The spring season's Championship Week continues today with several major events, including the Section VI girls lacrosse finals tripleheader at All High Stadium.
That's where I'll be, providing play-by-play updates in the live blog below for the Class A (Lancaster vs. Frontier, 3:30 p.m.), B (Hamburg vs. West Seneca East, 5:30) and C games (Lake Shore vs. Amherst, 8 p.m.).
The Georgetown Cup series between St. Joe's and Canisius is set to get started (4:30 at St. Joe's) after yesterday's postponement, as is the Section VI Class A boys lacrosse final of Orchard Park vs. Clarence at Hamburg (5:30). There are also several softball finals and semifinals and baseball finals on today's schedule.
If you are at one of today's big games, be sure to tweet updates with the hashtag #preptalkscores. Those tweets will automatically appear in the live blog below.
Hello from the University at Buffalo and the Section VI Wrestling Championships -- great to have both Division I and II in one spot so we can bring you all of the action. Our head might be spinning a little, but we'll do our best with the live blog.
I'll have match-by-match updates in the live blog below and I'll also be providing #preptalkscores updates on Twitter (those will also appear in the blog).
Your tweets with the hashtag #preptalkscores are welcome -- they will appear in the live blog as well. Every night, scoring update tweets (in any sport) are welcome to those on Twitter -- just use the #preptalkscores hashtag.
Check our scoreboard page for a complete schedule of tonight's action; the scoreboard will be updated as we receive game reports throughout the evening.
It's a pretty huge night in high school sports -- and it's a pretty huge night at Clarence. That's where Lauren Mariacher and I will be for two big events.
Wrestling's seventh "Border Brawl" takes place as the Red Devils, ranked first in Western New York, host No. 3 Lancaster at 6:30 p.m. Next door (in the divided gym) at 7:30, the No. 9 large school Clarence boys basketball team hosts ECIC I rival Jamestown, which is ranked third.
Among the other top matchups tonight include No. 1 girls basketball large school Sacred Heart vs. No. 7 Holy Angels at Villa Maria College at 6:30; the father-son matchup of boys basketball coaches Chris (Amherst) and Mark (Maryvale) Kensy in their ECIC III matchup at Maryvale at 7:30; and a high-quality Monsignor Martin small school showdown as No. 7 St. Mary's visits No. 4 Nichols at 7:30.
I'll have updates from games in the live blog below and I'll also be providing #preptalkscores updates on Twitter, which will also appear in the blog.
It is a Super Tuesday in high school sports today with major matchups and championships in baseball, softball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse. If you are at a game and getting your Tweeter on, make sure to tweet to #preptalkscores.
I'll be spending the afternoon and evening at the Section VI girls lacrosse championships at All High Stadium. We'll also have reporters at the Monsignor Martin boys lacrosse championship and the Georgetown Cup baseball semifinals.
While I'll have updates from those games, tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will also automatically show up in the live blog below. 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 girls lacrosse finals at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my play-by-play updating will come in the live blog.
Check out today's full schedule on our scoreboard page, where you can check back throughout the evening for updated scores and highlights.
See you out at the games, in the blog and on the tweeter. :-)
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Note: Super Tuesday is so super-full of high school playoff action that we're covering, that my Prep Talk column & the Power 10 will appear in Friday's paper instead of its traditional Wednesday. That actually will be a better fit for the Power 10 since the pool of teams will be whittled down by then.
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Postgame show from the Section VI girls lacrosse championships:
Lancaster coach Julie Buccieri, sophomore Allie Stewart and junior goalie Karli Pawlak:
Hamburg coach Katy Ryan and senior Amanda Obenshain:
A later addition I overlooked on my phone originally -- because it's quote far away. It's video of Frontier's final possession in the A game, on which a free position was stopped by Emily Pawlak in the final seconds.
The best part about the clip is watching Lancaster coach Julie Buccieri on the far right of the Redskins' sideline. Early on a foul is called, and let's just say she's not thrilled -- then she ends up watching the final play by herself far down the sideline while coaching the defense.
(Be sure to blow up the video to full-screen for a better look.)
One of Western New York’s own, Bill Hurley, will speak on Monday at the Elks Lodge, 33 Legion Parkway in Lancaster as part of the WNY Football Coaches’ Association weekly clinic.
Hurley, a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, is currently an assistant coach at Robert Morris University.
His career as a quarterback at St. Joe's was punctuated by a sensational 1974 senior season in which he was honored as first-team All-Catholic, first team All-Western New York and first-team All-New York State. Hurley set many single-season and career records at St. Joe's, the most significant was his 381-yard rushing total (on 17 carries) against Bishop Turner, a New York State record.
At Syracuse, he continued to put up big numbers. As a sophomore, Hurley threw for 329 yards against ninth-ranked Penn State, breaking the school record by nearly 100 yards. Hurley was a four-year starter at Syracuse (as well as captain and team MVP junior and senior years), and set 23 game, season, and career records. He became just the third quarterback in modern NCAA history to rush for at least 2,000 yards and pass for at least 3,000 yards in a career.
A two-time honorable mention All-American and All-East quarterback, Bill was ECAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1979, selected for the Blue/Gray Football Classic, and was MVP of the East/West Shrine Game and Hula Bowl. He also led the Orange to an Independence Bowl championship in 1979. Hurley spent four seasons in the NFL as a safety with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints, and Buffalo Bills.
Lockport and Lancaster played a downright entertaining game on Tuesday night bringing a close to the 37th annual Section VI Girls Basketball Tournament. This battle of LHS vs. LHS came down to the last second when the Redskins missed a three-pointer that would have tied it.
Instead, Lockport earned the berth into the Far West Regionals with a 57-54 win.This game had many in the crowd of 850 on the edge of their seats at Niagara County Community College. The game had a little bit of everything. It was tied seven times, the last time coming at 51-51 with 3:28 left.
Unsung heroes? How about Lockport's 5-foot-3 junior guard, Alexis Cheatham, who can't weigh enough to donate blood, somehow finding herself alone in the paint with 28.1 seconds left and harmlessly dropping the ball through the hoop giving her team a three-point lead.
Subplots? The coaching matchup featured Lockport's Bill Shaw coaching against his pupil Karen Catalano, who coached in his program for seven years before getting her first varsity assignment two years ago at Lancaster. Shaw's statement that it was a shame someone had to lose wasn't lip service or coach-speak - it was from the heart. It would be a bigger shame if that man is forced out of coaching at Lockport after he retires from teaching in June.
What a display by the senior the post players from both teams. Emma Sobieraski and Marisa Guyton of Lockport can flat out play displaying great instincts, the ability to shoot off balance and negotiate the lane. Lancaster's Katie Healy looked every bit the future Division I player she is. She can play away from the basket, runs the floor like she's on fire, and times her block attempts well. Lancaster's backcourt of Kim Siresi and Sam Wozniak had a way of making Healy feel like they had her back. They don't force the ball inside to Healy. Instead, they are money from three-point range and win most of the battles for those 50-50 balls.
The feeling that both teams respected each other's abilities was in the air. This game was so different from the turnover-fests, jump ball marathons and air ball conventions girls basketball has become. Take a bow Lancaster and Lockport for a game well-played.
---Mary Jo Monnin
(Photo of Lockport's Emma Sobieraski and Lancaster's Katie Healy by Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News)
Lancaster's Courtney Bondanza placed second in the all-around with a score of 37.725 and Lily Jagodzinski of Williamsville North tied for first in the floor exercise with a 9.5, helping Section VI claim the state girls gymnastics title today in Albany.
PrepTalkTV photographer/videographer John Hickey and News Sports Reporter Mary Jo Monnin caught up with several coaches at a Section VI preseason meeting.
Here's what they had to say about their teams and divisions:
Lancaster coach Len Jankiewicz:
Cheektowaga coach Scott Zipp:
Cleveland Hill coach Glen Graham:
Amherst coach Pat Murphy:
Maryvale head coach Jeffrey Buccieri:
Lake Shore coach Chuck Kowalski:
Be sure to check back to the PrepTalk blog as we continue to gear up for the first day of practices all around Western New York on Aug. 15.
Hello from All High Stadium in Buffalo for the Section VI girls lacrosse championships. Class B gets us started with Lake Shore and Hamburg; Class C follows with six-time defending champion Amherst trying for a three-game season sweep of East Aurora at 5:30; at 8 p.m. six-time defending champion Lancaster takes on Frontier in the Class A showdown.
Great venue for all sports -- and it's a wonderful weather day for the action. Should be a great two days here as the boys championship tripleheader is tomorrow.
Class B
3:43 p.m. Lake Shore is off to a quick start, as Lauren Scanlan has three goals and the Eagles have a 4-1 lead with 20:13 left in the first half.
3:45 p.m. Another Scanlan goal, off a nice feed from Vivian Curry, makes it a 5-1 lead for Lake Shore.
3:49 p.m. Two quick goals from Hamburg cut it to 5-3, but another Scanlan goal on a breakaway makes it 6-3 Lake Shore with 16:04 left in the first half.
4:01 p.m. Timeout on the field with 11:01 left in the first half -- the players left their sticks in their places on the turf; ostensibly it is a water-break timeout mandated by officials. It is certainly a hot one here. Lake Shore has teh ball and its 6-3 lead.
4:03 p.m. A great feed from Curry from the right side, a great catch by Scanlan cutting down the middle, and she scores her sixth goal as Lake Shore goes up, 7-3, with 10:08 left in the first half.
4:05 p.m. Solo rush from the right side of the cage for Hamburg's Amanda Obenshain -- her second of the game -- make it 7-4 with 8:59 left in first.
4:07 p.m. Lake Shore answers that with a Curry goal inside to make it 8-4 with 7:56 left in the first half.
4:12 p.m. Obenshain takes a very nice feed from Taylor Wolff on the left doorstep of the cage and she scores to make it 8-5 with 4:08 left in the first half. That came just after a nice save by Lake Shore goalie Kachine Lay.
4:13 p.m. A draw control win and another goal by Obenshain, who made a few dodges in front of the cage before scoring and we're at 8-6 Lake Shore with 3:38 left in the first.
4:18 p.m. Big goal late for Lake Shore, who had been pressuring Hamburg but goalie Lauren Courteau came up with four nice saves in the final two minutes. Shelby Stevens then came up with a big steal of a Hamburg clear; she passed to Scanlan, who found a slashing Alie Jimerson for a nice catch and score for a 9-6 lead with 11.4 left.
4:22 p.m. We are at HALFTIME and Lake Shore leads Hamburg, 9-6.
Obenshain went down with an injury with 5.2 seconds left and was writhing on the field for a few moments before trotting off the field.
Lake Shore seems to be overpowering with Scanlan playing a big part of draw controls and the offense, but Hamburg continues to keep hanging around.
4:38 p.m. Curry comes back with her third goal to answer one by Obenshain; Lake Shore leads, 10-7, with 22:08 left.
4:42 p.m. Curry on a clear breakway from midfield -- she sprints to the cage and fires an overhead shot under the crossbar to make it 11-7; 30 seconds later Scanlan makes a great catch of a feed, then whirls in front of the cage to score for a 12-7 lead with 19:45 to go in the game.
4:44 p.m. Obenshian up the middle after a penalty and Hamburg pulls within 12-8 with 18:23 left.
4:45 p.m. Official-mandated water break with 18:18 left in the game and Lake Shore up, 12-8.
4:54 p.m. Hamburg got a great goal from Megan Mikolajek, who went coast-to-coast after a steal deep in the Hamburg end. ... but Curry scores two straight to push the Lake Shore lead to 14-9 with 14:18 left.
4:58 p.m. Lake Shore scores again as Scanlan fires it in for her eighth goal -- the lead is now 15-9 with 11:57 left and Hamburg takes a timeout.
5:03 p.m. Obenshain scores her seventh goal in front to make it a 15-10 lead for Lake Shore with 9:21 left.
5:04 p.m. Curry comes right back -- a familiar theme there for Lake Shore. She goes to the goal, has her shot stopped but she scoops up the rebound and fires it in for a 16-10 lead with 8:55 left.
5:08 p.m. Officials timeout for a water break with 6:22 left.
5:12 p.m. Hamburg cuts it to 16-11 with 5:56 left on Mikolajek's second goal.
5:13 p.m. Hamburg back to within four as Obenshain scores her eighth goal to make it 16-12 with 4:23 left.
5:15 p.m. As has happened many times today, Lake Shore comes up with a big goal just when Hamburg is thinking of making a game out of it. Kiersten Kennedy scoops up a loose ball on a turnover by Hamburg, goes to the goal and her backhand shot trickles over the line to make it 17-12 with 3:21 left.
5:18 p.m. Amanda Patrone scores on the doorstep for Hamburg to cut it to 17-13 with 2:30 left. Lake Shore's Melissa Haring was down on the play due to cramping. She remained down through an official timeout before walking to the bench.
5:23 p.m. We have a FINAL SCORE: Lake Shore 17, Hamburg 13.
Lake Shore wins its first sectional title. Interview time for me.
And the Class B postgame show:
Class C
6:04 p.m. The Class C game is underway and Amherst, expectedly, jumps on top of East Aurora on an Ivy Timlin goal less than two minutes in.
6:06 p.m. EA ties it up on a Addie Ohler goal with 21:32 left in the 25-minute half.
6:12 p.m. Hmmmm. EA, which lost twice to Amherst during the regular season, gets another Ohler goal to take a 2-1 lead with 16:49 left.
6:15 p.m. EA scores again, with Victoria Budzyn scoring after a foul call right in front. EA takes a surprising 3-1 lead and Amherst calls a timeout with 15:13 left in the first half.
6:24 p.m. Amherst gets one back as Alana Rockoff wheels around from the right side to the left and scores to make it 3-2; that's followed by an officials timeout for a water break with 10:20 left in the first half.
6:29 p.m. Moments after a big save by EA's Rachel Hallnan, Katie Daminski scooted coast-to-coast, accelerating nicely in the Amherst half before scoring to push the Blue Devil lead to 4-2 with 7:32 left in the first half.
6:33 p.m. Alanna Rockoff scores 85 seconds after Sara Bischof and Amherst has tied it at 4-4 with 5:33 left in the first half; timeout EA.
6:38 p.m. Rockoff scores on a free shot in front -- moments after a yellow card was issued to an EA player after a collision -- to give Amherst its first lead of the game at 5-4 with 3:43 left in the first half.
6:40 p.m. Sophie Nieschur circles the cage, comes around the right side, waits a step against her defender and wheels and scores for a 6-4 lead.
6:43 p.m. After a nice save by EA goalie Hallnan, a scramble results in Sara O'Brien left open in front of the cage and she converts a pass to make it 7-4 Amherst with 1:12 left in the half.
6:46 p.m. At HALFTIME, Amherst leads East Aurora, 7-4.
Nice surge by Amherst to score the last five goals of the half; the last three came after the yellow card was issued to EA.
7:09 p.m. Amherst has kept rolling in the third quarter, scoring the first four goals to take an 11-4 lead with 18:42 left. I'm starting to write my story. Three games in one story and the Class A game is an 8 p.m. start, which puts us in a little deadline danger.
7:22 p.m. EA gets on the board but Amherst answers shortly thereafter as Ivy Timlin scores her fourth goal of the game to give the Tigers a 12-5 lead with 12:08 left.
7:26 p.m. A highlight goal from EA's Ohler, who goes coast to coast and finished it off by jumping to the left of the cage and shooting across her body to score at a very tough angle. Amherst's lead is 12-6 with 9:55 left.
7:33 p.m. EA gets two quick ones to cut it to 12-8 with 4:11 left. After Ashley Friess scored, Nikki Schneider scored right off the draw control win to cut the lead to 12-8.
7:39 p.m. Myriah Magaris with a goal off a free position shot for Amherst to make it 13-8 in the final minute.
7:40 p.m. We have a FINAL SCORE: Amherst 13, East Aurora 8.
Seventh straight title for the Tigers, first for coach Kristy Grossman who took over for Janet Battaglia this year.
The Class C postgame show:
Class A
8:19 p.m. The Class A game has started with some great play -- by the goalies. Lancaster's Brooklyn Schilling and Frontier's Mia Wagner have exchanged saves on the first two trips by each team. Wagner then stopped two straight free position shots from near point-blank range. Whoa.
8:26 p.m. After some more great defense, Sarah Lorusso sprints in alone on a fast break and scores to put Frontier up, 1-0, with 14:14 left in the first half -- that's 10 minutes-plus of scoreless play, and it was very good stuff, not what you would automatically think of a scoreless start.
8:32 p.m. It is 2-0 Frontier as Ashley Bandt-Hunter loses the ball after a check, but then scoops it up and scoots to the goal to score on an overhand shot with 9:49 left in the first half.
8:38 p.m. We definitely have a situation here. Frontier's Lorusso scores again to give Frontier a 3-0 lead over the seven-time defending champions with 6:10 left in the first half. Lancaster called a timeout after the goal.
8:43 p.m. BIG goal for Lancaster as Alexis Ruggiero, a freshman midfielder, scores on a free position shot with a bounce shot that is the first to get by Wagner. Lancaster cuts the Frontier lead to 3-1 with 3:01 left in the first.
8:45 p.m. A big draw control violation gives the ball to Lancaster, and they capitalize as Brittany Delano scores to make it 3-2 with 1:54 left in first. Great surge here late in the half by the Redskins.
8:50 p.m. Frontier with several chances deep in Lancaster territory in the final minute, but Schilling made two big saves, one on a free position shot and one on a bang-bang pass play, and another free position shot went wide.
8:52 p.m. At HALFTIME, Frontier leads Lancaster, 3-2.
The low score is not a surprise considering the team's two meetings this year. Lancaster won both by scores of 5-4 and 9-5.
9:18 p.m. Working on my story so updating when I can.
Frontier made it 4-2 with 18:52 left on a transition play by Bandt-Hunter, who went coast to coast and fired it in after accelerating near the cage. The Falcons just made it 5-2 on another Bandt-Hunter goal with 12:22 left, prompting a Lancaster timeout.
9:33 p.m. Timeout Frontier with 3:31 left to play. Teams have exchanged goals in the last 23 seconds with Frontier leading, 6-3.
9:41 p.m. HUGE win for Frontier.
We have a FINAL SCORE: Frontier 6, Lancaster 3.
Lancaster's reign as Class A champions ends after six straight titles.
Here are the final seconds:
And the postgame show:
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Stats and goal scorers are available at the scoreboard page.
Hello from Buffalo State for tonight's highly anticipated Class AA semifinal doubleheader.
In the first game, No. 1 large school Niagara Falls takes on No. 7 McKinley at 6 p.m. That's followed by the scheduled 7:45 p.m. matchup of No. 2 Jamestown and No. 9 Lancaster.
We'll have separate "live" blogs on each game.
Some highlights:
And the postgame show:
The second semifinal:
[NOTE: I believe I owe an apology for my opining about a three-second call on Lancaster; I thought only one foot needed to be out of the lane to avoid the call but an emailer has whistled me on it and says both feet have to be out. My bad (chest tap).]
A highlight (I didn't have the iPhone rolling during Paige's great first quarter:
The postgame show:
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The winners will play at 8:15 p.m. Saturday here at Buffalo State in the AA final.
The box scores for both games will be up at our scoreboard page as soon as possible.
After the games, let us know what you thought of the action -- and the finals matchup -- in the comments section.
The first game was obviously a downer in that the showdown fizzled and the second half saw some less-than-pretty basketball. Falls played great defense early, which I think set a tone -- it was going to be tough for McKinley to score, and it seemed like things just got worse when the Macks missed several easy ones.
Only until late in the game did the lid seem to come off the basket for the Macks. Marcus Feagin, Jeff Street and Jermaine Crumpton did a very nice job on McKinley leaders John Black (six points) and Antonio Avery (seven).
Jaysean Paige had a great start with those four first-quarter three pointers, then he kept scoring consistently to end up with 42. Jamestown coach Ben Drake had a great quote about how he wouldn't have thought Paige had that many -- he just does it consistently, sometimes quietly, sometimes spectacularly.
Lancaster again played Jamestown tough, but the Red Raiders just have too much, they are just a better team.
I'm trying to think back to the last time someone had a 40-point game at Buffalo State. Randolph's Ashton Brown had 47 in the Class C final two years ago, but that was at Jamestown Community College. I recall Finney (the one that shouldn't be in Class D) getting a major individual performance in winning a D regional here -- but I just looked it up and that was Andy Marchand's 24 points on seven threes against Clymer. Looks like I'll be hitting the history books. If you remember outstanding individual performances at Buffalo State, let me know of them in the comments section or email me at kmcshea@buffnews.com.
UPDATE: Prep Talk Nation has helped jog my memory -- Micole Parker of City Honors had 40 in the C-1 final in their 2003 state championship season, while I believe Dewan Stroud went for 40 for Seneca in a classic overtime game against Lackawanna in 2002 or 2003. More to come ...
Keith McShea has covered high school sports at The News since his hiring in 1999. The 1995 University at Buffalo graduate and Long Island native (North Babylon Bulldogs) covers — and live blogs — everything from scrimmages to state championships & helps head The News' All-Western New York selections.
Lauren Nicole Mariacher joined The News in 2009 after graduating from the Columbia University School of Journalism. The Elma native and Iroquois graduate can usually be found on a sideline, capturing highlights for PrepTalkTV. She also hosts Prep Talk's weekly live show, with Keith McShea, as well as The News' live postgame Bills show — [BN]TheHuddle.
