Hornell – 58, Canisteo-Greenwood – 41
From the Hornell High School Athletics Department, GALLERY by Steve Harrison, “crowd” shots by JC’s Photography
The Hornell Red Raiders traveled to Canisteo Wednesday night where they took on the C-G Chargers to open the 2023-24 basketball season. The gym was packed full of fans and students from each of the neighboring communities cheering on their hometown boys.
A fast-paced lively game got the crowd cheering from the first minutes of the game. The teams were neck and neck after the first quarter with Canisteo-Greenwood leading after a buzzer-beater by Jaxon O’Brien put the Chargers on top 18-17. Both teams would score an additional 8 points in the 2nd quarter, and the Chargers found themselves up 26-25 going into halftime.
“I thought we showed great resiliency,” said Hornell coach Kirk Scholes. “We were down seven in the first half, but we stayed the course and stayed together. We had great contributions from many guys. Wyatt Evingham really stepped up on both ends of the court. He led us with 24 points and hit some big shots. He also was the catalyst defensively, putting ball pressure on their guards. PJ Picco played well with his double-double, and Aaron McInerney did a great job giving some offense early and played great defensively on their bigs.”
The Red Raiders went on a 10-0 run midway through the 3rd quarter after a pair of buckets from PJ Picco and three-pointers from Wyatt Evingham and Quinn Mauro to put Hornell up 42-33 going into the final quarter. Hornell was able to expand the lead to 17, winning 58-41.
Scholes continued, “As the game went on, I thought our pace and our intensity wore on them a little bit. We have run hard for the last few weeks, and I thought it showed in our conditioning tonight. I think we will only get better as we go. The kids are buying into the team. We have to clean up a bunch of things on both ends, but it’s a great start.”
Hornell sophomore, Wyatt Evingham led all scorers with 24 points and 5 assists on the night, netting 5 three-pointers and going 5 for 6 from the free throw line. PJ Picco earned himself a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while also picking up 3 assists.
Canisteo-Greenwood’s Thomas Sirianni and JJ Reese each tallied 11 points on the night. Kevin Sirianni led his team with 5 assists while Cole Chaffee grabbed 8 rebounds for the Chargers.
The Red Raiders travel to Wayland-Cohocton for the Fourth Annual Way-Co Hall of Fame Basketball Showcase this Saturday. They will be playing the “Main Event” game against Class AA Corning with tipoff scheduled for 8:00pm. Tune in to Peish Sports on YouTube for live coverage of the games.
