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

 

Tuesday, January 3rd

St. Mary's @ St. Joe's – 7 pm

 

Wednesday, January 4th

Riverside @ East – 6 pm

McKinley @ Hutch-Tech – 6 pm

Depew @ Maryvale – 7:30 pm

 

Friday, January 6th

Hutch-Tech @ East – 6 pm

OTC/MEC @ I-Prep – 6 pm

Tonawanda @ Cleveland Hill – 6:30 pm

Maryvale @ Amherst – 7:30 pm

Frontier @ Clarence – 7:30 pm

 

Saturday, January 7th

St. Joe's @ Bishop Kearney – 1:30 pm

 

Game of the Week – St. Mary's @ St. Joe's on Tuesday, January 3rd

– The Lancers began the season on fire and quickly earned the respect of the WNY basketball community as not only an elite small school, but also a team that could contend in the Monsignor Martin this year.  Even after losing at home to Olean, St. Mary's remained the second ranked small school, as there seemed to be a separation between the top two and the rest.  Then the Lancers fell over the break to Depew in the Wilcats Tournament.

St. Joe's was thought to be a bit down this season, but so far, they have been anything but down.  The Marauders traveled to Syracuse over the break and scored a pair of wins against two quality opponents in Bishop Grimes and Syracuse CBA.  Not only has Reggie Agbeko been a cut above the talent pool in WNY this year, but his teammates have also been more than complimentary to his talents .

Tonight, league play begins in WNY's catholic league.  We'll find out if St. Mary's can rebound from its third loss and be a contender in the MMA or if the Marauders are a notch above them.

 

-centercourt