Barkley Showcase: C-G staves off massive 4th quarter recovery by Rebels to capture 5th win for Steuben County; Behind Vance’s 34, And/Whi grants Allegany County 1st win over Hammondsport

ALFRED — With four games now in the wagon, two more slated contests that were originally set to go on the main stage Saturday would now stand front and center early Monday Morning back at Alfred State College. Aside from Bolivar-Richburg and Addison’s rescheduled contest in a few week’s time, it was the third and final day on the campus for the Dan Barkley Showcase.

And it was a great day for some electricity to flow through the air at the Orvis Activities Center. In game one, Cuba-Rushford and Canisteo-Greenwood came together for a fight straight down to the wire.

Down by double digits at one point to the Chargers, the Rebels made a ferocious comeback in the final eight minutes to put the pressure on. But with some late assistance at the charity stripe, the Chargers were able to put the game away and hold off the late rush from Cuba-Rushford with three big shots, securing Steuben County’s fifth win of the Showcase with a 56-52 edge.

“We took the two-seed in Class B2 to the wire. I can’t really be unhappy with that,” said Rebels coach Pat Wight. “We battled and we were down by 11 in the fourth, and we still fought our way back. Credit to Canisteo-Greenwood, they made free throws when they needed them. We’ve got to find a way to generate more offense. We just don’t have that right now and we need to find it before Sectionals. My big thanks go to the directors of the Barkley Showcase for having us out. It was a good experience for the guys.”

A back-and-forth exchange highlighted the opening sequences between the two squads to open game, with the Rebels (6-7) connecting with the first strike behind three different scorers propelling the inside game down low, while the Chargers took to the outside, landing a pair of early triples from the hands of Thomas Sirianni and JJ Reese to remain within reach.

The Chargers would turn the tide before the half closed up completely with the aid of Carson Chaffee, who was unstoppable in the second quarter, posting 10 of the team’s 15 points inside to catapult the team in white and red into the lead by two going into the break. Chaffee would pick up where he left off in the second half, along with Reese, as the two Canisteo-Greenwood scorers converged to deliver 14 combined points out of 18 total in the frame to further extend their lead.

Now finding themselves down by 11 going into the fourth quarter, Cuba-Rushford was now pinned behind the eight ball. But their best effort of the night was saved for last, as they saw six different scorers all assist a balanced offensive attack to apply the pressure on the Chargers late. With the Rebels right on their tail, Canisteo-Greenwood had to dig in, doing just that with three clutch free throws from Thomas Sirianni at the charity stripe to put the game out of reach at the final buzzer.

Leading the Chargers was Chaffee, who posted a game-high 24 points. Reese finished with 14 points, while Sirianni had nine. For the Rebels, Finn Ricketts led with a team-high 13 points, while Braeden Wight, Kaden Bell and Luke Brooks each chipped in with eight points.

The latest win for Steuben County made it 12 straight dating back to last season’s Showcase at Bath-Haverling, with two more contests still left to play on the docket. To close out the Showcase’s tenure at Alfred State College, it was on Andover/Whitesville to deliver the goods against the Lakers of Hammondsport.

Right from the start, Andover/Whitesville was challenged by the Lakers, with each of the first three quarters of play being decided by no more than four points. But across each of them, the advantage was held constant by the same team.

With Brody Vance and Colton Calladine leading the way, Allegany County would gather their first win in 13 Showcase games, as the two Andover/Whitesville sharpshooters combined to record 55 points in the contest, with Vance taking command of the offense with his game-high 34 points to aid the team in a victorious 63-49 performance over Hammondsport to close out the final game in action at the Orvis Activities Center.

“It was really nice to get today’s win, especially with the stranglehold Steuben County has had on us over the last couple of years,” Andover/Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce said. “Coach (Ethan) Bower certainly had his kids ready. They are a very, very experienced group and they play a very physical game with some really good shooters. We knew going in our defense was going to have to be on point, and for the most part it was. Brody had a couple non-typical off games recently, so it was nice for him to get back to what he does. He and Colton really led the way as usual, along with some key contributions from our JV callups. It was an honor being part of this great event, and we hope to participate again in the future.”

In the midst of an early 13-11 lead over the Lakers in the first eight minutes, Andover/Whitesville (6-4) saw Vance get warmed up quickly with his hot hand. Out of the six triples he would hit for the contest, half of them would come as a first quarter spark to get the offense energized. With Colton Calladine beginning to aid the efforts himself, the two Andover/Whitesville shooters came together to produce a strong end to a close first half of play, as they claimed a three-point lead after combining for 12 of the team’s 14 points in the second quarter.

With the 27-24 lead in hand, it was about keeping one foot in front of the other across the second half for Andover/Whitesville, as they continued to look towards Vance and Calladine to keep the offense into full gears going down to the finish line.

Along with their hot shooting from every angle on the floor, they would also connect from the free throw line, combining for an 11-for-21 outing at the stripe in the second half to push their advantage out to double digits, where it ultimately stood for good. Behind Vance and his 34 points, was Calladine and his 21 points. Ethan Warriner had four points.

Hammondsport was led by a team-high 10 points from Henry Morrison.

Listed below are the next games for all four participants of today’s action:

Andover/Whitesville: at Genesee Valley/Belfast, Tonight 7:30 p.m. (at Belfast)

Cuba-Rushford: vs Andover/Whitesville, Thursday 7:30 p.m.

Canisteo-Greenwood: at Avoca-Prattsburgh, Thursday 7:15 p.m. (at Prattsburgh)

Hammondsport: at Avoca-Prattsburgh, Tonight 7:15 p.m. (at Prattsburgh)

Cuba-Rushford 12 9 10 20 – 52

Canisteo-Greenwood 9 15 18 14 – 56

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Braeden Wight 3 1-2 8, Kaden Bell 3 2-4 8, Luke Brooks 4 0-0 8, Eli Sleggs 3 0-2 6, Finn Ricketts 6 0-0 13, Tristan Clayson 1 1-3 3, Adam Roe 0 1-2 1, Peyton Joy 2 0-0 5. Totals: 22 5-13 52.

CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Kevin Sirianni 1 0-2 2, Thomas Sirianni 2 3-4 9, Carson Chaffee 11 2-4 24, JJ Reese 6 0-0 14, Sage Klees 1 0-0 2, Cole Chaffee 2 1-2 5. Totals: 23 6-12 56.

3-point goals: C-R 3 (Wight, Ricketts, Joy), C-G 4 (T. Sirianni 2, Reese 2).
Total Fouls: C-R 16, C-G 13. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 13 14 17 19 – 63

Hammondsport 11 13 13 12 – 49

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Jake Mattison 0 1-2 1, Ethan Warriner 1 2-4 4, Brody Vance 10 6-10 34, Colton Calladine 8 5-11 21, Gage Putnam 1 1-2 3. Totals: 20 15-29 61.

HAMMONDSPORT: Ty Ritter 2 0-0 4, Henry Morrison 5 0-0 10, Andrew Morrison 3 0-0 8, Ben Dluzak 2 0-0 4, Isaiyah Ali 5 3-7 13, Alex Brown 2 0-0 4, Peyton Crooks 3 0-0 6. Totals: 22 3-7 49.

3-point goals: A/W 6 (Vance), Hammondsport 2 (A. Morrison).
Total Fouls: A/W 13, Hammondsport 26. Fouled out: Beers (HAM).