Monday Basketball: Lions net 4th road win in last five behind epic recital at Olympia; Lady Lions swept by Pioneer after late 4th quarter run, hot OT start; Fri/Scio completes rally vs. Hammondsport

GREECE — Just two more road trips separate Wellsville from ending their regular season back home next week. Amongst the added mileage onto the bus’ odometer, was Monday’s lengthy trip to just outside Rochester to meet the Greece Olympia Spartans for the first time since their close encounter last winter.

The start of the new week brought about a completely different outcome. One of critical magnitude.

With a headful of steam, despite their Friday night loss to Marcus Whitman, the Lions made a clamorous amount of noise once again, with nearly every single scorer weaving their way into the scorebook. Among them: Trent Green, who collected the majority of his season-high 31 points in the first half of play to help get Wellsville started against the Spartans, never looking back on what was a 78-55 win — their fourth over the road in their current six-game road-stand.

“Tonight was a fun one,” said Lions coach Tom Muska. “They play mostly box-and-1 and it gave us a chance to try out some new offenses, and I was pretty happy to see it all work out. It felt like one of those days where our game-plan really worked out. We had success with any offense we tried while taking away their two biggest threats. A lot of the credit goes to Tyler (Vogel) and Aiden (Cowburn) for that. Aiden did an amazing job on being a team player, getting his teammates open against their box-and-1. Tyler did a perfect job of taking away the lob to their big man as well.”

There were a couple of early trades on offense that helped set the dinner table between the two foes early on. With Greece Olympia struggling to assemble a rhythm on offense, the Lions (11-7) turned right around and delivered a haymaker in the shape of a 7-0 run paced by Green at the foul line right before he dished off a nifty pass to a streaking Karson Grover to the rim on a 2-on-1 break.

That, along with a long Ty Vogel triple to help finish off a 20-point stanza to take command of the Spartans after the frame.

Following Greece Olympia’s first basket of the second quarter, Wellsville re-assumed the driver’s seat with eight of the next 10 points on the attack, paced inside by back-to-back lay-ins from JJ Howard and then a two-handed jam from Green on the team’s third straight scoring drive. The Spartans navigated their way around the bumps in the road to inch the gap down to as little as four past midway, but the visitors in black and orange went on to close out the half strong with a 41-30 lead.

The Lions proceeded to lay more brickwork down on their offensive foundation in the second half, as they bolted off on a 16-4 run of Greece Olympia — a jaunt that featured them bucketing nine of the quarter’s first 11 points, closing out the night firing on all cylinders right down to the final buzzer while holding a 60-39 lead that was never threatened.

Finishing behind Green for Wellsville was Vogel, who posted 15 points of his own — nine of those points off three of the team’s four three-pointers from deep. Aiden Cowburn finished with 10 points, while JJ Howard had six to add.

Coming up this weekend, the Lions will finish off their tremendous road-stand with a 4:30 p.m. visit to Byron-Bergen on Saturday.

“We need to keep mentally rolling our sleeves up and prepare for this stretch to keep getting harder,” said Muska. “We just have to keep giving everything that we have. It’s time to grit our teeth and get some wins when it really matters. Everything from open gym, to every shot playing out in the driveway, it comes down to now.”

Wellsville 20 21 19 18 — 78

Greece Olympia 13 17 9 16 — 55

WELLSVILLE: Aiden Cowburn 4 1-4 10, Karson Grover 1 3-4 5, JJ Howard 3 0-0 6, Ty Vogel 6 0-0 15, Nick Germain-Tardieu 0 1-2 1, Jack Davis 2 1-2 5, Trent Green 12 7-9 31, Cole White 1 0-0 2, Derek Coleman 1 1-2 3. Totals: 30 14-23 78.

GREECE OLYMPIA: Caiden Evans 7 2-5 19, Pah Yu 1 1-2 4, Bran’Dale Lester 3 1-2 7, Kahleil Pritchett 2 0-0 4, Fred Schichler 0 0-2 0, Allandiguim Kagde 1 0-0 2, Willie Hopson 2 0-0 5, Arnold Tossah 2 0-0 4, Terry Griffin Jr. 3 1-4 7, Connor Welker 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 5-15 55.

3-point goals: Wellsville 4 (Vogel 3, Cowburn), Olympia 6 (Evans 3, Yu, Hopson, Welker).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 18, Olympia 18. Fouled out: None.

Friendship/Scio 47, Hammondsport 42

SCIO — If there was any momentum to unearth and put towards Tuesday night’s clash with Fillmore, the start to what is the final full week of regular season action for the Friendship/Scio boys, was it. On Monday from within their home confines in Scio, they had to overcome an early second half deficit after a dominant finish was pasted onto the scoreboard by visiting Hammondsport.

After chipping away in the midst of a back-and-forth trade, the hosts put themselves within reach. Not only did they put themselves back in striking distance, but they kept going and going just like the Energizer Bunny. As a result of their pressurized efforts, Friendship/Scio came away victorious after what was a stellar 12-0 run of the Lakers to complete the comeback win by a close 47-42 final tally.

“I was really happy with Jerimiah Brown tonight, he had a big game for us. He’s 6-5 and he has put in a lot of work over the last two years, and he’s shown great signs of improvement. Hopefully, this was a sign of more things to come,” Friendship/Scio coach Dillon McFall said. “In general, it was pretty back-and-forth. We were down by seven with five minutes left, and the guys just ramped it up on defense and finished the game holding them scoreless. I told them at the end how proud I was of their effort. We definitely would have crumbled if this was earlier in the season, but they’ve come a long way since then. They’ve matured a lot.”

Before Friendship/Scio (7-10) turned the gears on their comeback efforts, they had to navigate their way back from behind against Hammondsport after their hot start in the opening quarter faltered out of sight in the next eight minute progression. With an 8-0 run progressing in the midst of their 15-7 lead in the second, the Lakers turned the heat up full bore, as they registered a massive run of their own, freezing the hosts with 15 of the frame’s next 17 points to go over top with a 22-17 halftime lead.

For much of the third quarter, the two foes battled tooth and nail across the board, with the Lakers remaining in front in the fourth quarter with a 42-35 lead on Friendship/Scio — the largest degree of separation from either side. But there was still plenty of time left for the hosts in white and gold to make the most out of every bit of it.

They advanced to do just that, with Jerome Harmon and his massive go-ahead three-point play aiding the way forward initially for Friendship/Scio, as he bookended the final moments of battle for the offense in between two clutch shots from Jerimiah Brown at the charity stripe to extend their lead out to three, closing out with a breakaway basket to officially ice the game.

Brown led all scorers for Friendship/Scio with a team-high 16 points — the first number from within a titanic double-double for the team, as he garnered 15 rebounds and posted three blocks along the way to finish out his best performance of the season. Aiden Golden pitched in 13 points of his own, while Deacon Brown had nine. Harmon added more special teams assistance, scoring eight rebounds and six helpers.

Friendship/Scio will get right back onto the court in Scio tonight, as they host Fillmore at 7:30 p.m.

Hammondsport 7 15 9 11 — 42

Friendship/Scio 13 4 11 19 — 47

HAMMONDSPORT: Henry Morrison 10 2-2 24, Gaige Buck 1 0-0 3, Jamie Howell 0 1-2 1, Miles Buckley 3 0-0 8, Terrill Mack 1 4-6 6. Totals: 15 7-10 42.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Jerome Harmon 2 1-5 5, Connor Blouvet 2 0-0 4, Aiden Golden 5 2-2 13, Jerimiah Brown 6 3-5 16, Deacon Brown 4 1-3 9. Totals: 19 7-15 47.

3-point goals: Hammondsport 5 (Morrison 2, Buckley 2, Buck), F/S 2 (Golden, J. Brown).
Total Fouls: Hammondsport 15, F/S 16. Fouled out: None.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Pioneer 50, Wellsville 45 (F-OT)

WELLSVILLE — Final preparations for Sectionals have begun for the Lady Lions of Wellsville, as they look to move full steam ahead into the postseason while looking to make a ton of noise throughout the Class B1 bracket along the way.

Monday night was the penultimate contest in the Lion’s Den for the regular season, one that saw them take aim at avenging an early season loss to the Pioneer Lady Panthers. Only this time, the two foes engaged in close quarters battle all the way down to the end, with the Lady Lions engineering their destiny into the final moments.

Holding a seven-point advantage — the largest of its kind between the two clubs, the Lady Panthers provided a late spark underneath the rim, using some massive offensive rebounding to keep the game alive. Ultimately forcing overtime in the same swing, Pioneer managed to maintain the momentum going into the extra four-minute session with a rapid start to maintain their advantage in the front, as they went on to record the season-series sweep of Wellsville with a 50-45 final tally.

Through the bulk of first half play, both Pioneer and Wellsville interlocked a back-and-forth exchange, especially in the opening quarter when the Lady Lions (12-5) fueled an 8-4 lead in the early-going. The advantage was erased later on by the Lady Panthers, as they maintained an offensive groove through a small string of six straight points to eventually go towards a 13-12 lead.

The scoring on each end of the floor decelerated in pace, but later sped up down the stretch in the second quarter with the help of a great drive to the rim from Caelyn Stevens, and a long three-pointer from Natalie Adams with next to 10 seconds remaining to grant the Lady Lions some breathing room going into the break.

In the third, the back-and-forth exchanges reignited with a 28-26 lead in favor of Pioneer coming to form. But it was an advantage that did not last much longer, as Wellsville found the basket for seven straight points — with Adams and Stevens both charging the efforts with less than a minute remaining in the frame.

With the Lady Panthers closing the gap one more time while the final seconds ticked down, Adams came through the clutch one more time with a buzzer-beating teardrop while under pressure to bag a 35-31 lead for the hosts.

The Lady Lions fed off the momentum heading into the fourth quarter, where they established the night’s largest lead of seven points — a 41-33 advantage over Pioneer that was kept well intact down the stretch. As for the visitors in green and white, they were able to capitalize on clutch offensive rebounding underneath the Lady Lions basket, scoring three straight attempts from long range in the process — the latter of those attempts, finding its way down through the twine in the midst of an 8-0 run to tie the game at 41 with less than 60 seconds remaining.

With possession in their favor for the last sequence of regulation, the Lady Lions advanced the ball for an inbound deep in their offensive zone. Instead, a heads-up play by the Pioneer defense nearly granted them an opportunity to win the game, stealing the ball to make a final mad dash to the rim before time expired. But the game-winning opportunity could not find its way down, as Pioneer’s late run forced four more minutes of basketball.

Despite not cashing in on their chance to claim victory in regulation, Pioneer shifted their fourth quarter momentum into the early moments of overtime where they added the stanza’s first four points in the midst of what was a 12-0 run of the Lady Lions to lay claim on a 45-41 advantage that was threatened down the stretch, but never reversed course, as the Lady Panthers held on tight to bring out the brooms on a sweep of the series.

Adams led all scorers for the Lady Lions with a team-high 16 points. Right behind her was Makenna Dunbar, who posted 13 points of her own. Stevens had five points.

Prior to the JV contest, Pioneer helped set up a sweep of the entire evening in the Lion’s Den with a 45-37 victory over Wellsville. Leading the Lady Lions was Hailey Cowburn and her team-high 15 points.

Wellsville now hits the road for two of their last three games of the regular season, beginning on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. visit to Olean.

Pioneer 13 4 14 10 9 — 50

Wellsville 12 9 14 6 4 — 45

PIONEER: Bailei Hopkins 2 0-0 5, Jayden Leederman 5 0-2 13, Celsy Colombo 4 0-0 9, Shay Edwards 1 0-0 2, Abby Mason 9 0-2 21. Totals: 21 0-4 50.

WELLSVILLE: Caelyn Stevens 2 1-3 5, Natalie Adams 7 0-2 16, Alexa Hennessy 1 1-2 4, Emily Stuck 0 2-2 2, Makenna Dunbar 3 5-6 13, Jaden Dunbar 1 1-2 3. Totals: 15 10-17 45.
3-point goals: Pioneer 8 (Leederman 3, Mason 3, Hopkins, Colombo), Wellsville 5 (Adams 2, M. Dunbar 2, Hennessy).
Total Fouls: Pioneer 15, Wellsville 9. Fouled out: None.

Fillmore 47, Warsaw 19

FILLMORE — The Fillmore Lady Eagles exploded onto the scene in a big way on Monday, as they bolted out of the gate with a first quarter lead over visiting Warsaw that allowed them to set the tone going forward, continuing their winning ways with their fifth in a row in what was a 47-19 home win over the Lady Tigers in The Rock.

“The energy I saw tonight from the team was fantastic. The girls came out flying and they just committed to doing the little things well. We rebounded, defended and we ran the floor with a lot of intensity tonight. We had great balance in our scoring and all eight girls were focused on their job.” said Lady Eagles coach Tom Parks.

The Lady Eagles (16-1) were highlighted by a tremendous balance across the board on offense, using every ounce of it to provide a momentous footstep in the opening eight minutes, controlling both ends of the floor strongly with a 15-4 run of the Lady Tigers to take firm command right away.

After a brief exchange that saw them branch their lead heading into halftime, the hosts in white and green put the game out of reach by holding Warsaw to just two points in the midst of a 13-2 third quarter run.

In the midst of all the equal scoring for Fillmore, it was Morghyn Ross who emerged as the team’s leading scorer, as she posted a game-high 11 points. Right behind her was Emalyn Mucher and Mattie McCumiskey, as both Lady Eagles bucketed 10 points of their own. Mylee Miller and Lily Sisson each had six points, while Tenlee Miller rounded off with the team’s remaining four points.

Fillmore is back on the floor on Thursday, hosting Friendship/Scio in a 6 p.m. tip-off.

Warsaw 4 6 2 7 — 19

Fillmore 15 9 13 10 — 47

WARSAW: Emily Klump 2 1-2 7, Lexi Cox 1 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Treutlein 1 0-0 2, Maddie Schurr 2 0-0 4, Zoe Kaminski 1 0-0 2, Kaylyn Dickes 1 0-0 2. Totals: 8 1-4 19.
FILLMORE: Mylee Miller 2 2-2 6, Tenlee Miller 2 0-0 4, Lily Sisson 2 2-4 6, Morghyn Ross 3 3-3 11, Emalyn Mucher 3 3-3 10, Mattie McCumiskey 5 0-0 10. Totals: 17 10-12 47.

3-point goals: Warsaw 2 (Klump), Fillmore 3 (Ross 2, Mucher).
Total Fouls: Warsaw 11, Fillmore 12. Fouled out: None.

Andover/Whitesville 42, Bolivar-Richburg 26

WHITESVILLE — Following tough defeats to the hands of Fillmore, Arkport-Canaseraga and Genesee Valley/Belfast last week, the Andover/Whitesville girls returned to winning form on Monday in Whitesville, as they deployed a powerful first half against visiting Bolivar-Richburg and cemented it all the way to the end to paste a 42-26 victory into the ledger.

Andover/Whitesville (12-4) used an early three-point presence to establish their ground on the attack right away, with three different scorers — Makenna Vance, Graci Lewis-Ellison and Olivia Waters all finding the twine from downtown to account for nine of the team’s 13 points within the frame, as they utilized a 13-5 advantage over the Lady Wolverines.

The balance then settled in across the second quarter to finish off the first half on a positive note, with five different contributors all wedging their way through the Bolivar-Richburg (7-11) defense for at least a basket while the defense, in turn, buckled down and held their opposition at a near standstill, posting a 12-2 run that ultimately aided towards cementing their lead against the visitors in black and red for good.

Waters led the offensive efforts for Andover/Whitesville with a game-high 13 points. Makenna Vance chipped in with 10 points, while Stella Bledsoe had eight of her own to pitch in.

The Lady Wolverines were paced by a 10-point team-leading performance from Carmen Crowley. Raegan Giardini had nine points.

Both teams are back on the floor Wednesday night, with Andover/Whitesville hitting the road for a 7:30 p.m. visit to Cuba-Rushford, while Bolivar-Richburg heads back home to welcome Friendship/Scio in for battle at 6:30 p.m.

Bolivar-Richburg 5 2 13 6 — 26

Andover/Whitesville 13 12 11 6 — 42

BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Nadia Baldwin 1 0-0 3, Emma Sisson 1 0-0 2, Carmen Crowley 5 0-0 10, Raegan Giardini 4 1-2 9, Madyson Stanton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 1-2 26.

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Braelyn Palmatier 1 0-0 2, Makenna Vance 4 0-0 10, Stella Bledsoe 4 0-1 8, Graci Lewis-Ellison 2 0-0 5, Lilly Harrington 1 1-2 4, Olivia Waters 5 2-2 13. Totals: 17 3-5 42.

3-point goals: B-R 1 (Baldwin), A/W 5 (Vance 2, Lewis-Ellison, Harrington, Waters).
Total Fouls: B-R 12, A/W 10. Fouled out: None.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 48, Friendship/Scio 14

SCIO — After falling to the hands of Cuba-Rushford at the end of last week, the Genesee Valley/Belfast girls wanted to make sure their start to their last full week of the regular season was one of strong importance. On Monday, the team concocted the ingredients to brew up a bounce back victory over the road, this time at Friendship/Scio, as they went on to score a 48-14 win in Scio to get back on track.

Genesee Valley/Belfast (11-8) utilized a strong start and a strong finish to their game to construct their victory back on the road, with the tone being set after a dominant defensive outing in the first eight minutes to keep Friendship/Scio away from the rim, using the momentum back the other way on offense to post a 12-0 lead at the conclusion of the quarter.

After Friendship/Scio (3-13) climbed aboard with an even split of offense right alongside them, Genesee Valley/Belfast went right back to work to close out the game strong with a powerful third quarter on the attack and a 9-0 finish in the fourth quarter to seal it for good.

Leading the way in the midst of a balanced offensive output for the visitors in black was Bayleigh Tallman, as she tallied a game-high 12 points. Kate Calanni was not far behind, netting 10 points. Keanna Sands had seven points to chip in.

For the hosts in white and gold, Emily Lamberson and Alexiss Herring each led the way with five points.

Both teams are back on the floor Wednesday night, with Genesee Valley/Belfast hosting their final regular season game in Belmont at 7:30 p.m. against Hinsdale, while Friendship/Scio hits the road themselves for a 6:30 p.m. visit to Bolivar-Richburg.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 12 11 16 9 — 48

Friendship/Scio 0 11 3 0 — 14

GV/BELFAST: Keanna Sands 3 0-1 7, Bayleigh Tallman 5 2-2 12, Whitney Young 1 1-2 4, Addisyn Ely 2 1-2 5, Alexa Ely 2 0-0 4, Kate Calanni 5 0-3 10, Ava Aronson 1 2-2 4, Jenna Hill 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 6-12 48.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Emily Lamberson 2 1-2 5, Huntar Hint 1 0-0 2, Avery Lamberson 1 0-2 2, Alexiss Herring 2 1-2 5. Totals: 6 2-6 14.

3-point goals: GVB 2 (Sands, Young).
Total Fouls: GVB 13, F/S 12. Fouled out: None.