Nardin wins Colpoys opener
Nardin appeared to be in command of its Matt Colpoys Memorial Tournament game against Mount Mercy with a 13-point lead heading into the final quarter.Then the Magic came to life nailing clutch three-pointers and driving to the basket, but the Gators held on to defeat the defending tournament champions, 48-42, at Kenmore West High School. Nardin moves on to the finals to face Iroquois, which defeated Kenmore West, 51-41.
The tournament is held in honor for Buffalo firefighter Matt Colpoys, who died in an explosion fire 30 years ago today. The tournament holds a special meaning for Nardin because Colpoys’ granddaughter, Caroline, is a member of the team.
But it took a lot to knock off the Magic, a five-time tournament champion.
“Our defense just wasn’t very good at the end,” Nardin coach Joe Daugherty said. “We’re happy because it was an emotional day for the girls.”
Alyssa Lesakowski led all scorers with 18 points, including three three-point field goals for Nardin, while Hannah Juhasz added 13.
Elsewhere, Randolph, led by five points heading into the fourth quarter, but Bradford (Pa.) outscored the Cardinals, 17-9, in the final quarter and went on to win, 56-53, in the IAABO Holiday Classic.
Randolph (4-2), the No. 1 ranked girls small school team, received another stellar performance from Mckenna Maycock, a second-team All-WNY selection a year ago, who finished with 29 points, six assists and three blocks. Maycock has already given a verbal commitment to St. Bonaventure.
The Cardinals (4-2) have won the overall Class C title three years in a row but got a late start to the season because five of its players were on the volleyball team that reached the state final.
Nichols boys top Bradford
Defense has been Nichols calling card this season and it was again in the Vikings’ 50-39 victory over Bradford (Pa.) in the IAABO Holiday Classic.Shifting between 2-3 and 1-2-2 zone defenses, the Vikings limited Bradford to just 24 points through the first three quarters.
“They played a lot of tough D, but so did we,” Nichols coach John Reinholz said. “That’s really what it came down to, we played tough D and rebounded well which limited them to one shot and we able to beat them.”
Bradford connected on a couple of long distance shots early, but struggled against the zone for most of the game.
“We were a lot bigger than them and that limited them to one shot,” Reinholz said. “That helped us. We tried to make it tougher on their shooters which seemed to really help us.”
Christopher Miner scored 13 points to lead the Vikings while Cameron Lewis added 11.
Elsewhere, West Seneca East won its opening round game in the West Seneca West Tournament as Nick Parucki scored a game-high 23 points and added 10 rebounds in the Trojans’ 53-51 victory over Tonawanda. Dan Picciano added 12 points for the Trojans while Tonawanda was led by Ben Stich with 19. West Seneca West will face its rival in the championship game at 6 p.m. tonight after the Indians defeated Olmsted, 60-45.
Nick Clancy scored 22 points and added nine rebounds for West Seneca West, which was enough to offset Brandon Roach’s 18 points for Olmsted.
Dom Saglimben scored a game-high 30 points for Allegany-Limestone in its 49-32 triumph over Randolph.
Frontier trips Timon
Phil Stamer registered two goals and an assist, while goalie Connor Harman finished with 31 saves in Frontier’s 4-1 victory over Bishop Timon-St. Jude in Western New York Federation boys hockey.