Genesee Valley wins back-to-back outright D1 County titles, providing epic 32-minute defense to stroll past Scio in regular season home finale

Written By Chris Brooks

BELMONT — Four of Allegany County’s leading scorers all clashed on the same exact floor, Friday night. Those guys? — Cody Schneider, Evan Windus, Cam Loucks and Brendan Graves. They are four high school basketball giants that have accumulated well over 4,000 points combined in their memorable careers leading up to Scio and Genesee Valley’s final titanic clash of the season inside the Jungle.

Lest we forget, the Allegany County Division I championship is also on the line, too. As legendary Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy once said, “Where else would you rather be, than right here, right now?”

Between the two schools separated by just a 10 minute drive on Route 19, the end of the game will surface an answer to a question that has been lingering since the end of the night on Wednesday — win or share?

Through most of the first quarter, it seemed as if both teams would give off some back-and-forth vibes. The same can be said for the second quarter, when no deficit was smaller than six, and none larger than 14 at the end of the first half. But when the second half approached, Genesee Valley became unhinged.

As soon as the Jaguars were uncaged from the locker room, there simply was no stopping them behind their barbaric 26-8 run of the Tigers that saw a 20-point lead grow larger and larger by taking complete control of all aspects on the floor, as the defense paid major dividends for the hosts to give them all the room they needed to pick up back-to-back outright Allegany County Division I championships, and their third in a row overall with a 76-38 coasting of Scio on Senior Night.

“That’s three years in a row. I like that,” said Jaguars coach Lintz Bliven. “I told them before the game that we have to play 32 minutes. Usually we have eight to 10 minutes where we just stand and watch. Intensity, energy, heart. That was the best game we’ve played all season against a really good Scio team. It’s always been about the defense here, and if they can continue to play this game we played tonight, we are going to be a tough team to beat, and we will be a tough out for anybody. It will be interesting to see where we land in the seeds, but I’m confident with whoever we play.”

After Senior Night festivities saw its conclusion, both teams saved their fireworks from launching until after the tip-off. The first half became a war on the teeter-totter, especially right from the start in the first quarter, when Genesee Valley (15-4) dug their way ahead with a five-point advantage off of a Jon Rizzo three-pointer. The Jaguars would go on to net five of the last eight points in the frame to take a seven-point lead, behind a beautiful Trevor Clark pass inside to a sprinting Cody Schneider to the basket, and a near buzzer-beating basket from Evan Windus just inside.

The second quarter was no different, as the Jaguars stretched their lead out to double digits multiple times before Scio (15-4) was able to cut it back down to singular digits with assistance from Brendan Graves, who scored four straight points, and two shots at the line made by Jake D’Arcy to narrow it down to a 30-22 deficit with three minutes left in the half.

Just as soon it was trimmed down, the lead for the hosts grew back again, courtesy of Windus and a pair of blocks from underneath the basket, ultimately transitioning those into back-to-back three-pointers to give Genesee Valley a 15-point lead. It was the beginning of a string of eight consecutive points for the Jaguars which was ended by Graves, and his three-pointer straight between the eyes to narrow the deficit to 42-28 at the break.

In the locker room, Bliven had a message for his team.

“At halftime, we talked to the kids. We told them there’s still 16 more minutes left to play, and we couldn't afford to let them back into the game, let them get more air in their lungs. When they have guys like Cam Loucks and Brendan Graves on the other side, they are more than capable of putting up quite a few points themselves. Those are two 1,000 point scorers right there, but we adjusted to man-to-man going back out for the second half, and that really pushed the wind out of their sails.”

Did it ever.

Behind their immaculate showing of defense by grabbing the loose turnovers and dominating the glass, an offensive hurricane came along with it, as their lead grew to as much as 30 points at one point, which began with six consecutive points in the first few possessions of the third quarter. But then one of the early daggers was put in with 2:28 left in the quarter. A dagger that saw the Jungle rise to its feet — a Brock Ellsessor forced turnover-turned-slam dunk, as he outran Cam Loucks to the basket, throwing down the massive one-handed sledgehammer while being fouled on the way up.

“To see Brock throw that thing down and get a foul on his way in, that was simply awesome,” Bliven said. “He’s come along very well, and he still gives me some gray hairs from time to time, but he’s a fantastic young man. He loves the game of basketball, and his dunk that he had, the guys really fed off of it, and the crowd did too.”

In all, Genesee Valley had completed a monumental 26-8 run of Scio (15-4) was collected to pull themselves out of reach for good to put a bow on the program’s third consecutive piece of the Allegany County Division I pie, and their second straight coming in an outright fashion.

Windus would go on to lead all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Schneider followed in his footsteps with 19 points of his own. Trevor Clark netted 13 points, while Ellsessor completed with eight including his one-handed jam. For the Tigers, Loucks led the way with a team-high 18 points. Brendan Graves had 16 more points.

Prior to the opening tip, Bliven recognized all five of his seniors in Rizzo, Clark, Windus, Schneider and Riley Vohs. Even though he was a bit misty-eyed when introducing his seniors for the final time in the regular season, he says that they are one of the biggest reasons behind the team’s culture on the floor.

“What a way for the seniors to go out. Jon had a big three to get us started in that first quarter, and Riley always plays hard, and then there’s the other three seniors that start for us,” Bliven said. “The culture here with me, Coach (Tyler) Landries, Coach (Kevin) Scott and Coach (Doug) Walsh, it’s all about family. I’ve had Cody, Evan and Trevor in all three of my years back here. All these kids are like my kids, and the first time I yell at them, I tell them I love them. After every practice, I always tell them that. If they ever needed a ride at two in the morning down the road, I will be there for them, but I would still tell their parents. They know I’m hard on them, but they also know I have their back.”

Bliven added, “To lose those five seniors, it hurts, and it’s one of the biggest downfalls as a coach. They’re a part of my life, and they always will be, no matter what.”

But the regular season is not quite done for Bliven and his crew, as they look to continue rising in the Section V, Class D1 field with one last Allegany County matchup on the road to close it up. That will take place at Bolivar-Richburg on Wednesday, where they tip it off with the Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. The goal for his team, Bliven says is to do anything by all means necessary.

“Hopefully we have another month left to play. We need to do the same thing as we did tonight, with maybe a little more energy if possible,” he said. “For seeding, we can’t afford to let them play. We need to go to Bolivar, and take care of business. We need to go in there and win that game by all means necessary.”

As for the Tigers of Scio, their regular season will come curtains down over the road one more time, also on Wednesday, visiting the Arkport/Canaseraga Wolves for a 7:15 p.m. battle.

Scio                      14 14   8 2 – 38  

Genesee Valley     21 21 26  8 – 76

SCIO: Jake D'Arcy 0 2-2 2, Brendan Graves 6 1-5 16, Cayden Nickerson 1 0-0 2, Cam Loucks 7 3-6 18. Totals: 14 4-11 38.
GENESEE VALLEY: Jon Rizzo 1 0-0 3, Trevor Clark 6 0-0 13, Evan Windus 9 1-1 23, Brock Ellsessor 4 0-1 8, Riley Vohs 1 0-0 2, Cody Schneider 8 2-4 19, Austin Murphy 2 0-0 4, Cody Platt 2 0-0 4. Totals: 33 3-6 76.

3-point goals: Scio 4 (Graves 3, Loucks), GV 7 (Windus 4, Rizzo, Clark, Schneider).
Total Fouls: Scio 6, GV 14. Fouled out: None.

Chris Brooks
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