Thursday Roundup: Lions stay alive in waning seconds, but Geneva holds for 48-47 win; Sisson, MacDonell pace B-R toward Portville title game with massive win over Walsh

GENEVA — To begin their trek through the Winter, the Lions of Wellsville were provisioned with an early test of grit and resilience. That came in the form of the Geneva Panthers come Thursday night, as they delivered back and forth blows with their adversary over the road.

It would come down to the game’s final minute, with the Lions right on the coattails of the Panthers. Earning the opportunity to try and make a move over top of the hosts, Wellsville would seize some key looks at the basket, but in the end, none of those chances could not rattle through the netting.

Despite the late pressure down the home stretch, the host Panthers did what was needed to stave off a late Wellsville rally as the fourth quarter clock wound down to the final buzzer, as they held on to deliver a 48-47 close shaving victory.

“It was a really tough battle. There were a lot of missed opportunities in this game, including quite a few good looks in the last 30 seconds of the game to try and come back and win it,” said Lions coach Raymie Auman. “We were resilient all game long, and we never game up, but we have a lot of work to do to get to the point where that game is a win in our books.”

Geneva would hold a narrow halftime lead over the Lions (0-1), holding them to their lowest offensive effort in the second quarter behind a 15-9 run that would give them the seven-point, 27-20 lead heading into the locker room. Wellsville in return, would counter with a narrow run of their own that would allow them to cut their deficit to as little as three heading into the final eight minutes.

Right down to the wire, both teams battled back and forth until there was nothing left in the tank to give. With 30 seconds left, the visitors in black and orange saw multiple opportunities arise to try and take the lead away from Geneva, but in the end, the hosts were able to secure the victory on defense to stave off the late threat put on.

Leading the scoring for the Lions was Logan Dunbar, who recorded a game-high 16 points. Eli Schmidt followed behind with 11 points of his own, while Cody Costello sank three treys for nine points, and Alex Perkins chipped in with eight points of his own.

Wellsville will return to the drawing board, and prepare for their next contest coming up on Saturday, when they get set to battle Wayland-Cohocton back over the road in an 8 p.m. tip-off in the penultimate game of Wayland-Cohocton’s 2nd Annual Hall of Fame Showcase.

Wellsville 11 9 13 14 – 47

Geneva 12 15 9 12 – 48

WELLSVILLE: Cody Costello 3 0-0 9, Alex Perkins 3 2-4 8, Cooper Brockway 1 0-0 3, Eli Schmidt 5 1-4 11, Logan Dunbar 6 3-4 16. Totals: 18 6-12 47.

GENEVA: Ethan Townsend 4 0-0 11, Brian Whitley 2 0-3 4, Daniel Wright 1 2-2 4, Immanual Townsend 4 2-3 12, Hector Rosado 3 0-0 8, Devin Thomas 3 3-4 9. Totals: 17 7-12 48.

3-point goals: Wellsville 5 (Costello 3, Brockway, Dunbar), Geneva 7 (E. Townsend 3, I. Townsend 2, Rosado 2).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 12, Geneva 15. Fouled out: None.

Portville Tourney: Bolivar-Richburg 70, Archbishop Walsh 30

PORTVILLE — It was as good of a start you could imagine for the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg on Thursday down the road in Portville.

In the midst of tournament action to begin the 2021-22 campaign, three different scorers provided a massive and stalwart showing on the floor to get the job done for the Wolverines, including Aydin Sisson, who recorded a game-high 21 points to fuel the team’s 70-30 win over Archbishop Walsh.

“Walsh was a little shorthanded tonight with some key players out, but the younger kids for us really stepped up and did a great job. Aydin and Parker (Worth) both especially, they did a tremendous job on defense, and I was really proud of the way they played in that situation. They got a lot of playing time, and they helped give us a great win.”

Following behind Sisson in the Bolivar-Richburg (1-0) scorebook was Camdyn MacDonell, who sank 14 additional points while pulling down six boards. Landon Danaher chipped in with 10 points of his own to pair with his six assists.

On special teams, Parker Worth led the rebounding department with a team-high seven, while Reiss Gaines recorded five steals for the Wolverines, who recorded an enormous 25-10 first quarter run of the Eagles to essentially put the game in their favor for good to hold down shop.

With the win, it will advance Bolivar-Richburg into the Championship round of the tournament, which will take place Saturday night back in Portville, as they prepare to face either North Collins or the host Panthers in a 4:30 p.m. tip-off.

Archbishop Walsh 10 12 3 5 – 30

Bolivar-Richburg 25 14 17 14 – 70

WALSH: Kellen Brady 6 4-5 16, Luca Quinn 0 2-4 2, Kai Przybyla 1 0-0 3, Jake Pecen 3 0-0 7. Totals: 12 4-5 30.

BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Aydin Sisson 8 4-6 21, Landon Danaher 5 0-0 10, Wyatt Karnuth 4 0-0 8, Parker Worth 1 0-0 2, Ian Unfus 3 1-2 8, David Baldwin 1 1-3 4, Evan Pinney 1 0-0 3, Camdyn MacDonell 6 2-4 14. Totals: 29 8-15 70.

3-point goals: Walsh 2 (Przybyla, Pecen), B-R 4 (Sisson, Unfus, Baldwin, Pinney) .
Total Fouls: Walsh 16, B-R 11. Fouled out: Brady (AW), Esposito (AW).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Fillmore 58, Jasper-Troupsburg 26

FILLMORE — It was a great debut for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore on their home floor on Thursday, as the team picked the Sectional title-winning momentum shift back up where it was left off from just a few weeks ago, starting their winter campaign strong with a 58-26 win over Jasper-Troupsburg.

“We had some great energy to begin, and we were able to get out to a fast start. Coming in with such a short preseason, we knew tonight’s game was going to be more about energy and flow, rather than a ton of X’s and O’s. I was really happy with how well the girls shared the ball tonight, along with the contributions we were able to get from the bench. We had a really balanced effort.”

The Lady Eagles (1-0) and their defense provided an excellent showing of offense in turn to begin the first eight minutes of play inside The Rock, as the team accounted for a massive 19-4 run of the Lady Wildcats that ultimately allowed them to set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

From the beginning to the end, Fillmore held Jasper-Troupsburg below 10 points across all four quarters while capitalizing on offense of their own, as three different Lady Eagles recorded at least 10 points to pace the attack.

Among them, first year Varsity Lady Eagle, Hope Russell, who recorded 13 points to go with six steals. It was a debut that Parks was very pleased with.

“I thought Hope had a great Varsity debut. She was everywhere for us tonight,” he said of his sophomore. “She forced a lot of turnovers and was able to get out on the break to have herself a quality game. There are some areas that we need to clean things up in, but overall I am very pleased with our start.”

Leading the Lady Eagles on the scoresheet was Senior, Emma Cole, who pounded the paint down low with her first double-double of the year consisting of 14 game-high points and 11 rebounds. Jadyn Mucher nearly followed with one of her own, chipping in with 13 points and nine rebounds to further the cause.

Fillmore will now hit the road next week to open up their road slate, as they prepare for a 7:30 p.m. visit to Andover to face host Andover/Whitesville on Wednesday.

Jasper-Troupsburg 4 6 9 7 – 26

Fillmore 19 9 13 17 – 58

JASPER-TROUPSBURG: Kahley Stuart 1 0-0 2, Kayla Atherton 5 0-0 11, Lauren Ross 1 0-2 2, Natalie Cornell 3 0-0 6, Alexis Potter 2 0-0 4, Reagan Miles 0 1-1 1. Totals: 12 1-4 26.
FILLMORE: Hope Russell 6 0-4 13, Grace Russell 1 2-4 4, Rachel Hatch 1 1-1 3, Jadyn Mucher 4 4-6 13, Emma Cole 6 2-4 14, Zoe Beardsley 1 0-2 2, Preslee Miller 2 2-2 6, Madison Geertman 1 1-4 3. Totals: 22 12-29 58.

3-point goals: J-T 1 (Atherton), Fillmore 2 (H. Russell, Mucher).
Total Fouls: J-T 20, Fillmore 10. Fouled out: Miles (J-T), Stuart (J-T).

Portville Tourney: Ellicottville 55, Cuba-Rushford 27

PORTVILLE — The Ellicottville Lady Eagles provided a start from the first quarter onward that set the tone in opening round festivities of tournament action in Portville on Thursday, as they scored a massive lead while holding Cuba-Rushford in check across all 32 minutes in their 55-27 win.

The Lady Rebels (0-1) were shut down by Ellicottville’s toughness down low from beginning to end, as the Lady Eagles defense in turn held them to under 10 points across all four quarters to build their lead insurmountably to pick up the victory.

“Ellicottville has some tough guards who play some really good, high pressure defense,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “It was definitely a good experience for us as far as learning to take care of the basketball. They do it very well, and hopefully we can take away some of the positives that we learned for our first time out, and build on them going forward.”

On the offensive, Taylor Searle led the way for Cuba-Rushford with a team-high 16 points out of the team’s 27 in all. Brynn Lavery added in five points of her own, while Aleah Demick, Gabby Kranock and Destiny Darrin all had two points to chip in.

The Lady Rebels will return to Portville to wrap up tournament action Saturday morning with an 11 a.m. consolation round contest slated against either Pioneer or the host Lady Panthers.

Cuba-Rushford 5 8 7 7 – 27

Ellicottville 20 10 12 13 – 55

CUBA-RUSHFORD: Aleah Demick 1 0-0 2, Brynn Lavery 2 1-2 5, Gabby Kranock 1 0-0 2, Taylor Searle 8 2-2 16, Destiny Darrin 0 2-4 2. Totals: 12 5-8 27.

ELLICOTTVILLE: Dalayla Alexander 3 0-0 6, Addy John 1 0-0 2, Ryah Quinn 3 1-4 7, Emilee Ruiz 9 0-0 21, Allison Rowland 4 1-2 9, Harley Ficek 5 0-0 10. Totals: 25 2-6 55.

3-point goals: C-R 2 (Searle), Ellicottville 3 (Ruiz).
Total Fouls: C-R 4, Ellicottville 11. Fouled out: None.