Hoops ABCs

There are three boys basketball games Tuesday night which will determine the overall classification champions of Section VI.

At Buffalo State, three Yale Cup teams are part of a doubleheader. At 6 p.m., Class B-1 champion Olean (21-1) will take on B-2 winner City Honors (15-8) at 6 p.m. in the Class B game. At 7:45 p.m., McKinley (18-6) will try and follow its win over Grover Cleveland in the A-1 final with a victory over A-2 champion East. The Class C championship has two teams returning to Jamestown Community College for a 7 p.m. tipoff as Maple Grove (21-2) meets Allegany-Limestone (15-8).

Vote in the polls below and let us know why your picks will win via the comments section.

Opinion Polls & Market Research	Opinion Polls & Market Research
Opinion Polls & Market Research

My votes? In C-B-A order, Maple Grove, Olean, McKinley.

If Maple Grove pummeled Randolph in the C-2 final, odds are there's more of the same to come when the take on an Allegany-Limestone team which wasn't ranked in the small school poll all season.

Both Olean coach Jeff Anastasia and City Honors coach John Kudla seemed like they knew their teams didn't play their best games on Saturday; if both do, it could be a very enjoyable. There's a nice big man matchup with Honors' 6-5 senior Abram Miller and Olean's 6-8 senior Jacob Houseknecht, while both teams get very good guard play and have very nice swingmen in 6-4 senior Sam Moore (Olean) and 6-2 junior Marcus Smith (Honors). I'm following my poll vote from all season by thinking that Olean's best game is a little better than Honors'.

In Class A, one could say that East is playing the better ball after it thumped Depew (33-9 at half), but McKinley just beat everyone's preseason Glens Falls pick in this class in Grover. Eliminating the Presidents, along with a regular season home win over East (54-53) and last season's run to Glens Falls will give you a lot of confidence. Last year McKinley won some ugly games in sectional week before playing an outstanding Class A final by dominating Maryvale. So our pick is the Macks, back-to-back. It should be fun: East's Jamal Webb and McKinley's Mansa Habeeb have been two of the most fun players to watch during championship week, and both teams have excellent inside-outside big men in Chandler Williams and Tamere Shannon for McKinley and Brandon Hall and Damien Goodwin for East. Both also have deep benches; McKinley played 10 in the win over Grover while East has a trusty eight including 6-foot reserve guard Michael Johnson, who had a great all-around effort against Depew.

Class AA champion Niagara Falls (23-1) and Class D winner Pine Valley (15-8) have already earned berths in the Far West Regionals, which will be held at Buffalo State on Friday (Class D, 6 p.m.; A-7:45)and Saturday (Class C-1 p.m., B-2:45; Class AA-6 p.m.).

The only team from Section V (Rochester area) which is set for a trip to Buffalo State is Class A winner Pittsford-Sutherland (17-6). There are four Section V playoffs this week that will determine the others; check them out at this helpful calendar page at Section V's outstanding Web site.

---Keith McShea

Comments

[hoopster]

hoopfan, an interesting match-up. I know what you're saying about the Al Pastor showing and I wasn't overly impresed either. Let's keep in mind though who the competition was Grover, who many thought for a large part of the season was WNY's best team, and East who is also very good and tough to play. I think this should be a good game and Olean, while encountering problems with Prophet and Ivey, will do a better job with the ball. They'll need more than Sam Moore on the offensive to win and perhaps they'll get some offensive spark from Donohue again. On the other hand City Honors will have to show a lot more hustle than they did Saturday. Akron routinely beat them in transition especially in the first half.

[hoopfan555]

no i didnt watch the game im judging from there performance in the al pastor. they could have very easily improved but then they were easily intimidated out quicked and they are poor ball handlers I believe ivey and prophet will take advantage of that

[centercourt]

Champ - Olean's two losses came from Grover (by 17) and East (by 11). City Honors lost to Grover by 25 and East by 10.
It's hard to say if they are much improved, they had several big wins against lesser opponents and got past Akron.
After seeing the two big men again on Saturday, I would give Miller the edge on offense and say that Houseknecht is the better defender. Should be a very interesting match-up considering Honors likes to go inside to Miller and Jake is a shot blocking force. Tretter from Akron showed the ability to get Houseknecht off his feet and scored against him with some great post moves. If Miller can do the same, the Centaurs have a great shot.
The guard play looks to be fairly even, maybe even favoring Honors, but I don't know who from Honors can defend Moore and keep him off the glass. He can play inside and out, but I would expect him to take advantage of Miller being tied up with Houseknecht and attack the basket.
An edge Honors has is they play in a much tougher league and also scheduled non-league games against Nichols, NC, and Depew. Olean played Maple Grove, Lockport, Bradford x 2, and Jamestown (before they turned the corner).
Should be a great game, followed by a great game.

[hoopster]

hoopfan, you must have missed Saturday's game. The Donohue kid have several 3s and really was an important factor in the win for Olean. Look for Jake Housknecht to swat numerous shots. His strength, at this point, is on the defensive end. I think Miller will have his moments, but it won't be easy. I look for a pretty close game, but think Olean will prevail.

As for East/McKinley, largely agree with centyercourt. While Habeeb had a marvelous game against Grover, I think East will pay him a little more attention than Grover. Consequently I don't think he'll light it up the way he did against Grover. On the other hand, don't think the Macks have anyone to match-up with Webb. Jamal should be the difference, but we'll see tonight.

[StateChamps2003]

I would love to see City Honors win this game as I am a basketball alum of the school and have been rooting for them all year but I have not seen Olean play at all this year.

Who did Olean lose to at the begining of the year (I think in the Al Pastor tourney) and are they the same team from then or are they a much improved team. And if they are that much improved then why the lackluster performance in the B-1 final? Also, which big man do you think has the edge, Miller or Houseknecht? I think this game is going to come down to the guard play of each team. It's unfortunate that Byron Brown Jr. is out because he is lighting quick guard who can penetrate to the hoop.

[hoopfan555]

i think chs is gonna suprise in my opinion olean has the worst guards ive ever seen Moore and the 6'8'' kid carry the team

[centercourt]

East vs. McKinley

While McKinley has earned six wins at Buff St. over the last three seasons, East is no stranger to the arena either. A one point home win for the Macks earlier this season shows just how close these two teams are and I expect this game to be won in the final minute. This game is loaded with match-ups: Webb and Habeeb are both franchise players who do everything and are always involved in the play. Hall and Chan Williams, Goodwin and Shannon, Jackson and Chris Williams. Then there's coaches Daye and Bryant. I'll pick East to pull this one out behind yet another POY performance by Jamal Webb. And the winner of this game has a great chance to go to Glens Falls.

Olean vs. City Honors

It's one thing to come into a game over confident. But after Olean escaped Akron on Saturday, the postgame comments from Anastasia and one of the players sounded like those of a group who won't afford City Honors much respect either. And I think that would be a big mistake. I do the argument that Olean did not play its best game against Akron. But what bothers me is that the Huskies do play their best game all season and consistently blow teams out. Then on the biggest stage of the season, against a team with heart, they aren't ready to go. I'll pick the upset and look for City Honors to stun an Olean squad that doesn't think it could lose. If the Centaurs can defend Sam Moore and keep him taking the game over, they'll have a great chance.