Tonight I'll see two large school top 10 matchups: the Yale Cup I finale of McKinley at Riverside, then be at Bishop Timon-St. Jude as the Tigers host Canisius at 7:30 p.m.
While I'll have updates from those games, tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will also automatically show up in the live blog. So if you are a game tonight (including the ECIC II showdown of Williamsville South at Williamsville East) and you're updating via Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. I'll have periodic tweets updating the game at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my play-by-play updating will come in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, where you can check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
See you out at the games, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
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Video reporter/producer Lauren Mariacher will be at Riverside and Timon and she (and possibly I) will stop by Medaille as OTC Middle College tries to complete an undefeated season against MST Seneca.
We'll have a PrepTalkTV episode posted as soon as possible. Photo-videographer John Hickey will be at Williamsville East.
Tonight's lineup isn't the busiest, but I'll be on hand for McKinley's visit to East at 6 p.m. The Macks have shown they are the team to beat in the Yale Cup, while the Panthers have been a ranked small school for much of the season.
While I'll have updates from that game, tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will also automatically show up in the live blog. So if you are a game tonight and you're updating via Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. I'll have periodic tweets updating the game at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my play-by-play updating will come in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, where you can check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
See you out at the games, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
PrepTalkTV was on the court and the ice Thursday night -- and that's where St. Joe's won a pair of big games.
Check out highlights, interviews and analysis as well as coverage of big wins for MST Seneca and Frontier -- plus a lookahead to the season's final week:
I didn't get to ECC-City for OTC Middle College's game with City Honors as early as I wanted to (don't ask!) but I certainly saw plenty of reasons why the Kats are having a fine season.
They routed a City Honors team that had won seven straight with a balanced lineup for a 73-43 win. Check out the box score and details.
Here are the Kats talking about the win and their season:
Tonight we'll be starting at the Yale Cup I battle of No. 8 small school East at No. 10 large school Hutch-Tech and ending with No. 3 large school Jamestown's trip to Williamsville North in ECIC I action.
While I'll have updates from those games, tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will also automatically show up in the live blog. So if you are a game tonight and you're updating via Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. I'll have periodic tweets updating the game at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my updating will come in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, where you can check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
See you out at the games, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
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The PrepTalkTV video will be posted as soon as possible tonight.
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If you were monitoring the live blog, or if you read through it later, you're probably wondering -- as I was -- waddup with that point that disappeared?
Well, the point did disappear.
After Sterling Taplin hit a three-pointer, that drew Will North to within 46-39. A few plays later a point was taken off the scoreboard -- and you can see in the live blog how that was very puzzling to me.
The problem was, there was a discrepancy over a made free throw by Winkler. That free throw was not recorded in each team's scorebook (I have pictures of them). North's statistician, doing stats from the stands, did record the free throw, as I did -- but he was not keeping track of the total score as I was.
At some point, at the scorer's table, the books thought they had a discrepancy with the scoreboard. I was on the other side of the court, so I don't know how this went down. But typically, if there is a discrepancy, the two books are compared and the rule is that the home book rules. After this happened, the point was taken off the board.
And at that point, there's nothing else that can be done. At that point, an incorrect score, in effect, by rule, becomes the correct one. It obviously took a while for me to figure things out, but that's the full explanation.
Unfortunately, mistakes are made. I do not envy the individuals who do the scorebooks. They are volunteers (and often students), the job is NOT easy (take it from someone who tries to write down every basket and do it correctly) and the pressure on them can be immense.
I might write about this for my next Prep Talk column. We'll see what my editor says. :-)
It's a busy night in boys basketball from the city to the Southern Tier. I'll be doing some traveling around doing some updates here and via Twitter.
Tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will automatically show up in the live blog. So if you are a game tonight and you're updating via Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. I'll have periodic tweets updating the game at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my updating will come in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, and check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
See you out at the games, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
Tonight, our focus is on one game, as it should be.
We'll have a live blog going below from the terrific 7 p.m. matchup of top-ranked large school Canisius at No. 3 St. Joe's.
Tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will automatically show up there. So if you are out at one of tonight's many other good matchups, and you're updating that game via Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. I'll have periodic tweets updating the game at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my updating will come in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, and check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
See you out at the big game, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
Here's more, starting with video interviews with the victorious Lancers (classy job by St. Mary's coach Dan Gill starting his postgame comments by lauding longtime Timon coach/athletic director Jim Palano, who will be retiring at year's end):
I walked in at halftime and immediately saw that St. Mary's was ready to play in South Buffalo. Timon senior sharpshooter Kyle Kobis drained a jumper in the final seconds, but it left just enough time for Erik Simmons to speed to the other end and beat the buzzer for a tie at 33-33.
St. Mary's shot the lights out in the second half, but it's not like they just had a good shooting night, like one of those everything-they-were-throwing-up-went-in deals. They certainly shot the ball well, but most of the baskets came off good shots created by good passing and good decisions during good possessions. Some of it came off of alert, fundamental defense and/or rebounding.
The Lancers played with a confidence, an intelligence and a togetherness on both ends of the floor that was more than impressive. That play was rewarded with a big lead, and when Timon had Kobis and Jordan Williams hit big shots to give the Tigers a chance, St. Mary's responded.
Here's a recounting of the second half from my notebook & going over the game film (that means my iPhone video :-) ):
Third quarter
Redden hit a three-pointer (36-33). ... Ryan Winnicki hit a three off an Erik Simmons drive-and-kickout (39-37). ... Jake Denz got fouled on a three-pointer and sunk all three FTs (42-39). ... Simmons with a spectacular drive finished with an up-and-under scoop-to-the-hoop (44-39). ... Simmons again with a drive (46-39). ... Denz with a nice follow of a missed Redden drive (48-42). ... An offensive rebound by Paul Rath turned into a three by Nate Meyers (53-45). ... A Redden open three (56-47) was followed by pressure on the inbound that forced a Timon timeout with 1:25 left in the third. ... Denz with a nifty scoop vs. DeMilo Gibbs (58-49). ... Nicc Johnson with a nice-looking pop-up baseline jumper from the right side (60-51) -- that shot was the only one, to me, that was like, wow, they're hitting everything. There was some good defense and I believe the shot clock was running down, and he popped up and hit a tough jumper.
St. Mary's finished the third with a 60-53 lead after Kobis got the benefit of a goaltending call although -- from the way I saw it -- the shot never got above the rim. Kobis, Jordan Williams and Gibbs -- who played very well down low -- were effective on offense to keep Timon in the game.
Fourth quarter
St. Mary's did a great job defending Gibbs in the post, and they did it right from the start. There was some great help defense on Timon's first possession to earn the ball back for St. Mary's.
That was followed by two free throws by Redden after a good, aggressive drive to the basket (62-53). ... Johnson put on a fantastic drive with an off-the-glass finish (64-55). ... Denz made a great play to poke the ball free from a Timon dribbler, leading to a fast break in which Johnson's shot didn't fall but Denz was right there for the follow (66-55), prompting a Timon timeout with 5:48 to go.
Timon made it 66-60 with a little over five minutes to go by doing what they do: Kobis hit a three; Williams drove and scored. At this point, crunch time seemed to get both sides a little tight -- no field goals for about two minutes.
Denz made a nice play to pick off an entry pass for Gibbs, St. Mary's called a timeout with 3:15 left, and then ran a play which resulted in a Denz kickout to Simmons for a three (69-60).
This started a nice-back-and-forth (video below) that saw a Jordan Williams crossover-and-fadeaway (69-62), then a Redden jumper off a Meyers kickout (71-62), then a Zach Hayes follow of a missed Kobis drive (71-64) that prompted a Timon timoeut with 2:03 left.
Redden took advantage of some loose Timon defense to score on a drive (73-64); Kobis hit a three (73-67) to make it a two-possession game with about 1:20 to go. St. Mary's had some great ball movement against some aggressive defense that resulted in Denz finding Redden on the baseline but that was one shot that rimmed out for the Lancers. It was still a two-possession game with 1:00 left.
Big play here. Jordan Williams got the ball on the left wing, faked out his man and drove to the basket, and Denz came off his man (Gibbs) and drew a charging foul on Williams with 37.6 to go.
Now, I am the biggest anti-flopping basketball fan in the world. I think the beautiful game of basketball is soiled by "take a charge," which I like to call flopping, because that's what it is most of the time. That being said, and this is a testament to how difficult this call is to make for officials (maybe the most difficult in sports?), at first glance I thought this was a good call.
But when I went to the iPhone video, it was a block. Williams is leaving the floor as Denz slides over. Denz makes sure he gets a shoulder in Williams' way and falls to the floor. That's defense? That's not defense, but that's what passes for defense in basketball for many people these days. The offensive player blows by his defender, has a clear lane, and he's made his move to the basket truly before the help defender has established position.
The shot didn't fall, and it would have been two free throws, so Timon would certainly have had a better shot to win. I don't think they got robbed of the game whatsoever. St. Mary's went 0 for 2 down the stretch so Timon still had a shot to win. I definitely think St. Mary's deserved this one, big-time. And to be clear: This is not a knock on Denz by any means. He was fantastic on both ends, he did a great job fronting DeMillo in the fourth quarter, and the charge play was one of several smart ones he made during the game -- including not inbounding the ball on this final play.
Overall, a fantastic performance by St. Mary's. Timon may have underperformed a bit, but they were mostly outplayed by St. Mary's.
I'll be headed to another top 10 large school-small school matchup of the Monsignor Martin Association this evening when Canisius hosts Archbishop Walsh at 6:30 p.m.
I'll talk about that game, the St. Mary's game, Friday's Canisius at St. Joe's game, today's Prep Talk column, the basketball polls, the Power 10 and whatever else comes up during our video chat starting at 9 p.m.
1. Canisius (9-4) [last ballot: 1] -- I'm sticking with these guys, Friday night guests of the guys who beat Aquinas.
2. Niagara Falls (9-3) [2] -- Sticking with these guys here over ...
3. St. Joe's (13-2) [6] -- ... the guys who beat Aquinas.
In other seasons, a win over one of the best programs in the state would vault a team, especially a 13-2 team, to the top. I would argue that Aquinas should be ranked No. 1 in a combined Section V/Section VI/Monsignor Martin Association poll. And in voting St. Joe's No. 3 here, I guess I would have Aquinas at the top? Canisius played Aquinas tough at home without Matt Hart. Aquinas lost at St. Joe's without starter Jarron Jones, who is certainly a great body to have in the lineup but certainly not the kind of impact player that Phil Valenti or Christian White or Jhamahl Pardner are.
For me, it came down to my gut, based on what I've seen and gathered from this season. I would take No. 1 and No. 2 over No. 3 if they played. Which means I would take No. 1 over No. 3 no matter where they played. And would you look at this: No. 1 Canisius at No. 3 St. Joe's on Friday night. PrepTalkTV will be there (duh :-) ).
[After-the-votes-were-tallied note: I'm quite surprised that St. Joe's didn't get more than one No. 1 vote. I thought I might be on an island in considering Canisius still at the top.]
4. Jamestown (10-1) [3] -- Slide down with Joe's moving up. (at Clarence on Ridiculously Busy Friday).
5. Bishop Timon-St. Jude (11-3) [4] -- Make that two. (hosting Kearney on Ridiculously Busy Friday).
6. McKinley (8-2) [5] -- Make that three. (
7. Riverside (8-2) [7] -- Same spot for Frontiers, and with exams this week we're not expected to learn much about the city teams ...
8. Hutch-Tech (6-3) [8] -- ... including these guys.
9. Williamsville East (11-2) [9] -- Really liked the way the Flames played without their coach, on rival's floor, against a program that had owned them the last six years or so. Liked the team play big-time. They play together on both ends, they are fundamentally sound, they have guys making unselfish plays, with 6-foot-3 Isaiah Kaudeyr making a ton of them. I wanted to vote them higher -- but they're just kind of stuck here in some sense. These three are in like a tie for seventh.
10. Kenmore West (9-2) [10] -- Blue Devils (at Niagara Falls on Ridiculously Busy Friday) still a step ahead of other contenders for this spot, a huddle that Frontier just rejoined after completing a season sweep of a Will North team I thought was on an upswing. East Aurora definitely in this crowd, Will South, Cheektowaga and maybe even Amherst too from competitive ECIC III that also includes top 10 small school Depew. Tough to figure out where the rest of ECIC I fits with Lancaster beating Clarence, along with Orchard Park beating Hamburg and then OP losing to Sweet Home in its next game. The rest of the NFL probably is in that neighborhood.
SMALL SCHOOLS
1. Olean (11-1) [1] -- Schedule check: Dunkirk at Olean, next Tuesday, Jan. 31.
2. St. Mary's (11-5) [2] -- Fairly close ones over Nichols and Niagara Catholic and a huge blowout of St. Francis. Hmm.
3. OTC Middle College (6-3) [3] -- Host MST Seneca on Ridiculously Busy Friday.
4. Archbishop Walsh (11-3) [6] -- Chances to see these guys up north: Wednesday at Canisius, Friday at St. Francis. Scheduling note: First game with St. Mary's is home on Jan. 31.
5. Tonawanda (12-0) [5] -- A week after I wrote how impressed I was at Lackawanna, I can't say the same about the home win over Holland. Part of the reason for the Walsh promotion.
6. Depew (7-4) [7] -- I liked what I saw from Cheektowaga in close loss to I-Prep (probably No. 11 on this list) at MLK Classic; Cheektowaga just won in OT at Depew. I suppose you could argue that these Wildcats should drop further, but ECIC III is no picnic with large schools like Cheektowaga, Amherst and EA (which got a good run from Maryvale the other night).
7. Wilson (8-2) [8] -- I saw one quarter in a tiny, packed, loud CSAT gym and really liked what I saw. Diez hitting threes, Martin playing like a senior, well-run operation. Like Will East, wanted to vote them higher, but just couldn't.
8. MST Seneca (8-1) [4] -- Drop down with loss to City Honors, which moved probably from Top 20 to Top 15 with that win.
9. East (4-6) [9] -- Saw them against McKinley without top guard Johnathon Lewis. Team deserves to be -- just holding on -- in the top 10.
10. Silver Creek (7-1) [10] -- Hosting Portville, one of many contenders for this spot, on Ridiculously Busy Friday.
Don't like what you're reading? The comment space is below.
It was a busy night in the gyms and a busy night for PrepTalkTV: Highlights and interviews from six games, discussion of even more and a look ahead to next week:
