By CHRIS BROOKS, photos by JC’s Photography
CANISTEO — Right in the middle of the Class B2 Field sits Wellsville and Canisteo-Greenwood, occupying the fifth and sixth seeds of Sectionals. The Lady Lions knew, with the big dance right around the corner, they had to put together one of their most offensively captivating games of the season.
In Wednesday night’s trip into the Canisteo Valley, the Lady Lions made the very most of the opportunity presented in front of them and delivered that very performance in dominant fashion, as they used a strong end to the first half and propelled the momentous energy into the next where they officially branched the lead out of reach of the Lady Chargers to secure the 63-40 road win.
“This is the best we’ve played this season,” said Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord. “I’ve really been stressing with the kids about our big three with Nat (Adams), Makenna (Dunbar) and Averee (Palmatier), but we need the others to step up behind them. We’ve talked about being aggressive on offense and knowing what your move, and what your shot is. Every kid played in every quarter, and not to take anything away from Les (York) and their group, but they’re starting to gel together.”
To aid in their victorious efforts, every single Lady Lion (9-5) navigated their way onto the scoreboard, as the team scored an early four-point lead after the opening quarter. With the advantage in hand, Wellsville would build on it with five different scorers fueling a 16-8 run of the Lady Chargers to close out the first half with a 31-19 lead.
The momentum continued to build for Wellsville during the second half, as the complete team effort was sealed completely with a 22-9 third quarter run that cemented the advantage permanently. Leading the charge for the visitors in black and orange was Averee Palmatier, who exploded for a game-high 19 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists along the way.
Adding more help was Makenna Dunbar and her completion of a 14-point, 12-board double-double. Caelyn Stevens recorded 11 points and five rebounds, while Natalie Adams had 10 points to go with five rebounds and four steals. On special teams, Jaden Dunbar grabbed six rebounds.
For Canisteo-Greenwood (8-6), Bailey Mullen totaled 11 team-high points. Peyton Peters had the hot hand from downtown, sinking three triples for nine points. The Lady Chargers are back on the floor Friday night at Arkport-Canaseraga in a 6 p.m. tip-off.
Before the Varsity contest took the stage, the Lady Chargers recorded a narrow 37-33 victory over Wellsville. Leading the Lady Lions was Reegan Perkins and her 14 team-leading points. Raegan Vogel had 10 points.
The Lady Lions will return home to welcome in Bolivar-Richburg for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Monday.
Wellsville 15 16 22 10 – 63
Canisteo-Greenwood 11 8 9 12 – 40
WELLSVILLE: Caelyn Stevens 5 0-0 11, Natalie Adams 3 3-3 10, Alexa Hennessy 2 0-1 4, Emily Stuck 1 0-0 3, Averee Palmatier 8 0-0 19, Makenna Dunbar 4 6-7 14, Jaden Dunbar 1 0-0 2, Alexa Stuck 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 9-11 63.
CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Kora Button 1 1-2 3, Bailey Mullen 4 1-2 11, McKenna Ferris 1 0-2 2, Harlie McCaffery 3 1-2 7, Paris May 3 0-0 8, Peyton Peters 3 0-0 9. Totals: 15 3-8 40.
3-point goals: Wellsville 6 (Palmatier 3, Stevens, Adams, E. Stuck), C-G 7 (Peters 3, Mullen 2, May 2).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 6, C-G 10. Fouled out: None.
VOLLEYBALL
Arkport-Canaseraga 3, Cuba-Rushford 0
ARKPORT — Senior Night success was on the minds of the Arkport-Canaseraga Wolves on Wednesday, as they fulfilled a positive sendoff for their senior leaders against visiting Cuba-Rushford and scored another straight-set sweep on the season with a 25-13, 25-21, 25-17 victory over the Rebels in Arkport.
The Wolves, who posted their 11th win of the season, saw senior Noah Drouin take the lead on the offense behind his game-high 11 kills, three aces and a pair of blocks at the front. Adding more help was his fellow senior teammate Salim Ford, who pitched in 11 big helpers to go with two kills and two aces. Marcos Gutierrez-Navas had five aces, three kills and a block to round off the Arkport-Canaseraga scoring.
Pacing Cuba-Rushford (3-11) was Anderson Siegel, as he posted nine big digs on defense to keep the ball off the floor, pairing them alongside three kills and an ace. Coen Kellogg chipped in with eight more digs while handing out four helpers to go with an ace, while Brock Stadler had six digs and five team-high kills to lead the offense.
WRESTLING
Addison 42, Fillmore/Keshequa 30
FILLMORE — With a match-opening double forfeit at 285 pounds kicking off festivities on the mat in Fillmore on Wednesday, visiting Addison and host Fillmore/Keshequa delivered back-and-forth exchanges across several matches to stay alongside one another.
As a result, Fillmore/Keshequa looked to close the door on what was a 30-18 victory coming down the homestretch, exiting the middleweight matches and re-entering the heavyweight bouts. But the Knights had other plans in store for the remainder of the match, as they went on to use two straight forfeits to tie the match up, along with two enormous pinfall wins at 190 and 215 pounds to officially swipe away a 42-30 road win.
All six matches in action on the mat were decided by pinfall, with Fillmore/Keshequa acquiring four of those. The first stemming at 116 pounds from Alivia Cartwright, who battled Addison’s Langden Green through and through, coming away victorious off a clutch pin with 40 seconds remaining in the final period of action. After an Addison forfeit win at 124 pounds, the hosts would go back-to-back in the next two matches to reclaim their lead.
It would begin with Ryan Vedder at 131 pounds, as he garnered possession of the night’s quickest pin after taking care of business against Devin Gilliam, scoring the pinfall win in just 29 seconds. Immediately following, Graham Howe posted a win of his own by rolling up Kolby McLean with 15 seconds remaining in the opening period of his bout at 138 pounds.
In between three Addison forfeit wins in the next four matches, Fillmore/Keshequa would contribute their fourth and final win on the mat from Kalen Beardsley, who came up with a pinfall win nearly a minute into the second period at 152 pounds. From the 160 pound bout until the finish, the Knights were able to flip the script and score wins in each of the last four matches to overtake Fillmore/Keshequa once and for all and claim victory.
Fillmore/Keshequa will close out their regular season on the road with a 6 p.m. visit to Arkport-Canaseraga.
Results (* indicates starting weight)
101 – Connor McCumiskey (F/K) by for.
108 – Connor Watson (ADD) by for.
116 – Alivia Cartwright (F/K) def. Langden Green (ADD) by pin, 5:20.
124 – Bryson Long (ADD) by for.
131 – Ryan Vedder (F/K) def. Devin Gilliam (ADD) by pin, :29.
138 – Graham Howe (F/K) def. Kolby McLean (ADD), by pin, 1:45.
145 – Cade Sands (ADD) by for.
152 – Kalen Beardsley (F/K) def. Kamdin Aloi (ADD) by pin, 2:48.
160 – Collin Aumick (ADD) by for.
170 – Spencer Westervelt (ADD) by for.
190 – Brice Combs (ADD) def. Gage Hartman (F/K) by pin, 2:16.
215 – Newt Jones (ADD) def. Caleb Green (F/K) by pin, 1:08.
*285 – Double for.
