Staff Reports
Perennial Class AA contender Frontier beat Sacred Heart, 25-13, 27-25 in the championship match of the gold bracket at the annual Lady Jacks Invitational. Frontier beat Immaculata and Sacred Heart downed Kenmore West in the semifinals.
In the silver bracket, Niagara-Wheatfield was crowned champions after beating Hamburg, 25-22, 26-24. N-W beat Lew-Port and Hamburg downed Nardin in the semifinals.
The all-tournament team was comprised of Katie Prue (Lockport), Kristine Ripson (Lew-Port), Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore West), Ashley Gunnell (Falconer), Jillian Reitz (Lake Shore), Sydney Palka (Starpoint), Emily Litwin (Sacred Heart), Sarah Horvath (Immaculata), Kelsey Osburne (Frontier), Delaney Laper (North Tonawanda), Jessica Wood (Hamburg) and Katie Gruarin (Niagara-Wheatfield).
CROSS COUNTRY
The Barker boys cross country team continued its strong start to the season with a first-place finish in the small schools portion of the annual Alden Bulldog Invitational Saturday.
Tyler Scheving was sixth (17:03) and Erick Bennes (17:21) was eighth, followed by Mike Lantinen (17:26) in ninth, Ryan Lamb (17:38) in 11th and Jed Platt (17:45) in 13th. Mike Sweeney (18:13) was 23rd and David Poyfair (18:40) finished 31st.
Also in the small schools race, Joe Melcher of Lewiston-Porter was 24th in 18:20 , Nick Mafredi took 55th and Brandon Andrews was 62nd.
In the large schools race, Starpoint’s Zach Ahart finished less than a second off the pace of race winner Lee Swadis of Frontier. Ahart posted a career-best time of 16:29. Kevin Carrigan was 38th, Carl Daigler took 46th and Sam Gasser was 64th. Paul Swart won the JV race for Starpoint.
On the girls side, Barker took third in the small schools race. Sarah White was 11th as the Lady Raiders’ top finisher in 21:06. Also for Barker, Amber Sweeney (21:28) was 14th, Jamie Przybyl (21:41) was 19th, Deanna Platt (21:44) took 20th, Ashley White (22:09) finished 27th, Margie Zaepfel (22:43) was 30th and Hannah McGee (23:55) took 44th.
For Lewiston-Porter, Kelsey McGill was 25th in 22:05, Ryleigh Fitzgerald took 38th in 23:22 and Caitlin Drennan took 45th in 23:59.
In the large schools race, which Starpoint finished fourth in, Amy Cooper took 11th in 19:51. Eighth-grader Livia Chase was 18th in 19:53, Courtney Laderer was 24th in 20:50 and Audrey Collins took 44th in 21:53.
GIRLS SOCCER
Wilson 2, Albion 2
Molly Curry had a goal and an assist and Jess Curry added a goal for the Lakewomen in the Niagara-Orleans League tie. Lindsay Frauen also had an assist for Wilson (9-3-2 overall, 9-1-1 N-O). Emilie Edwards and Joyce LaLonde scored for Albion (9-4-1, 7-2-1).
Niagara Falls 3, NC 0
Shana Ventresca had a goal and two assists to help the Wolverines improve to 2-12 overall. Elizabeth Mannarino added a goal and an assist and Samantha Fruscione had the final tally. Gabrielle Grace earned the shutout and Samantha Wall stood out in the midfield. The game was played under the lights at Niagara University.
AAU BASKETBALL
PAL wins CNY Shootout
The Niagara PAL, comprised of Niagara Falls players, won the Central New York Fall Shootout, finishing 4-0 during the event. In the championship game, Davon Marshall had 21 points and six assists as the PAL beat Binghamton 61-49. Taijay Williams added 12 and both Maurice Respress and Kenny Stokes had 10 points. In the semifinals, Niagara came from 11 back to beat the Southern Tier Rage 69-64. J.J. Wilkes had 19 points, Marshall added 18 and Mike Carson had 11.
In pool play, Marshall had 22 points and seven assists as Niagara beat Syracuse 75-57. Carson added 14 points and C.J. Cox had 12 points and five steals. In the opener, Carson had 14 points and Respress added 12 points and eight boards in a 77-59 win over Central WNY. Stokes added 11 and Marshall had 10.
