Struggling to find the right words so for right now I will say that the WNY girls sports community lost an absolute pillar today with the passing of Roger Weiss. Roger was a great friend in recent years. All of us covering girls bball have impossible shoes to fill. RIP Rog.
What a season for WNY women's basketball. UB leading the charge with another MAC title, Daemen in the last 16 of D2 tourney, Niagara and Canisius on the rise, D'Youville wins USCAA nat'l tourney. Fun stuff.
Had some time to reflect on the 23/24 season on the drive home. Will try to gather my thoughts and give a full wrap-up in the coming days but I just want to thank all of the players, coaches and supporters of girls basketbal for a tremendous season. Keep grinding and working.
When
@beckyburke11
took over, THIS is the team you knew we would see at Alumni. Tough, high compete level, motors for 40 mins. 3-1 in MAC play with 1 returning player, that doesn't just happen without major work. Big things are coming.
I am not always a huge proponent of all league, all area, all state, etc teams...but how can anyone not have Jordyn Williams as a 1st team MMA player? One of the best defenders in the state, does all of the meaningful things that may not show up on the scoresheet.
4 Southern Tier teams, including three from the "greater Jamestown" area make it to states. This on the heels of Randolph boys winning states and Randolph girls making state final last season. One of the very best and talent rich areas for basketball in of all NYS.
Tomorrow begins the second season, the best 4 week stretch of the calendar year, the start of the journey to Buff St/JCC, FLCC for regionals and hopefully HVCC, and also to NYC for MMA teams. Good luck to all teams competing and leave everything you have out on the court.
OH MY, OH MY....Heise gets the inbounds, defended well on the drive, kicks it to an open Elena Graziano who BURIES a triple at the buzzer!!! Hilton defeats Averill Park 73-71 in overtime. Unbelievable finish, Unbelievable game. WOW.
Another shout out to Mia Vannelli as she completes her basketball career. Grew from secondary option to one of the most potent and well rounded offensive threats in the region and a 2000 point scorer. Not bad for her "second" sport.
Congratulations to St Mary's as they take home the CHSAA class A title tonight at Hofstra. A tremendous final three games of the season for the Lancers.
Best event in NYS included a girls game this year. Would love to partner with the Goat
@centercourt42
to potentially expand to include multiple girls games next season.
What a season it has been...I just want to thank all of the players, coaches, media, parents, fans for making this a tremendous year. I am so glad that so many student athletes once again were able to experience a true season, right through this weekend's championships.
Traditional event pic 📸
Idk… this one felt a little different. The talent, level of competition, & balance. The focus throughout the event. The smiles. Can we run it back next week? 🤷🏻♂️
Thank you to EVERYONE that made the inaugural EST WNY Warm-Up a huge success!
I really wish more section VI players, coaches, etc would attend regionals and see how much better section V teams are at the little things, the details, across the board this season.
Final: Hamburg defeats Will South 58-41. First ever regional appearance for Hamburg girls bball. The absolutely tremendous high school career of Gretchen Dolan ends.
Thanks
@CoachBeutel
for opening up the NCCC gym for the 7 game slate today. Great opportunity to see good teams from outside of the section, some we might see again come regional play.
Other than those five teams, squads like O'Hara, Hamburg, Depew, Southwestern, Randolph, Nichols, NT, Sweet Home, among others, return major talent next season. The future looks very bright.
Speaking of versatile, I don't think there has been a more versatile player in WNY since I began covering girls bball 8 years ago than Aaliyah Parker. Impressive growth in her game over the years who became a true leader. Will be fun to watch the Parker sisters back together.
Southwestern's Reece Beaver with 7 made 3's in the 1st half of the championship at Maple Grove High School against Falconer. SW leads 40-27 at the break
@tml1000
The 5 Far West Regional matchups are now set and it may be as even a slate as I can ever remember. No heavy favorites on either the V or VI side, intriguing matchups aplenty, big time D1 and D2 athletes, some great coaches and programs. Will be a tremendous day of basketball.
Final: Lancaster defeats Clarence 59-51. Tremendous battle from Clarence, Francis simply took the game over throughout the last 4 minutes. One of the best games of the season.
As we approach the final days of the season, I want to thank the players, coaches, adminis, etc for putting in the work to make the season possible. However, it is absolutely brutal...BRUTAL...that there was no state tournament. Completely inexcusable.
Man, what an effort from
@SJFWBB
against one of the top seeds in the nation, Smith. 1 point loss and should've had last shot if timeout was correctly given.
Man, Dyaisha Fair is so good and so fun to watch. I wish far more ppl in this area realized how lucky we have been to be able to watch Cierra Dillard immediately followed by Fair, in person, for the past 5 seasons.
As we enter the last week of the regular season, some observations from the previous 5 weeks: Kyra Wood and Claire Pikett are two of the most versatile players in the area (probably the state) that can do everything for their teams and still likely aren't talked about enough.
After much thought, here is my large school poll for this week: 1 - O'Hara 2 - Starpoint 3 - Lancaster 4 - Nichols 5 - St Mary's 6 - Lew Port 7 - Clarence 8 - Sweet Home 9 - Will South 10 - Iroquois
Final: Lancaster defeats Frewsburg 79-73 in double OT. What a contest...both teams left everything on the floor. Francis drops 46 for Lancaster. T Trocki 20 for Frewsburg. Will be a tough one to beat for the remainder of the season.
More observations, there have been plenty of young players (8th/9th) graders putting in huge seasons including, Kyla Hayes (Maryvale), Brianna Barr (GI), Mia Vannelli (Depew), Madison Francis (Lanc) & Reece Beaver (Southwestern), among others. The future is in good hands.
OH MY...a Starpoint triple misses. Starpoint inbounds with :00.5 remaining and Megan Milleville hits a banked in game winner at the buzzer. Starpoint defeats Clarence 48-46. What a a finish. What a comeback from Clarence and response from Starpoint to win.
Really strong for a '25 team. A lot of high level varsity experience plus A Green running with some of WNY's top underclassmen as a 7th grader. Kid is legit.
Class B1: Possibly the most anticipated final in any class, the potential match-up of Lew Port and Depew, the consensus top two small schools all season. Perennial contender EA meets Albion in a quality quarter while a possible Honors/Olean quarter also looms as intriguing.
WNY has two of the most well rounded 9th graders in the nation in Francis and Hayes. Let's hope we get to see them face off next season. As for this season, the final order of 1/2 in the polls will be determined by play-off runs.
1st Large School Poll of 2024(remains unchanged from the last of 2023): 1 - O'Hara 2 - St Mary's 3 - Starpoint 4 - Lancaster 5 - Lew Port 6 - Nichols 7 - Will South 8 - Ken West 9 - Clarence 10 - Sweet Home HM's - Hamburg, Pioneer, Iroquois, WSW
Kudos to
@SMH_WBasketball
for hosting a tremendous Private/Public Showcase event and for putting together four very competitive matchups. All games fetured high intensity, lead changes and high level skill. Hope to have another next season and for years to come.
Shout out to Sacred Heart, who brought home WNY's lone state title this season and to Sherman for giving it one heck of a run, falling just short last night.
This is the type of game and type of moment you play for, coach for, work for....and the reasons I cover basketball. Mallory Heise...incredible. Taylor Holohan...tremendous. Two awesome teams, outstanding atmosphere. Big shots, huge plays. So good.
Wilson
@Lakewomen_Hoops
had an amazing regular season & capped off our UNDEFEATED NO League season!
Wilson defeats Medina 64-34👍🏻
17-3 overall
12-0 NO League Champs
7️⃣3️⃣ straight
@N_O_League
wins spanning into the 7th year without a loss
#1
Seed B2 playoff bracket
BLESSED🙏🏻
A few notes from tonight's game, sophomore Natalie Prezioso stepped in a big way, knocking down some huge shots for Starpoint off the bench....showing no fear and keeping the gas pedal down.
Tremendous MMA final between Nichols and O'Hara, Lancaster passes a huge test, Jtown comes back to defeat Frontier, Wilson back in a sectional final, Randolph with a state-title contender performance. All in one night.
Seeing a number of outlets calling Amherst's win, and postseason run, as huge upsets. They've been upsets in seeding only...if you've been watching, Amherst has been one of the toughest, scrappy and balanced teams in the section for many weeks now.
Holiday Week Large School Poll: 1 - O'Hara 2 - St Mary's 3 - Starpoint 4 - Lancaster 5 - Lew Port 6 - Nichols 7 - Will South 8 - Ken West 9 - Clarence 10 - Sweet Home
Happy Birthday to our first born, our inquisitive, imaginative, caring darling Rory...4 years old today. At least we scheduled your friend's party for next weekend. 😂
Hamburg did all the little things right this evening, and the big things too...controlled pace of play for 4 quarters, did not force shots, played team defense and converted in the paint. As impressive as a win as you'll see this season.
Final: Lancaster defeats Fairport 41-31. After falling at this stage in close battles the past two season, Lancaster will jot advance to HVCC and the state semifinals. They will face Liverpool or Colonie next Saturday morning.
Four of the very best teams in WNY take the court this evening looking to extend their seasons. Lancaster and Starpoint head to FLCC for the Far West Regionals, games at 6 and 745. O'Hara and St Mary's both play in the CHSAA semis at 545 and 530.
Final: O'Hara defeats St Mary's 97-54. Hawks absolutely unstoppable throughout the middle quarters. Not sure there is a team in NYS, other than Lu HI, playing better than O'Hara at this point in the season.
Pleasure to be a part of a great show. Kudos to Tom, Francis and the crew for putting everything together and to the stars of the show, the players, for providing some great insight.
🏀We just wrapped first-ever Girls Basketball Playoff Preview Show🏀
From brackets, to live player interviews and so much more we have you covered…
CHECK IT OUT ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Final: Hamburg defeats NT 65-57. Game effort from the Jacks to hang in despite major foul trouble all game but the Hamburg size proves too much in the 2nd half. Great game.
Congrats to
@SJFCWBB
on winning the Empire 8 auto bid this afternoon, including section VI alums, Emp 8 1st teamer Claire Kruszka, Lauren Nawojski and Emily McLaughlin.
After 8 days, I am live from a gym in Erie County...and it's a huge one. Nichols hosts O'Hara. Enough said. Tip off in approx 10 mins. I am on the
@WNYAthletics
broadcast so updates here will be sparse but please tune in.
Final: Pioneer outscores South 21-6 in the 4th and defeat the Billies 56-48, evening the season series. Both squads now with one league loss. Impressive response from Pioneer.
Sweet Home defeats Iroquois to complete a perfect ECIC II season, sweeping both South and Iroquois. Not sure there has been a more surprising team in recent memory than the Panthers. Hamburg, Sweet Home and NT in A1 will be fun.
Amherst was clearly majorly underseeeded as a 9 and they proved it tonight. Now as good a chance as anyone to emerge from class A. Kimora Berry huge tonight for South but not enough help, Amherst again scrappy and great fight for a young team.
Final: BK defeats Lancaster 64-55. Legends were the better team in the 2nd half, but not enough to make up for the slow start, particularly the 2nd quarter. Tremendous Lancaster season ends with their first loss on the season.
Sorry but at the varsity level, if you do not possess the ability to benefit from a shot clock, it is likely time to try a different sport. 30 seconds is more than enough time to run through a set play offensively if that's the style you run.
@coachRaiti
@RonniAlgeo
No it isn't. Preparing a student-athlete for the next level is NOT the primary purpose of h.s. sports. The rules are intended to fit players of all ability levels, not just the elite. If some states want to use it, ok; but I don't think the majority of student-athletes benefit
Final: O'Hara defeats Starpoint 73-33. Not really a referendum on Starpoint, plenty they can take away from this to improve, but more O'Hara being that poised, that skilled, that talented...that good. Continually that impressive from the Hawks this season.