The Hornell Red Raiders boys’ basketball picked up two road wins last week as they enter into the final stretch of the regular season.
The girls had a great showing in a win against Way-Co.
BOYS
On Wednesday, the Raiders traveled to Dansville for a matchup with the Mustangs and came home with the 72-50 win over the #4 seed in Class B1.
Gennaro Picco led the Raiders with 19 points, while Marco Picco and Wyatt Evingham followed with 12 and 11 respectively. Marco led his team with 6 assists.
Reese Dixon led the Mustangs with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Reid Martin followed with 12 points on the night.
When speaking of the Dansville win, coach Scholes commented, “I’m really proud of the effort tonight. I thought we were locked in defensively. The kids know that if we wan to get where we want to go, we must defend. Marco really stepped up and gave us some offensive punch. He’s got a calm demeanor, and he got some steals and deflections defensively. I really liked how we moved the ball with 22 assists and only 7 turnovers.”
On Friday, the Raiders traveled to Wayland for their last road game of the season. They earned the 86-30 victory against the Wayland-Cohocton Eagles.
Hornell’s PJ Picco led the Raiders with a career-high 29 points and grabbed 5 rebounds on the night. “PJ really came to play tonight,” commented coach Scholes. “I thought he had the hot hand all night. He was doing it at the rim, with the floater, and from deep.” Gennaro Picco added 23 points on the night and led all players with 7 assists and 8 steals.
Scholes continued, “We came to Wayland focused and did a good job of moving the ball against their zone. We also defended well throughout the night. I loved the way the bench contributed tonight. The young guys are really stepping up late in the year. We are going to need them now and in the future.” Marco Picco led his team with 7 rebounds and contributed 8 points off the bench. Wyatt Evingham also added 8 points and 4 assists on the night.
Matt Feinman led the Eagles with 13 points and added 6 rebounds. Way-Co’s Charlie Mulford grabbed 9 rebounds while Matthew Clark added 8.
Looking ahead, the Red Raiders will host the Haverling Rams on Tuesday and the Wellsville Lions on Friday. The last game of the regular season will be played at home against Class C2 York Golden Knights on Monday, February 12th. “We just need to continue to grow as a group and get better in small areas,” commented Scholes. “I look forward to these next three games at home. We will get tested in different areas.” Tune in to Peish Sports for live coverage of Hornell Sports.
24 29 29 12 — 94
Wayland 6 14 6 7 — 33
GIRLS DROP 94 points, Hoyt with 27
From Coach Jim Dagon: “Tonight was another night where the shots were falling from everyone. We ended up with 14 made threes, the bulk of which came from Lillian Hoyt who had 7 of them and Mia Nasca who had 4 of her own. What I was most proud of was our selflessness as a team though. When shots are falling it’s easy for a team to become a bit selfish and look to score as many as they can as individuals, but that was not how the game went at all. The girls were making great passes and finding wide open looks and they didn’t care who ended up scoring. That’s the kind of play that we love to see, all five players on the floor rooting for one another and setting each other up for success.”
It was also senior night as they team celebrated the two seniors, Kadience Gollnitz and Larissa Bezerra.
“Both of them ended up scoring which was awesome. Kadience played her best game of the season, ending up with 10 points to go along with a full stat sheet of rebounds assists steals and a block,” said Dagon.
As for the game, Dagon said, “Lillian Hoyt ended up with a game high 27 points, and in limited playing time too (due to the lead that we had established). It was one of those nights when as soon as the ball left her hand you knew it was going in. Mia Nasca picked up right where Lillian left off every time she was in the game and ended up with 17 total points herself.
“Selena Maldonado, Raegan Evingham and Jordyn Dyring led the charge on defense amassing tons of steals and assists that set their teammates up to score,” Dagon continued. “We’ve got a very tough stretch to end the season coming up, so this game was a good confidence builder before heading into sectional play. “
Scorers:
Lillian Hoyt 27 (7 threes), Mia Nasca 17 (4 threes), Payton Bentley 13 (1 three) , Selena Maldonado 12 , Kadience Gollnitz 10 (1 three), Jordyn Dyring 9 (1 three), Raegan Evingham 4 and Larissa Bezerra 2
Hornell 24 29 29 12 — 94
Wayland 6 14 6 7 — 33
