(Aidan Horan defends for Nichols)
Large Schools
1. Canisius (A) – The Crusaders pulled out a win over visiting Niagara Falls on Saturday afternoon in a 32-minute battle! Now they'll get visits from Timon on Monday and St. Mary's on Wednesday, ahead of this coming Saturday against rival St. Joe's. Presale tickets only for that one. Details in the 'Game of the Week' write up.
2. Park (A) – Completed a marathon stretch of games with a convincing win at Aquinas on Monday night, before falling in overtime at East High in Rochester on Saturday night.
3. Health Sciences (A2) – One of two remaining undefeated teams in WNY will get their chance to prove they should be ranked higher soon enough with game against the teams above them still to come. But the week ahead will be tough enough with South Park and Tapestry on the slate.
4. St. Joe's (A) – Picked up three league wins last week, all on the road, that including a survival victory at St. Francis that was pulled out in the final minute. It's rivalry week for the Marauders, looking to snap a 17-game skid against Canisius on Saturday.
5. Niagara Falls (AA) – The Wolverines were so close to knocking off the Crusaders on Saturday and held a lead for the majority of the game. Falls is the lone unbeaten team in the Niagara Frontier League at 7-0 and have the week off to prepare for Lew-Port on Tuesday the 28th.
6. Lew-Port (A2) – Five straight double figure victories for the Lancers after knocking off North Tonawanda & Lockport last week. There's a tough one coming up for them on Wednesday, when the #1 small school from Middle College pays a visit.
7. Orchard Park (AA) – The Quakers are tied in first place in ECIC I, coming off a 12-point win over Clarence. They look to stay on top with a Saturday afternoon trip to Lancaster.
8. Amherst (A2) – The Tigers picked up wins on consecutive days over the weekend, winning a Friday night tilt against Sweet Home and then knocking off McKinley with a strong finish at the MLK Classic. Their next opponent is the two-time defending Yale Cup champs from Middle College on Friday night in the feature game of Bob Hettler Showcase.
9. McKinley (A1) – Battled with Amherst all game on Saturday, before slipping late. Two more big nonleague games await at the end of the coming week, with the Macks' annual meetings against Jamestown (Thursday on the road) and Williamsville North (Friday at the Bob Hettler Showcase).
10. CSAT (A2) – It's time to give the Eagles a little love. They have just one league loss in the Niagara Frontier League and that came at Niagara Falls. They also own wins over a pair of teams that defeated North Tonawanda – Batavia & Ken East. Keep it going Senor Hoyos!
Small Schools
1. Middle College (C1) – Picked up a pair of double-digit wins last week against East High and fellow Top 10 small school Nichols. Now the Kats hit the road for a pair of games this week against Top 10 large schools, visiting Lew-Port on Wednesday and Amherst on Friday.
2. Tapestry (C1) – The Thunderhawks got a visit from one of the Section's better teams in Class C when Ellicottville came up on Wednesday and they beat them by 32 points! They've got three fun ones coming this week with games at Bennett & Maritime and then a big one against Health Sciences, which will be played at Villa Maria on Saturday at 5:30 pm.
3. Randolph (C2) – The seven-game win streak by the Cardinals includes wins last week by 51 & 60 points. The crazy part – 60 points isn't even their biggest win this year.
4. Allegany-Limestone (B2) – Speaking of dominating performances…I got my first look at the Gators on Saturday and they are legit. Coming off 21 & 37 point victories last week, the Gators took Hutch-Tech down in the MLK Classic after winning the second quarter 30-0. Thursday night, they travel to Fredonia for the rematch after scoring an important and decisive win in the first round.
5. Timon (B) – The Tigers stayed unbeaten against the Class B competition in the MMA with a strong second half at Nichols on Friday that led to a 16-point win. After a MLK Day visit to Canisius, Timon hosts the rematch with St. Francis on Wednesday and welcomes in St. Mary's to finish the week on Friday.
6. Fredonia (B2) – Four straight wins for the Hillbillies, all by double figures, including a 41-point walloping of Southwestern that saw Tyler Putney connect on nine 3-pointers in a 40-point outburst. A win on Thursday night against visiting Allegany-Limestone would pull them even with the Gators for first place in CCAA I West.
7. Nichols (B) – Fell to Timon & Middle College over the weekend, both teams that have held rank above the Vikings throughout the season. They'll look to get back on track against Hutch-Tech on Tuesday, ahead of an important league game against Cardinal O'Hara on Saturday afternoon.
8. Westfield (C2) – Head coach Bob North earned his 400th career win last week in a win over Brocton and followed that up with #401 as the Wolverines survived a late-game rally attempt by Sherman to improve to 11-0 on the year.
9. Maritime (B2) – The Commodores have no bad losses this season, but they did earn two more quality wins over the weekend, defeating both Williamsville South and Olmsted. They play a measuring stick type of game against Tapestry on Wednesday, before an interesting matchup at Bennett on Friday night – a team they beat by five earlier in the season.
10. Albion (B1) – The Purple Eagles are alone in first place of the N-O League after knocking off Newfane & Roy-Hart last week to improve to 9-2 on the season. They are one of seven teams left without a loss to another WNY team heading into their rematch at Medina on Friday night.
-centercourt











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