CHEEKTOWAGA, NY – Heading into hostile territory for their first glimpse of postseason action, the Allegany-Limestone boy’s basketball team shook off a slow start before sparking a 61-52 comeback in the first round of the Section 6 playoffs.
After finishing the regular season 4-15, the Gators entered the Class B2 bracket with the No. 9 seed, setting up a road trip to see No. 8 seed Cleveland Hill. Off of the jump, A-L quickly fell behind, looking up at a 19-8 deficit after the first eight minutes of play. From there, however, the Gators slowly began chipping away at the lead.
After outscoring Cleveland Hill 16-12 in the second, narrowing the gap on the scoreboard to just seven points at the break, A-L took control with a 17-6 run in the third. From there, they closed out the game with their highest scoring production of the night, claiming their spot in the Section VI quarterfinals.
Three Gators ended in double-digit scoring throughout the win. Ryan Callen came away with a game-high 20 points, also grabbing nine rebounds, two assists and one steal while Nolan O’Brien ended with 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Greg Peck came close to recording a double-double, tallying 10 points and nine rebounds alongside three assists and two steals.
With the win, A-L, now just two wins away from a repeat trip to the title game, will face top-ranked Tapestry (18-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
AT CHEEKTOWAGA
Allegany-Limestone (61)
Callen 6 8-10 20, O’Brien 5 5-12 15, Peck 4 2-5 10, Margeson 1 2-2 5, Owen 2 0-0 5, Wilczewski 2 0-0 4, Brady 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 17-29 61
Cleveland Hill (52)
Arroyo 6 0-0 14, D’Hilly 6 1-7 13, Kasama 4 1-1 11, Brazelton 3 0-3 6, Johnson 3 0-0 6, Stoj 1 0-1 2. Totals: 23 2-12 52
Allegany-Limestone 8 24 41 61
Cleveland Hill 19 31 37 52
Three-point goals: A-L (2) Margeson, Owen, CH (4) Arroyo 2, Kasama 2; Total fouls: A-L 14, CH 26; Fouled out: Kasama, Stoj (CH).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Olean 55, Maryvale 35
OLEAN, NY – Defending home court against the Flyers, Olean earned its spot in the Section 6 Class A2 quarterfinals with a 20-point win.
The No. 8 seed Huskies advance to take on No. 1 seed Depew on Tuesday. That game, which is hosted at Depew, is slated for a 6 p.m. tip off.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Middle Tennessee State 2, St. Bonaventure 1
MURFREESBORO, TN — The St. Bonaventure baseball team found itself on the wrong side of a walk-off as Middle Tennessee State took a narrow victory in the first game of a three-game series.
The Bonnies gave up just two hits all game, but connected on just three themselves as they and the Blue Raiders were locked in a pitchers’ duel.
Chris Hoalcraft scored the lone run of the game for Bona with a solo shot to right field in the fourth inning, his first home run of the season.
David James got the start on the mound for the Bonnies and went four innings, conceding one unearned run with two walks and two strikeouts. Joey Calabretti entered in relief and tossed three scoreless innings, walking two.
The MTSU pitching staff, led by starter David Horn, who fanned eight over five innings, racked up 15 strikeouts. Landen Burch earned the win with 4.2 scoreless innings of relief, striking out seven.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
James Madison 11, St. Bonaventure 0 (5 Innings)
Towson 18, St. Bonaventure 0 (5 Innings)
GREENVILLE, NC — The St. Bonaventure softball team suffered two lopsided defeats in the first day of the Pirate Classic hosted by East Carolina.
In game one, they fell to James Madison 11-0. The Dukes scored three runs in the top of the first inning, all brought in by a homer from Payton List.
James Madison put three more runs up in the second frame and five in the third.
Nolah Moyer recorded two hits for the Bonnies while Abigail Ahern also picked up a single.
Bona’s second game of the day, an 18-0 loss to Towson, followed a similar script.
The Tigers jumped ahead 4-0 in the first inning, a frame highlighted by a two-run homer from Kaci Benton.
They then pushed their lead to 7-0 in the second, tacked on eight runs in the third, a pair in the fourth and one final run in the fifth.
Colsten Beers picked up two hits for Bona, including a double while Sydney DeGram also recorded a hit.
