Thursday Roundup: Canisteo-Greenwood stays one step ahead of Bolivar-Richburg in back-and-forth chess match with 67-64 edge; C-R, Houghton girls to meet in Scio X-Mas Title game

Written By Chris Brooks

BOLIVAR — Sitting at the metaphorical chess table across from one another on Thursday, two hyphenated rivals that have come to know each other across all sports in all seasons. Mainly for their battles on the wrestling mat, on the gridiron, and even on the hardwood indoors — Canisteo-Greenwood and Bolivar-Richburg.

Across their first of two meetings to take place, both the Redskins and Wolverines constantly traded pieces on the chess board until there were virtually none left to take. The balance of power between both squads shifted up and down the entire night. Across the first half, across the second half, and even in the game’s waning minutes, where the Wolverines rallied back from as much as 10 down.

They would get close to within three of Canisteo-Greenwood, but with the trend already set, the Redskins found a way to respond, capitalizing on some massive wide-open looks down low, and then putting the finishing touches on a basket with under 15 seconds remaining while the Wolverines were attempting to foul, branching their lead out from three to six to put away the game for good before a last second shot, taking the 67-64 edge in the end.

“We had a couple of spurts in the fourth, we had five in a row under our belts. When we needed those big buckets, we couldn’t really get them to fall,” Wolverines coach Jeff Margeson said. “It hurt us, and some shots at the line hurts as well. Right off the bat, we went 12-for-21 at the line. We were always at that short end of the stick, despite approaching that crux where it could have gone either way. They passed the ball around, and did what they needed to do in this chess match. They were one step ahead.”

Almost immediately after the opening tip, both Canisteo-Greenwood and Bolivar-Richburg made their first moves, with the Wolverines (3-1) scoring four straight right from the get-go, including a quick Landon Danaher basket after a series of passes stemming from the opening tip to get the hosts going. The Redskins would answer with baskets of their own — a trait that would remain apparent throughout the game.

In the midst of the early first quarter back-and-forth battle, it would wind up going in Canisteo-Greenwood’s favor by a single point with Cole Ferris and his 10 points within the frame leading the way, as they wrapped up shop with their final basket coming from down underneath with less than a minute remaining to overtake the Wolverines in the lead heading into the second.

In that second quarter, it was Hunter McCaffery’s turn for the visiting Redskins, as he scored 15 of the team’s 20 points, including two massive three-point shots that would give the team the biggest lead of the night at that point — of five with 3:36 left on the clock. He would go on to add another three-pointer down the stretch that would allow them to grow their lead out once more to four when the first half was all said and done.

Margeson said that Ferris and McCaffery were two factors for Canisteo-Greenwood that he could not find a way to cover.

“We had them in the bonus with over six minutes left in the second quarter, and we didn’t get a chance to take advantage of it,” he said. “We didn’t get another foul after that, and it left to Ferris scoring 10 points in the first, and 15 for McCaffery in the second. We tried going man-to-man, and it didn’t work. We were ball-watching really, and credit to them, they made us pay because of it. More than half of their three-pointers were contested, and they just found a way to knock them down.”

Later on, the back-and-forth battle ensued. Canisteo-Greenwood went on to start the second half with a little more zip to their step, as they collected the baskets to continue growing their lead over Bolivar-Richburg. But like the rest of the runs one team would make, the other would come right back with one of their own, with Bolivar-Richburg responding with the service of Danaher, who nailed three shots at the line along with a big basket inside from Cam MacDonell to trim their deficit from six to two at one point.

It was a trend for the Wolverines between their two superstar Seniors that began since the beginning, as the two shooters combined to record 53 of the team’s 64 total points in the game, the bulk of which coming in the second half to give the Wolverines a chance to continue chasing the coattails of Canisteo-Greenwood heading into the fourth quarter, down by a 51-44 tally.

With the eight point lead in hand, the Wolverines fought back with baskets of their own from Danaher and MacDonell down low, with Danaher starting it off with scores in two straight possessions to cut the deficit down to three while the Redskins were battling foul troubles in the homestretch.

But some resiliency began to show on both sides as time began to tick down, as Canisteo-Greenwood went back to using some stellar passes to create an opening underneath the basket for the lay-in to end the play multiple times. The Redskins would go on to ultimately record the night’s largest lead — by 10 points, a 62-52 lead that was absolutely critical coming down to the wire with 2:42 left to play.

For the Wolverines, the resiliency began to glimmer on their side of the stage, as Danaher and MacDonell continued to dig and claw their squad back within reach of the visitors in red and black, with Danaher launching a big three-point shot, while MacDonell grabbed his own offensive rebound three consecutive times while under immense duress from the Redskins defense underneath to put away the basket with 1:14 left in the game, and down 64-59.

One more basket would get Bolivar-Richburg back to within a single possession of Canisteo-Greenwood with under a minute to go, but as the Wolverines began to start fouling in hopes to preserve time, the Redskins passed the ball around to eat away more clock until a wide open man worked himself free from the defense to provide a gut-wrenching bucket with 15 seconds left to seal the game up for good, despite a buzzer-beating three from Danaher to end it.

“They know that it’s expected from them,” Margeson said of Danaher and MacDonell. “You go into the locker room, they start to put the blame square on themselves. We have to help them out, we have to knock down outside shots, we have to have someone take it to the hole. You can’t have them be the physical presence for you all the time.”

Margeson noted that it was the first time his team had to play their way from behind in certain spots of the game, but hopes that this marquee matchup will prove to be a massive wake-up call going forward.

“We played with the lead for the last three games, and the kids understand that they smell blood in the water, and that they can take advantage of it,” he said. “We’ve never had to come back and try to push the offense more. The goal was to be 5-0 going into the Christmas break. Hopefully this can serve as a wake-up call for them. This is like a Sectional situation, you cannot fold, you can’t complain about what is or isn’t a foul, you have to find a way to win those kinds of games. That means making those shots at the line, playing better defense as a team. It’s not just the Cam and Landon show.”

Danaher would finish as the night’s leading scorer on the hardwood, garnering a game-high 27 points. MacDonell was closely behind his Senior teammate, finishing with 26 points. Aydin Sisson added in three points of his own.

Bolivar-Richburg will now look to shake it off over the weekend, as they get set to head out over the road to face the Campbell-Savona Panthers in yet another early bird test on the season. Like this game, Margeson believes his squad is in for yet another drag race.

“It’s back to the drawing board for our defense. We have to keep an eye on our man, and the zone. Canisteo-Greenwood opened us up at the back door a ton, especially in the last few minutes,” he said. “You mix that with not being able to knock down those free throws that we had a chance to put away, it wasn’t a good combination. I told the guys in the locker room that Campbell-Savona is exactly like Canisteo-Greenwood. Instead of the McCaffery kid, you have the Kaden Boldt kid. They are very physical, very athletic, and we might be in for another track meet.”

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on Monday in Campbell.

Canisteo-Greenwood 16 20 15 16 – 67

Bolivar-Richburg 15 17 12 20 – 64

CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Mason Boyd 4 0-0 9, Cole Ferris 7 1-2 18, Hunter McCaffery 10 2-3 24, Evan Updyke 1 0-0 3, Jonathan Reese 4 0-0 8, Maddux Schwartz 2 1-2 5. Totals: 28 4-7 67.
BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Aydin Sisson 1 1-2 3, Landon Danaher 9 7-12 27, Wyatt Karnuth 1 0-0 2, David Baldwin 1 0-0 2, Reiss Gaines 1 0-0 2, Evan Pinney 1 0-0 2, Cam MacDonell 11 4-7 26. Totals: 25 12-21 64.

3-point goals: C-G 9 (Ferris 3, McCaffery 2, Schwartz 2, Boyd, Reese), B-R 2 (Danaher).
Total Fouls: C-G 14, B-R 10. Fouled out: None.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Cuba-Rushford, Houghton Academy to meet in Scio X-Mas Title game

SCIO — It’s that time of the season once again. After a year away due to COVID-19, the Scio Christmas Tournament has officially made its grand return with the girls tournament officially getting underway on Thursday, as four Allegany County foes battle it out for championship glory.

Game one of the two-game set saw Hinsdale and Cuba-Rushford pinned against one another, and it was a battle that saw the Lady Rebels provide an overwhelming offensive presence to start the second half. With a 25-12 lead in hand at the break, the team in white and blue extended that lead permanently in the biggest of ways with their enormous third quarter run of the Lady Bobcats that sealed the deal on their 54-24 triumph to claim a spot in Saturday night’s title game.

“Hinsdale played tough, especially through the first half. It felt like things started to finally click when the third quarter started to come around,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “It happened on both ends of the floor for us. It was nice to bounce back with a game like this after a couple of tough tournament games in Portville to start our season.”

The Lady Rebels and their 23-point third quarter was fueled by the massive performance from their junior, Taylor Searle, who had tallied 16 of her game-high 23 points from within the frame to set up a 23-2 run of Hinsdale to put the padlock on their lead for good. Finishing behind Searle, was Aleah Demick, who had 10 additional points to tally, while Brynn Lavery and Lillian Forward each had six.

The Lady Bobcats (0-2) were paced by a 10-point performance from Jaylee Jimerson. Sarah Tuttle chipped in with six points of her own.

To close out the evening, Houghton Academy and Friendship/Scio would then take the stage to try and provide a strong finish of their own. They would do just that in the second half, when Friendship/Scio began to rally back and pressure the Lady Panthers late. But an early first half deficit put on by the visitors in blue and white proved to be the difference maker to send them to the title game themselves with a 31-22 win in the nightcap.

“We cut down our turnovers immensely from the last game, which is a big improvement for us,” said Friendship/Scio coach Ashleigh Lewis. “We looked much better tonight, especially in the second half, where we started to play really well to try and give Houghton a run. But we dug a hole in the first half, and that was too much for us to get out of in the end.”

Houghton Academy’s (2-0) establishing of a big first half was ultimately pinned as the x-factor, as they held Friendship/Scio to just eight points across a combined 20-8 run in those 16 minutes to spring far enough out ahead, remaining there until the final buzzer to claim the victory.

Just two scorers helped fuel the team’s triumph, with Jessica Prentice netting a game-high 25 of the team’s 31 total points. Anna Huizenga had the last six points for the Lady Panthers, all from inside the arc. On the other side, Nevaeh Ross recorded 11 of Friendship/Scio’s (0-2) 22 points, adding four steals along the way to lead the attack. Kadence Donohue added in four points, while Melana Davenport had three to go with seven rebounds.

The Scio Christmas Tournament will reach its end Saturday night, beginning with the Consolation round between Hinsdale and Friendship/Scio in a 6 p.m. tip-off, followed by the Championship game between Cuba-Rushford and Houghton Academy, which will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Hinsdale 4 8 2 10 – 24

Cuba-Rushford 10 15 23 6 – 54

HINSDALE: Hannah Sutton 1 1-2 3, Jaylee Jimerson 5 0-0 10, Jenna Sutton 1 0-0 2, Sarah Tuttle 3 0-0 6, Kyla Jozwiak 1 1-2 3. Totals: 11 2-4 24.
CUBA-RUSHFORD: Lillian Forward 3 0-0 6, Cloey Larabee 2 0-0 4, Ella Jaffe 0 3-4 3, Brynn Lavery 3 0-0 6, Gabby Kranock 1 0-0 2, Aleah Demick 5 0-0 10, Taylor Searle 10 0-0 23. Totals: 24 3-4 54.
3-point goals: C-R 3 (Searle).
Total Fouls: Hinsdale 5, C-R 8. Fouled out: None.

Houghton Academy 9 11 4 7 – 31

Friendship/Scio 4 4 6 8 – 22

HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jessica Prentice 11 2-6 25, Anna Huizenga 3 0-0 6. Totals: 14 2-6 31.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Nevaeh Ross 5 1-2 11, Sophie Bolzan 1 0-0 2, Kadence Donohue 2 0-0 4, Melana Davenport 1 1-7 3, Claire Calhoun 0 0-2 0, Kiera Grover 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 2-11 22.

3-point goals: Houghton 1 (Prentice).
Total Fouls: Houghton 16, F/S 10. Fouled out: Paschalis (HA), Haensel (HA).

Geneseo Coaches v. Cancer Tourney

Canisteo-Greenwood 47, Perry 30

GENESEO — Looking to build off of a road loss in Wellsville earlier this week, the Lady Redskins of Canisteo-Greenwood were determined to make things right again when they made their way to Geneseo to partake in their Coaches v. Cancer Tournament on Thursday.

Up first was the Lady Yellowjackets of Perry, and to begin the night, both squads battled their way through a closely contested opening quarter, ending it in a tie. But in the second, a flip of the script was provided by the Lady Redskins, as the efforts from both Brooke Byrd and Bailey Mullen helped power up a big run of their opposition that ultimately determined the outcome in the end, as they picked up the 47-30 win to advance into Saturday night’s title game.

After a 10-10 deadlock through the opening quarter, the Lady Redskins (2-1) saw Byrd score nearly half of the team’s points in the midst of their 16-9 run of Perry through the second to close out the first half on the strongest of notes with a seven-point lead in hand. It would only increase exponentially from there, as Canisteo-Greenwood added to their lead with two more runs of the Lady Yellowjackets, including holding them to just two points in the last eight minutes of play to secure the win.

Three different Lady Redskins all eclipsed double figures on offense, with Lillian Mullen leading the way with a game-high 18 points, pairing the scores with eight rebounds and six assists. Byrd would finish with a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double to help the cause, while Peyton Peters added in 10 points of her own.

On Saturday, Canisteo-Greenwood will now face the host Lady Blue Devils of Geneseo for the Coaches v. Cancer Tournament crown in a 3 p.m. tip-off.

Canisteo-Greenwood 10 16 13 8 – 47

Perry 10 9 9 2 – 30

CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Bailey Mullen 1 0-0 3, Kennedy Richardson 2 0-0 4, Lillian Mullen 6 2-2 18, Peyton Peters 5 0-0 10, Brooke Byrd 5 2-6 12. Totals: 19 4-8 47.
PERRY: Isabel Swyers 1 0-0 2, Lydia Conaway 3 0-2 8, Leah Fisher 0 1-2 1, McKenna Kelly 3 3-4 9, Sydney Hnat 2 0-0 4, Hailey Evans 1 1-4 3, Jayden McClurg 1 0-0 3. Totals: 11 5-12 30.

3-point goals: C-G 5 (L. Mullen 4, B. Mullen), Perry 3 (Conaway 2, McClurg).

Total Fouls: C-G 14, Perry 9. Fouled out: Kelly (PER).

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Wellsville 3, Bolivar-Richburg 2

RICHBURG — It was a fight to the finish line to say the least down the road in Richburg where the Thursday night trifecta for host Bolivar-Richburg took center stage in Allegany County between the Wolverines and Lions of Wellsville. So much of a fight that all five sets were needed to determine the outcome.

After a slow first set start, the Wolverines battled their way back with two straight wins to push the Lions to the brink entering the fourth set. But inside that set, a massive momentum shift took place, and the balance of power shifted in Wellsville’s favor.

For good.

Pushing the set’s limits past regulation, the Lions needed just a pair of serves to close it out with a bang, tying the match and using the burst of energy in the final set of the night, rolling past Bolivar-Richburg with a 15-7 win to complete the 3-2 match win to earn their third straight win by a 25-14, 17-25, 14-25, 26-24, 15-7 count.

One of the big components for Wellsville’s (3-2) success — Mason Parks, who provided a stellar performance on the attack with a game-high nine kills to go with four aces and four digs on defense. From the service line, Xavier Scott recorded 12 service points to pair with his five aces and three kills, while Gavan Dickerson chipped in with five aces of his own to couple with two kills and two digs.

For Bolivar-Richburg (0-4), Rudy Polk led the offense with a team-high seven kills to go with four aces and two blocks. Darien Champlin added in five kills of his own to pair with five more aces and a pair of blocks. As for their setter, Hunter Stuck was busy up front handing out the assists, racking up nine of them to couple with six aces, four blocks and two kills. The Wolverines are back on the floor tonight over the road with a 6 p.m. matchup against Fillmore.

Wellsville will take aim at a fourth consecutive victory next week, when they prepare to visit Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 6 p.m. first serve of their own, next Thursday night in the Jungle.

WRESTLING

Bolivar-Richburg 54, Campbell-Savona 12

BOLIVAR — Under the same roof as the boys basketball team, and downstairs were the Bolivar-Richburg grapplers who took the mat for the first time in regular season battle with Campbell-Savona in town for a visit.

Just four total matches headlined the night, and in the end, all of them were captured by the Wolverines, as they rolled their way toward a massive season-opening 54-12 win over the Panthers.

All four victories were captured via pinfall for Bolivar-Richburg, with Trey Buchholz opening the night at 126 pounds with a 1:34 pin of his opponent. After a series of forfeits, the Wolverines would add their second win from Kadin Tompkins at 152 pounds, picking up a pinfall victory of his own in just 1:39.

Back-to-back wins for the hosts would come to close out the action in the heavyweight class, as Caden Allen and Trent Sibble picked up pinfall wins at 189 and 215 pounds, respectively. Sibble would record the night’s quickest victory, timing in at 1:01.

Bolivar-Richburg picked up five total forfeit wins to help add to their win, collecting them from Gary McDowell (102 pounds), Teegan Sibble (110 pounds), Ethan Coleman (138 pounds), Tavyn MacDonell (145 pounds), and Lloyd Kinnicutt (285 pounds). The Wolverines and Panthers exchanged a pair of double forfeits at 160 and 172 pounds.

The Wolverines will travel to Arkport for Dual tournament action, beginning Saturday morning.

Results

102 – Gary McDowell (B-R) by for.

110 – Teegan Sibble (B-R) by for.

118 – Dominck Hand (C-S) by for.

*126 – Trey Buchholz (B-R) def. Noah Brooks (C-S) by pin, 1:34.

132 – Greg Hargrave (C-S) by for.

138 – Ethan Coleman (B-R) by for.

145 – Tavyn MacDonell (B-R) by for.

152 – Kadin Tompkins (B-R) def. Blake Brooks (C-S) by pin, 1:39.

160 – Double for.

172 – Double for.

189 – Caden Allen (B-R) def. Jay Thomas (C-S) by pin, 2:31.

215 – Trent Sibble (B-R) def. Ben Wilcox (C-S) by pin, 1:01.

285 – Lloyd Kinnicutt (B-R) by for.

Chris Brooks
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