– I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen on the high school hoops scene over the couple decades and on Saturday afternoon when Niagara Falls hosted Canisius, there was almost a technical foul that was so rare, it’s worth the smatter!  The Crusaders were in a free throw situation, shooting at the same end where the Niagara Falls cheerleaders were set up across the baseline.  As Canisius prepared to attempt to free-throw, the cheerleaders were told they needed to stop cheering during that situation.  They did not listen.  During the free-throw attempt, the cheering started up again, prompting an initial whistle, and signal of a technical foul.  The cheerleaders were getting T’d up!  As I sat there smirking about what was going down, the signaling official took a moment to talk with both coaches.  After a brief discussion, all parties decided to play on without penalizing the girls at the expense of the home team.  Good call and a hilarious first for me.  

– Randolph’s 4-point victory over Panama on Tuesday ended an 18-game winning streak held by Panama since last year season, when the Panthers began their run toward a state championship.  Panama had opened the season with three consecutive victories prior to the Cardinals’ victory.

– St. Mary’s senior Will Szablewski entered the career 1K Club, going over 1,000 points scored as a Lancer on a high-rising #BOOM.  

– The 5-0 start to the season for the Grand Island Vikings has included two narrow victories, non-closer than the one they earned on Tuesday night when Dane Brown’s free throw with 0.4 seconds on the clock secured the win.

– Trailing by 9 points as the seconds ticked down to end the 3rd quarter, Wilson’s Aidan Neumann dribbled against the clock getting the ball over half court & launching a perfect looking shot that caught nothing but net to on the frame.  The 3-pointer sparked an 18-5 finish to the game in a 6-point victory for Wilson at Newfane. 

– Canisius took a trip to Jamestown on Wednesday night and returned to Buffalo with a convincing victory.  The Crusaders are now 9–0 against Jamestown since 2004.

– Iroquois senior Justus Kleitz is averaging 41.2 ppg through 4 games this season (35, 52, 43, 35).

– K’Vion Tell matched his career-high of 35 pts in Dunkirk’s 76-64 win at Forestville.  The junior has scored over 30 points in 3 of 5 outings this season.

– Fredonia senior Donovan Dowdy scored a career-high 32 points in the Hillbillies’ 89-53 win over Silver Creek.

– Jaleel Flowers finished with a career-high 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Buffalo Science in a 70-48 win over Hutch Tech.

– In Williamsville North’s 69-47 victory over Lockport, they became the first team this season to hold Charlie Croff under 30 points in his first 6 games, limiting the senior standout and recent Daemen College commit to 25 pts on 9/29 shooting from the field.

– Eden sophomore Kobe Genco knocked down a school-record 8 treys in a 60-42 win over North Collins.  Genco is coming off a a freshman season with 77 made 3-pointers and already has 191 bombs in his career.

– Cheektowaga junior DJ McClure has logged 5 double-doubles in 6 games and leads the team with 14.2 ppg.

– A former All-Centercourt standout and 2016 state champion is donning the stripes.  Joseph Staton, who starred at Middle College from 2013 to 2016 is once again involved with high school basketball as a referee.

– When Canisius defeated Niagara Falls on Saturday afternoon, they pulled even record-wise with the only program in WNY that had a winning record against Canisius over the last two decades.  The series now sits at 5-5 since 2005.

– South Park improved to 3-2 on the season after defeating Olmsted on Saturday.  That victory followed a 9-point win earned against McKinley from Wednesday night that saw 6 players score in double figures for the Sparks.

– Global Concepts has three players (Eric Davis, Josiah Clay, & Jose Castro) all averaging 16.5+ ppg.  Davis leads the Gators with 26.5 ppg.

– Some tournament winners from over the weekend along with the MVP honors:
Depew Tournament –  Champion: Global Concepts / MVP: Eric Davis
Jack Silvernail Tournament –  Champion: Akron / MVP: Derren Brooks
Ken-Ton Tournament –  Champion: Sweet Home / MVP: Shaun McGrath
Maryvale Tournament –  Champion: BASCS / MVP: Jaleel Flowers
Live Like Luca Tournament –  Champion: St. Francis / MVP: Matt Zielinski

– As of today, there are 11 teams in WNY without a loss:  Global Concepts, Eden, Orchard Park, Akron, Iroquois, Fredonia, Grand Island, Tapestry, Wilson, Burgard, & Medina.

– The following 6 teams have won all of their games by double figures:  Global Concepts, Orchard Park, Eden, Iroquois, Akron, & Fredonia.

– Global Concepts has the highest margin of victory (40.7) in WNY among undefeated teams & Medina has the lowest margin of victory (9.7) in WNY among the undefeated teams.

– On Monday evening, undefeated Medina hosts undefeated Eden.

 

–🏀centercourt🏀