Here's a list of what I think are the top games to follow this week:

 

Monday, January 9th

Maple Grove @ Westfield – 7:30 pm

Panama @ Sherman – 7:30 pm

 

Tuesday, January 10th

Newfane @ Wilson – 6:30 pm

Amherst @ Cheektowaga – 6:30 pm

Shanghai Nanyang @ St. Joe's – 7:30 pm

Canisius @ St. Mary's – 7:30 pm

Frontier @ Jamestown – 7:30 pm

Clarence @ Williamsville North – 7:30 pm

 

Thursday, January 12th

I-Prep @ MST Seneca – 6 pm

Hutch-Tech @ Riverside – 6 pm

Depew @ East Aurora – 6:30 pm

Tonawanda @ Lackawanna – 7 pm

Dunkirk @ Fredonia – 7:30 pm

Portville @ Cassadaga Valley – 7:30 pm

 

Friday January 13th

CSAT @ Medina – 6:30 pm

Akron @ Wilson – 6:30 pm

Newfane @ Barker – 6:30 pm

Burger King Classic @ Gannon University

Niagara Falls vs. Milton (GA) – 7 pm

 

Saturday, January 14th

MLK Classic @ City Honors

St. Francis vs. Tapestry Charter – 10 am

Lackawanna @ City Honors – 11:30 am

Cheektowaga vs. I-Prep – 1 pm

East Aurora vs. OTC/MEC – 3 pm

Canisius vs. McKinley – 4:30 pm

 

Game of the Week – Newfane @ Wilson on Tuesday, January 10th

– The Niagara-Orleans league is WNY's most competitive this season from top to bottom.  Any team in this league has the ability to beat another this year, and based on the nonleague results in the month of December, those are some quality teams. 

Now take a competitive league game and sprinkle a heated rivalry between last season's co-champs into the mix, and you've got your game of the week.  This one will once again live up to its billing with an electric atomosphere, no open seats, event staff all over the place, and a game on the court where every single possesion is treated by both the players and fans like the most important possesion of the season. 

For all the good teams Newfane has had in recent years, the Panthers haven't won a game at Wilson since 2006.  Since the 2005-2006 season, Wilson leads this series, 8-4 and has won two league titles, while Newfane has won four.  The Lakemen have taken 8 of the last 10, and five of the last six. 

Though this will be just the third of 14 league games for each team, the results of this one are certain to have a major impact on who takes the 2011-2012 N-O title.

 

-centercourt