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Springville Journal /Saturday, February 14, 2015
The week in photos ...
PHOTOS / DAVE DELUCA
Springville senior Mitch Bunic continued to dominate this postseason and earned four more first place patches, taking first in the 100 fly (55.95) and the 100 breaststroke (101.6).
(Above) Springville’s Joelle Adamczyk takes a fifth place finish in the 600. (Below) West Valley senior Jared Ras slpits defenders on his way to the hoop.
(Top) Springville’s Jess Wiede puts the shot. (Middle) Springville’s Bryce Szudzik went 2-1, pinning his first two opponents. (Left) Springville’s Devin Pazzuti drives into the lane against Lake Shore.
S-GI girls hoops splits with foes on hardwood, boys drop a pair in league “Champs” from page B1 and Adamczyk both took third. Adamczyk added a fifth place finish in the 600. S-GI girls hoops splits pair against Depew, Amherst Springville girls basketball earned a 45-34 win over Depew on Feb. 6, before Cheektowaga avenged an earlier loss to Springville to hand the Lady Griffs a 50-34 loss on Feb. 9. Junior Sara Kwiatkowski led Springville with 15 points against Depew, while sophomore Julia Krzemien had 10.
Against Cheektowaga, senior Heaven Rollek led Springville with eight points, while Kwiatkowski had six. Springville hosted Amherst on Feb. 12 after press time in its final home game of the regular season and will close out its season at East Aurora on Feb. 18. S-GI boys hoops upended by Depew, Cheektowaga Springville boys basketball (3-13, 0-10 ECIC III) lost a pair of league games to Depew and
Cheektowaga. The Griffs fell to Depew, 56-35, on Feb. 6 and to Cheektowaga, 75-51, on Feb. 10. Junior Kyle Warner led Springville in both games, scoring 14 points against Depew and 18 against Cheektowaga. Sophomore forward John Domes had nine points against Depew and 10 against Cheektowaga. Springville has two games remaining in the regular season and will return to action on Feb. 13 against Amherst before hosting East Aurora on Feb. 18.
Wildcats no match for Franklinville West Valley girls basketball (4-11, 4-4 CCAA East 2) lost to Franklinville, 52-24, on Feb. 10. Franklinville’s three-point shooting was too much for West Valley to overcome as the Panthers had eight 3-pointers in the game. Senior Kaitlyn Snayczuk led West Valley with 12 points in the loss. West Valley hosted Pine Valley on Feb. 12 after press time and is slated to travel to Pine Valley on Feb. 14 for its final league game of the season.
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Springville Journal /Saturday, February 14, 2015
Girls high school hockey continues Walking on water to catch big winter fish to grow at state tournament By Mike Haim
By Forrest Fisher
Less than a week after Katy Perry performed her “female empowerment” songs at the Super Bowl, Western New York experienced its own form of “girl power” on the feature rink at HarborCenter. Buffalo’s newest hockey venue hosted the fifth annual state high school girls ice hockey championship tournament last weekend. A local flair was even more evident as the Kenmore Devil Dogs, comprised of students from both Kenmore East and Kenmore West, won their semi-final game against Alexandria Bay from Section III to qualify for the championship game against Massena from Section X. Kenmore may have lost the final by a 3-0 score, but every other aspect of the weekend was a victory for not only the team, but also for a Section VI program in only its fifth year. The section, one of only four in the state to offer girls hockey, is the only one located west of the Syracuse area. It is also the newest, making Kenmore’s appearance in the final game incredibly significant. It was especially sweet for the section’s organizers, which started to explore a framework for interscholastic girls hockey about 10 years ago. Among the group who had a vision for the sport in the area was Rick Hopkins, who coaches the Williamsville district team and is sectional chairman. For Hopkins, seeing a state championship tournament being held locally much less with a local team in the final game was quite gratifying. ”It was a long arduous project, but we were able
Winter sporting enthusiasts in WNY have endured (enjoyed?) multiple consecutive weeks of a chilly arctic air blast this year and that has made recreation that depends on cold and snow the best in many years. Ice fishing activities in WNY lakes and ponds have been successful for hardy anglers and numerous good catches of fish have been reported throughout our region. One popular ice fishing destination for veteran Erie County ice anglers has always been the Bay of Quinte, in nearby Ontario, where big perch and walleyes are the target. Fishing in 19 feet of water near Big Bay near “Wager’s” on Big Island, Lake Erie Charter Captain Bob Rustowicz has been fooling some hefty walleyes. With several fish over eight pounds, Rustowicz has been fooling the monsters on gold-color Sidewinder spoons tipped with a minnow and simply working a vertical jigging motion. Several trophy fish in the 12 to 14 pound range are taken from the Bay of Quinte every year. Rustowicz says that when Lake Erie firms up more solid off Sturgeon Point, he plans to fish our New York waters for walleye and perch. Closer to home at Chautauqua Lake, anglers fishing the lower end of the lake off Grass Island, right in front of the Lakewood Rod and Gun Club, have been catching yellow perch and crappie on jigs tipped with salted minnows in six to eight feet of water depth. At center lake areas off Mission Meadows, Rich Davenport has been fishing with friends
OUTDOOR COLUMNIST
SPORTS COLUMNIST
JEFFREY T. BARNES
The Kenmore Devil Dogs celebrate a goal. The team is comprised of student-athletes from both Kenmore East and Kenmore West. to convince seven school districts that girls varsity ice hockey would be a good thing,” Hopkins said. “Five years after having the first puck drop, we’ve grown in numbers of girls playing and the talent level has grown along with it. “We were thrilled when the other leagues in the state asked us to host the state tournament. And it was a big thrill for the other qualifiers, who came out of the North Country from small communities, and their eyes were wide open kind of like someone from Buffalo going to New York City for the first time.” In fact, the Massena team ended up staying at the same hotel as the Dallas Stars, who were in town for a game against the Buffalo Sabres. The high school squad got to meet some members of the
Stars, including Erik Cole, who grew up in Oswego and worked one summer in Massena. It all made for a memorable two-day tourney, and proved that the idea of having girls playing varsity ice hockey at the high school level really does make sense. Hopkins admitted the organizing group needed to overcome doubts about the level of play from some district administrators. “You don’t question someone’s ability to play a trumpet if they want to go out for the band,” Hopkins said. “But once the league started, any doubters or naysayers could see the level of play and the amount of interest and excitement that girls hockey generates.” In addition to Kenmore and Williamsville, the section
has four “combined district” competitors: Orchard ParkFrontier, Lancaster-Iroquois, Amherst-Sweet Home, and West Seneca-Hamburg. All play in a federation league which also has a Monsignor Martin team composed of players from various Catholic schools. Kenmore forward Ana Orzechowski, a key player in the Devil Dogs’ four straight sectional championships, will even go on to play Division I collegiate hockey at RPI. Many other players from the area already play at Division III colleges, so there is already a developmental success story in the making. “Girls should have every opportunity that the boys have,” said Kenmore coach Jeff Orlowski. “We’ve come a long way in five years. We’re glad to be the pioneers.”
in 50-54 feet of water to catch perch in the 9-10 inch range and walleye to seven pounds. On the Mayville end of the lake near Mayville Town Park, perch, crappie and walleye are falling to tipped jigged as well, except anglers are working the weed bed edges there in 11-13 feet of water. In the Buffalo Small Boat Harbor, anglers working over six to eight feet of water with 12 – 15 inches of ice thickness have continued to catch smaller perch and sunfish, with some smelt and occasional northern pike as well. Mousie grubs fished on tiny titanium head jigs with extra sharp hooks are reported best offerings for the panfish, with tip-ups presenting mid-depth chubs the best for the northern pike. To cope with the cold weather, the one thing that anglers need this year is a sure way to keep their exposed hands warm when fishing. Most anglers use the portable and disposable hand warmer packs that we buy in local stores for a dollar or two. These last for 6-12 hours, but then they are finished putting out heat and must be disposed of. This year, a new device made by Swyper’s Company offers another hand-warmer option with rechargeable heat that offers 113 degree of heat for seven hours. The device is small, about ½ inch thick by 1-1/2 inch wide by about 3 inches long, and is protected by an aluminum shell casing with dual face heating on both sides, it’s water resistant too. It comes with a clip to attach to your zipper jacket or other loop in your outdoor clothing and is the perfect new device for hiking, skiing, fishing and all forms of winter outdoor activities. Tight lines to all.
Springville to take 7 to sectionals this weekend Champs from page B1 a third place finish. Bunic and Piatek went one-two in the 100 fly and Zifra made a big comeback. Zifra was in seventh place at the last turn, but turned it on in the last 25 meters and took 3 ½ seconds off his time from the week before. Springville also had two divers take high finishes as Christian Krasnek took third and Hunter Louth took fourth. Senior Garrett Olrogg earned the first patch of his career, taking fourth in the 100 backstroke. Greyson Louth took sixth in both the 50 free and the 100 free, while helping
the 400 relay team of Olrogg, Zifra and Jake Gorski take sixth, too. Gorski added 12th place finishes in the 200 IM and 100 breast. Springville was coming off a second place finish at ECICs a week prior, a meet in which they lost by just 21 points. Boberg mentioned that his team has ramped up the intensity this postseason. “It’s been emotional; supercharged,” the coach said. “Nobody is dreading the end of the year. It’s definitely been supercharged the last three weeks. Everybody is flying high and doing their best. I can’t ask for anything more as a coach.”
Springville will take seven swimmers to Maryvale High School for sectionals this weekend. Bunic is seeded second in the 100 breast and is sixth in the 100 fly. Aebly is seeded third in the 100 breast and West is eighth in 100 free. The 200 medley relay team is seeded third and the 200 free team is seeded fifth. Krasnek is seeded seventh in diving and needs to make up 22 points to hit the state qualifying score. “The seven guys we have coming back want to keep dropping time,” Boberg said. “We’ll see if we can send any guys to states.”
West Valley runs out of gas at end Hoops from page B1 is for our guys to put a hand up to get in their face. “But, they were drilling them all night long. I don’t know what the percentage was, but I’m sure it was above their season average.” West Valley nearly lost control of the game in the first half. Franklinville started the game quickly and led by as many as 15, but West Valley finished the quarter on a 19-2 run to actually take a 33-31 at halftime. During the run, Ras hit three 3-pointers and West Valley went 7 of 8 from the foul line. “During that stretch, I think our press was very effective, we were making our foul shots and crashing the boards on shots we missed,” Clayback said. “Our adrenaline was really pushing us forward and we had them on their heels. They were getting frustrated and started having
turnovers. That’s what got us back in the game.” The loss spoiled a careerday for West Valley senior forward Emil Erlandson, who led West Valley with a career-high 27 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds. Erlandson scored 17 of his 27 in the second half, coming up with key baskets to keep West Valley in the game. Despite playing almost the whole game in foul trouble, Ras finished with 18 points. Senior Pat Enser also finished in double figures with 12 points. West Valley rebounded from the loss with a 64-56 win over Hinsdale on Feb. 10. Erlandson and Enser each had 21 points in the win, while Summers had 14. West Valley (7-10, 2-7 CCAA East 2) hosted Pine Valley on Feb. 12 after press time and will close out its regular season at Clymer on Feb. 18.
“It’s so draining being so close and then letting it slip away,” West Valley coach Bryan Clayback said. “But, it was probably our best game of the season. We played neckand-neck with them.”
DAVE DELUCA
Springville swimmers celebrate one of their many victories while winning the Class C Championship for the first time in school history.
Western Springville Lanes New York Trap League scores
Results of the Western New York Trap League, at Springville on Feb. 8 are as follows: Springville 1, 146 Sardinia, 148; Springville 4, 144 Java, 142; Glen Coe 2, 142 Glen Coe 1, 144; Evans, 133 Holland, 143; Lime Lake, 141 Bye, 142; Glen Coe 3, 143 Boston, 139; Ellicottville, 141 Springville 2, 138. Perfect scores of 25 were shot by Matt Darnley, Jim Struck Jr., Clarence Diebold, Jeff Dick, Scott Wolfer, Brian Euscher, Samantha Wagner and Bob Rockwood. Bert Schweigert and Joe Thomas have shot 50 straight.
Sunday No Tap 4 Balls, 2 Bags 3,044; 1,149 Tim Russell 755; 290 Jeff Schiefer 290 Corina Schiefer 588; 234 Monday K&T Guns & Ammo 2,875; 976 Maria Butcher 605; 216 Tuesday Morning The Retirees – 2,587; 901 Woody Miller – 658; 244 Lois Maj – 491; 185 Davies Hillside Farms League Sno Pro Builders – 3,546; 1,232 Mark Glass – 705 Lance Nagel – 280 Wednesday, Early Steve Hutchinson Memorial Holland Hills C.C. – 2,854; 979 Paul Kaiser – 675; 257 Debbi Hutchinson – 544;
187
Wednesday, Late Springville Lanes 2 – 2,150 Wayne Concrete – 741 Kevin Farner – 726; 258 Sam Farner – 554; 209 Thursday Mixed Double, Double – 3,148; 1,115 Bill Brisley – 597; 223 Linda Hody – 520; 189 Friday Freedom Tire Men’s The Can Man 3,358 Latak Blacktopping 1,232 Todd Benkelman 706 Kevin Rowland 276 Saturday – 9:30 a.m. Juniors
Pin Pals – 1,282; 648 Gage Marvin – 295; 163 Cece Krezmien – 232; 133 Sonya Krezmien – 133 wSaturday – 11 a.m. Teens
Backwoods Bowlers – 2,185 Pin Pals – 757 Alex Wendley – 525; 224 Emily Zebrowski – 511 Mariah Gamel –179 Saturday Mixed
6 T’s & D – 2,416; 841 Jim Braddock – 610; 242 Diane Nelson – 572; 256