Friday Basketball: Fillmore boys knock down 12 triples, energize 7th straight victory in offensive shootout with C-R in early County showdown; Clutch free throws aid And/Whi’s win at Houghton

FILLMORE — In recent memory, Cuba-Rushford and Fillmore have always found a way to pack a gym’s grandstand full of fans and spectators. Each and every time. Despite the dreadful weather conditions outdoors, Friday night was another one of those exhilarating nights to watch some basketball in The Rock.

The offenses belonging to the Rebels and Eagles were out in full force across all four quarters of play, with one team starting off the game red hot while the other applied pressure with their best stand of offense to open the second half. With Cuba-Rushford knocking on the door all night long, the Eagles responded.

Just ask Jonah Bialek.

At a time where big baskets were needed to stave off a potential momentum shift, Bialek was there to set the record straight from outside in the parking lot, knocking down four gigantic three-pointers in the second half out of his seven in total for the game — 12 for the entire team altogether, as the Eagles scooted past the Rebels with an 82-61 home triumph for their seventh straight trip into the win column.

“Zach (Sisson) and Jonah really stepped up and hit some big shots to stop the bleeding that was caused in the second half. Jonah is such a force himself as a floor general, but we haven’t needed him to score a lot recently. Tonight, he hit some daggers when we needed him,” said Eagles coach Randy Crouch. “My team laughs at me when I tell them this, but my favorite part of coaching is being in packed gyms on Friday nights against a great rival. Tonight was one of those nights with Cuba-Rushford. We got off to a great start and we were able to really dictate pace from there.”

The Eagles (9-2) came soaring out of the gate on fire against Cuba-Rushford, as they went straight to work with their premier frame of the night — a 25-point stand of offense, paced by the presence of their three-point game which saw five of them go down through the twine in the opening eight minutes. Zach Sisson had two of those to pace a 10-point frame and because of it, Fillmore was able to run off with an early 14-2 run of the Rebels to jump out in front quickly.

More damage was provided later on across the second quarter when the Eagles showed no signs of slowing down, this time with Jonah Bialek taking command of the offense with 10 points of his own out of the 20 his team assembled in the same swing, beginning the frame with a 16-6 run of the Rebels (6-6) to set the tone on a strong finish to a brilliant first half.

“We had Zach, Cam (Mucher) and Layton (Sanasith) all pick up two fouls in the first quarter,” Crouch said. “I’m really proud of our bench guys, JD (Bialek), Jameson (Rhett), Isaiah (Sisson) and Mark (Wolfer) for coming off the bench and maintaining our lead. I knew Coach (Pat) Wight was not going to let them quit. He had them ready in the third quarter. Give them a lot of credit, they took it to us and chipped the lead down to where it was in reach.”

Trailing 45-26 to open the second half, Cuba-Rushford was ripping and roaring out of the gate, composing a powerful 24-point stand on offense led by six different scorers all finding the basket at least once. Among them: Peyton Joy, who led the Rebels in the scorebook with 16 team-high points — eight of them in the third quarter alone.

With the Rebels closing in fast with a spurt that allowed them to cut their deficit down to as low as six, Fillmore needed a response back. For Jonah Bialek, his time was now, as his three-point game blossomed to life once again with four clutch triples from downtown in the second half to essentially put the game out of reach for the Eagles, as they evaded a late Cuba-Rushford rally.

Sisson and Bialek both came together to record 25 game-high points to pace the Fillmore offense. Cam Mucher chipped in with 10 points, while JD Bialek had nine.

For the Rebels behind Joy, Luke Brooks tallied 11 points while Eli Sleggs and Adam Roe followed with nine and seven points, respectively. As of this moment in time, Cuba-Rushford’s first-ever appearance at today’s eighth annual Dan Barkley Showcase at Alfred State College has been officially postponed, due to weather. Their next scheduled contest will take place back home Thursday night with a 7:30 p.m. visit from Andover/Whitesville.

On Tuesday right back inside The Rock, the Eagles will go for their eighth straight win in perhaps their biggest game of the season thus far — a visit from the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines, where the battle for the top of the Allegany County League standings begins at 7:30 p.m.

Cuba-Rushford 12 14 24 11 – 61

Fillmore 25 20 21 16 – 82

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Braeden Wight 0 2-4 2, Kaden Bell 4 0-0 8, Luke Brooks 5 1-4 11, Zach Deck 2 0-0 4, Eli Sleggs 2 5-7 9, Finn Ricketts 2 0-0 4, Adam Roe 3 1-2 7, Peyton Joy 8 0-0 16. Totals: 26 9-17 61.
FILLMORE: Eben Schilke 2 0-0 5, Cam Mucher 4 2-2 10, Isaiah Sisson 1 1-1 4, Layton Sanasith 2 0-0 4, Zach Sisson 7 9-10 25, Jonah Bialek 8 2-2 25, JD Bialek 4 0-0 9. Totals: 28 14-15 82.
3-point goals: Fillmore 12 (Jo. Bialek 7, Z. Sisson 2, Schilke, I. Sisson, JD Bialek).
Total Fouls: C-R 15, Fillmore 15. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 49, Houghton Academy 44

HOUGHTON — Andover/Whitesville was in control all game. But in the fourth quarter, host Houghton Academy upped the ante and made things interesting down the stretch with their largest frame of offense in the game, Friday night.

But despite it, it was pressure that Andover/Whitesville was able to handle with some massive help coming from Colton Calladine across all four quarters, as he aided the team’s pursuit of a hot start against the Panthers in the first half while adding more fuel to the fire in the next to fend off the fourth quarter pressure from their opposition to claim a 49-44 victory.

“Houghton is tough and Jeff (Prentice) has really worked hard with his guys,” said Andover/Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce. “The improvement from last year is very evident. Colton came through for us big time, and our only senior Derek Perkins also stood out with a massive performance on the boards and tough play overall to get himself into double digits. It was by far the best game I’ve seen from him. All in all, it was a pretty big game to get a win out of.”

Andover/Whitesville (5-4) knocked on the window of opportunity across the first quarter on both ends of the floor, holding Houghton Academy to just one shot from the field while punctuating a 13-4 run of the Panthers to break the ice. The two foes would exchange a near-even amount of pleasantries to keep pace with one another, with Josh Davidson fueling a second quarter surge for the Panthers with a pair of triples from beyond the arc.

But when momentum was built, it evaporated quickly with aid from Andover/Whitesville’s defense once again, as they accounted for a 13-5 third quarter run to extend the advantage out to 14 going into the last eight minutes. In that last session, the Panthers had one final card to play — a 20-point fourth quarter, led by both Jack Prentice and James Adenuga, who combined to produce 17 of the points.

But in the end, some clutch free throws for Andover/Whitesville paid off, as they laid claim to victory behind a 7-for-12 outing at the charity stripe.

Leading Andover/Whitesville was Calladine and his game-high 24 points. Derek Perkins finished with 10 points, while Vincent Joyce and Brody Vance each chipped in with six.

For Houghton Academy, Adenuga concluded with 15 points, while Davidson and Prentice followed behind with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Panthers will return to action on their home floor once again Tuesday night with a 6 p.m. visit from Keshequa.

If weather allows, Andover/Whitesville will make the trek to Alfred State College to participate in the eighth installment of the Dan Barkley Showcase, where they will open the day’s festivities with a tentative 12 p.m. tip-off against the Hammondsport Lakers.

Andover/Whitesville 13 12 13 11 – 49

Houghton Academy 4 15 5 20 – 44

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: James Miller-Young 1 0-0 2, Derek Perkins 2 6-8 10, Vincent Joyce 3 0-0 6, Brody Vance 3 0-2 6, Colton Calladine 8 7-11 24, Gage Putnam 0 1-2 1. Totals: 17 14-23 49.
HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jack Prentice 4 3-9 12, Josh Davidson 4 3-3 14, James Adenuga 5 3-5 13, Jack Qi 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 9-17 44.
3-point goals: A/W 1 (Calladine), HA 6 (Davidson 3, Adenuga 2, Prentice).
Total Fouls: A/W 19, HA 18. Fouled out: Joyce (A/W), Vance (A/W), Zanini (HA).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Fillmore 52, Hammondsport 29

HAMMONDSPORT — Although a strong first quarter start was slowed by host Hammondsport, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore were able to work their way around it by the time the second half arrived, as Amelia Rose helped provided some massive third quarter gumption to completely turn the tide in their favor to leave town winners by a 52-29 count over the Lady Lakers on Friday.

“I thought we got off to a nice start but then, we caught the turnover bug in the second quarter and that became sloppy,” Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks said. “After halftime, we moved the ball better, we had more patience and we had a nice quarter to put it out of reach essentially. Amelia had a terrific game for us. She really got us going after the break with her nice run.”

Before the Lady Lakers were able to turn up the heat, Fillmore (8-1) was able to build a strong start to their game to grab the early advantage after a back-and-forth exchange with nearly two minute remaining. With a 7-6 lead on the board, the Lady Eagles went off to finish the frame soundly with eight consecutive points in their 15-6 run of the hosts in white and purple.

Hammondsport would flip the script with some key plays on defense to keep the Lady Eagles on their feet across the second quarter, as they closed the gap to eight when halftime settled in.

But when the third quarter arrived, Amelia Rose presented Fillmore with a chance to break away from their opposition’s grasp, as she posted seven big points out of her game-high 15 total inside the stanza to propel the Lady Eagles over the top with a 16-7 run, giving them all the room they needed to take care of business.

Following Rose on the scoresheet was Hope Russell, who chipped in with 11 points. .Grace Russell had seven points, while Emalyn Mucher had five.

The Lady Eagles are back in action after the weekend with a 7 p.m. visit up north to Warsaw.

Fillmore 15 10 16 11 – 52

Hammondsport 6 11 7 5 – 29

FILLMORE: Hope Russell 5 1-2 11, Grace Russell 3 1-2 7, Rachel Hatch 2 0-0 4, Amelia Rose 6 0-0 15, Kylee Ellsworth 1 0-0 2, Mattie McCumiskey 2 0-2 4, Emalyn Mucher 2 0-0 5, Preslee Miller 2 0-5 4. Totals: 23 2-11 52.

HAMMONDSPORT: Gabby Doyle 1 0-0 2, LaZell Locey 4 1-2 9, Danica Dresser 3 4-9 10, Sam Pratt 1 1-2 4, Nichole Pratt 1 1-2 3, Alexis Hurd 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 8-17 29.

3-point goals: Fillmore 4 (Rose 3, Mucher), Hammondsport 1 (S. Pratt).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 13, Hammondsport 11. Fouled out: None.

Canisteo-Greenwood 52, Addison 22

ADDISON — Special teams can come in handy down the stretch of a tight basketball game. They can become the x-factor in the blink of an eye, but for the Lady Chargers of Canisteo-Greenwood, it served as their best offense, as they went 21-for-36 against host Addison to ignite their ascension towards their sixth win in the last seven games by a 52-22 count over the road, Friday night.

With a first quarter advantage over the Lady Knights under wraps, the Lady Chargers (8-4) constructed even more on top of the foundation they would lay down, capitalizing across all fronts on both ends of the floor to extend their lead, beginning in a second quarter where they would run off on a 9-2 half-ending jaunt before putting the game away for good with a 13-2 second half-starting run.

The main cog in the machine: Bailey Mullen, who went 13-for-18 at the charity stripe to contribute towards her game-high 24-point performance for Canisteo-Greenwood alongside eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. McKenna Ferris chipped in with 15 points of her own, while Harlie McCaffery had six points to go with her 13 rebounds off the glass. Sidney Drouin provided seven more boards to continue the special teams cause.

The Lady Chargers are now off from action until next Friday night back home, when they take on the Avoca-Prattsburgh Lady Titans in a 7:15 p.m. showdown.

Canisteo-Greenwood 13 9 13 17 – 52

Addison 7 2 2 11 – 22

CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Bailey Mullen 5 13-18 24, Kadyn Piliero 1 1-3 3, McKenna Ferris 6 3-4 15, Harlie McCaffery 2 2-6 6, Sidney Drouin 0 2-4 2, Peyton Peters 1 0-1 2. Totals: 15 21-36 52.
ADDISON: Ava White 1 0-0 2, Reagan Quick 1 0-0 2, Caidyn Jones 2 0-2 6, Julia Benton 0 2-4 2, Sadie Strauss 2 0-2 4, Breagan Jones 2 1-2 6. Totals: 8 3-10 22.

3-point goals: C-G 1 (Mullen), Addison 3 (C. Jones 2, B. Jones).
Total Fouls: C-R 16, Addison 25. Fouled out: Drouin (C-G), Quick (ADD), Jacobson (ADD).