Prep Talk

Here we are: the fifth and final Section VI boys basketball championship game of the day at Buffalo State Sports Arena. It's No. 1 large school Niagara Falls against Jamestown, a familiar foe of Falls on this court at this time of the year. Jamestown wasn't ranked in the large school top 10 in the most recent poll, but since then they've beaten top 10 teams Riverside and Frontier to make the final.

8:28 p.m. We're running behind by about 15 minutes, thanks to a ton of fouls in the A-1 final in which McKinley knocked off Grover Cleveland (see separate blog). Player introductions and the national anthem are still to come.

8:31 p.m. Vernon James just did the national anthem on his saxophone, which was rigged with a wireless mike, as he walked amongst the assembled teams on the court. Sure beats the heck out of the CD version.

8:41 p.m. We're underway and we have our first timeout, but it's not by Jamestown. The Little Team That Could, with its three 5-foot-5 starters, has jumped to a 13-9 lead over Falls with 3:52 to play in the first quarter. Carlos Rivera, a 5-5 sophomore, has hit two threes.

8:43 p.m. Jamestown calls a timeout with 2:59 left in the first and now the score tied at 13-13.

8:45 p.m. Another Jamestown timeout. There's 1:25 to play in the first and Falls has gone on a 10-0 run to take a 19-13 lead.

8:49 p.m. We're at the end of the first quarter and Falls has a 23-17 lead. Jordan White, one of the 5-5 trio, hit a three-pointer while Marcus McAffee, another 5-5-er, hit two free throws in the last minute to stem the tide for Jamestown.

8:58 p.m. Jamestown calls a timeout with 3:21 left in the second quarter. Falls has a 30-19 lead after starting the quarter with a 7-2 run.

9:04 p.m. It's halftime and Falls is up, 37-21. T.J. Crittenden hit a three-pointer and then found Eric Spanbauer with a great bounce pass for a layup in the final 1:30 of the half. Falls won the quarter, 14-4.

9:15 p.m. The second half starts with a three-point play by Kelvin Agee for Falls, which gives them a 40-21 lead 20 seconds in. A Mike Crumpton layup makes it 42-21 with 6:54 to go, and Jamestown calls a timeout.

9:19 p.m. Another three-point play by Agee has Falls up, 45-21, with 6:00 left in the third quarter. We've got to get to work on our story, so the updates will be less frequent from here on in.

9:34 p.m. At the end of the third quarter, Niagara Falls leads, 67-34.

9:51 p.m. It's over. The FINAL SCORE is Niagara Falls 78, Jamestown 55.

---Keith McShea