– When Canisius lost to Penfield in the championship game of the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament, it marked the first time in 13 years the Crusaders did not win the trophy and snapped a 27-game win streak in that event.  What makes the accomplishment all that more remarkable is the level of talent they have invited into this tournament over the years, including Cathedral Prep, McQuaid, Jamestown, Health Sciences, Albany Academy, Nazareth, Aquinas, Fordham Prep, Lew-Port with Roddy Gayle, Williamsville South with Greg Dolan, and Cheektowaga with Dom Welch.

– Justus Kleitz set a new Iroquois school record, achieving a career-high, and set the WNY season scoring standard at 52 points in the Redhawks 84–51 victory over Holland.  Think about it…52 points??!?  Even his big brother Trey knows this guy can hoop…

– Playing in their 3rd consecutive game in as many days, the Macks of McKinley allowed just 8 points in the first half of a 66-32 win over Horseheads in the consolation game of the Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament at Canisius.

– The Lancaster Legends could be ready to go on on a nice win streak, following a pair of impressive victories last week over two of the better teams in the area from the NFL.  After taking down Ken West, the Legends knocked off Lockport in their next outing to begin the season 2-1.

– Wilson’s Aidan Neumann became just the fourth player in program history to score over 1,000 career points.  The milestone for Neumann, averaging 27 ppg through 5 games this season, came during a 29-point performance at the Wilson Tip-Off Tournament.  Ethan Baker (2010) holds the school record at Wilson with 1,456 career points.

– Barker’s Anthony Taliaferro scored 27 points to go with 17 rebounds in a 67-44 win over Cleveland Hill.  Taliaferro is averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds per outing this season for the Bulldogs.

– Some tournament winners from over the weekend along with the MVP honors:
Hamburg Lions Club Tournament  – Champion:  Hamburg / MVP: Nolan Hochworter
Wilson Tip-Off Tournament – Champion: Wilson / MVP: Aidan Neumann
Southwestern Tournament – Champion: Ellicottville / MVP: Blake Smith
Maple Grove Tournament – Champion: Salamanca / no MVP selected, but if they had chosen one, Carlton Farmer seems like the choice

– Lockport’s Charlie Croff has opened the season with four consecutive games scoring over 30 points and is averaging 35 points per game this season.

– Monday evening, Wilson claimed a resounding victory on the road at MST behind a career-high 38 points from senior big man Shamus George – the 2nd member of the Lakemen to score 38 in a game this year.  Aidan Neumann scored 38 in the team’s previous outing against Cardinal O’Hara.

– On Friday evening in the first round of the Wilson Tip-Off Tournament, senior James Madan, who entered the game with 14 career points, took his turn to pop off for a career-high, finishing with 18 points.

– Williamsville East freshman Brady Konst has led the Flames in scoring in back-to-back games, knocking down six 3-pointers in each of those contests.

– Global Concepts junior Josiah Clay scored 27 points on 8/11 shooting in the team’s 72–28 win over City Honors.

– Patience Niyonzima dropped a career-high 34 points and hauled in 11 rebounds in Burgard’s 62–36 win over Maritime.  In a 51-48 victory over Hutch Tech, Burgard senior Muhamed Muhamed recorded a triple-double, scoring 13 points, with 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

– Niagara Wheatfield 8th grader Colton Becker scored 21 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished 6 assists, and recorded 5 steals in the Falcons’ 60–42 victory over Depew.

– A total of 12 players entered the scorebook in Tapestry’s 83–24 win over Maritime last week.

– Harlem Brannon scored a career-high 43 points with 10 rebounds when Ken West lost to Lancaster last week. He followed that up with a 34-point, 9 rebound & 7 steal performance, leading the Blue Devils to victory at Amherst.

– I reported last week that former Olean head coach Jeff Anastasia is back on the sideline, now assisting Williamsville North.  Then over the weekend I found none other than Davante ‘The Ticket’ Gaines on the bench helping out the Health Sciences Falcons.

 

–🏀centercourt🏀