Friday Roundup: Fillmore drops 20-point fourth quarter on Whitesville, finish regular season strong by handing Lady Jays first loss in 41-24 home victory

FILLMORE — The Lady Blue Jays of Whitesville were one more win away from finishing the regular season with perfection to go with their back-to-back Allegany County Division II titles. But their last hurdle comes from a first-time opponent on their schedule this season — the Lady Eagles of Fillmore.

The Lady Eagles on the other hand were looking to shake off a narrow defeat to the hands of the Lady Lions just a few days prior to their season finale inside The Rock, Friday night. Both teams were right with one another as the game went on, but when the fourth quarter came around, the game turned upside down.

Fillmore saw their offensive light bulb brighten up by saving their best quarter for last, as the offense and defense came full circle with a massive fourth quarter run of Whitesville to pull away for good, rolling past the Lady Jays to hand them their first loss of the season with a 41-24 home victory.

“Honestly, it felt like our first round Sectional game. The girls were excited and motivated,” said Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks. “We had an undefeated team coming in with a player like Vanessa (Hall), who’s averaging astronomical numbers this season. They were really excited to take on this challenge. Playing a game where everything came together, it’s fantastic to put toward Sectionals next week.”

The defensive slugfest came early on in the first half, with Fillmore (6-4) winning the battle both times but by narrow counts, starting the game with a 10-8 lead of the Lady Blue Jays before both defenses kicked it into high gear right before the half, as both teams recorded just six points combined across the quarter.

In the second half, Whitesville (9-1) inched closer to Fillmore in the third quarter with a 12-7 run to close the gap down to one, but then the massive run from the Lady Eagles was harvested in the fourth quarter, as they held down the Lady Blue Jays to a single basket while running off on a 20-2 jaunt, sealing their victory for good.

“Our defense has been one of our strongest perks, and Whitesville has a great defense too. But that fourth quarter, we finally got into a little rhythm on offense. We hit outside, we got to the basket inside. Each time we scored, their confidence grew and it just snowballed from there.” said Parks.

Jadyn Mucher led the Lady Eagles offense with a game-high 15 points. Emma Cole was not far behind, chipping in 10 points of his own, while Morgan Byer netted both three-pointers, en route to eight points.

Whitesville saw only three scorers find the scorebook, with Vanessa Hall leading the way by scoring a team-high 12 points - a season low held by the Lady Eagles defense. But the longtime Fillmore coach says that the Lady Jays phenom will continue to give fits to everyone across Allegany County in the next couple of years to come.

“We threw everything at Vanessa, and she's still very impressive,” said Parks. “She composes herself really well, and I have a lot of respect for her style of basketball. She does a tremendous job, and she's going to cause some headaches for a lot of coaches the next couple of season being a sophomore.”

Adding in help for the Lady Blue Jays was Kennedy Bledsoe, who chipped in eight points. Serina Button rounded off with the last four points.

The regular season is now over for both teams, as Fillmore concludes with an overall record of 6-3, while Whitesville finishes with a record of 9-1. They now await Sectional seeding, this weekend.

Whitesville 8 2 12 2 – 24

Fillmore 10 4 7 20 – 41

WHITESVILLE: Kennedy Bledsoe 3 2-2 8, Vanessa Hall 4 2-2 12, Serina Button 2 0-0 4. Totals: 9 4-4 24.
FILLMORE: Shelby Beardsley 1 0-0 2, Emma Cole 5 0-0 10, Rachel Hatch 1 0-0 2, Jadyn Mucher 7 1-2 15, Morgan Byer 3 0-0 8, Harley Miller 2 0-0 4. Totals: 19 1-2 41.
3-point goals: Whitesville 2 (Hall), Fillmore 2 (Byer).
Total Fouls: Whitesville 5, Fillmore 10. Fouled out: None.

Andover 39, Cuba-Rushford 37

ANDOVER — Both Cuba-Rushford and Andover exchanged runs in the first half of play that saw the Lady Rebels take the lead entering the half. The back-and-forth pace carried over into the second half, where it would ultimately come down to the wire in the end of Friday night’s season finale for the Lady Panthers.

Luckily, they were able to scavenge a fourth quarter that saw them edge out the Lady Rebels when the final buzzer sounded, as they leaned on Kelsie Niedermaier’s big night from inside to get the job done in their 39-37 home victory on Friday.

“It was back and forth the entire second half,” said Lady Panthers coach Jake Bannerman. “Cuba came to play, and they worked their butts off. Those girls battle hard, and Searle is a heck of a player. Coach (Aaron) Wight has his girls playing at the maximum effort. It was fun and frustrating, and it provided us a good tune-up for that Sectional feel. Livia (Simon) and Kelsie carried us in the second half, and Katie (Calladine) kept us calm when we needed it.”

Andover (5-7) was able to get their first punch of offense in the opening eight minute period, holding Cuba-Rushford to just three points with Niedermaier and Simon leading the way with eight of the team’s 11 points. In the next, the Lady Rebels (1-9) took the lead right before halftime, putting together a 13-4 run led by the efforts of Macie Demick and Taylor Searle, who combined for 11 of the team’s 13 points in the frame.

It would come down to the wire in the second half, with Cuba-Rushford extending the lead to a pair after three, but the Lady Panthers were able to do just enough in the last eight minute period to secure the victory.

Simon finished behind Niedermaier with 11 points. Gabby Terhune added in four points. For the Lady Rebels, Taylor Searle finished with a team-high 17 points. Brynn Lavery chipped in with eight points, while Demick concluded with six for the visitors in blue and white, who will finish their regular season back home this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. with a visit from Franklinville.

Andover will now await their Sectional seeding after finishing with a record of 5-7.

Cuba-Rushford 3 13 12 9 – 37

Andover 11 4 11 13 – 39

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Brynn Lavery 4 0-0 8, Ella Jaffe 1 0-0 2, Macie Demick 2 1-2 6, Taylor Searle 6 3-4 17, Tara Duvall 1 2-4 4. Totals: 14 6-10 37.
ANDOVER: Ava Grice 0 1-2 1, Olivia Hanks 1 0-0 2, Gabby Terhune 2 0-0 4, Katie Calladine 0 0-4 0, Livia Simon 5 1-2 11, Kelsie Niedermaier 9 3-9 21. Totals: 17 5-17 39.

3-point goals: C-R 3 (Searle 2, Demick).
Total Fouls: C-R 19, Andover 16. Fouled out: Niedermaier (AND).

Genesee Valley 52, Friendship 48

FRIENDSHIP — The Lady Golden Eagles took the early lead over visiting Genesee Valley in the second of their home-at-home series, Friday night in Friendship.

With a four-point lead heading into the second, the Lady Jaguars tag team of Emera Aquila and Lizzy Bentley rose to the occasion, as they accounted for 39 of the team’s 52 total points to help the team outscoring the Lady Golden Eagles in the last three quarters of play to pull ahead and keep their lead for good in the end, edging their way toward a 52-48 win to split the series down the middle.

Aquila led all scorers on the floor with a game-high 24 points for the Lady Jaguars (3-7), while Bentley followed behind with her 15-point effort. Helping the cause was Adison Grusendorf, who had five more points. On the other side, Friendship (4-5) was led by a game-high 22 point performance from Nevaeh Ross. Aaliyah Harmon provided nine points, while Kadence Donohue had eight.

Genesee Valley’s season is in the books, as they finished their shortened season with a record of 3-7. As for Friendship, their regular season will come to an end this afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. contest back on the road in Scio.

Genesee Valley 11 13 16 12 – 52

Friendship 15 8 14 11 – 48

GENESEE VALLEY: Adison Grusendorf 2 1-2 5, Emera Aquila 10 2-4 24, Lizzy Bentley 6 2-5 15, Katie Bartlett 1 0-0 2, Sierra Burrows 1 0-0 2, Ashley Burrows 2 0-2 4. Totals: 22 5-13 52.
FRIENDSHIP: Nevaeh Ross 10 0-0 22, Logan Roberts 3 0-0 7, Grace Drumm 1 0-0 2, Kadence Donohue 3 1-2 8, Aaliyah Harmon 4 1-2 9. Totals: 21 2-4 48.

3-point goals: GV 3 (Aquila 2, Bentley), Friendship 4 (Ross 2, Roberts, Donohue).
Total Fouls: GV 6, Friendship 15. Fouled out: Ross (FRI).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Fillmore 59, Hinsdale 12

HINSDALE — After falling to the hands of Wellsville 24 hours ago in a tough defensive battle, the focus for the Fillmore Eagles now shifted toward an aim in ending their regular season on a strong note with one last road trip, Friday night.

They accomplished that goal and much more, as the Eagles defense held host Hinsdale to just 12 total points, while capitalizing on massive spurts of offense that set the tone right from the start, as they finished their regular season with a 59-12 road win over the Bobcats.

Almost every Eagle on the court recorded at least a basket on offense, with Will Roeske leading the charge for the team’s inside game with a game-high 14 points. Matt Majoros added in nine points. Dylan Valentine provided eight points of his own, while Hayden Rust and Luke Colombo followed behind with six, and five points respectively for Fillmore.

Hinsdale was led by Zach Byrne and his six team-high points. The Bobcats finish their 2020 shortened season with a record of 1-10 overall.

Fillmore’s regular season now ends with a record of 6-3 and a share of the Allegany County Division I title. They will now await their Sectional fate this weekend.

Fillmore 14 15 16 14 – 59

Hinsdale 2 2 3 5 – 12

FILLMORE: Hayden Rust 2 1-2 6, Carter Sisson 2 0-0 4, Aaron Buck 2 0-0 4, Zach Sisson 1 0-0 3, Dylan Valentine 4 0-0 8, Colby Wolfer 2 0-1 5, Matt Majoros 3 3-3 9, Mitch Ward 0 1-4 1, Luke Colombo 2 1-3 5, Will Roeske 7 0-0 14. Totals: 25 6-13 59.
HINSDALE: Zach Byrne 2 0-0 6, Sam Cashimere 1 0-0 2, Cody Barton 2 0-0 4. Totals: 5 0-0 12.
3-point goals: Fillmore 3 (Rust, Z. Sisson, Wolfer), Hinsdale 2 (Byrne).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 2, Hinsdale 13. Fouled out: None.