Friday Sectionals: Adams, Marsh tag-team No. 3 Lady Lions offense in victory over No. 6 Williamson; Andover, Whitesville to meet in Class D2 Semifinals for 2nd straight year

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — There have been quite a few one-two punches that some teams around Allegany County possess over the course of this season. To name a few, Cody Schneider and Evan Windus at Genesee Valley, Cam Loucks and Brendan Graves in Scio. In the girls division, Hannah Roeske and Emma Cole can provide the same story at the fringe of the County, in Fillmore.

In Wellsville, Marley Adams and Regan Marsh have controlled much of the offense all year for the Lady Lions. When their first game of the second season came about Friday night, it would turn out to be no different.

While Marsh took to the paint to deliver offense of her own, Adams went to the outside and then some for the third-seeded Lady Lions. With Emily Costello also adding her three-point game into the conversation, it turned into a three-headed monster that No. 6 Williamson could not overcome in the end, despite multiple rallies to close the Wellsville lead to single digits. When it was all said and done, the Lady Lions would go on to earn a spot in the Class B2 Semifinals with a 57-49 win over the Lady Marauders.

“I knew going in that controlling the boards, and getting the second chance opportunities were going to be a big thing for us,” said Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord. “Regan tackled that for us, and Marley started out a little slow, but once she got in that groove, she got very aggressive and attacked. Good things can happen with those two really open up the floor for everyone else. I can’t say enough about the both of them, with Regan taking control with that senior leadership. It’s her team and her Sectional run for the taking. Marley brings so much to the team as well, and Emily had a nice night herself as well.”

Marsh applied her inside technique rather early in the first quarter to get the Lady Lions (16-5) off the ground running, as she accounted for the team’s first six points to help them get off on the right foot. But Williamson fought side by side right with their opposition in the opening quarter, as it wound up coming across a 10-10 tie when they finished the frame with a buzzer-beating three. That stemming after Marsh put the Lady Lions back ahead with one second on the shot clock, saving the ball from changing possession out of bounds to deliver a dish to Adams right underneath for the immediate pass-and-shoot basket.

In the second quarter, the teeter-totter pace continued in the early stages once more between Williamson and Wellsville, with the Lady Lions staying out ahead each time after three straight possessions saw a three-ball on each side, with Adams netting a pair in between a Lady Marauders three-pointer with under two minutes left to play until the break.

That would allow the hosts in white and orange to finish the half on a big run of Williamson, accounting for nine of the last 11 points that included a major momentum builder from Emily Costello, and her three-pointer just beating the first half buzzer to earn a 10-point, 29-19 lead at the break.

“It gave us a little bit of a spark,” Alvord said of Costello’s basket. “We were up 17 in the second half, and then all of a sudden, it got back down to nine at one point. It’s one of the defining moments of the season, how we’ve been all year. But the big thing was we managed to keep our composure. We never lost it by any means, and we knew that coming in that the (Brooke) Guerin girl could shoot the three. I thought the girls really handled things very well, and again, it came down to rebounding and second chance baskets off the offensive glass.”

In the third quarter, the 17-point lead came for the Lady Lions toward the tail end of the quarter after they began with five of the first seven points in the new frame of action. With a 34-21 lead in hand, it grew after Costello bucketed a big three-pointer, but then the momentum began to shift back into Williamson’s favor after they ended the third quarter with a three-point play at the line with 15 seconds remaining to trail by a 42-29 count into the fourth quarter.

But shortly after, the balance of power went back into Wellsville’s favor right in the beginning stages of the final eight minute period, as they netted 10 of the first 12 points to exponentially increase their lead to as much as 18. But the Lady Marauders provided another rally from behind again to close the game to as little as nine, with nine straight points.

It would remain a single digit affair for the remainder of the game, witnessing Williamson get to within Wellsville’s reach by eight points, but it was not enough in the endgame, as the Lady Lions garnered big points from the charity stripe, as well as a massive Marsh basket to stick the dagger on the team’s Quarterfinal victory.

When the final buzzer sounded, it sounded on a career evening for Adams, as the sophomore guard recorded near-perfection at the charity stripe, hitting nine out of 10 shots at the line to go with three of the team’s six triples, putting it all toward a career-high 28 points for the Lady Lions. As for Marsh, she followed behind by pacing the inside game with 14 points of her own. Costello finished with the last three treys for the team to put toward an 11-point effort, along with four assists.

With the victory, the Lady Lions now move into the Class B2 Semifinal round, which will begin Tuesday night with a long road trip to Honeoye Falls-Lima to take on No. 2 Avon for a chance at next weekend’s Finals at Gates-Chili. Alvord says that her team shares a few of similarities with the second-seeded Lady Braves.

“Avon is probably one of the most solid teams I’ve seen all season,” she said. “They have size, they have shooters, they have everything. I also feel that we have that as well, and I’ll take my group against anybody. We’ll give it our best shot against them. We’re going to have to see where we can take our chances. I welcome the challenge, and hopefully we can take care of business because we have nothing to lose at this point.”

Williamson        10   9 10 20 – 49

Wellsville            10 19 13 15 – 57

WILLIAMSON: Reagan Mangos 3 6-7 12, Brooke Guerin 7 0-0 19, Cadie Newby 4 2-3 10, Sarah Lange 2 0-0 4, Nicole Woodworth 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 7-9 49.
WELLSVILLE: Marley Adams 8 9-10 28, Jaylynn Mess 0 2-4 2, Emily Costello 4 0-0 11, Kaylee Coleman 0 0-2 0, Milla Litzburg 1 0-0 2, Regan Marsh 5 4-6 14. Totals: 18 15-22 57.

3-point goals: Williamson 6 (Guerin 5, Newby), Wellsville 6 (Adams 3, Costello 3).
Total Fouls: Williamson 14, Wellsville 15. Fouled out: None.

Class D2 Quarterfinals

No. 6 Andover 60, No. 3 Romulus 45

ROMULUS — It was all hands on deck for the Lady Panthers of Andover over the road in possibly their biggest test of the season thus far in No. 3 Romulus. But with a breakout night from Tess Spangenburg that turned out to be a career-making performance, as well as a ton of support from Emily Wahl and Kelsie Niedermaier behind her, the six seeds pulled off the upset win on Friday by a 60-45 count over the Lady Warriors.

“Kelsie was spectacular, and Emily and Tess did a terrific jobs making their guards work. We gave Katie (Calladine) a tough assignment on their best player, the (Kyaira) Woody girl to just eight points. Our defensive awareness was the best it has been all year against a very athletic team. It was fun to watch from the bench, and for a two hour drive to Romulus, we had an awesome amount of fans come out to support us. It was amazing to see.”

The Lady Panthers (16-6) accounted for an advantage across all four quarters of play against Romulus by starting out on holding them to single digits in just the first eight minutes of play, as they went out ahead with a 16-9 lead. It would grow larger from there, as they took an 11-point lead at the half and branched it out to as much as 20 at one point during the second half to distance themselves from the Lady Warriors for good to secure the victory.

Spangenburg played a big role in Andover’s success with a career-marking night from the field, hitting five of the team’s seven three-pointers to put toward a game and season-high 26 point performance. Wahl helped the cause with the remaining pair of three-points to put toward a 20-point effort, while Niedermaier absolutely dominated the inside game by recording 12 points and grabbing a whopping 20 rebounds. Hayleigh Niedermaier had a two-point basket to round off the scoring.

The Lady Panthers are back in the Class D2 Semifinal picture for a fourth consecutive season, where they will face their longtime rival — No. 7 Whitesville, who upset No. 2 Northstar in the lower part of the bracket earlier in the evening, for the second straight year at Wayland-Cohocton on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

“We definitely have payback on our minds, that’s for sure. With a quick turnaround coming up on Monday, we will do our best to prepare for a very good team. It will definitely be a battle.” said Bannerman.

Andover      16 16 11 17 – 60

Romulus 9 12 10 14 – 45

ANDOVER: Hayleigh Niedermaier 1 0-2 2, Tess Spangenburg 10 1-6 26, Emily Wahl 7 4-6 20, Kelsie Niedermaier 6 0-4 12. Totals: 24 5-18 60.
ROMULUS: Kierra Reese 1 0-0 2, Mady Buckley 1 0-0 2, Maddie Cirencone 0 1-2 1, Hannah Minges 2 5-6 9, Scout Hensen 6 0-0 12, Megan Litzenberger 1 0-0 2, Kyaira Woody 2 4-8 8, Tezannah Hinds 3 2-2 8. Totals: 16 12-18 45.
3-point goals: Andover 7 (Spangenburg 5, Wahl 2), Romulus 1 (Litzenberger).
Total Fouls: Andover 16, Romulus 17. Fouled out: Niedermaier (AND), Minges (ROM).

No. 7 Whitesville 46, No. 2 Northstar 39

ROCHESTER — In a game that saw two narrow outscorings by Whitesville, each team provided a big run on the offensive side of production. In a tight first half battle, the Lady Blue Jays foresaw an opportunity to break away.

Trailing by four at the break, the No. 7 Lady Blue Jays flipped the script on second-seeded Northstar Christian, as they pounded the offensive zone in a big way with a massive 12-2 run of the Lady Knights, while the defense kept their end of the bargain in the process to move onto the Class D2 Semifinals for the second straight year with a 46-39 upset victory on Friday.

“I am really proud of our girls overcame a lot of adversity tonight,” said Lady Blue Jays coach Aaron Rawady. “They maintained their composure within a very difficult environment, and they kept their focus along with it too. They supported each other during tough situations. It only gets tougher next round against a very good team. Hopefully, we can use what we learned tonight to help us prepare.”

Whitesville had the night’s first say in the first quarter, as they went past Northstar with a narrow 14-10 lead entering the second to work with. From there, the momentum shifted to the Lady Knights favor by doubling down on a 16-8 run to take the lead away from the Lady Blue Jays (16-6) when halftime approached, going up with a 26-22 lead.

But the big run that mattered in the end was gathered by Whitesville, as they held Northstar to a single basket across their 12-2 third quarter run to take the lead away, scorching their road to victory after nearly deadlocking with the Lady Knights in the fourth quarter to close out the game.

Vanessa Hall led the way for the Lady Blue Jays on the hardwood, compiling a game-high 22 points to pace the offensive attack. Kate Pensyl chipped in with 10 points of her own, while Kennedy Bledsoe netted six upon being fouled out of the contest.

The ride for Whitesville will continue into Monday’s Class D2 Semifinal round, as they prepare for a road trip to Wayland-Cohocton to take on their longtime rival in No. 6 Andover for a second consecutive season, battling for a spot in next weekend’s Finals against either No. 4 Hinsdale or top-seeded Elba.

Whitesville       14   8 12 12 – 46

Northstar 10 16 2 11 – 39


WHITESVILLE: Kennedy Bledsoe 3 0-0 6, Rachel Jackson 1 0-0 3, Vanessa Hall 7 8-9 22, Chelsie Reisman 1 0-0 2, Kate Pensyl 4 0-0 10, Sarina Button 1 1-1 3. Totals: 17 9-10 46.
NORTHSTAR: Aaliyah Pennie 3 2-6 8, Moriah Mills 0 2-4 2, Alayna Garwood 1 0-3 2, Breona Jones 5 2-4 13, Mikaela Brown 3 5-6 11, Faith Roberts 1 0-0 3. Totals: 13 11-23 39.

3-point goals: Whitesville 4 (Pensyl 2, Jackson, Hall), Northstar 2 (Jones, Roberts).
Total Fouls: Whitesville 19, Northstar 11. Fouled out: Bledsoe (WHI), Brown (NC).

No. 4 Hinsdale 50, No. 5 Lima Christian 27

HINSDALE — Three different scorers made the Lady Bobcats of Hinsdale click from all angles on the floor, as the four seeds took care of business on their home floor on Friday with a 50-27 victory over No. 5 Lima Christian in a Class D2 Quarterfinal battle.

Liz Pryzbyla led all scorers on the floor for Hinsdale (16-5), as she posted a team-leading 11 points. Kayla Brooks and Lindsey Veno each had 10 points to add into the mix. Ashley Chapman netted nine, while Kaitlynn Roberson followed suit with six points of her own.

A complete box score was not available upon publication.

The Lady Bobcats now move into the Class D2 Semifinal round on Monday, where they travel to Wayland-Cohocton to meet with top-seeded Elba.

No. 1 Elba 66, No. 8 Houghton Academy 27

ELBA — A 21-5 first quarter run was a big reason why the Elba Lady Lancers are the defending three-time Class D2 champions, as the top seeds rolled their way back into the Semifinal round after the weekend by earning a 66-27 home victory over No. 8 Houghton Academy, Friday night.

The Lady Panthers were able to cut some of the deficit down in the second quarter despite being outscored, as they trailed 35-16 at the half. But were held to just 11 more points across the next 16 minutes of play, as Elba sprinted off on a pair of big runs to secure their spot in the Class D2 Semifinals.

Houghton Academy saw just two scorers record offense with Jessica Prentice pacing the night with a team-high 18 points. Sarah Retz followed behind with the remaining nine points of her own. The team wraps up their 2019-20 season with a record of 12-9 overall, as they graduate five seniors in all at the end of the year in Retz, Issabella Paschalis, Zoey Zhou, Lexi Martino and Selina Wang.

Houghton Academy       5 11   3   8 – 27

Elba                               21 14 16 15 – 66

HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jessica Prentice 7 3-4 18, Sarah Retz 3 1-3 9. Totals: 10 4-7 27.
ELBA: Taylor Augello 5 1-2 13, Maddie Muehlig 7 0-0 18, Leah Bezon 2 0-2 4, Lauryn Engle 1 0-0 3, Kelsea Augello 1 0-0 3, Lacie Sewar 1 1-2 3, Dakota Brinkman 1 0-0 2, Brynn Walczak 8 2-6 20. Totals: 26 4-12 66.

3-point goals: Houghton 3 (Retz 2, Prentice), Elba 10 (Muehlig 4, T. Augello 2, Walczak 2, Engle, K. Augello).
Total Fouls: Houghton 15, Elba 11. Fouled out: None.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Class D1 Quarterfinals

No. 2 Genesee Valley 77, No. 10 Eugenio Maria 68 (F-OT)

BELMONT — The Jaguars of Genesee Valley were pushed to the edge in their Class D1 Quarterfinal on their home floor, Friday night. After No. 10 Eugenia Maria found a way to come back in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 64-all, the game would be pushed into an extra sheet of action.

It may have taken another four minutes, but the second seeds, behind their senior leader Cody Schneider, were able to stave off any further threat from the visiting Hornets, as they held their opposition to just four points in the midst of their overtime run to pull away permanently toward a berth in the Class D1 Semifinal round after the weekend with a 77-68 overtime victory.

“Cody took over the game tonight. He put the team on his back, despite getting pounded on all night. When you have someone like Evan Windus beside him to help him out, they can bring the best out of everybody,” Jaguars coach Lintz Bliven said. “Our strength is those two guys, and the entire team knows that. Cody tonight, was as animated as I have ever seen him. If he plays like that, we will find a way to win the game no matter what. Eugenio Maria is a very athletic team, and the kids were a little frustrated with it. But in the end, a win is a win.”

Out of the four quarters of regulation between the two squads, three of them were decided at the end of time by no more than three points, as Eugenio Maria took control going into halftime with a close 33-29 lead of the Jaguars (17-4). But, it would set up a big third quarter by the Genesee Valley offense that saw them pull ahead of the Hornets going into the fourth, netting a 21-13 jaunt to take a 50-46 lead.

But the lead would evaporate when the end of regulation came, as Eugenio Maria forced the extra session of time with one last outscoring of Genesee Valley to tie the game at 64. In overtime, the Jaguars made sure they filled one of four vacancies in the Class D1 Semifinals, as they leaned on Evan Windus after Schneider fouled out near the end of the fourth quarter, delivering the goods in the form of a 13-4 run for the hosts in white and green to secure the win once and for all.

Schneider led all scorers on the floor with a game-high 32 points to go with 20 rebounds, completing one of his many double-doubles on the season for Genesee Valley. Windus wrapped up with 24 points of his own, grabbing 10 additional rebounds in the process. Riley Gordon added in 11 points, while Brock Ellsessor had eight.

“We were 20-for-40 from the line, and that allowed them to stay in the game,” Bliven said. “If we had made those shots, it would have been an entirely different game. The kids really hung together when Cody fouled out in the fourth quarter with three minutes left. We had some boneheaded turnovers to go with it, but they managed to pull it out.”

The win will send the Jaguars into the Class D1 Semifinal round immediately after the weekend on Monday, as they head to Mount Morris to face No. 3 Notre Dame-Batavia at 8:15 p.m. for a spot in next weekend’s Finals at Blue Cross Arena.

“We will see what happens. We’ll go back to the drawing board to come up with our plan for Notre Dame. If we can play our game the way we’re used to playing it, and make our free throws with it, we have a shot at getting to Blue Cross. Our main goal is to score more points than them.” said Bliven.

Eugenio Maria       12 21 13 18   4 – 68   

Genesee Valley      10 19 21 14  13 – 77

EUGENIO MARIA: Jeremiah Bermudez 4 0-0 12, Darnell Smith 0 0-2 0, Brandon Kennedy 5 0-2 12, Jaymine Bermudez 7 2-7 20, Sheltier Cox-Matos 1 0-2 2, Antoine McFadden 8 1-5 18, David Thomas 2 0-0 4, Julier Ruiz 0 0-2 0. Totals: 27 3-18 68.
GENESEE VALLEY: Trevor Clark 1 0-4 2, Evan Windus 7 7-9 24, Brock Ellsessor 3 2-2 8, Riley Gordon 4 3-4 11, Cody Schneider 12 8-21 32. Totals: 27 20-40 77.

3-point goals: Eugenio Maria 11 (Je. Bermudez 4, Ja. Bermudez 4, Kennedy 2, McFadden), GV 3 (Windus).
Total Fouls: Eugenio Maria 29, GV 17. Fouled out: Smith (EM), Kennedy (EM), McFadden (EM), Schneider (GV).

No. 5 Honeoye 55, No. 4 Fillmore 39

FILLMORE — Even though they fell behind in the first half, the fourth-seeded Eagles of Fillmore still managed to make the most of it, trailing by just a pair at the break. But in the second half, things took a turn for the worst.

Facing a 35-30 deficit at the end of the third quarter, No. 5 Honeoye saved their biggest quarter for last, providing an epic finale that saw them run away with the game in the last eight minutes behind a 20-9 jaunt of the Eagles to pull away toward a spot in the Class D1 Semifinal round right after the weekend, eliminating Fillmore with a 55-39 victory over the road inside The Rock on Friday.

“Unfortunately, we ran out of gas tonight,” said Eagles coach Randy Crouch. “We got off to a great start, but as has our Achilles heel all season, Honeoye’s physical play took a very huge toll on us. I wish I could have been more successful in finding easy shots for us to take. We were struggling to get to the basket and finish. Going 25 percent from the field, and 13 percent from three is rarely going to lead us toward success.”

The solid start began in the first eight minutes, as Honeoye and Fillmore traded barbs back and forth until the quarter reached its end with the Bulldogs jumping out front. But then, a cold spell hit both squads in the half-ending frame, as each team came up with just a single basket’s worth of points which allowed Honeoye to keep their two-point, 17-15 lead at the break.

In the second half, Fillmore continued to hang around at all costs with another strong performance in the third quarter with Levi Webb and Will Valentine continuing to lead the attack for the Eagles with 10 of the team’s 15 points. Now down with a five-point deficit to make up, the Bulldogs pulled out their biggest card of the night — a 20-9 run of Fillmore headed by the efforts of Jack Reynolds and Dom Trippi that allowed them to pull away toward the upset victory over the road.

Just five scorers assisted in producing the Fillmore offense, with Valentine leading all scorers with a team-high 14 points to go with 13 rebounds, completing his double-double. Webb and Dylan Valentine each had seven points, while Tobias Webb and Carter Sisson rounded off the scoring with six, and five points respectively.

The season is over for the Fillmore Eagles, as their remarkable 2019-20 season comes to a close in Crouch’s first season on the sidelines, wrapping up with a record of 16-5 overall. The team will say goodbye to six seniors in all including Valentine, the Webb brothers, Luke Cole and Hayden Rust.

“I’m really proud and thankful for the effort of our five seniors,” Crouch reflected. “They, along with Coach (Brandon) Carter have really done an amazing job rebuilding this program, and allowing me to take the keys for a very competitive group of young men. We’ll take a hit next season for sure with these seniors leaving, but the process of getting better begins tomorrow.”

Honeoye        15  2  18 20 – 55

Fillmore         13  2 15  9 – 39


HONEOYE: Jack Reynolds 7 3-8 20, Jake Jarosinski 1 1-4 3, Logan Thomas 1 1-2 3, Alex Jarosinski 0 4-6 4, Dom Trippi 7 8-15 23, Charlie Farrell 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 17-35 55.
FILLMORE: Dylan Valentine 3 0-0 7, Levi Webb 2 3-3 7, Tobias Webb 2 1-2 6, Will Valentine 5 4-5 14, Carter Sisson 2 0-0 5. Totals: 14 8-10 39.

3-point goals: Honeoye 4 (Reynolds 3, Trippi), Fillmore 3 (D. Valentine, T. Webb, Sisson).
Total Fouls: Honeoye 12, Fillmore 24. Fouled out: D. Valentine (FIL), T. Webb (FIL), W. Valentine (FIL).

Chris Brooks
Previous

Saturday Sectionals: Seventh-seeded Romulus nets upset victory over No. 2 Scio behind defense, 2nd quarter 3-point game; No. 1 Lady Eagles cruise past No. 9 J-T
Next

Wednesday Sectionals: No. 9 Destiny Christian provides game-winning lay-up in waning seconds of game to eliminate No. 8 Belfast, 53-52 in Class D2 1st round battle