Thursday Roundup: Big night by Adams propels Lady Lions back into win column with victory vs. Bath; Scio boys win 8th game in last nine

Wellsville sophomore Emily Costello (12) makes a pass to the outside, as the Bath-Haverling defense closes in during Thursday’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville sophomore Marley Adams (10) goes up for the lay-in, as the Bath-Haverling defense looks to block the shot during Thursday’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville senior Ashley Sexton (15) lets her two-point shot fly, as the Bath-Haverling defense contests the shot during Thursday’s home battle with the Lady Rams. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville sophomore Jaylynn Mess, center, looks to shake off the Bath-Haverling defense as her teammate Regan Marsh (33) sets up a screen during Thursday’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville freshman Emily Robbins (21) dribbles under pressure from the Bath-Haverling defense during Thursday’s home contest. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

WELLSVILLE — A little while after the final bell rang to end the school day at Wellsville on Wednesday, it was back to the drawing for the Lady Lions in their last practice before taking on Bath-Haverling the next day.

Upon entering the gymnasium, head coach Michelle Alvord noticed something about her sophomore star Marley Adams when she began to warm up before practices had officially gotten underway.

“I walked into the gym and looked at Marley. I told her that it looked like she didn’t look good, and she didn’t feel good. When a kid like her is sick, and we’ve had our share of illness, it made me nervous a little bit,” Alvord said. “She told me that she wasn’t really able to breathe through her nose because it was burning like crazy. She does so many things for us, and I really don’t want her to shrink in big moments that we come across. We really want the ball in her hands.”

Even though she was not at full capacity for the team’s practice, Adams made sure she was the following evening.

The Wellsville sophomore had another of her best nights of the season, as she helped the Lady Lions take complete control an ongoing 19-4 run of the Lady Rams from the end of the first half and through the start of the second half, putting together a game-high 23 points for the Lady Lions in their 51-41 home win over Bath-Haverling to complete their two-game sweep on Thursday.

“Offensively, this was our most complete game of the season,” Alvord said. “We shot well in Bath, and we shot even more so here against them. There weren’t many lulls that we’ve had in the past tonight. After the Fillmore game, losing to an experienced team like that, and the way the game was played, you give up 39 points and lose. It was a matter of free throws and clutch buckets that they had. That was the theme behind our practices these few days, and it was nice to put that to good use so we can bounce back tonight.”

After the game opened up with a 4-4 tie, the Lady Lions (11-3) took charge from that point onward on offense, as they went on to score eight of the next 10 points with a plethora of Lady Lions contributing to the cause, including Adams, Emily Costello and Jaylynn Mess all adding buckets. The Lady Rams responded by closing out the first quarter with six of the next seven points to cut the Wellsville lead to 13-10 into the next quarter.

Both teams would provide a run in the second quarter, with Bath-Haverling scoring five straight points after a 16-12 lead for the Lady Lions diminished for a split second to allow a 17-16 lead for the visitors in blue to come to fruition. But in the last two minutes of the half, the Lady Lions took the lead away, ultimately for good, as they wrapped up with a 10-2 run which was capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Emily Costello straight down the middle to give them the 26-19 lead back.

“That was a nice pass Emily Robbins made to give Emily that shot,” said Alvord. “Believe it or not, we’ve worked on that in practice the past few days. It’s that efficiency factor, and we have the shooters to make those types of situations happen. We get a little willy-nilly toward the end with the shot clock winding down, but it was nice to see that play pan out. That really kept the momentum rolling.”

It was a shot that wound up giving the Lady Lions a big boost of confidence coming back out for the second half.

In the third quarter, it was perhaps their best complete effort, picking up where they left off from their 10-2 first half-ending run, and added to it by scoring nine of the first 11 points with Adams and Kaylee Coleman getting things started with a bucket each. Adams continued to make her presence known by pumping another shot from downtown before dishing off a gorgeous pass inside to Milla Litzburg underneath the basket to continue what was now a 19-4 run of the Lady Rams.

“That was our best third quarter we’ve played all year, and I told them that after the game,” Alvord said. “I get a little nervous about things that don’t really faze the girls all that much. But this is the first time with this group that we were playing a team the second time that we beat the first time. With Letchworth, we were still getting used to things and we lost that game, but I knew some motivation would be there. You have to come and take care of business, not just step onto the court, and they did.”

The Lady Rams started to chip away a bit at the Lady Lions lead, but it was a 13-point lead for the hosts to take into the fourth quarter, as they finished up their bounce back victory, despite being outscored by Bath-Haverling by an 11-8 margin, with Emily Robbins shutting the door with back-to-back lay-ins off turnovers at mid-court to extend their lead for good.

Costello finished with nine points in the Wellsville scorebook to help pace their offensive game. Coleman tallied eight points to go with a team-high seven rebounds off the glass. Regan Marsh followed with six rebounds of her own, while Litzburg finished with five points.

Prior to the varsity contest, the Lady Lions had an early third quarter lead over Bath-Haverling, but the Lady Rams mounted a fourth quarter comeback to take the 40-31 victory to start the night. Jaelynn Knapp led with 10 points for Wellsville, while Delaney Wonderling had nine points.

Now, the Lady Lions will take a week to rest up and prepare for the 6th Annual Dan Barkley Showcase at Alfred State, as they partake in Sheriff’s Classic festivities the night before the showcase with their final meeting with the Hornell Lady Red Raiders kicking things off a 6:15 p.m, before both boys squads take the court at 8 p.m.

“I like having the days off to prep for a team like Hornell,” Alvord said. “It’s definitely a game that we won the last time, and there were things we needed to improve on in the past couple of weeks leading up to tonight’s game. I don’t think it’s any secret, we have to cut back on our turnovers. With some practices coming up before this game, we’ll have enough time to hopefully get things cleaned up.”

Bath-Haverling       10   9 11 11 – 41

Wellsville                13 13 17  8 – 51

BATH-HAVERLING: Abby Speiss 5 2-2 13, Sydney Burns 1 0-0 2, Meredith Czjakowski 5 1-2 11, Taylor Stone 2 0-0 4, Mya Rusak 0 1-2 1, Cadin Taggart 5 0-0 10. Totals: 18 4-6 41.
WELLSVILLE: Marley Adams 9 2-2 23, Jaylynn Mess 1 0-0 2, Emily Costello 3 1-2 9, Emily Robbins 2 0-0 4, Kaylee Coleman 4 0-0 8, Milla Litzburg 2 0-0 5. Totals: 19 3-4 51.

3-point goals: B-H 1 (Speiss), Wellsville 5 (Adams 3, Costello, Litzburg).
Total Fouls: B-H 4, Wellsville 8. Fouled out: None.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Scio 73, Andover 45

ANDOVER — After becoming the team’s hero in the last 90 seconds of their thrilling victory over Bolivar-Richburg back on Tuesday, Scio senior Brendan Graves stepped back onto the court Thursday in Andover searching for more. What he found in the end was his best game of the season, as he landed six of the team’s nine three-pointers on his way to a season-high 29 point effort in a 73-45 road win for the Tigers over the Panthers.

Scio and Andover put together a quick first quarter battle from start to finish, with the Tigers pulling out ahead with a 20-16 lead. But in the second quarter, it was a downward spiral for the hosts in white and purple, as the Tigers (8-1) connected on all angles once again with Carl Finnemore leading the charge with eight of the team’s 19 points inside the quarter to assist in completing what turned out to be a 19-8 game-changing run that set the tone for their eighth win in nine games.

“We were in foul trouble pretty much the entire game,” said Panthers coach John Dougherty. “It was super disappointing to see things play out the way they did, but my guys played with so, so much heart and pride. Even though we lost, it made me super proud of them. We did some really good things.”

Following Graves in the scorebook was Cam Loucks, who continues to have a sensational junior season with 22 more points, including a 7-of-13 outing at the stripe. Finnemore finished with 13 points, while Jake D’Arcy and Cory Bolzan rounded off the Scio scorebook with six, and two points respectively.

Andover (3-6) was led by Preston Ordway, who was a perfect 3-for-3 at the line in his 13 team-high point performance. Grady Terhune pitched in with nine points, while Spencer Cook had eight points.

Both teams are now off until Wednesday, as Scio looks to continue their hot run into Belfast for a 7 p.m. contest, while Andover heads off to Alfred-Almond for a 7:15 p.m. tip-off.

Scio              20 19 20 14 – 73

Andover       16   8 11 10 – 45

SCIO: Jake D'Arcy 2 1-4 6, Cory Bolzan 1 0-0 2, Brendan Graves 8 7-11 29, Cam Loucks 7 7-13 22, Carl Finnemore 6 1-2 13. Totals: 24 16-30 73.
ANDOVER: Grady Terhune 4 0-0 9, Spencer Cook 2 3-4 8, Chris Walker 2 1-4 5, Preston Ordway 4 3-3 13, Noah Greene 1 1-3 4, Gabe Halsey 3 0-0 6. Totals: 16 8-14 45.

3-point goals: Scio 9 (Graves 6, Bolzan, Loucks, Finnemore), Andover 5 (Ordway 2, Terhune, Cook, Greene).
Total Fouls: Scio 13, Andover 24. Fouled out: Terhune (AND), Cook (AND).

Canisteo-Greenwood 64, Bolivar-Richburg 52

BOLIVAR — It has been a talking point of the season for the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg — attempting to shake off an underperforming quarter. Bolivar-Richburg did just that back on Tuesday as they battled Scio all the way down to the wire, where the Tigers stole a 52-50 victory from their grasp.

But on Thursday, a battle through the opening quarter developed, but visiting Canisteo-Greenwood took command of everything they could in the next quarter of play in order to keep their lead for good all the way to the end, as they exited Bolivar-Richburg with a 64-52 victory over the Wolverines on Thursday.

“We’ve been plagued by that one bad quarter all season,” Wolverines coach Jeff Margeson said. “I have no idea how we can get away from it. Coach (Brad) Hoyt has his team playing fundamentally sound. Roque Santiago ran the floor very efficiently, Hunter McCaffery took over their offense, and the (Cole) Ferris kid stepped up for them. We switched our defense three different times, and they had an answer for everything we threw at them.”

The Wolverines (4-8) fought their way alongside the Redskins through the opening quarter, with the visitors coming away with a three-point lead. But it was only the beginning, as they looked to their defense to seal the deal early on. While holding Bolivar-Richburg to eight points, Canisteo-Greenwood countered on the offensive side with a big 20-8 second quarter run in all to take a big double digit lead at halftime, shutting the door in the process.

Camdyn MacDonell led the offense with a team-leading 21 points for the Wolverines. Landon Danaher chipped in with 13 points of his own, while Riley Danaher and Isaac Scott each tallied six points. Wyatt Karnuth and Jason Greeson rounded off the scorebook with three points respectively.

Bolivar-Richburg will take the rest of the week to regroup, as they look to stop their five-game slide back on their home floor with the Fillmore Eagles in town on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Canisteo-Greenwood     16 20 12 16 – 64

Bolivar-Richburg            13   8 15 16 – 52 

CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Cole Ferris 8 2-2 21, Roque Santiago 4 0-0 8, Hunter McCaffery 11 2-2 25, Corey Barker1 0-0 2, Nick Button 1 0-0 2, Blake Updyke 3 0-0 6. Totals: 28 4-4 64.
BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Riley Danaher 2 2-4 6, Landon Danaher 4 4-9 13, Wyatt Karnuth 1 1-2 3, Jason Greeson 1 0-0 3, Isaac Scott 3 0-0 6, Camdyn MacDonell 10 1-3 21. Totals: 21 8-16 52.

3-point goals: C-G (Ferris 3, McCaffery), B-R (L. Danaher, Greeson).
Total Fouls: C-G 13, B-R 10. Fouled out: None.

Jasper-Troupsburg 63, Whitesville 38

JASPER — It was a strong beginning for Whitesville over the road at Jasper-Troupsburg for their second and final meeting of the season, as they trailed by one entering the second. But the Wildcats defense was up to the task, as they held the Blue Jays to a single basket within their 13-2 half-ending run to pull away toward a 63-38 victory on Thursday.

Jessie Pensyl led the Blue Jays (1-9) offense with a team-high 12 points. CJ Estep followed with seven points of his own, while Robert Whitesell chipped in with six points.

The Wildcats were led by 12-point performances from both Noah Price and Josh Flint.

Whitesville is back home next Thursday night, as they look to rebound with the Houghton Academy Panthers visiting for a 6 p.m. contest.

Whitesville                11  2 12 13 – 38

Jasper-Troupsburg    12 13 22 16 – 63

WHITESVILLE: Chris Gullett 1 0-0 2, Brendal Jackson 1 0-0 3, Jessie Pensyl 6 0-1 12, CJ Estep 3 0-0 7, Robert Whitesell 3 0-0 6, Colby Gaines 1 0-0 2, Troy Cogar 1 0-0 2, Dylan Acor 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 0-1 38.
JASPER-TROUPSBURG: Jake Demonstroy 1 0-0 3, Brayden Hill 4 0-0 9, Noah Price 3 4-6 12, Josh Flint 5 2-6 12, Oliver Rowe 0 1-2 1, Blake Lawson 1 0-0 2, Tyler Flint 1 1-2 4, John Tormey 1 0-0 2, Reese Draper 1 0-0 2, Ethan Draper 3 1-1 7, Quincy Cornell 4 1-6 9. Totals: 24 10-23 63.

3-point goals: Whitesville 2 (Jackson, Pensyl), J-T 5 (Price 2, Demonstroy, Hill, T. Flint).
Total Fouls: Whitesville 17, J-T 5. Fouled out: Acor (WHI).

WRESTLING

Wellsville 54, Arkport/Canaseraga 15

ARKPORT — It was a night on the mat that was filled with success over the road for the Wellsville grapplers on Thursday, as they found the winning edge in six contested matched, and 10 victories in all to roll past host Arkport/Canaseraga with a 54-15 victory.

The Lions dominated the middle weight classes all throughout the match, starting with Blake Pratt at 138 pounds, as he delivered a pin-fall win at 3:16. Josh Brizzee (145 pounds) and Braiden Black (152 pounds) followed with decision wins, while Blake Beckwith continued the string of victories with a pin of his opponent just before the end of the first period at 160 pounds.

John Layfield added another pin-fall win in Wellsville’s sweep of the heavyweights, as he recorded a 3:15 pin on his opponent at 195 pounds. In the lightweight class, Jayden Acker had the quickest pin for the Lions at 99 pounds, earning the win in just under 90 seconds. Cole Hadfield (132 pounds), Hunter Brandes (170 pounds), Evin Rought (220 pounds), and Mekha Dorrough (285 pounds) all took wins via forfeit to help close out a dominating night over the road.

Wellsville will head out to Campbell-Savona after the weekend on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. contest.

Results:

99 – Jayden Acker (WLSV) def. Aiden Wilmart (A/C) by pin, 1:23.

106 – Double for.

113 – Double for.

120 – Ramsey Dean-Prince (A/C) def. Brock Hadfield (WLSV) by pin, 1:01.

126 – Jason Cook (A/C) def. Dale Ableidinger (WLSV) by dec, 10-5.

132 – Cole Hadfield (WLSV) by for.

138 – Blake Pratt (WLSV) def. Jax Roosa (A/C) by pin, 3:16.

145 – Josh Brizzee (WLSV) def. Justin Merry (A/C) by dec, 7-1.

152 – Braiden Black (WLSV) def. Evan Buisch (A/C) by dec, 12-6.

160 – Blake Beckwith (WLSV) def. Josh Theilen (A/C) by pin, 1:57.

170 – Hunter Brandes (WLSV) by for.

182 – Jacob Henshaw (A/C) def. Grady Ball (WLSV) by pin, 1:05.

195 – John Layfield (WLSV) def. Zach VanFleet (A/C) by pin, 3:15.

220 – Evin Rought (WLSV) by for.

285 – Mekha Dorrough (WLSV) by for.