THE VIEW FROM CENTERCOURT | Western New York Boys High School Basketball

Tonawanda’s first loss headlines Tuesday’s upsets and eyebrow raisers

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And then there were none.

 

Heading into tonight's action, there was only Tonawanda occupying the ranks of the unbeaten.  Now the Warriors find themselves in a tie for first place in ECIC IV with the team that beat them, Cleveland Hill.  The Golden Eagles took Tonawanda to overtime and came away with a 54-52 victory.  Jared Watkins led four players in double figures for the victors with 14 points, while Jordan Parker scored 12 points, Miles Barker had 11, and Darryl Spencer finished with 10 points.

 

Tonawanda only had four players score in the game and got 42 of its 52 points from two players, as Clayton Hess scored 27 points, while Jesse Lalka netted 15 points.

 

***

 

Williamsville East fell for the first time in ECIC II, losing 76-72 to visiting Iroquois.  The Flames remain in first place in their league despite the loss, as second place Williamsville South has a pair of league losses.  Madison Wesolowski had a team-high 27 points for the Chiefs, while Nathan Wilkinson added 22 points.  Connor Kennan scored a career-high 37 points for the Flames in the loss.

 

After picking up his first win against his father earlier this season, Chris Kensy's Amherst squad fell to Maryvale, coached by his father, Mark Kensy, 62-59.  The Tigers can still take sole possesion of the ECIC III crown with wins against Cheektowaga on Thursday and Pioneer next week.

 

Following its first league loss in a hard fought contest at Newfane on Thursday, Wilson traveled to Akron and got routed, 53-25.  The Tigers clearly had a plan for Lakemen standout Tyler Martin, as they held the team's leading scorer to just one point in the game.  The loss drops Wilson into a tie with Newfane for first place in the N-O league.

 

East Aurora avenged an earlier 76-69 loss to Cheektowaga in grand fashion, trouncing the Warriors, 71-44, behind a game-high 37 points from UB bound Stan Wier.  The league loss is the third of the season for Cheektowaga, who along with the Blue Devils, are tied for second place in ECIC III.

 

Silver Creek moved into sole possesion of first place in CCAA II, avenging its lone loss of the season with a 57-54 win against Randolph.  Steve Marcey led the Black Knights with 19 points and Zeddie Williams added 18 points.

 

In the first meeting between Jamestown and Sweet Home, the Red Raiders won 94-65.  Tonight, the Panthers traveled to Jamestown and left with a 66-50 loss. 

 

After picking up its first league win this season against Clarence last Tuesday, West Seneca West nearly won another, losing 52-49 to Williamsville North.

 

Clarence began the year 8-1, but is now amidst a six-game losing streak following its most recent loss tonight against Frontier, 62-50.

 

-centercourt

20 responses to “Tonawanda’s first loss headlines Tuesday’s upsets and eyebrow raisers”

  1. Use Ya Left Avatar
    Use Ya Left

    Have to say … watched Olean simply crush Allegany-Limestone tonight, 72-26. Allegany-Limestone scored 9 points in the second half. (Bench kids played much of third and all of fourth quarter.)
    Even as the Huskies have had a lot of accolades this season, they appear to be taking it to another level in their last few games. Essentially, they toyed with Dunkirk last week — another late push by Dunkirk made the 15-point margin in the final score seem more respectable. Allegany-Limestone is not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, but they do have a winning record and they hung with Olean in their earlier matchup.

    Reply
  2. Patrick Moran Avatar
    Patrick Moran

    Hope I wasnt the Tonawanda Jinx.. I had them ranked 10th in my BSD POWER RANKINGS poll yesterday. I don’t do seperate large/small schools for my power rankings.
    Big game for Weir at East Aurora, I have a feeling he’s going to go on a scoring tear and lock up a first-team, All-WNY spot. Despite playing on a team that’s not among WNY’s best, he’s a big scorer and a big name.

    Reply
  3. Use Ya Left Avatar
    Use Ya Left

    Oh, speaking of Dunkirk … I’m sure they’re excited about their big 104-40something win over Lake Shore. Looking in the Buff News box, only seven kids scored for Dunkirk, which would seem to indicate the starters and top subs played the whole way.
    In there any coach out there who is more bush league than Dunkirk’s head man?

    Reply
  4. TakeItToTheHole Avatar
    TakeItToTheHole

    Wow. Just when I thought things were starting to get settled in the N-O. Akron SLAMS Wilson and holds Martin to one point. Roy-Hart crushes Albion in what I thought would be an even game. Newfane handles business against barker despite 35 points and 21 rebounds from sophomore Jake Haight. Medina plays much better and loses by 16 against CSAT than they did Saturday after losing by 31 and not having their leading scorer on the team any longer. Freshman Jason Hellwig of Medina scored 20 including 5 of 7 from behind the arc and if you haven’t seen Darnell Carson of CSAT yet, I suggest you do. He might be the most underrated player in WNY. He can finish with the best of them and has a smooth stroke but his best skill is his awareness and court vision. Some of the passes he makes are just ridiculous. AND he’s only a junior. In my opinion he’s one of the top 5 point guards in WNY for sure, I really encourage going to see him before you write him off as a small school or charter school player.

    Reply
  5. Patrick Moran Avatar
    Patrick Moran

    That was a big source of lively debate last year– Dunkirk running up the score, which left many critics feeling real happy when they went down at Buffalo State College last March.

    Reply
  6. McShea is God Avatar
    McShea is God

    And I just read someone said he is like ‘Javon McRea’….WHAT???? The guy who starts 4 UB? Who took Newerk 2 the State Final? The rebounding machine? Possible 1st team all MAC as a sophmore? Strongest Big 4 player in years? Guys GET A GRIP! Call me a jerk whatever, but PLEASE! Enough!
    BTW if they ever would let a woman vote in the polls I would only vote 9 in Large school this week there is no #10 team. I was out of town so I didn’t get 2 any games 2nite but I hear Amherst and Will East lost. Maybe Frontier slips into #10 I guess but it doesn’t matter. The ENTIRE ECIC stinks this year (except Jamestown). ALl about the MMA, Yale Cup, and Falls-K West-Olean.
    I also think Tom Brady is very sexy. I was sad he lost. All us girls think he is way sexier than Eli Manning who looks basically like a nerd. Someone Ricky would date.

    Reply
  7. Ricky Avatar
    Ricky

    I would date Tom Brady. Guy is a hunk

    Reply
  8. Patick Moran Avatar
    Patick Moran

    MIG,
    So if the entire ECIC stinks this year except for Jamestown (which I mostly agree with you on, in a less-harsh way), then how could Jamestown be Number one in your poll playing in such as weak division?
    And I’m pretty sure the Canisius “was tired” theory against St. Joe’s in their first game isn’t fair reason to vote Canisius ahead of Joe’s either. For the record, they had played Walsh two nights earlier and buried them by around 25 points.
    I can perfectly understand your reasoning for not liking St. Joe’s and you’re probably not the only one, but if you look at things with even a tint of being unbias, I can’t fathom how they couldn’t possibly be number one in someone’s poll this week.
    Maybe that changes at Timon on Thursday, but based on what I’ve seen this year, I highly doubt it.

    Reply
  9. TakeItToTheHole Avatar
    TakeItToTheHole

    I have nothing against St. Joe’s and I believe Reggie is the frontrunner for player of the year at this point, but the McCrea comparison is a little ridiculous. You have to understand that Javon McCrea has an NBA body right now and did as a 17 year old which is how old he was when he stepped onto the UB campus. Then he was dominating games as a freshman at 18. UB isn’t at the highest level of Division 1 basketball yet like power conference level, but they are certainly not at the lowest either. I don’t think Reggie will be able to go to a mid-major and absolutely dominate right away like Javon did.

    Reply
  10. public Avatar
    public

    Congrats to you, TakeitToTheHole for throwing out some McCrea information and actually giving us some N-O feed as well, its always a interesting little league.. have not seen Carson play yet but have heard many coaches say that he has tremendous quickness off the dribble and overall outstanding player. Its tough for me to figure out how Newfane and Wilson are on the top of that league after losing so much to graduation last season? Is this the year Wilson takes down the B-2 crown? Clev Hill and others will be good tests for the Lakemen. B1 looks to be a really good bracket having Olean Depew Dunkirk East Tonawanda in there..most ranked in top 10 small schools with Olean the clear favorite but still should be some interesting stuff at Buffalo State when it comes to the B brackets..selection saturday only 10 days away and alot of league titles up for grabs.

    Reply
  11. Lakemen Fan Avatar
    Lakemen Fan

    Akron played exceptionally well last night. Everything the Lakemen normally do well, didn’t happen last night. Coach Gerstung had his players ready to play and they executed the game plan to perfection. I hope Wilson can forget about this game and move on to the final three league games against Albion, CSAT, and Royhart.
    If you would have told me that Wilson would be 9-2 after 11 league games I would have taken that without a doubt. They need to right the ship Friday vs. Albion.
    Wilson has had difficulty with physical teams on the perimeter as well as inside. My hope is that, in sectionals and hopefully at Buff State, their match ups are with teams that aren’t as physical. The big court may negate some of the physical play, which bodes well for the Lakemen.
    I don’t think Newfane will lose another league game, so the best the Lakemen can do is to share the title with Newfane if both teams win out.
    Newfane and Wilson always seem to reload and never have to rebuild. For Wilson, next year will be a rebuilding year.

    Reply
  12. TakeItToTheHole Avatar
    TakeItToTheHole

    I agree Lakeman Fan, Wilson will be losing all 5 starters from this years team. Newfane loses Seefeldt and Kneeland but they will have a strong core back. Those teams are so good this year for a couple reasons. 1.) great coaching and they are disciplined teams and 2.) they ALWAYS play VERY hard. Also Tyler Martin is a really good player for WIlson. Newfane doesn’t have a star but they have about 8 pretty good high school players that play great defense and hustle. I’d definitely pick Olean to come out of B-1 and B-2 is a tough call between Wilson and Cleve Hill after they just beat Tonawanda.

    Reply
  13. Lakemen Fan Avatar
    Lakemen Fan

    Next year, Wilson will have hustle players, but not the athleticism or skill to compete against average to above average talent. Newfane will have the athleticism and skill to compete at a high level again next year.
    CSAT is held back by their poor discipline, but is slowly improving in that area. They will be a factor next year and even this year they have the ability to put some good games together. As long as Carson keeps his emotions in check and on the floor for 32 minutes they can play with anyone.
    B-2 is a tough call and if last night is an indication to how Wilson will play going forward, it doesn’t look good. Last night, Akron reminded me of Newfane. Physical, aggressive, and nothing was going to stop them from getting an offensive board or a loose ball. If they play like they did last night, they will be a tough match up in sectionals.
    I cannot comment on teams other than N/O league teams because I haven’t seen any other teams play.
    Thank you for your insight TakeItToTheHole.

    Reply
  14. centercourt Avatar
    centercourt

    Just cleaned out the spam filter and found a comment from Division 1 and Patrick Moran, which I published, although I think both were re-written anyway. They don’t show up as new comments, but rather get placed in where they were intended to be.
    If you ever think a comment got lost in spam, you can email me or let me know in the comments section and I’ll look for it. There’s nothing more frustrating than taking the time to type out a long series of thoughts, only to have them disappear through the magic of the internet. It’s happened to me several times.

    Reply
  15. TML1000 Avatar
    TML1000

    CSAT and Honors will both be right in the B-2 mix with C-H and Wilson…I honestly think any of those four could win the bracket. When Washington is shooting the ball well and Honors plays solid team defense, Honors is tough as Carter will get his 20+ per game. CSAT goes up to Wilson on V-day so that should give a final gague as to where those teams are standing.

    Reply
  16. PatrickMoran Avatar
    PatrickMoran

    I don’t like when players are compared because of statistics. It’s all about the players around them and the program. Just off the top of my head, I can name 5-6 players who if on other teams would average 24-25ppg with their eyes closed if they were on a different team but only score 13-14 per game on the team they are on now.
    Occassionally there are players who fill up the scoresheet and they are flat-out just that good, but without naming names, there’s plenty of kids who average 22 points per game who wouldn’t be a first, second or even third option on a lot of teams.

    Reply
  17. PatrickMoran Avatar
    PatrickMoran

    Oh by the way, I wanted to let you guys know that I’m working on putting together a weekly podcast on my site dedicated 100% to high school sports talk—obviously now with hoops season but also baseball and other sports and of course, football next year.
    CC I expect you to be a regular–and I’d love to argue with MIG on the air, at least he’s fun.

    Reply
  18. Lucky13 Avatar
    Lucky13

    “The View from Centercourt” is finally on Eastern Time!

    Reply
  19. centercourt Avatar
    centercourt

    Correct! While sifting through spam, I decided to go all out and correct the three hour time delay.

    Reply
  20. Centercourt Is God Avatar
    Centercourt Is God

    Thank goodness! I wuz in like a time machine every time I dribbld up in here

    Reply

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