Saturday Roundup: Lions edge out Fillmore to win IAABO Tourney on home floor; B-R’s Sibble records 100th career win at Arkport Duals

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — Given the history in recent seasons, Fillmore and Wellsville have only met a very small handful of times. Last season alone provided the first two meetings between the clubs in recent memory. How exactly did they fare? — Closer than close. One of the games being a double-overtime thriller in Fillmore.

On Saturday, the Eagles and Lions came together once more to begin the first of two more meetings on the season, and like the previous head-to-head spouts, this one was no different. With IAABO Tournament bragging rights on the line, the foes would battle their way across a footrace to the finish line. Separated by a three-point margin, it would come down to special teams.

With the Eagles right on their trail all fourth quarter long, the Lions managed to find a way. To put it all away.

In the waning seconds after a stalled final possession down the court, it resulted in a turnover, which was gathered up by the Lions defense, ultimately sending Cody Costello to the line for the most massive 1-and-1 situations of the game, nailing both shots to extend the game to two possessions with under 10 seconds remaining, securing the IAABO Tournament title for themselves in a 56-51 edging of Fillmore.

“We held Fillmore where we wanted them. They’re a great team, well-coached by Randy (Crouch), they’re competitive, and I feel like they’re going to do a ton of damage in Class D,” said Lions coach Raymie Auman. “Fillmore has a great big inside, and they play with a lot of aggression with their guards, who play with a lot of confidence. We did a good job keeping them out front of us, covering our gaps, and helping out the backside of their big. We need to take better care of the basketball, especially down the stretch. They stayed in the game because of that, and we couldn’t find a way to push our lead out when we could. We haven’t had many of these situations lately, but we’re glad to have this experience to help push us to get better.”

The goal for the Lions (3-2) was to provide a strong stand of defense, and translate it on the attack back down the court — perhaps the cornerstone to Wellsville’s defense. But Fillmore came out swinging in the first quarter, taking the game’s first lead after the eight minute period, using their speed and athleticism to find the basket in any way they could, with Mitch Ward and Will Roeske both leading the way in that department for the Eagles.

On the flip side, it was a first quarter Auman hoped would not happen.

“Ultimately it was that first quarter,” the longtime Lions coach said. “We were glued to our men, we weren’t helping each other out, and we really didn’t take Fillmore for granted. I thought we had fresh legs from last night, but we came out really complacent. 19 points in the first quarter is more than double our goal for the quarter. That was really the deficit, and if we held them to eight or nine points, that’s a 16-point ballgame back the other way. That would have put us in a better position to control.”

The game would navigate its way toward a 20-all tie during the early stages of the second quarter, but the back-and-forth pace carried over along with it, as both teams traded small runs until the end of the half, when Logan Dunbar’s basket from down underneath gave Wellsville a 31-29 lead over Fillmore (3-1) to control coming back out.

They would go on to just that by starting strong with eight of the first 10 third quarter points in their back pockets, paced by Dunbar, who stepped up and delivered his best game of the season thus far with eight second half points to fuel a game-high 17-point performance for the Lions.

The lead would reach as much as seven at one point for Wellsville in the frame, but Fillmore made some key adjustments to make sure they would keep following along the foot tracks the Lions would leave behind along the way, with Zach Sisson helping out from downtown with the team’s final basket in the waning seconds of the third to cut their deficit to six going to the final eight minutes.

While the Eagles continued to give chase, the Lions now entered win-now mode and looked to their offense to deliver some clutch baskets coming down the stretch. The seven-point lead would remain in the early part of the fourth, with help from Alex Perkins driving inside, but the Eagles showed an even greater amount of resiliency to decrease the deficit to a single possession later on with Ward delivering baskets on back-to-back possessions, and later, a Carter Sisson three-pointer with 2:30 remaining.

Perkins would finish with eight of his 12 points in the second half. Auman applauded both Dunbar and Perkins’ performances.

“Alex is really Mr. Consistent, he’s always going, he’s always working and he does all the little things right for us. A lot of people won’t usually see what he does on a nightly basis on our statsheet, but he’s getting the defensive rebounds and being a massive pest down low to help set up most of our possessions, as well as playing a lot of our Help defense tonight. Logan provided his best game of the year so far. He’s had a rough start, but he finally managed to get going. We had a few wins here, and we really didn’t get him going. We don’t have to fire on all cylinders now, but we just need to keep improving in the next week or two.”

The score would remain a three-point, 54-51 lead in favor of the Lions and would stay for the last minute plus, until a massive turnover by the Eagles forced the ball to the Lions to put away on special teams, as Costello buried the 1-and-1 chance to extend their advantage to two possessions with 10 seconds left, permanently sealing the game and the IAABO Tournament title.

“It’s always nice to get this tournament win, especially here in front of our fans,” said Auman. “All these games always find a way to be competitive every time. It’s always nice to win a tournament like this to put a notch on your belt. Ultimately, it’s not close to what our goals for this season are, but we’ll celebrate this for a second or two and then get back to work and move onto Bath so we can hopefully keep putting ourselves in a position for Sectionals.”

Between Dunbar and Perkins in the Wellsville scorebook was Schmidt, who recorded 14 points to become the third scorer with at least 10 points for the hosts in white and orange. Cody Costello added in eight points. On the other side, Will Roeske led the Eagles offense with a team-high 16 points down low, while Mitch Ward finished with 11.

Prior to the Championship game, the C.G. Finney Falcons and Cuba-Rushford Rebels started the final day of the IAABO Tournament with the Consolation round festivities. Although both teams struggled to launch themselves straight out of the gate in the first quarter, the Falcons shook off all the rust while keeping the Rebels at bay in the midst of a big first quarter run that set the tone immediately in their 59-28 victory.

Right near halfway, the first marker was recorded by the Rebels (1-2) when Dom Bello opened things up with a finger-roll down low after an inbound to break the ice. But the first lead for either side was spoiled a short time later, when the Falcons exploded for a first quarter-ending run of epic proportions, going off on an 18-3 spurt to end the quarter in their favor.

It would carry over into the second, where the Rebels were held to just five more points to close out a 27-10 lead for the Falcons at the break.

A slightly different story for Cuba-Rushford in the third quarter, as they nearly matched C.G. Finney’s total within the frame, with the likes of Jack Frank and Hunter Scott leading the charge with back-to-back threes for the Rebels to try and cut their deficit down. But in the end, the Falcons would continue to capitalize on any missed opportunities they could gather to recreate another 18-5 fourth quarter run to pull away for good.

Frank was Cuba-Rushford’s leading scorer, as he tallied a team-high 12 points. Dom Bello and Austin Clement each had four points to add.

Wellsville will return to the drawing board, and prepare for their next battle inside the Lion’s Den coming up on Tuesday, when they host Bath-Haverling in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

Auman says on top of Fillmore already, the Rams will provide a significant challenge for his young squad.

“Bath’s tough. The biggest difference is the athleticism. They have Class B-sized kids, and Bath is a heavy football team, baseball team, they’re an athletic school,” he said. “All of their kids are strong, and they play up tempo too. They press and they have a great coach helping guide them. It’ll be a different kind of game, but it’s one that we’re looking forward to. They’re in our class for Sectionals, so this is one that we have to get through them for.”

Up next for the Eagles of Fillmore will be a 7:30 p.m. date with their crosstown rival, the Belfast Bulldogs in their lone matchup of the season coming up, also on Tuesday, inside The Rock.

As for Cuba-Rushford, they now head into the Christmas Break, returning to action on December 27, when they visit Scio to partake in their annual Christmas Tournament.

Consolation

Cuba-Rushford 5 5 13 5 – 28

C.G. Finney 18 9 14 18 – 59

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Jack Frank 4 1-2 12, Hunter Scott 1 0-0 3, Will Sharp 1 1-3 4, Dom Bello 2 0-2 4, Austin Clement 2 0-1 4, Caden Murray 0 0-2 0, Kaden Bell 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 3-12 28.
FINNEY: Donnie Khothsymoung 1 0-0 3, David Crandall 3 0-0 6, Nick Pasquantonio 3 3-7 9, Ethan Krog 4 0-0 12, Octavio Gefell 1 0-0 3, James Sidorishin 4 3-4 12, Diego Bessette 3 0-0 9, Connor O'Hare 1 0-0 3, Josh Saurez 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 6-11 59.
3-point goals: C-R 5 (Frank 3, Scott, Sharp), Finney 11 (Krog 4, Bessette 3, Khothsymoung, Sidorishin, Gefell, O'Hare).
Total Fouls: C-R 11, Finney 16. Fouled out: None.

Championship

Fillmore 19 10 12 10 – 51

Wellsville 16 15 16 9 – 56

FILLMORE: Carter Sisson 3 1-1 8, Damon Wood 1 0-0 2, Luke Colombo 2 1-2 6, Mitch Ward 5 1-1 11, Zach Sisson 2 2-2 8, Will Roeske 8 0-0 16. Totals: 21 5-6 51.
WELLSVILLE: Cody Costello 2 4-7 8, Alex Perkins 6 0-0 12, Cooper Brockway 1 0-0 3, Eli Schmidt 4 5-8 14, Logan Dunbar 7 3-6 17, Connor Ferguson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 12-21 56.

3-point goals: Fillmore 4 (Z. Sisson 2, C. Sisson, Colombo), Wellsville 2 (Brockway, Schmidt).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 15, Wellsville 13. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 66, Arkport/Canaseraga 58

CANASERAGA — Although Andover/Whitesville is continuing to search for their first win of the season, it’s evident that in all three games, it has been a ride that continues to trend in the right direction up the escalator of improvement. Despite falling to Cuba-Rushford back on Wednesday by four, it was a chance to build from it.

When a chance came on Saturday to do so, CJ Estep and Gavin Cutler took it and provided a full-speed sprint, as the two combined for nearly half of the team’s point, including a monster night from Estep on the field while Cutler dominated the boards, as Andover/Whitesville used a strong first half to create enough of a buffer zone to remain out front of host Arkport/Canaseraga to capture their first win of the season by a 66-58 count.

“I’m pretty happy, and we’re starting to play some solid basketball,” said Andover/Whitesville coach John Dougherty. “It was nice to get this win. For as hard as they worked to get this, I really feel that they’re starting to figure out their roles on this team. We’re starting to find our identity and what it stands for. CJ in a big leadership role, he did have the team’s high point total, and Gavin Cutler had the best game of his career as well. They’re all stepping up, and it’s a great sight to see.”

Estep and his game came to life during the first half, when Andover/Whitesville (1-3) was able to grab the lead they wanted to carry into the break over the Wolves. After a 15-10 duel through the first eight minutes, the junior took matters into his own hands and collected 14 of his game-high 25 points to help set a tone, which was garnered in the second when a collective of Andover/Whitesville players combined to record a 20-11 run to end the half with a double-digit lead.

However, upon coming back out for the second half, Arkport/Canaseraga responded with a massive run themselves to narrow the lead to as little as five going into the final eight minute period, where Andover/Whitesville was able to do just enough on both ends of the floor to fend off a late Wolves rally to secure their first win of the year over the road in Canaseraga.

Finishing behind Estep was Cutler, who provided a dominating performance of his own, netting a huge 11-point, 16-rebound double-double, recording six steals along the way to further the team’s cause. Luke Erdmann chipped in with 10 points of his own, including a pair of Andover/Whitesville’s six three-pointers.

Andover/Whitesville will look to continue the momentum shift back home on Monday, when they host Houghton Academy in a 7:30 p.m. battle in Whitesville.

Andover/Whitesville 15 20 13 18 – 66

Arkport/Canaseraga 10 11 22 15 – 58

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Cormac Brown 1 0-2 2, CJ Estep 8 7-9 25, Gavin Cutler 3 4-7 11, Brody Carlin 2 0-0 4, Luke Erdmann 4 0-0 10, Dylan Acor 1 0-0 2, Spencer Mattison 1 2-2 4, Kohler Niedermaier 2 3-4 8. Totals: 22 16-22 66.
ARKPORT/CANASERAGA: Logan Hoyt 2 0-0 4, Pete Patrick 5 0-0 15, Emory Watkins 2 0-0 6, Michael Gilbert 8 1-3 19, Evan Reynolds 3 0-0 6, Landon Swain 4 0-1 8. Totals: 24 1-4 58.

3-point goals: A/W 6 (Estep 2, Erdmann 2, Cutler, Niedermaier), A/C 9 (Patrick 5, Watkins 2, Gilbert 2).
Total Fouls: A/W 10, A/C 20. Fouled out: Watkins (A/C).

Cowanesque Valley Consolation: Genesee Valley vs Northern Potter — No Report.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Lady Panthers capture Scio Christmas title, Friendship/Scio wins Consolation

SCIO — For the third straight Scio Christmas Tournament, both Cuba-Rushford and Houghton Academy came face-to-face for all of the holiday marbles. For the Lady Rebels, it was a chance to lock down their third straight championship, while for the Lady Panthers — an opportunity to win their first in recent memory on Saturday.

For much of the opening quarter, each team traded blows until the Lady Rebels found an opening to take the early advantage. Houghton Academy would counter in the second quarter, providing a stinging blow of their own recognizance, taking a lead of their own along the way.

It would all set up shop for a fourth quarter battle that would determine everything. And in the end, the Lady Panthers of Houghton Academy made sure the halftime build up was worth it, as they held the Lady Rebels in check in the midst of a 14-6 run in the last eight minutes of play, with the Lady Panthers lead growing significantly insurmountable in what came to be a 39-28 championship-clinching win — the program’s first Christmas title in recent memory.

“Number one, it’s pretty cool for our program to win this thing. It’s been something that we’ve been building for, and it was one of the goals that the girls put high on their list coming into the season,” said Lady Panthers coach Jeff Prentice. “To see it end like this, it was nice. We played well defensively, and it took a couple of quarters for us to make our adjustments. The second quarter, we virtually held them scoreless. Then we caught on more, and we didn’t panic. We held it together in the fourth to get this win in our pockets.”

Both squads rode a first quarter wave that saw them go back-and-forth straight down to the 90 second mark of the frame, when Cuba-Rushford (1-3) began a late run that saw them pull ahead of Houghton Academy when the buzzer sounded. With the attack led by Taylor Searle, the Lady Rebels junior would score seven of the team’s 13 points in the frame to set up shop.

In all, the team in blue and white recorded seven of the last nine points of the opening quarter to take the lead.

But that run would soon end, as the Lady Panthers (3-0) provided a momentum shift of their own to end the first half, with Jessica Adenuga leading the charge on that front behind back-to-back baskets down low to help the team take their first lead since the beginning stages. The scoreless run soon reached nine straight for Houghton Academy after a Jessica Prentice three-ball added more damage near midway to help solidify the advantage.

Going into the second half, the Lady Panthers looked to their defense to try and keep Cuba-Rushford’s offense at a standstill. They would go on to do that, despite trading some baskets down the stretch, taking a 25-22 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the last eight minutes, one last run was prepared by Houghton Academy, as they saved their best quarter for last, with Prentice and her hot hand igniting the team’s flame with 10 of the 14 points in the midst of their 14-6 run that allowed them to stroll away from the Lady Rebels, and towards a Scio Christmas Tournament title.

Prentice would lead all scorers for the Lady Panthers with a game-high 19 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Adenuga would finish with 12 more points, while Anna Huizenga had six to add in. On the other side, the Lady Rebels were led by Searle, who finished with 15 team-high points. Lillian Forward had six points.

Prior to the title game, Hinsdale and Friendship/Scio began the evening with the Tournament’s Consolation game. It was one that the hosts began to find their groove right after the opening tip, and built upon it, as they took their seven-point halftime lead and extended it to by as much as 20 in the third quarter, enough for them to roll away from the Lady Bobcats with a 39-23 win.

“We played so much better, and our defense looked solid,” Friendship/Scio coach Ashleigh Lewis said. “We had 30 rebounds as a team, and we finally found a way to see the ball go through the net. It built a ton of confidence with the girls after we practiced a ton on our shooting during practice. It’s good to see that come through, and hopefully we can keep that going. That third quarter came from our defense, and we took it to heart and shut them down. They said it was 0-0 coming back out, and they made an impact because of it.”

Friendship/Scio’s (1-2) Consolation round victory was powered up by a massive third quarter run after taking a seven-point, 17-10 lead over Hinsdale going into the break. The flame was set ablaze by the hosts when they came out swinging to start the second half, scoring 13 points in a row, syphoning the energy from their defense and using it for their offense in turn.

The run would last for nearly the entire quarter, until Hinsdale (0-3) stopped the run with the last seven points of the frame. The hosts would go on to secure the victory in the fourth quarter with a narrow 9-6 outscoring of the Lady Bobcats.

Kadence Donohue led the way for Friendship/Scio, tallying a game-high 17 points to go with five rebounds. Nevaeh Ross added in 11 points of her own, while Keely Sisson finished with four points whilst grabbing a team-high six boards. For Hinsdale, Jaylee Jimerson led the way with 13 of the team’s 23 total points.

Three of the four teams will return to action on Monday, with champion Houghton Academy heading back out on the road to take on Andover/Whitesville in a 6 p.m. tussle in Whitesville. Later on in the night, Friendship/Scio will hit the road themselves in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Mount Morris, while Hinsdale goes down the road to Belfast to battle host Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Later in the week, Cuba-Rushford will have their return to action back on the road, visiting Bolivar-Richburg in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.


Consolation

Hinsdale 4 6 7 6 – 23

Friendship/Scio 12 5 13 9 – 39

HINSDALE: Marissa Adams 1 0-0 2, Hannah Sutton 1 0-0 2, Fran Childs 2 0-0 4, Jaylee Jimerson 6 1-3 13, Sarah Tuttle 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 1-3 23.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Nevaeh Ross 5 1-2 11, Jenn Dickens 0 0-2 0, Keely Sisson 2 0-0 4, Kadence Donohue 8 1-1 17, Melana Davenport 3 1-5 7, Kiara Grove 0 0-2 0. Totals: 18 3-12 39.
Total Fouls: Hinsdale 11, F/S 10. Fouled out: Tuttle (HIN).

Championship

Cuba-Rushford 13 2 7 6 – 28

Houghton Academy 8 9 8 14 – 39

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Lillian Forward 3 0-0 6, Ella Jaffe 1 0-0 2, Brynn Lavery 0 2-2 2, Gabby Kranock 1 1-6 3, Taylor Searle 6 2-4 15. Totals: 11 3-10 28.

HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jessica Prentice 8 0-0 19, Maddy Pachalis 1 0-0 2, Jessica Adenuga 6 0-3 12, Anna Huizenga 3 0-2 6. Totals: 18 0-5 39.

3-point goals: C-R 1 (Searle), Houghton 3 (Prentice).
Total Fouls: C-R 7, Houghton 14. Fouled out: None.


Lady Redskins win Geneseo Coaches v. Cancer Tourney

GENESEO — Stellar defense and intimidating intensity can be known to become two important ingredients to a winning recipe from within the basketball cookbook. When you mix the two together, you could very well have a chance at tasting sweet, sweet victory.

When Saturday night came around for the Lady Redskins of Canisteo-Greenwood, the first half of play against host Geneseo was more than enough time to mix everything together, as they used two massive runs in the first and second quarters while hold the Lady Blue Devils at an absolute standstill to record a lead they positively never looked back on to secure this year’s Coaches v. Cancer Tournament title in Geneseo with a 49-34 victory.

Lillian Mullen was named the Tournament’s MVP, as she helped Canisteo-Greenwood (3-1) flare up on offense during their two massive spurts, recording 11 of her 14 points in the first half alone to set up shop for a 14-4 lead after the first eight minutes, and later an 18-4 run in the second to close it out. Mullen would add 12 rebounds along the way to record a double-double.

Brooke Byrd earned an All-Tourney nod along the way, as she was the team’s leading scorer by the end of the night, recording the majority of her points while tag-teaming alongside Mullen in the second quarter, netting 10 of her game-high 17 points within that frame to go with 12 rebounds to complete the team’s second double-double.

Helping Canisteo-Greenwood further their cause was Bailey Mullen, who had seven more points to add in.

Geneseo would find a way to trim down the lead by holding the Lady Redskins to just five points to start the second half, but the earlier damage provided by the team in red and black was too much to overcome in the end for the Lady Blue Devils.

The Lady Redskins will now go for their fourth win in the first five games on Tuesday back home, as they prepare for a 6 p.m. tip-off against the Hornell Lady Red Raiders.

Canisteo-Greenwood 14 18 5 12 – 49

Geneseo 4 4 12 14 – 34

CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Bailey Mullen 2 2-2 7, Kennedy Richardson 1 0-0 3, Hailey Davis 1 0-0 3, Lillian Mullen 6 1-4 14, Payton Peters 2 1-2 5, Brooke Byrd 8 1-3 17. Totals: 20 5-11 49.
GENESEO: Morgan Wolcott 3 0-0 6, Brogan Henderson 2 0-0 4, Emily Lamb 3 0-2 6, Mary Claire Rollins 1 0-0 2, Caroline Capel 1 0-2 2, Tessa Saletel 3 0-0 6, Tessa Reilly 4 0-1 8. Totals: 17 0-5 34.

3-point goals: C-G 4 (B. Mullen, Richardson, Davis, L. Mullen).
Total Fouls: C-G 14, Geneseo 16. Fouled out: None.

WRESTLING

Sibble records 100th career win as B-R wins Arkport Duals

ARKPORT — With one second place tournament finish already under their belts at Horseheads, the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverine grapplers continued their climb towards the top for their first win. The search went on Saturday morning at Arkport/Canaseraga for Dual meet action.

Among the competitors for the Wolverines, was perhaps the team’s rising star — Trent Sibble. The 215-pound grappler was one of seven grapplers that finished the day a perfect 5-0 on the mat.

Along the way, the Bolivar-Richburg junior recorded a career-defining moment. A mark that takes time and effort to reach. That being career win number 100, as he picked it up to help the team record the first place overall finish after victories over Bath-Haverling (40-27), Caledonia-Mumford (48-18), Keshequa (42-12), Hornell (37-30) and Wellsville (46-27).

Joining Sibble in the 5-0 club on the day were Gary McDowell (102 pounds), Teegan Sibble (110 pounds), Trey Buchholz (132 pounds), Ethan Coleman (138 pounds), Tavyn MacDonell (145 pounds) and Kadin Tompkins (152 pounds).

The Lions of Wellsville placed in a tie for second overall alongside Hornell, finishing with a 4-1 record.

Bolivar-Richburg will look to use the momentum in their favor come next Friday night, as they head out to Alfred-Almond for a 6 p.m. visit — their last match on the road slate before the Christmas break.

Chris Brooks
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Friday Roundup: Wellsville, Fillmore to meet in IAABO Title game after wins; Lady Lions string together 2nd quarter run to defeat North Penn-Mansfield