Tuesday Roundup: Lady Lions overcome slow start to keep early season fire burning, roll past Geneseo with strong 52-21 win; Fillmore boys handed 1st loss by Geneseo, Fillmore girls remain undefeated

WELLSVILLE — The fire that the Wellsville Lady Lions ignited since the very beginning of the season, has gotten hotter and hotter. Aside from their lone loss coming to the hands of Section V stalwart Keshequa prior to the holiday recess, they recalibrated and rekindled their blaze with three straight wins thereafter to advance towards a 7-1 start.

After a dominant win over Olean back on Thursday, it was time to get back down to business again with the second half of their season, with the incoming Geneseo Lady Blue Devils coming to town for a visit to kick off the return to action on Tuesday.

The Lady Blue Devils and the Lady Lions were still in the midst of getting their feet wet on the hardwood through an opening quarter that saw just a single point go down through the twine in the first four minutes of play. But shortly after Geneseo captured that point, Wellsville took it to a different level with an explosive sequence down low a short time later to claim their first lead.

It was an advantage they garnered and never lost, despite the Lady Blue Devils remaining within reach at the break, as the Lady Lions went on to hold Geneseo to just nine more points the rest of the game while unleashing their offensive fury across the second half, rolling towards what formulated into a 52-21 victory in the Lion’s Den.

In the first quarter, both teams earned their fair share of open looks at the rim on each end of the floor, but scoring was rare to come by in the first half of the frame, with the Lady Blue Devils officially capturing their first lead off a shot at the charity stripe. But the slight advantage was held for a brief moment leading up to a spectacular back-to-back sequence put on by Caelyn Stevens and Makenna Dunbar for the Lady Lions (8-1), as both scored an and-one opportunity to send the bench into hysterics.

Stevens collected the two-point basket before her one free shot at the stripe rang off the rim, providing a corpulent rebound on the ball, which was picked up by an airborne Dunbar underneath, as she proceed to put away the basket whilst being fouled again by the visitors in blue to earn her ticket to the line — a place where she then finished off her three-point play to continue what was a 9-1 run of Geneseo.

The lead for the Lady Lions soon grew to as large as 10 early on in the second quarter, but the Lady Blue Devils fought back and carved the deficit down to as little as four at one point during the frame. But with Geneseo rapidly closing in, Dunbar then took matters into her own hands and assumed control of the offense to close out the first half behind an array of baskets to branch out Wellsville’s lead to eight going into the locker room.

In the second, the game was turned on its head completely, as the Lady Lions went on a monstrous jaunt of the Lady Blue Devils to pull away in insurmountable fashion to record their eighth win in their first nine games.

Dunbar wound up leading Wellsville in the scoring column with a game-high 20 points, pairing them with five rebounds. Jaden Dunbar followed behind with 12 points of her own to add alongside four rebounds. Natalie Adams had five points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Alexa Hennessy chipped in three assists to further the special teams cause.

In the JV contest prior to the Varsity clash, the Lady Lions defeated Geneseo by a 39-31 count behind the tag-team of Addy Hennessy and Lexi Coleman, who scored 11 points each.

Wellsville will now hop on the bus and hit the road for their next three games beginning on Thursday, as they visit the Canisteo-Greenwood Lady Chargers first in a 7 p.m. contest.

Geneseo 3 9 7 2 – 21

Wellsville 9 11 19 13 – 52

GENESEO: Miley Baughman 0 1-1 1, Ganelli Rodriguez-Tillet 4 0-2 9, Natalie Capel 1 0-0 2, Lillian McBride 1 0-0 2, Sierra Whitney 1 1-2 3, Madison Reitz 2 0-0 4. Totals: 9 2-5 21.

WELLSVILLE: Caelyn Stevens 1 0-1 2, Reegan Perkins 1 0-0 3, Natalie Adams 2 0-0 5, Alexa Hennessy 2 0-0 4, Emily Stuck 1 0-0 2, Lydia Kaye 1 0-0 2, Makenna Dunbar 8 4-7 20, Jaden Dunbar 4 4-5 12, Alexa Stuck 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 8-13 52.

3-point goals: Geneseo 1 (Rodriguez-Tillet), Wellsville 2 (Perkins, Adams).
Total Fouls: Geneseo 13, Wellsville 6. Fouled out: McBride (GEN).

Fillmore 35, Genesee Valley/Belfast 26

FILLMORE — The Genesee Valley/Belfast girls attempted to turn the tide late against the Lady Eagles of Fillmore on Tuesday behind their biggest stand of offense. But the Lady Eagles held on behind their second half start to seal the deal on a sixth straight victory to open their campaign on the hardwood, as they squeezed their way towards a 35-26 home win inside The Rock.

The Lady Eagles (6-0) controlled the tempo through the first half of play against Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they found the basket for their first eight points of the game to establish their lead approaching the midway mark of the frame. The visitors countered with a strong finish to get back within range of Fillmore, netting seven of the last 10 points.

The hosts in white and green shook off the early pressure from Genesee Valley/Belfast (5-4) and went on to hold them in check throughout the stanza with seven of the nine points scored before the first half reached its conclusion. Upon their return to the court for the second half, the advantage grew even larger with another phenomenal start to their game in the third quarter by posting 10 straight points to claim a 28-9 lead of Genesee Valley/Belfast in the late stages of battle.

Despite the adversity, Genesee Valley/Belfast made one final attempt at rallying back with their strongest outburst on offense to close the gap below single digits with a 13-7 run of the Lady Eagles. But in the end, the deficit ultimately became too much to overcome, as Fillmore hung on to capture a 6-0 start to their season.

The Lady Eagles were propelled by Morghyn Ross, who posted a team-high 10 points. Emalyn Mucher chipped in with eight points, while Mattie McCumiskey had seven.

For Genesee Valley/Belfast, Bayleigh Tallman scored eight team-high points. Sophie Zillgitt and Ava Aronson each had five points to help further the cause.

Both teams are back in action for a pair of 7:30 p.m. contests coming up on Thursday, with Fillmore taking on Friendship/Scio on the road in Friendship, while Genesee Valley/Belfast travels to Whitesville to square off with undefeated Andover/Whitesville.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 7 2 4 13 – 26

Fillmore 11 7 10 7 – 35

GV/BELFAST: Bayleigh Tallman 4 0-0 8, Sophie Zillgitt 2 1-4 5, Whitney Young 1 0-0 2, Jenna Hill 2 0-2 4, Ava Aronson 2 1-4 5, Kate Calanni 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 2-10 26.

FILLMORE: Mylee Miller 2 0-0 4, Tenlee Miller 2 0-0 4, Morghyn Ross 3 2-2 10, Emalyn Mucher 3 2-2 8, Mattie McCumiskey 3 1-4 7, Kelsie Songster 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 5-8 35.
3-point goals: Fillmore 2 (Ross).
Total Fouls: GVB 9, Fillmore 12. Fouled out: None.

Cuba-Rushford 48, New Life Christian 45

CUBA — It was a head-to-head battle that New Life Christian swiped out of the grasp of Cuba-Rushford right before the holiday break. Now on Tuesday, it was neck-and-neck down to the wire, with the Lady Rebels hanging on by a thread. But thanks to the efforts of Cloey Larabee and her clutch shots from the charity stripe, the Lady Rebels were able to hang on to capture a season series-splitting 48-45 victory in the Wighthouse.

The first eight minutes saw each team share a big run, with New Life setting the tone right out of the gate by holding Cuba-Rushford (6-4) to just a single point in the midst of a 10-1 run in a six-minute span. The Lady Rebels rapidly recovered ground however with an electric two-minute drill, ending the frame back within reach of the visitors with seven consecutive points to close the gap back down to a basket.

The unanswered jaunt constructed by the Lady Rebels ultimately reached 13 straight with six more points to start the second quarter before New Life Christian fired right back another scoreless run, this time an 11-0 spurt to reclaim the lead with less than two minutes remaining.

Cuba-Rushford would go on to close out the first half with the momentum back in their possession, ending with five of the last six points.

In the second half, the Lady Rebels put it all to good use behind another shift of power, netting a 10-0 run out of the gate — a run that gave them the advantage for the remainder of the game, as the two clubs traded back and forth blows in the last eight minute session leading up to a pair of big free throws from Cloey Larabee down the stretch to set the victory in stone.

“We got some big stops down the stretch when we needed it the most,” Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight said. “We did an okay job of playing with the lead. We went ahead in the third quarter and we were able to hold onto it. We could still do a better job of decision making down the stretch, but we will get there.”

Brynn Lavery led the scoring for Cuba-Rushford, posting a game-high 16 points while Larabee followed behind with 12 points of her own. Lily Tompkins and Lilly Farwell each had eight points to chip in, while Kendall Tompkins scavenged the team’s remaining four points to round off the offense.

The Lady Rebels are back inside the Wighthouse tonight, hosting Hinsdale at 6 p.m.

New Life Christian 10 12 10 13 – 45

Cuba-Rushford 8 11 16 13 – 48

NEW LIFE: Keziah Marfo 7 2-2 16, Shinaida Naunyi 2 0-0 4, Marci Hutter 6 4-8 16, Danielle Quampah 4 1-2 9. Totals: 19 7-12 45.

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Cloey Larabee 3 4-6 12, Kendall Tompkins 1 2-2 4, Lily Tompkins 3 1-2 8, Brynn Lavery 6 1-2 16, Lilly Farwell 4 0-2 8. Totals: 17 8-14 48.

3-point goals: C-R 6 (Lavery 3, Larabee 2, K. Tompkins).
Total Fouls: New Life 13, C-R 14. Fouled out: K. Tompkins (C-R).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Geneseo 60, Fillmore 54

GENESEO — Fillmore was Allegany County’s lone undefeated boys basketball squad going into the holiday recess, amassing six consecutive victories behind their explosive offense and stout defense. With the second half of the campaign now fully eclipsing over the horizon come Tuesday night, it was time to go back to work.

For the Eagles, that required a bus trip up north to Geneseo to face a Blue Devils squad that currently sits atop of the Class C1 leaderboard with wins in eight of their first nine contests.

It was perhaps their most fierce challenge of the season, but it was one they took control of across the first half of play. But despite their efforts, the Blue Devils bounced back and regained traction to claim the lead before the first half was over.

Then, they began to construct.

When the third quarter settled in, Geneseo took over shop, as they took what was a one-point lead over Fillmore and blossomed it instantaneously to garner more than enough cushion to keep it glued together until the end of time. As a result, the Blue Devils would go on to persevere and ultimately hand the Eagles their very first loss of the season behind a 60-54 home victory.

“Geneseo has a strong program, and this was a great test for us tonight,” Eagles coach Randy Crouch said. “We got off to a pretty solid start and carried the lead through most of the first half. We got into some foul trouble in the second quarter and lost some of the momentum, and eventually the lead at the half. The difference was the first three minutes of the second half. I didn’t have us focused and ready to go out of the locker room, and they stretched the lead in a heartbeat. Once we woke up, we did a great job of battling back and kept it to a two, three possession game for most of the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, we didn’t make enough plays and they were much more effective from the foul line than we were.”

A seismic three-point game helped Fillmore (6-1) establish their ground in the first quarter against the Blue Devils, with 12 of their 16 points within the stanza all stemming from four three-pointers from the outer perimeter — two from the hand of Cam Mucher, and one from both Jonah Bialek and Jameson Rhett, putting it towards what became a 16-11 lead.

The advantage grew to at most six points behind the guidance of Jonah Bialek, who had eight of the team’s 13 points in the second quarter to help claim a 26-21 lead down the stretch against Geneseo. But across midway, the Blue Devils ramped up the temperature and finished the first half strong with nine of the last 14 points, including a clutch inside basket with less than 20 seconds remaining to switch the momentum in their favor with a 30-29 halftime lead.

At the start of the third quarter, the Blue Devils harnessed every bit of momentum they created going into the locker room, utilizing it in full with a 10-0 run through nearly the first three minutes of action to branch their lead into a territory where it was put out of reach for the Eagles, as the two foes traded back-and-forth barbs in the last eight minute session which allowed the hosts in white and blue to keep their advantage intact.

Jonah Bialek led all Fillmore scorers on the hardwood with a team-high 20 points. JD Bialek and Cam Mucher each followed with 10 points of their own, while Isaiah Sisson and Jameson Rhett rounded off the scoring with eight and six points on a respective basis.

“Jonah really kept us in the game on the offensive end, and I cannot say enough about Jameson’s effort on defense tonight. He was locked in on their best shooter, (Avery) Hepler, and limited him to just one made three. He’s a kid that has hit 10 in a game this season already and Jameson really smothered him all night. We will need to learn from this and move on quickly to get ready for a big game in Bolivar this weekend.” said Crouch.

The Eagles will hit the road once again for a 7:30 p.m. trip to Bolivar-Richburg to square off with the Wolverines on Friday.

Fillmore 16 13 12 13 – 54

Geneseo 11 19 16 14 – 60

FILLMORE: Isaiah Sisson 3 2-2 8, Jonah Bialek 7 3-5 20, Jameson Rhett 2 1-4 6, Cam Mucher 3 2-4 10, JD Bialek 4 0-0 10. Totals: 19 8-15 54.
GENESEO: Caleb Rice 2 5-6 11, Luke Davis 2 0-0 4, Reese Byrnes 1 0-0 2, Oren Ray 5 1-1 11, Avery Hepler 2 2-2 8, Jackson Willis 10 2-2 24. Totals: 22 10-11 60.

3-point goals: Fillmore 8 (Jo. Bialek 3, Mucher 2, JD Bialek 2, Rhett), Geneseo 6 (Rice 2, Hepler 2, Willis 2).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 14, Geneseo 12. Fouled out: None.

Honeoye 83, Genesee Valley/Belfast 57

HONEOYE — The offense for the Honeoye Bulldogs was absolutely electric from start to finish on Tuesday, as they posted at least 20 points across all four quarters of play against visiting Genesee Valley/Belfast, including a dominant first quarter start that aided in setting the tone for what became an 83-57 home win.

Right from the start, Honeoye found their groove with their largest frame of attack during the contest against Genesee Valley/Belfast (3-3), as the Bulldogs stormed off on a 22-10 jaunt across the frame — one that included 18 of the first 21 points going their way. With the lead in their possession, the hosts continued to build on their advantage over the course of time, with their largest lead in the first half reaching 24 points at one point going into the break.

But the early deficit was too much to overcome, as the balanced Bulldogs attack formulated two more 20-point stanzas in the second half, including a big 21-point finish in the last eight minutes, to finish off their home victory.

Despite the defeat, Genesee Valley/Belfast saw Ian McKenzie take the lead of the offense behind his 15 team-high points. Ethan Davenport recorded 12 points, including three of the team’s four triples, while Kenton Shultz had 11 points.

Genesee Valley/Belfast is back on the floor Friday night with a 7:30 p.m. trip to Cuba-Rushford.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 10 16 16 15 – 57

Honeoye 22 20 20 21 – 83

GV/BELFAST: Will Guilford 1 0-0 2, Cane Treusdell 4 0-0 9, Cal Tallman 1 0-0 2, Ian McKenzie 6 3-4 15, Ethan Davenport 4 1-2 12, Lannden Tilton 2 0-0 4, Kenton Shultz 5 1-3 11. Totals: 23 7-11 57.
HONEOYE: Dylan Washburn 5 2-3 13, Braiden Schneider 2 1-1 5, Owen Cuba 9 0-1 18, Owen Reynolds 6 0-0 14, Johnny Blair 1 0-0 2, Landon Washburn 11 5-5 29, Owen Higgins 1 0-0 2. Totals: 35 8-10 83.

3-point goals: GVB 4 (Davenport 3, Treusdell), Honeoye 5 (Reynolds 2, L. Washburn 2, D. Washburn).
Total Fouls: GVB 12, Honeoye 10. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 72, Alfred-Almond 27

ALMOND — A busy week is ahead for the Andover/Whitesville boys, with three games in a four-day span quickly alighting on Tuesday. With their latest road trip seeing them pay a visit to Alfred-Almond, a hot start was what the doctor ordered to start their week-long stand in action, as they ignited the fuse early on the host Eagles and held down the fort to secure a 72-27 victory in their first game of 2025.

“It certainly wasn’t a perfect game, and it’s always tough after a long layoff. I think both players and us coaches made some uncharacteristic mental mistakes that we need to correct, but all in all, it’s hard to complain with the results,” Andover/Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce said. “We had a lot of different guys get a lot of meaningful minutes tonight, including several of our regular JV guys, which was nice and will only help us in the long run. Three games in four days, including a Hammondsport trip tomorrow, so we really don’t have time to dwell on tonight. Hopefully, we can put together a better effort and continue building towards the second half of the season.”

Four different scorers for Andover/Whitesville (5-3) all assembled brilliant games in double-digit territory to aid the offense, including Brody Vance, who was tag-teamed alongside a hot frame from Jon Vallieres along the way, as the two shooters converged to deliver 16 of the team’s 18 points to set up a humongous 18-6 lead of Alfred-Almond out of the gate.

Then, it was James Miller-Young’s turn to make some noise in the midst of a balanced and clamorous second quarter for the visitors in black, as he strung together a nine-point edge of his own out of the team’s game-high 20 altogether on offense, as they rolled towards a 38-12 halftime lead behind what was a 20-6 run to firmly secure their advantage for the remainder of the battle.

Colton Calladine led all scorers for Andover/Whitesville behind his game-high 19 points. Vance followed with 14 points of his own, while Miller-Young and Vinny Joyce helped round the efforts with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Alfred-Almond was paced by a 12-point performance from Liam Ruthven.

Andover/Whitesville is right back on the road tonight with a 6:30 p.m. visit to Hammondsport.

Andover/Whitesville 18 20 21 12 – 72

Alfred-Almond 6 6 6 9 – 27

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: James Miller-Young 6 1-1 13, Trey Kent 2 0-0 5, Ethan Warriner 0 1-2 1, Vinny Joyce 4 4-5 12, Brody Vance 6 1-4 14, Jon Vallieres 4 0-4 9, Gavin Frungillo 0 0-2 0, Colton Calladine 8 2-3 19. Totals: 30 9-21 72.

ALFRED-ALMOND: Cuhlyn Perkins 0 1-2 1, Jackson Jusianiec 2 2-2 6, Zaine Jenkins 1 0-0 2, Magnus McMichael 1 0-0 2, Brogan Donlon 1 0-0 2, Nolan Palmer 0 1-2 1, Liam Ruthven 5 0-0 12, Sam Bensley 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 4-6 28.

3-point goals: A/W 3 (Kent, Vance, Vallieres), A-A 2 (Ruthven).
Total Fouls: A/W 7, A-A 14. Fouled out: None.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Bolivar-Richburg 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 1

RICHBURG — In their first game back in the new calendar year, the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg fought their way through a difficult challenge provided by Genesee Valley/Belfast early on, with the first set coming down to the wire.

Despite seeing their match lead become cut in half, the Wolverines remained unfazed and delivered a strong finish to secure the four-set, 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 25-19 victory on their home grounds in Richburg on Tuesday.

Smoothing the path forward towards glory for the Wolverines (2-5) was Ayden Music, who led the offense behind six kills, three aces and a block. Conner Blankenship chipped in with four kills of his own alongside two more aces and two blocks, while setter Owen Unfus aided in setting up the attack with 10 big helpers, pairing them with three kills and two additional aces.

Genesee Valley/Belfast (0-7) was paced by Lawson Ector and his nine kills, four aces and two blocks on the frontlines. Kaden Huffer pitched in four digs on defense along with three kills and two aces, while the team’s setter, Noah Miller handed out 14 assists coupled with six aces and five kills. The team is back on the court Thursday for their third game in four days, visiting Wellsville at 6 p.m.

Bolivar-Richburg will look to continue their winning ways on Thursday, hitting the road for a 6 p.m. visit to Arkport-Canaseraga.