Thursday Roundup: Rebounding provides major key to success for Lions to end regular season strong with 69-28 rout of Walsh; Fillmore, And/Whi boys finish season with road victories

Wellsville sophomore Cooper Brockway (4) lets a three-point attempt fly against the Archbishop Walsh defense during Thursday night’s regular season finale in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville junior Logan Dunbar, off-center, looks to work his way around the Archbishop Walsh defense on his way in towards the basket during Thursday night’s regular season finale in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville freshman Ty Vogel (44) goes up for the shot underneath the basket while being pressured by the Archbishop Walsh defense during Thursday night’s regular season finale in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville junior Aidan Riley (22) goes up for the basket on the run against the Archbishop Walsh defense during Thursday night’s regular season finale in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville head coach Raymie Auman, off-center, talks with his team during a timeout on the floor of Thursday night’s regular season finale against Archbishop Walsh, in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

STORY BY JOHN ANDERSON/WELLSVILLE SUN

WELLSVILLE — The last game of the regular season for the Wellsville Lions basketball team was a home game Thursday night hosting Archbishop Walsh.

Wellsville coach Raymie Auman was hoping to use a lot of players and work on different defenses.

However, the Lions were holding on to a 12-8 lead after the first quarter when it was time to get offensive ... with rebounds.

Auman asked in the huddle to junior Logan Dunbar and senior Alex Perkins how many offensive rebounds they had.

The two answered zero.

When the final horn sounded, Perkins and Dunbar were relaxing on the bench with a total of 29 rebounds, 15 coming as offensive boards as Wellsville finished off Walsh, 69-28.

Wellsville, as a No. 4 seed, will host possibly Penn Yan, the No. 5 seed at 6 p.m. next Saturday night. The No. 1 seed is Dansville with LeRoy and Mynderse at two and three, respectively.

"I asked Logan and Alex who out there can rebound with you? They took on the challenge. Logan getting rebounds is going to be a key for us in Sectionals," Auman said. "Every game is an opportunity to get better. And today, I thought we had guys step up who can help us get better for Sectionals. It wasn't Eli, Logan, Cody, it was other guys who played valuable minutes and did a lot of good things out there.

"I had some guys guarding people that was a little different match-up for them so they could get used to it," he added.

Defensive specialist Aidan Riley returned to the lineup after missing games with an injury, and had a quick steal and layup. While he was gone, Tyler Vogel came up from the JV team and received minutes, including Thursday as he scored five points. The game featured JV call-ups J.J. Howard and Alex Green as well.

"Our practices just got a lot more competitive," said Auman. "With Ty, J.J, and Alex, who are all outstanding basketball players, we have higher numbers and we can run practices at a high pace, it' a nice addition."

It showed on Thursday.

Dunbar finished with a game-high 22 points and 21 rebounds, 11 of them offensive. Perkins had four points and eight boards. Cody Costello had four boards and two assists to couple with his seven points, while Eli Schmidt had nine points.

Cooper Brockway drained an early 3-pointer to give Wellsville a lead and finished with five points and a board while Asher Billings drained two 3-pointers for six, Connor Ferguson had three boards and four points, Kailob Phelps had three rebounds and two points and Dalton Ketchner had a 3-pointer and a rebound.

The Lions have completed their regular season slate, as they now await Sectional play next week with a record of 11-8 overall.

Archbishop Walsh 8 9 7 4 — 28

Wellsville 12 18 21 18 — 69

WALSH: Kellen Brady 1 1-4 4, Luca Quinn 1 1-2 4, Russell Maine 5 4-8 17, Kai Przybyla 1 0-0 3. Totals: 8 6-13 28.

WELLSVILLE: Cody Costello 3 0-0 7, Alex Perkins 2 0-0 4, Cooper Brockway 2 0-0 5, Eli Schmidt 3 3-4 9, Dalton Ketchner 1 0-0 3, Kailob Phelps 1 0-0 2, Aidan Riley 1 0-0 2, Logan Dunbar 8 6-11 22, Connor Ferguson 2 0-0 4, Asher Billings 2 0-2 6, Ty Vogel 2 0-0 5. TOTALS: 27 9-17 69.

3-point goals: Walsh 6 (Maine 3, Przybyla, Brady, Quinn) Wellsville 6 (Billings 2, Vogel, Costello, Brockway, Ketchner)

Total Fouls: Walsh 15, Wellsville 15. Fouled out: Brady (AW).

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Andover/Whitesville 40, Houghton Academy 37

HOUGHTON — Despite falling behind rather quickly to the hands of Houghton Academy in Thursday’s regular season finale, Andover/Whitesville would not let it faze them. The team would make a slow first half of action become a thing of the past, leaving it in the rearview mirror in favor of a second half that saw them complete a comeback to steal a 40-37 win over the host Panthers.

Through the opening eight minutes, Houghton Academy made a statement with the lead after holding Andover/Whitesville to just a single field goal while they ran off on a 14-2 run. The lead was maintained when halftime came around, as the Panthers (4-12) extended their lead to nine, despite being outscored.

But the second quarter would help provide a big boost for Andover/Whitesville (7-13) going into the second half, as they saved their best offensive outing for a new beginning in the third quarter, netting a game-high 18 points to cut down their deficit one final time to four heading into the last eight minute session.

In the fourth, Andover/Whitesville would turn the tide and complete their rally from behind, as they scored an 11-4 run to take the lead away from Houghton Academy for good, ensuring their regular season concluded on the right foot behind two great nights of offense from Justin Waters and CJ Estep, with Waters leading all Andover/Whitesville scorers with 12 points. Estep followed with 11 points, while Kohler Niedermaier had seven.

Houghton Academy was paced by a game-high 17-point effort from Malachi DeGolyer that included three of the team’s seven three-pointers. James Adenuga sank three more triples to put towards his 11-point game, while Hugo Huang concluded with five additional points for the Panthers.

Both teams will now await Sectional seeding, which begins this weekend.

Andover/Whitesville 2 9 18 11 – 40

Houghton Academy 14 6 13 4 – 37

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Jayden Dix 1 0-0 2, Gavin Cutler 1 0-0 3, Justin Waters 6 0-0 12, CJ Estep 4 2-4 11, Spencer Mattison 2 1-2 5, Kohler Niedermaier 2 1-2 7. Totals: 16 4-8 40.
HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Hugo Huang 2 0-0 5, Chris Habecker 1 0-2 2, Malachi DeGolyer 7 0-0 17, James Adenuga 4 0-0 11, Sam Winkens 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 0-2 37.

3-point goals: A/W 4 (Niedermaier 2, Cutler, Estep), HA 7 (DeGolyer 3, Adenuga 3, Huang).
Total Fouls: A/W 10, HA 10. Fouled out: None.

Fillmore 64, Genesee Valley 43

BELMONT — The Eagles of Fillmore were all over the floor making plays left from right, capitalizing on almost everything on offense while on defense, holding host Genesee Valley to under 10 points in the first three quarters to allow the game’s biggest tone to be set in stone, as they finished their regular season campaign with a 64-43 coasting of the Jaguars on Thursday.

Fillmore (15-4) struck while the iron was hot right in the opening eight minutes of play, as they posted their biggest outing of offense in the shape of a 24-7 run of Genesee Valley — a run that the Eagles would never look back from, branching their lead out insurmountably through the next two quarters of play.

The offense was paced by both Will Roeske and Carter Sisson, with Roeske leading the charge behind a game-high 18 points, while Sisson followed with 11 of his own. Mitch Ward followed with nine points.

Despite the contest now becoming out of reach, Genesee Valley (4-16) was able to put together a strong finish against the Eagles in the last eight minutes, netting a 24-4 run to close out shop. The Jaguars offense was led by a team-high 12 point effort from freshman Brayden Cooper. Thai Norasethaporn scored 11 points, while Elden Aquila had eight.

“The last few games, Brayden has been playing really well,” said Jaguars coach Lintz Bliven. “He’s having fun out there, and he’s taking everything that he’s learned to heart. Fillmore has a really nice team, and we wish them all the luck in the D1 Sectionals. We’re playing better basketball, that’s for sure. We’ve had a couple of games where we’ve played well, so it’s great to see. These group of guys never give up, and you can’t ask for much more than that.”

Both teams will now await Sectional seeding this weekend, as their regular seasons officially come to a close.

Fillmore 24 17 19 4 – 64

Genesee Valley 7 4 8 24 – 43

FILLMORE: Carter Sisson 5 0-2 11, Eben Schilke 1 0-0 3, Damon Wood 1 0-0 2, Brent Zubikowski 2 0-0 5, Caleb Wagner 1 0-0 2, Mitch Ward 4 1-1 9, Zach Sisson 2 1-1 6, Johnny Mills 3 2-2 8, Will Roeske 8 0-0 18. Totals: 27 4-6 64.
GENESEE VALLEY: Brayden Cooper 6 0-2 12, Elden Aquila 3 2-2 8, Max Wedge 1 0-0 2, James Frawley 1 0-0 2, Ryan Daciw 3 1-1 8, Thai Norasethaporn 4 2-2 11. Totals: 18 5-7 43.
3-point goals: Fillmore 6 (Roeske 2, C. Sisson, Schilke, Zubikowski, Z. Sisson), GV 2 (Daciw, Norasethaporn).