Boyd leads Canisius to title
Jack Boyd of Canisius has dominated freestyle swimming in the Monsignor Martin throughout his career. Monday night, the senior standout won the 50 (22.22) and 200 (1:42.86) individual events and swam on two winning relays – the 200 and 400 freestyle as the Crusaders easily outscored St. Joe’s and St. Francis to win the All-Catholic meet at the ECC’s Flickinger Athletic Center. Canisius rolled up 448.5 points to 291.5 for St. Joe’s. St. Francis had 179.It wasn’t all Boyd’s show. Luke Otto won the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke for Canisius while Allan Collins of the Crusaders won the 100 freestyle in 48.76 seconds and James Pokornowski took the 500 free in 4:46.99.
St. Joe’s won the 200 medley relay to start the meet with Connor Keenan, Yousuf Eltagouri, Dan Dirrigl and Derek Ciraolo. The all-underclassmen team won in 1:44.10.
Dirrigl also won the 100 butterfly (52.50), the only individual event not won by Canisius.
Boyd anchored the Canisius 200 relay following Andrew Wojtowicz, Allan Collins and Otto. Then he led off the 400 relay. Wojtowicz, Allan Collins and Otto finished up to win in 3:18.07.
Jamestown tops North
Late in the boys basketball season in Western New York, it’s best beware of Jamestown.The Red Raiders (13-4, 9-2) ranked fourth among WNY large schools, threw the ECIC I race into a three-way battle by handing visiting Williamsville North (12-4, 8-2) a 67-54 defeat behind a 31-point game by Zack Panebianco. Jamestown, North and Clarence all have two losses in the division now after splitting their season series. Barring an upset, the division will finish in a three-way tie.
“We’re playing good basketball right now, playing our best basketball of the season,” said Jamestown coach Ben Drake, whose team jumped to a 20-10 first-quarter lead and took a 19-point lead into the final quarter. “We’ve strung together some really good wins the last couple of weeks. Last week at East High in Rochester we had a win in overtime then tonight. This was a big win for us to come and tie things up. It was a huge win for four team.”
“Not many players in Western New York are playing bigger than Zack Panebianco,” Drake said. “In our last five games he’s averaging over 30 points, He made some unbelievable plays tonight.”
Quinn Lee Yaw had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the winners.
“Lee Yaw came to play tonight. He controlled the paint all game,” Drake said.
Sterling Taplin, Williamsville North’s scoring leader, had 24 points.
It’s a romp for MEC
Middle Early College, the No. 2 ranked small school in Western New York took charge early and was able to clear the bench in a 73-52 triumph over Riverside to go to 10-1 in Yale Cup League 1. All 12 players for MEC played at least three minutes in the victory. Kevin Briggs led the way with 30 points and 10 assists. Bri’an Brown had a triple-double (12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists). Willie Smith had 23 points and Jevon Rosier-Sharpe 20 for the losing Frontiers.Falls girls triumph
First-place Niagara Falls started slowly, but the Wolverines soon got rolling and routed third-place Kenmore West, 71-28, in Niagara Falls to go to 13-0 in the NFL. Senior Victoria Pryor highlighted the victory by scoring 25 points to go over the 1,000-point mark for her career. Bianca Brown had 14 for the winners, including four three-pointers. Niagara Falls led by only 12-8 after the first period but was in front 57-26 after three quarters. Samantha Britton scored 17 of Kenmore West’s 28 points.East Aurora, which already had locked up the ECIC III girls basketball title, kept its unbeaten record in the division with a 42-26 win over Depew. Emma Brinker led the Blue Devils with 12 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots. Julianna Misenheimer had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the victory.
Mckenna Maycock scored 41 points for Randolph, the No. 2 ranked girls basketball team in Western New York, in a 75-34 win over Gowanda in CCAA East League 1. The Cardinals are 9-0 in division play and 15-2 overall.
Amherst/S. Home wins
McKenna Rushford had the winning goal as Amherst/Sweet Home, the No. 5 seed, upset No. 4 Williamsville, 3-2, in the Western New York Girls Federation Hockey League playoff quarterfinals at Northtown Center in Amherst. The other top seeds all advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals, however.Olivia Smith scored twice and Emily King had a goal and an assist as No. 1 seed Kenmore defeated West Seneca, 4-2. No. 3, Monsignor Martin edged Orchard Park/Frontier 2-1 and No. 2 Lancaster/Iroquois blanked Nichols, 4-0. Caitlin Horvatits scored a goal and assisted on another in the Lancaster/Iroquois victory.
Kenmore West wins at NF
Kenmore West made it a sweep of its season series with Niagara Falls, defeating the Wolverines, 84-51, on their home court.The Blue Devils improved their record to 12-1 in the Niagara Frontier League, putting four players in double figures led by 16 points by Alex Price, 15 by Trent White, 14 by Adam Fron and 13 by Noah Whalen. Sophomore Breon Harris had 12 for the Falls.
Of the eight players who scored for the Wolverines, none are seniors.
Long-ball duel
Archbishop Walsh and Niagara Catholic engaged in a three-point shooting duel, combining for 24, but a two-pointer ultimately decided it in favor of the Eagles from Walsh.Adam Moore hit a baseline jumper with 8 seconds left in overtime to give his team a 59-57 victory, the Eagles first of the season in Monsignor Martin.
John Watson led Walsh with 18 points, all on three-pointers. Brian Thomas had 20 for the Patriots, 18 from long range.