Monday Roundup: Fillmore survives late back-and-forth battle with 57-55 edge of Ellicottville in OT; And/Whi steamrolls past Alfred-Almond on road

ELLICOTTVILLE — The Fillmore Eagles, through a cold Wintery Monday night on the road, had to do some shoveling in the midst of a chess match against another convocation of Eagles. A familiar convocation of Eagles they met earlier this Fall in the Class D Far West Regional — Ellicottville.

This time on the basketball court, both Eagles squads battled tooth and nail in a contest that required another session of play after a 53-53 tie was reached at the end of regulation in Ellicottville. The game would now rest solely on special teams.

When it came to crunch time, Fillmore made sure they were there on the doorstep, as they came away with a pair of clutch shots, and some big-time rebounding, including off on a potentially devastating second-chance shot close to the buzzer to save their lead, running the rest of the clock out on their 57-55 win to advance toward a 2-0 start.

“Tonight was a great test for us,” Eagles coach Randy Crouch said. “Ellicottville always comes ready to play, and their coach does a great job getting them prepared. It was good for us to go against a team that is physical and aggressive in every sense. We need to toughen up a bit, and we learned that very early on in the game.”

That toughness came into play in a closely-contested first half between both Eagles squads, which resulted in Fillmore taking a 28-21 when the half came to a close. The lead was quickly erased by the end of the third quarter, when Ellicottville gained ground on a massive 16-8 run which was extended upon going into the fourth quarter with seven more unanswered points — a 23-8 run overall that saw the host Eagles lead 44-36.

But then, a spark for Fillmore — a massive inside presence provided by Will Roeske, who was simply efficient all night long, especially down the stretch, as he finished 10-for-13 shooting from the field in the game with some help at the line, underneath and on one occasion, outside.

Roeske would finish with a game-high 28 points — 13 of those points coming in the fourth quarter and overtime, pairing them with eight big rebounds to make sure Fillmore was able to come away victorious with the win.

“I’m proud of how we responded in the fourth, they went on a 23-8 run and got us down by eight early on,” Crouch said. “We got back to the basics, and we found Will inside. Then, we finally hit a few outside perimeter shots to cut it down more. Overtime, we just did our jobs and made a few shots, and got the big rebounds when we needed them.”

Finishing behind Fillmore’s Senior man in the middle, was Luke Colombo, Mitch Ward and Zach Sisson, all recording eight points to help further the cause. Eben Schilke and Carter Sisson rounded off the scoring with three, and a basket respectively.

The Eagles will go for three straight when they prepare for a trip to Wellsville at the end of the week on Friday, as they partake in first round action of the annual IAABO Tournament with a meeting against the C.G. Finney Falcons.

Tip-off is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Fillmore 18 10 8 17 4 – 57

Ellicottville 13 8 16 16 2 – 55

FILLMORE: Carter Sisson 1 0-0 2, Eben Schilke 0 3-3 3, Luke Colombo 3 1-3 8, Mitch Ward 3 2-3 8, Zach Sisson 3 0-0 8, Will Roeske 10 7-10 28. Totals: 20 13-19 57.
ELLICOTTVILLE: Owen Chudy 0 0-1 0, Gian Nuzzo 2 0-0 5, Braylon Wyatt 2 0-0 4, Gavin Dietrich 3 1-2 7, Caedon Wyatt 3 5-7 12, Logan Grinols 10 2-2 27. Totals: 20 8-12 55.

3-point goals: Fillmore 4 (Z. Sisson 2, Colombo, Roeske), Ellicottville 7 (Grinols 5, Nuzzo, C. Wyatt).
Total Fouls: Fillmore 13, Ellicottville 18. Fouled out: Chudy (ELL), Dietrich (ELL).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Andover/Whitesville 78, Alfred-Almond 19

ALMOND — All Andover/Whitesville needed was the first half to make their presence known on a blustery and chilly Monday night over the road, as they provided a scorching hot display of offense while holding host Alfred-Almond to just 12 points in the first 16 minutes, as they rolled toward victory by a 78-19 count to move to 2-0.

Three different Andover/Whitesville (2-0) scorers led the way on offense with double figures, all combining to provide 64 of the team’s 78 points on the floor, with Vanessa Hall coming away with another massive game, hitting a game-high 29 points to follow up her season-opening 42 against Bolivar-Richburg, last week.

Rachel Jackson and Maria Riloba both helped provide a more diverse game down low for the visitors, finding the basket in any way, shape or form they could, adding 18 and 17 points respectively towards an offensive effort that saw them start with a 19-8 lead after the opening quarter, and never looking back on it to secure the win.

Andover/Whitesville is back on the floor Wednesday night back home, as they prepare to host the Fillmore Lady Eagles in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in Andover.

Andover/Whitesville 19 21 22 16 – 78

Alfred-Almond 8 4 0 7 – 19

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Maria Riloba 7 2-4 17, Rachel Jackson 9 0-0 18, Serena Ainsworth 1 0-0 2, Vanessa Hall 12 2-2 29, Grace Fry 1 0-0 2, Addison Morgan 1 0-0 2, Gabbi Hall 2 0-0 4, Brynn Scholl 2 0-0 4. Totals: 35 4-6 78.

ALFRED-ALMOND: Jessica McMahon 0 0-2 0, Ryann Donlon 0 0-2 0, Chloe Bracken 1 0-0 2, Isabel Badeau 5 0-2 10, Angela Smith 3 0-0 7. Totals: 9 0-6 19.

3-point goals: A/W 4 (Hall 3, Riloba), A-A 1 (Smith).
Total Fouls: A/W 8, A-A 9. Fouled out: None.