wellsville 2

WELLSVILLE — All season long, the Lady Lions of Wellsville have come out on top, and in dominant fashion. Since their five-set thriller over Bolivar-Richburg right from the start, every win since then has been by straight sets. They would go on to finish the regular season undefeated to enter the postseason with Class C’s top seed.

Up first on Friday was eighth-seeded Midlakes.

The 13-game long streak of the Lady Lions bringing out the brooms would soon find its way to a close to begin the postseason, as the Lady Screaming Eagles would wind up taking the top seeds all the way to the end, after Wellsville fought back to force the decisive final set of the night.

Both teams would go back and forth, but in the end, it would come down to the wire. When the final whistle was blown, the Lady Lions would meet their match, as Midlakes recorded the final point to stop the Lady Lions in their tracks, handing them their first loss of the season through elimination, as they recorded a massive Quarterfinal upset on the road after five hard-fought sets, taking the 25-16, 25-27, 25-20, 14-25, 25-17 decision.

“I honestly couldn’t be more prouder of the girls. We finished the season out 14-1, and they have grown and worked so hard as athletes,” said Lady Lions coach Shannon Steiner. “I will miss my Seniors very much. They are who I came into coaching with, and they made me love it in a way I never thought possible. We may have lost tonight, but I couldn’t be happier with the amazing, young women I’ve had the opportunity to coach these past couple of years.”

In their final games of the career, Jaelyn Knapp led the way for the Lady Lions (14-1) with a game-high 24 digs on defense to pair with her team-leading seven kills on the attack. Kaylee Coleman followed with 18 digs of her own to pair with three kills, while Marley Adams had 15 digs to couple with six kills.

Another tremendous season for the Lady Lions on the volleyball court is officially over, as they wrap up the campaign with a record of 14-11 overall. The team will graduate five Seniors at the end of the year in Knapp, Coleman, Adams, Brooklyn Stisser and Natalie Zieger.

Class D2 Quarterfinals

No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg 3, No. 5 Bradford/Dundee 0

BOLIVAR — With thanks to their hot streak to carry into the postseason, the Lady Wolverines have been awarded one of the top seeds in the Class D2 Tournament. Their journey to the big dance continued after sweeping Campbell-Savona in the opening round earlier this week.

On Friday, Bolivar-Richburg did it all over again to punch their ticket to the Semifinal round next week, as they brought out the brooms once more, this time to No. 5 Bradford/Dundee, as they rolled their way toward victory in their second straight set win of the postseason by a 25-14, 25-16, 25-16 count.

The Lady Wolverines (14-4) and their attack was fronted by the offensive dominance of Jianna Scott, who recorded a game-high 17 kills and five blocks. Brena Walp and Carmen Crowley combined to help further the cause on offense, tallying eight kills. Kori Thomas added in seven kills of her own to pair with a block at the net.

On defense, Haley Mascho provided a game-high 27 digs to keep the ball off the floor, while the team’s setter Kaitlyn Graves handed out 25 assists to help set the offense up for success, adding in nine more digs on defense along the way.

The Lady Wolverines have officially moved their way into the Class D2 Semifinal round on Tuesday, where they will face top-seeded Harley Allendale-Columbia for a chance to reach the Class D2 Finals next weekend. The contest between the Lady Wolverines and Lady Wolves will take place at a time and site to be determined.

Class D3 Quarterfinals

No. 1 Fillmore 3, No. 8 Elba 0

FILLMORE — Both top-seeded Fillmore and No. 8 Elba started the night inside The Rock going into extra serves. The end result was the Lady Eagles surviving the Lady Lancers, building up a big stockpile of momentum to carry further into the match, as they rolled to victory in dominant fashion in the next two sets to provide the sweeping victory, advancing to the Class D3 Semifinal round with a 3-0 win — a 26-24, 25-14, 25-14 decision.

A very successful start to Fillmore’s (11-6) Sectional run was led by the offensive prowess of Emma Cole, who led all Lady Eagles on the floor with a team-high 12 kills to pair with three aces from the service line and three blocks up front. Jadyn Mucher helped further the offensive cause with three more kills of her own to pair with two aces.

Setter Zoe Hubbard help the offense rise to the occasion, handing out a whopping 21 assists.

The Lady Eagles are now off into the Class D3 Semifinal round, where they now meet No. 4 seed Arkport/Canaseraga on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. The winner will face either No. 3 Houghton Academy or No. 2 Notre Dame-Batavia in next weekend’s Class D3 Finals.

No. 2 Notre Dame-Batavia 3, No. 7 Genesee Valley/Belfast 0

BATAVIA — Notre Dame-Batavia started their postseason run on the right foot with a dominant first set of play Friday night, as they used the momentum to their favor to record what was a straight-set victory over No. 7 Genesee Valley/Belfast to move onto the Semifinal round, eliminating the Lady JagDogs with a 25-13, 25-21, 25-14 victory.

Statistics for the Lady JagDogs (8-12) were not provided upon publication.

The season is over for Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they wrap up the season with a record of 8-12 overall. The team will graduate six Seniors in Kaitlin Sadler, Addy Herring, Cayla Mura, Kennedy Butler, Paige Cochran and Kendra Giboo.

No. 3 Houghton Academy 3, No. 6 South Seneca 0

HOUGHTON — The third-seeded Lady Panthers of Houghton Academy are one of numerous Allegany County teams that have made it to the Semifinal round, as they survived a first set marathon with No. 6 South Seneca and propelled toward a straight set victory on Friday, rolling to a 29-27, 25-14, 25-14 decision on their home floor.

No statistics were provided for the Lady Panthers (12-6) upon publication.

Houghton Academy now advances into the Class D3 Semifinal round, which will begin Tuesday night when they prepare to face second-seeded Notre Dame-Batavia at a time and site to be determined.