By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
ALLEGANY — The journey begins with a trip down Route 417 in Cattaraugus County. As you continue further up the road, in between neighbors Olean and Allegany, you’ll begin to notice a different change of scenery out the window. In full view, completely visible to the naked eye, a bright beacon sits aglow in the quadrangle.
The designation: St. Bonaventure.
As you make that turn onto College Street, and follow it all the way to the back of the famed Division-I campus — the only Division I campus of its kind in the Southern Tier, you will find a place that has witnessed and amassed many memorable moments of ultimate grandeur take center stage, over the course of decades.
To name a few: More recently, a monstrous double-overtime win in front of a packed Wolfpack crowd for the then-Andrew Nicholson led Bonnies over St. Joes back in 2012. One that aided the team’s trek to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the turn of the millennium, 12 years prior. Even further back, the final curtain call for the basketball court’s namesake — Bob Lanier, back in 1970, when he played his final home game against one of the school’s archrivals in Canisius.
What happened further beyond that final day in the Reilly Center, can speak for itself. Loud and clear.
With the Bonnies having taken care of business over the weekend against Siena, and their eyes now set on No. 15 Florida Atlantic this upcoming weekend back on their home floor, Bob Lanier Court remained empty on Monday. There’s a pretty special reason behind that.
For one night only, high school basketball took over.
Inside that famed basketball chapel, on that historic hardwood, it was Andover/Whitesville and Arkport-Canaseraga’s time to make some noise, as both boys and girls squads came together for the opportunity of a lifetime.
What morphed into a fast and furious start on both sides for much of the opening frame, rapidly airmailed into an opening for one time to climb through. That being Arkport-Canaseraga, who finished the first quarter strong on a scoreless run and carried the momentum into the next eight minute stanza, growing their lead out to double digits and keeping it there permanently behind their defense to help put a wrap on a complete sweep of the action with a 79-45 victory over Andover/Whitesville.
“Our full-court press is our foundation,” said Wolves coach Max Houy. “Our defense is what wins us games, and the transition points that come from it, are even more important. When you’re in a big gym and the three-point line is a little bit further back than what we’re used to, you have to bring up the pressure. I was a little nervous about the length, but we covered it pretty well.”
Each team would jog off on a scoreless run to open the game, with the Wolves delivering the first punch on four straight points before Andover/Whitesville (3-3) fired right back with six straight themselves from three different scorers, as Colton Calladine, Brody Vance and James Miller-Young all provided the early firepower to deliver the 6-4 lead approaching halfway in the frame.
After some big shots at the charity stripe to ease their way back in front, a back-and-forth clash for the driver’s seat ensued, ultimately seeing the Wolves (4-0) reclaim it on what was the final lead change of the frame. With under two to play, the Arkport-Canaseraga defense forced multiple turnovers onto their side, which resulted in a quarter-ending 6-0 run to branch their advantage out to eight.
The advantage would reach as high as 13 at one point in the second quarter, behind a pair of back-to-back triples from the hand of Caden Carey, as the momentum remained firmly in Arkport-Canaseraga’s favor down to the end. As for the half’s conclusion, the Wolves ended it strongly by forcing three straight turnovers against Andover/Whitesville — cashing in on all three to lay claim on a 40-25 lead at the break.
A moment that Houy said, fired his team up. Especially with a quality opponent up next on their schedule, just under 24 hours away.
“That was massive,” he said. “We went into the locker room after that, and the guys were all fired up about it. We brought all that back out with us for the second half. We’re going to need every bit of that with Dansville coming up on the schedule. We’re 4-0 and playing a bigger school back home at Canaseraga, and we’re going to do our best to keep this momentum going.”
Andover/Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce added on the second quarter, noting that “We weren’t able to stop their runs. Once we got them to a five or 10-point run, it snowballed into a 10, 15-point run. We were trying to limit them and tried to get some of our own in the same swing, but it snowballed. We got into early foul trouble too, which didn’t help matters much. We had some kids come up from JV on a short bench that also got some great experience too, so that’s a positive we can take away.”
By the time the second half arrived, the Wolves were clicking on all angles on the floor, as they tucked away the night’s final victory for good behind a stellar 23-8 run of Andover/Whitesville in the third quarter, ignited by a 14-point frame from Tim Vilkhu, who finished as the leading scorer for the Wolves with his game-high 23 points.
Following behind Vilkhu was Carey, who concluded with 16 points. Alex Vilkhu was the third Wolf to score at least 10 points, as he posted 11 in all. On the other side, Brody Vance bucketed 22 team-high points to pace the Andover/Whitesville offense. Following up was Colton Calladine, who had 11 points. Jake Mattison had six points off a pair of three-pointers.
One thing is for certain when both coaches looked back on the night and what it presented, they both share a common denominator: They were beyond grateful for the opportunity.
“We’re just so grateful to Andover/Whitesville,” said Houy. “This is all theirs, they set up all of this. I got an email out of the blue, and they are super sweet people over there. They told us that they had a date open to play at Bonaventure and asked us to come play. It’s a very cool experience for us coaches, and more importantly, the kids to have experienced.”
“I think that’s what we preached to our guys, win or lose from this. We wanted to experience this, and I think we did that,” Joyce reflected. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted to, certainly, but there were positive moments that we can take from this. Arkport-Canaseraga is a great team, and they play the game we want to play. But they’re better than us at it right now, and that’s where our aim is. Overall, I take more positives out of this and we have more work to do with it.”
Joyce added on the team effort from both sides to make the special night happen for everyone in attendance, saying that “I’m really glad everything worked out when we first talked about setting this game up. Without the Boosters clubs from both schools, none of this would be possible. We had volunteers far and wide from both communities step up to help us in every way they could. It was a total team effort across the board, and they all helped make this a fun, memorable and enjoyable experience for the kids that I hope will take this with them in the time to come.”
Arkport/Canaseraga Boys: vs. Dansville (at Canaseraga), Tonight 7:15 p.m.
Andover/Whitesville 9 16 8 12 – 45
Arkport-Canaseraga 17 23 23 16 – 79
ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: James Miller-Young 1 1-2 3, Jake Mattison 2 0-0 6, Vinny Joyce 0 0-2 0, Brody Vance 7 6-10 22, Colton Calladine 4 3-8 11, Trey Kent 1 0-0 3. Totals: 15 10-22 45.
ARKPORT-CANANSERAGA: Devin Moran 4 0-0 9, Caden Carey 6 2-2 16, Ibra Ford 4 0-0 8, Alex Vilkhu 5 0-3 11, Koehler Preston 1 0-0 2, Tim Vilkhu 8 5-6 23, Tayven Lavetsky 1 0-0 3, Dan Clark 3 1-2 7. Totals: 32 8-13 79.
3-point goals: A/W 5 (Mattison 2, Vance 2, Kent), A-C 7 (Carey 2, T. Vilkhu 2, Moran, A. Vilkhu, Lavetsky).
Total Fouls: A/W 15, A-C 20. Fouled out: None.
Chris Brooks photo gallery:
