Yesterday, one of the tournament officials from the Cataract City Classic told me he was disappointed because due to budget restrictions, they weren't able to get any marquee state powers in for the two-day event.   Well from my experience at this event, there has never been a better collection of games put together.  Five of the nine games were decided in the final seconds, and only one of the nine games was double-digit win.

Alright, things didn't exactly get off to a roaring start with the first game that Lancaster won over Niagara Wheatfield, 43-34.  The first quarter was almost unwatchable, with the teams tied at three after eight minutes.  It wasn't some defensive clinic going on out there, and a half court shooting competition would yield more buckets.  But the teams did settle in and make a game out of it by the second half.   The Redskins were coming off an exciting win over Clarence so maybe they weren't as focused as they should have been.  One player who was focused the whole game was 5-7 senior Jake Kroll.  Kroll played with energy from start to finish (he accounted for his team's three points in the first quarter) and did a nice job keeping his teammates involved in the game.  Jack Mulcahy, just a sophomore, showed some good things for the Falcons, and the team was never lacking for effort.

St. Joe's wound up beating Depew going away, 45-27.  It was only a five point game at half and seemed like the chess match I had billed it to be.  But the Marauders opened the second half with a press and the defensive pressure led by Keith Louie, Steve Moser, and Chad Kelly, spurred a 10-0 run that opened the game up. 

The Wolverines couldn't have started the Sal Constantino era any better.  Falls came out very fired up in front of its home crowd and matched its defensive intensity with a decisive and aggressive offense that led to a 38-19 lead at the hhalf.