By Nate Beutel
LANCASTER — For only the fourth time since the merger of Niagara Falls and LaSalle High Schools in 2000, the Wolverines have been beaten by a Western New York opponent.
Nichols’ decided size advantage and a poor shooting night was too much to overcome for NFHS in a 68-53 loss Wednesday before a standing room-only crowd at St. Mary's of Lancaster. The Falls’ other losses this decade came to Bennett (2001-02), St. Joe's (’05-06) and Sweet Home (’06-07).
“With this team we have to take care of the little things and we didn’t do that tonight,” fourth-year Falls coach Giulio Colangelo said. “We missed too many layups, gave up too many rebounds and didn’t get back in transition. Against a team as good as Nichols, you just can’t do that.”
Will Regan, a Virginia commit, led the Vikings with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. More important than stats, though, was the fact that his presence was felt the most heavily during the game’s most critical moments.
During Nichols’ game-changing 14-0 run over the final five minutes of the second quarter, Regan put together a trio of pretty post moves as the Vikings began to establish their dominance in the paint.
Then in the fourth, after the Falls had cut the lead to just three after the third, Regan went to work at the charity stripe. He nailed 10 free throws in the final eight minutes to help Nichols hold its lead and improve to 4-0.
“It means a lot for us to beat a program like that,” the 6-foot-8 senior said. “We’re looking to make statements this year and this is the first one.”
Nichols’ other forwards also played well. Connor Vandegriff, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Royalton-Hartland, notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Stan Wier, an East Aurora transfer, added 12 points, including a trio of first-half 3-pointers that helped the Vikings take a 34-21 lead into intermission.
The Falls came charging back in the third, though, with its trademark defensive intensity. Its bench, most notably Mike Carson and Maurice Respress, also stepped up. Carson, who finished with 10 points, canned a deep 3-pointer to cut the lead down to two late in the period.
But that flurry wasn’t enough to reduce the shooting woes of the Falls. The Wolverines went just 5 of 12 from the free throw line, missed at least a half dozen layups and shot less than 30 percent from beyond the arc, according to their statkeeping.
Davon Marshall led the Wolverines with 15 points, while Kenny Stokes added 10 and Respress added eight points and eight boards.
The schedule doesn’t do any favors for NFHS this week either. The Falls, which again played without forward Putter Brown (burned hand), is slated to play at perennial-power Canisius at 4 p.m. Saturday in the headline game of the Keenan Classic.
“We’re going to go back to the drawing board and get better,” Colangelo said. “There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have to be better.”
N. Catholic 59, Cheektowaga 42
In the opener, the Patriots broke open a two-point game at the half with a 20-6 third quarter. NC improves to 5-0 on the season.
“At the end of the first half we lost focus, but we took it to the next level with our intensity in the third,” Catholic coach Eric Fields said. “We haven’t been off to this good of a start in quite some time. It’s nice ... but there are bigger challenges ahead.”
Catholic jumped out to a quick lead in the first with its transition game, but saw that lead slip away when they were forced into their halfcourt offense against the Warriors' zone.
In the third, though, NC’s energy was not matched as its backcourt exploded offensively. Lorenzo Joseph scored six of his 16 points in the period, Marquis Iveys had six of his 10 and Mouse Matthews netted five of his 15.
“We had good balance,” Fields said. “We’ve got all kinds of guys that can run the floor and score, which is a nice luxury.”
Steve Beck had 10 rebounds and four blocks for NC, while Eric Fields added eight points and Iveys notched four steals.
Christian Thompson had eight points for the Warriors (1-4).
Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.
