Saturday Roundup: Big 1st half run propels Fri/Scio to 2-0 start with 53-35 home win over And/Whi; MacDonell, Danaher pace B-R to Portville Tourney title

Andover/Whitesville junior CJ Estep (4) drives to the basket against the defense of Friendship/Scio junior Lazar Bulajic (30) during Saturday afternoon’s contest in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship/Scio junior Brenden Loucks (23) dribbles under pressure from the defense of Andover/Whitesville of junior CJ Estep, back, and senior Spencer Mattison (35) during Saturday afternoon’s home contest in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Andover/Whitesville senior Luke Erdmann (24) provides a pass into the open wing while under pressure from the defense of Friendship/Scio junior Taylor Moore (1) during Saturday afternoon’s road contest in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship/Scio’s Ethan Davenport (24) dribbles downcourt on the fast break during Saturday afternoon’s home contest against Andover/Whitesville, in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Andover/Whitesville senior Tyler Hackett (23) looks to make a move inside against the defense of Friendship/Scio’s Ethan Davenport (24) during Saturday afternoon’s road contest in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Friendship/Scio coach Dillon McFall, off-center, talks with his team during a break in the action of Saturday afternoon’s home contest against Andover/Whitesville, in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Andover/Whitesville coach John Dougherty, off-center, huddles his team for a quick discussion during a break of Saturday afternoon’s action over the road in Scio. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

SCIO — In their second game in about 17 hours, Friendship/Scio aimed to keep their season-opening winning ways in their favor come Saturday afternoon with Andover/Whitesville in for a visit.

Despite a quick start in the first few seconds of the game by Andover/Whitesville, Friendship/Scio then connected. And much more, as they accounted for a massive first half run they never looked back on, allowing them to move to a 2-0 start with a 53-35 victory in Scio.

“I thought in the first half, we played our best half so far this year,” said Friendship/Scio coach Dillon McFall. “Especially on defense, we were solid and that helped our offense get going. In the second half, we were a little sloppy with our play, but it’s our second game in 18 or so hours. Cory (Hills) and I were happy with their effort, and we still have a ways to go, but we’re building. For us, we were interested to see how we would react when we’re not making as many outside jumpers as we did yesterday, so we did good with our inside play to follow it up.”

After Andover/Whitesville began the game in the first seconds with a three-pointer from Luke Erdmann, Friendship/Scio (2-0) set up shop themselves and built upon it, scoring eight straight points led by threes from both Lazar Bulajic and Ethan Davenport.

With some help at the line, and down low, the run was extended to 12 straight until Andover/Whitesville (0-2) found their way on the board with help at the line themselves with 1:34 left in the quarter.

With a 16-5 lead in hand, Friendship/Scio continued where they left off in the opening quarter, building another scoreless run of their opposition that would last for nearly five minutes since Andover/Whitesville’s last basket. When it was all said an done, a 29-9 halftime lead was gathered and never given up, as the hosts in white remained in control until the end.

Leading the charge on the offensive attack was Bulajic and Brenden Loucks, each collecting a game-high 17 points, while Davenport followed with 11 of his own. Loucks would grab 12 rebounds to finish off his double-double, while Bulajic had nine to grab.

Andover/Whitesville was led by CJ Estep, who tallied nine team-high points. Erdmann and Spencer Mattison each followed with eight points of their own.

Both teams are back in action Wednesday night in a pair of 7:30 p.m. contests, as Friendship/Scio prepares to finish off their season series with Genesee Valley in Friendship, while Andover/Whitesville prepares to face Cuba-Rushford in Whitesville.

Andover/Whitesville 5 4 12 14 – 35

Friendship/Scio 16 13 12 12 – 53

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: CJ Estep 3 1-2 9, Brody Carlin 0 2-2 2, Luke Erdmann 2 3-5 8, Dylan Acor 1 0-0 2, Spencer Mattison 4 0-0 8, Kohler Niedermaier 2 0-0 4, Will Kent 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 6-9 35.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Taylor Moore 1 0-0 3, Jacob Golden 0 3-8 3, Brenden Loucks 7 3-9 17, Ethan Davenport 4 0-0 11, Lazar Bulajic 6 2-2 17. Totals: 19 8-21 53.

3-point goals: A/W 3 (Estep 2, Erdmann), F/S 7 (Bulajic 3, Davenport 3, Moore).
Total Fouls: A/W 19, F/S 12. Fouled out: None.

Way-Co Hall of Fame Showcase

Wellsville 53, Wayland-Cohocton 34

COHOCTON — After suffering a loss straight down to the wire against Geneva earlier in the week, the Lions of Wellsville went over the road to Wayland-Cohocton in hopes to rectify the season-opening defeat on Saturday.

In Wayland-Cohocton’s final game of their home Hall of Fame Showcase, the visitors in black and orange made sure they did just that, as they coasted their way toward a 53-34 win over the Eagles.

Stats and a complete box score were not made available upon publication.

Wellsville (1-1) will now get set to open up their home slate on Wednesday, when they host Allegany-Limestone in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

Portville Tourney Championship

Bolivar-Richburg 53, Portville 33

PORTVILLE — In recent years, the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg have come close to beginning their season as tournament champions down the road in Portville.

They have never had the chance to bring home an early season piece of hardware to start their season on a strong note. Another chance to do it came Saturday night.

Although it took a long battle through the first half against the host Panthers, Bolivar-Richburg made sure the wait was over, as they rolled behind a solid return to the court in the second half, as they held Portville to just seven points in the midst of their third quarter run to capture their first Portville Tournament title behind a 53-33 victory.

“I don’t think we’ve ever won this tournament before, and I could tell the kids really wanted this. With Wyatt (Karnuth), Cam (MacDonell) and Landon (Danaher) the last couple of years, I explained in the locker room that this is the team we can potentially become. It’s on them to make it happen, and they put the hammer down. Great communication, the leadership between them is unbelievable. I hope we’re in for a fun year, because these kids put a lot of time into this. They deserve every bit of this.”

The Wolverines (2-0) battled closely alongside with Portville for much of the first half, garnering a four-point edge after the first and outlasting a defensive battle to close it out and head into the locker room.

But in the second half, a complete flip of the script for Bolivar-Richburg, as they came out swinging with their best frame of play all night — a 19-7 third quarter run of the Panthers led by the offensive contributions by Cam MacDonell and Landon Danaher, and the stalwart defense put on by Wyatt Karnuth on the other end.

“The boys showed up in the second half. Neither team could make a shot in the second quarter, and there was a lot of pressure on both sides,” said Margeson. “We had 11 turnovers in the half, and we ended up with 14 for the game. It was messy to begin, but that’s more kudos to the defense. Our pressure was too much for Portville in the second half. Cam couldn’t be stopped downlow, and Landon took it to the hole. That was the half of basketball we know we can play.”

The run essentially put the rest of the game on ice for the visitors in black and red, as they took down their crosstown rivals to capture their first tournament championship in Portville. MacDonell was named the tournament’s MVP after a marvelous performance down low, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 boards to complete his double-double.

Danaher was the team’s leading scorer, digging in himself to provide a game-high 20 points for the Wolverines, 15 of them coming in the second half alone to help jumpstart what was an ongoing 17-2 run of the Panthers, coinciding with their press defense led by Karnuth.

Aydin Sisson helped the cause on special teams for Bolivar-Richburg, handing out six assists.

The Wolverines will look to continue a strong start when they open up their home slate Tuesday night with a 7:30 p.m. visit from Houghton Academy in store.

Bolivar-Richburg 14 6 19 14 – 53

Portville 10 3 7 13 – 33

BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Aydin Sisson 2 0-1 4, Landon Danaher 9 2-3 20, David Baldwin 3 0-0 6, Reiss Gaines 1 0-0 2, Evan Pinney 1 0-0 3, Camdyn MacDonell 7 4-4 18. Totals: 23 6-8 53.
PORTVILLE: Luke Petryszak 4 1-2 10, Cole Faulkner 1 0-0 2, Aiden Defazio 1 0-0 3, Troy VanSickle 1 0-0 2, Luke Petruzzi 2 5-5 9, Max Yale 1 1-2 3, Christian Gariepy 0 1-2 1, Ben Isaman 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 7-9 33.

3-point goals: B-R 1 (Pinney), Portville 2 (Petryszak, Defazio).
Total Fouls: B-R 10, Portville 6. Fouled out: None.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Portville Tourney Consolation

Pioneer 68, Cuba-Rushford 36

PORTVILLE — A rampant start provided by the Lady Panthers of Pioneer all the energy and momentum they would need to put the hammer down immediately on Cuba-Rushford in their Consolation round contest Saturday morning in Portville, as they accounted for a massive first quarter run and never looked back on what was a 68-36 victory over the Lady Rebels.

Pioneer exploded right out of the gate, as four different Lady Panthers all recorded at least 10 points to help the offensive cause all game, coming together to establish a big 24-5 run of Cuba-Rushford (0-2) in the first eight minutes of play to essentially take command from start to finish.

Despite the first quarter, the Lady Rebels were able to cut down their deficit down to 33-18 at the break with their biggest quarter of the day coming in the second, outscoring Pioneer by a 13-9 count, but the first quarter deficit would prove to be too much to overcome in the end.

Taylor Searle had a big day despite the defeat for the team in blue and white, as she posted a game-high 22 points, including all four of Cuba-Rushford’s three-pointers from downtown. Brynn Lavery and Aleah Demick each added in four more points.

Cuba-Rushford will head for Scio and their annual Christmas Tournament beginning on Thursday, when they partake in first round action against Hinsdale, beginning at 6 p.m.

Pioneer 24 9 18 17 – 68

Cuba-Rushford 5 13 12 6 – 36

PIONEER: Kristin Morris 5 2-2 12, Alyssa Boldt 3 0-2 6, Brooke Eastman 5 0-0 12, Delaney Petri 3 1-2 7, Sarah Morris 3 0-0 7, Jordan Dodge 0 0-2 0, K. Ball 1 0-0 2, Myah Fox 5 2-4 12, Kyler Felber 4 1-4 10. Totals: 29 6-16 68.
CUBA-RUSHFORD: Lillian Forward 1 0-0 2, Ella Jaffe 1 0-0 2, Brynn Lavery 2 0-0 4, Gabby Kranock 1 0-4 2, Aleah Demick 2 0-0 4, Taylor Searle 8 2-4 22. Totals: 15 2-8 36.
3-point goals: Pioneer 3 (Eastman 2, Felber), C-R 4 (Searle).
Total Fouls: Pioneer 13, C-R 15. Fouled out: Demick (C-R).

WRESTLING

Davidson, Layfield among top finishers for Wellsville in home invite

WELLSVILLE — The new season on the mat for the Wellsville Lions began officially with a home invitational that saw the team get off to a start they wanted to get, as four different Lions collected first place finishes to put toward a fourth place, 226.5 point finish on Saturday.

Fueling the efforts from the lightweight classes was Jayden Acker, who defeated Falconer’s Brayden McCarthy to finish the day 3-0 with a 1:52 pin-fall for a first place medal in the 110 weight class.

Cole Hadfield added in a first place win of his own at 145 pounds, as he defeated York/Pavilion’s Kyle Northrup with a 1:15 pin-fall to claim the gold. Shane Davidson would follow along in the middleweight department with a top finish, defeating both Wayne’s Dylan Draper (15-0 tech fall), and York/Pavilion’s Cody Blue (3:56 pin-fall), at 172 pounds.

John Layfield provided a strong showing on the mat at 189 pounds, battling Livonia/Wayland-Cohocton’s Noah Magin all the way to the end, coming away narrowly with a 4-3 decision to finish first.

Wellsville had some additional help along the way to continue the strong day as the Lions garnered multiple secondary finishes from Blake Geffers (2nd place, 102 pounds), Braiden Riley (5th place, 132 pounds) and Evin Rought (3rd place, 285 pounds).

The Lions will officially open up their 2021-22 regular season campaign next Tuesday night on the road, as they face the Canisteo-Greenwood Redskins in a 6 p.m. bout.