Saturday Roundup: Lady Lions capture A-L Tourney title; C-R wins 5th straight Scio Christmas title

The Lady Lions of Wellsville pose with their championship winning plaque after defeating Allegany-Limestone in the Battle In The Swamp Tournament title game, Saturday afternoon. [PHOTO COURTESY OF KEN LOTTER]

The Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford pose with their championship winning trophy as they went on to defeat Houghton Academy to collect their fifth consecutive Scio Christmas Tournament crown. [PHOTO PROVIDED]

ALLEGANY — The final minute of Saturday afternoon’s Battle In The Swamp title game kept the fans in attendance on the edge of their seat. One after another, free throws were made between both Wellsville and host Allegany-Limestone.

With Regan Marsh sinking one-of-two at the line to give the Lady Lions the lead, Allegany-Limestone’s Tierney Hemphill countered with a one-of-two outing at the charity stripe herself to tie the game at 37 with under 30 seconds left to play.

When the dust finally settled with five seconds to go, Marley Adams had the last shot after being fouled, putting it away with ease to give Wellsville the Battle In The Swamp Tournament crown behind a 38-37 edge.

“When you think about the youth of our team, and the situation we were in tonight, they handled it very well,” Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord said. “We were composed, and we didn’t let it startle us. After the game, the girls had tears of joy and they were excited. In the moment, they really took care of the ball, and they responded well. They didn’t get frazzled, even being down by a couple of points.”

The comeback victory ignited after the Lady Gators provided a huge 18-point third quarter to go ahead of Wellsville (4-1) by three into the last eight minutes. For the most part in the fourth, the Lady Lions were able to hold Allegany-Limestone in check with an 11-7 run despite a few back-and-forth affairs throughout that saw a lot of rebounding, and ball advancement.

Inside a balanced Wellsville scorebook, it was Marley Adams that earned MVP honors within the tournament, as she recorded eight team-high points, including her game-winning, go-ahead free throw with 5.2 seconds left to play. She also added five assists, and four rebounds. Emily Costello had seven points, and five rebounds to add, while Regan Marsh and Kaylee Coleman were busy off the glass with eight boards each.

Along with an MVP nod for Adams, Marsh also picked up an All-Tournament selection for Wellsville.

With the win, a youthful Lady Lions squad is off to a 4-1 start on the season entering Tuesday’s road contest at Letchworth. Alvord says that the team’s confidence continues to grow after each game.

“I am really pleased with our start, and win or lose, we get more confident every game,” she said. “Learning from this type of game, and the atmosphere that comes with it, it’s huge. It prepares us for down the road, but I like seeing this confidence continuing to improve. The more we have that, the better we will be as the season goes on.”

Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is slated for a 7 p.m. start.

Wellsville                       5 10 12 11 – 38

Allegany-Limestone      4   8 18   7 – 37

WELLSVILLE: Marley Adams 3 2-4 8, Jaylynn Mess 2 0-0 4, Emily Costello 2 2-2 7, Ashley Sexton 2 0-2 4, Emily Robbins 2 0-0 4, Kaylee Coleman 2 1-3 5, Regan Marsh 1 4-6 6. Totals: 14 9-17 38.
ALLEGANY-LIMESTONE: Taylor Davis 2 3-4 7, Devin Ralston 2 1-4 5, Gianna DeRose 4 0-0 9, Tierney Hemphill 2 7-11 11, Emmie Giardini 1 0-0 3, Maddie Callen 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 11-19 37.

3-point goals: Wellsville 1 (Costello), A-L 2 (DeRose, Giardini).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 18, A-L 16. Fouled out: None.

Consolation Game

Catt-Little Valley 51, Genesee Valley 28

ALLEGANY — Emera Aquila netted a team-high 12 points for the Lady Jaguars to net an All-Tournament nod at game’s end, but it was Cattaraugus-Little Valley that came out on top in the end with a 51-28 victory in the Battle In The Swamp Tournament Consolation game, Saturday afternoon.

Adding an all-tournament nod for Genesee Valley (0-4) was Hailey Herring, who recorded five points. Lizzie Bentley chipped in with six points of her own.

The Lady Timberwolves made a hot start worth while, as they outscored the Lady Jaguars by a 17-7 count in the first eight minutes to set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

The search for Genesee Valley’s first win will continue on Tuesday, as they return home to welcome in Belfast for a 6 p.m. contest.

Genesee Valley      7  8   2 11 – 28

Catt-Little Valley    17  6 17 11 – 51

GENESEE VALLEY: Emera Aquila 5 0-2 12, Lizzie Bentley 3 0-0 6, Hailey Herring 1 3-6 5, Sierra Burrows 0 1-3 1, Isabelle Ordway 2 0-0 4. Totals: 11 4-11 28.
CATT-LITTLE VALLEY: Alex Minnekine 8 2-3 18, Madeline Jones 4 3-4 11, Abby Minnekine 1 2-4 4, Lexi Mikowicz 1 0-2 2, Emma Rupp 8 0-0 16. Totals: 22 7-13 51.

3-point goals: GV 2 (Aquila).
Total Fouls: GV 14, C-LV 14. Fouled out: None.

Scio Christmas Tourney

Cuba-Rushford 29, Houghton Academy 18

SCIO — You know the old saying: “defense wins championships”?

Saturday night, the Lady Panthers put together a strong third quarter to tie the Scio Christmas Tournament title game up with Cuba-Rushford. However, the Lady Rebels defense turned the famous line into reality, as they held Houghton Academy scoreless on the floor in the final eight minutes to go off on a 9-0 run to go ahead, and win their fifth consecutive Christmas crown with a 29-18 victory.

“I am proud of our girls for stepping up, and playing some great defense, especially on a night when we really struggled to shoot the ball,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “Credit to Houghton, they played really hard with some good defense, and they forced us into some difficult shots we had to take.”

Kate Howe led the way for the Lady Rebels (2-3), netting a team-leading 10 points. Taylor Searle chipped in with seven of her own, while Elysa Tylor had four to add.

The Lady Panthers (2-3) saw Jessica Prentice pave the offense by leading all scorers with 12 game-high points. Emma and Sarah Retz each chipped in with three points to round off the scorebook for Houghton Academy, who returns home to host Bradford/Hammondsport on Monday.

Cuba-Rushford returns home to the Wighthouse next Saturday, as they welcome in the Canisteo-Greenwood Lady Redskins for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Cuba-Rushford             6  4   8  9 – 29

Houghton Academy     2  6 10  0 – 18

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Lillian Forward 1 0-0 2, Ella Jaffe 1 0-0 2, Taylor Searle 3 0-0 7, Kate Howe 4 2-6 10, Elysa Tylor 2 0-0 4, Cameron Shaw 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 2-6 29.
HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jessica Prentice 5 2-4 12, Emma Retz 1 0-0 3, Sarah Retz 1 1-2 3. Totals: 7 3-6 18.

3-point goals: C-R 1 (Searle), Houghton 1 (E. Retz).
Total Fouls: C-R 15, Houghton 8. Fouled out: Cole (C-R).

Scio 25, Friendship 20

SCIO — It was a tight battle between Friendship and Scio in Saturday night’s Christmas consolation game, but the host Lady Tigers made sure they had the first half edge going into the locker room at halftime, as they held on to defeat the Lady Golden Eagles for their first win of the season by a 25-20 count.

“I’m really proud of how well we executed the game tonight, and we were able to finish it with only four players,” Lady Tigers coach Bethany Faulkner said. “The five on the court are learning to rely on one another, and it’s exciting to watch that progress being made.”

Ashlynn Scotchmer was on top of the Scio (1-4) scorebook with a team-leading eight points. Celina Warboys collected six points. For Friendship (1-4), Kadence Donohue recorded a team-high eight points. Aaliyah Harmon had six points to contribute for the Lady Golden Eagles, who now return home to host Whitesville on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Scio will now hit the road on Monday, as they head to Jasper-Troupsburg for a 7:15 p.m. tip-off.

Friendship        2 7 4 9 – 20

Scio                   5 9 4 7 – 25

FRIENDSHIP: Navaeh Ross 0 2-10 2, Kadence Donohue 4 0-0 8, Aaliyah Harmon 3 0-0 6, Kendra Gleason 0 0-1 0, Claire Calhoun 2 0-0 4. Totals: 9 2-11 20.

SCIO: Ashlynn Scotchmer 3 2-3 8, Camryn Wiech 1 1-4 3, Emily Stilson 2 0-0 4, Celina Warboys 3 0-0 6, Alyshia Chandler 1 2-2 4. Totals: 10 5-9 25.
3-point goals: None.
Total Fouls: Friendship 15, Scio 19. Fouled out: Wiech (SCIO).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Otto-Eldred 61, Bolivar-Richburg 37

ELDRED, Pa. – The Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines were able to hang right with host Otto-Eldred in the consolation round of their tournament. But in the second quarter, the Terrors broke free with a 21-4 run to push their lead to double digits for good in a 61-37 victory, Saturday afternoon.

“Hopefully we can turn this around,” Bolivar-Richburg coach Jeff Margeson said. “We came out flat today, and we had them in the second half. But we just couldn't come out strong in the first half, and we didn't match their physical presence with our little guys.”

Landon Danaher sank three of Bolivar-Richburg's (3-3) four three-pointers on his way to a team-leading 15 points. Camden MacDonell followed closely behind, scoring all 12 of his points inside the paint. Riley Danaher returned to the lineup for the Wolverines, and netted five points.

Up next, the Wolverines will play their fourth consecutive opponent from below the border, closing out the decade with a road contest at Oswayo Valley on Thursday. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

Bolivar-Richburg     9   4   7 17 – 37

Otto-Eldred            14 21 16 10 – 61  

BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Riley Danaher 2 0-0 5, Landon Danaher 6 0-2 15, Wyatt Karnuth 1 0-2 2, Brayden Ellis 0 0-1 0, Jason Greeson 1 1-2 3, Camden MacDonell 5 2-3 12. Totals: 15 3-10 37.

OTTO-ELDRED: Evan Jimerson 5 0-0 11,Matt Murphy 0 1-2 1, Jake Merry 6 1-2 16, Ethan Smith 2 1-2 5, Zaz Bell 1 0-0 2, Josh Reinhart 2 1-1 5, Cole Sebastian 1 1-2 3, Brayden Mahalic 8 1-2 18. Totals: 26 6-11 61. 
3-point goals: B-R 4 (L. Danaher 3, R. Danaher), O-E 5 (Merry 3, Jimerson, Mahalic).
Total Fouls: B-R 9, O-E 17. Fouled out: VanScoter (O-E).