Sports
HS SOFTBALL: N-W gets defending champs, again
Niagara-Wheatfield is getting used to this. For the second consecutive season, the Falcons will host the defending Section VI Class AA champions in a pre-quarterfinal.
N-W, which topped West Seneca West a year ago, will welcome No. 10 Frontier to Fairmont Park at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The seventh-seeded Falcons feel as though they’re ready for the challenge.
“We feel real good going into sectionals,” N-W coach Eric Belter said. “For the most part we’ve peaked down the stretch as we went 6-1 in the second half of the league season. Yes, we lost five league games during the year, but they were by a total of six runs so we feel pretty confident.”
Another confident bunch is No. 5 Niagara Falls, which will host 12th-seeded West Seneca West on Friday in the pre-quarterfinals. The Falls doesn’t have an in-depth scouting report on the Indians, but it’s excited for the matchup.
“It’s nice to see a new face for a change and not have to play one of the NFL schools,” NFHS coach Beth Bullock said.
Also in Class AA, eighth-seeded North Tonawanda will host No. 9 Orchard Park at Belbas Fields in the pre-quarterfinal round.
Class A
A pair of local teams will begin play in the qualifying round of the playoffs on Thursday when 17th-seeded Lewiston-Porter visits No. 16 Lackawanna at 4:30 p.m. Starpoint, seeded 15th will host ECIC III rival Tonawanda, which is the No. 18 seed. The teams split during the regular season.
Grand Island, which is the No. 5 seed, will host No. 12 Amherst in the pre-quarterfinals on Friday.
Class B
Niagara-Orleans League champion Wilson is the fourth seed in Class B and will host N-O rival and 13th-seeded Akron at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
•••
Class A Qualifiers
17-Lewiston-Porter at 16-Lackawanna, 4:30 p.m.; 18-Tonawanda at 15-Starpoint, 4:30 p.m.; 19-Lake Shore at 14-Pioneer, 4:30 p.m.; 20-Springville Griffith at 13-Iroquois, 4:30 p.m.
Class AA Pre-Quarterfinals
13-Lockport at 4-Clarence, 4:30 p.m.; 12-West Seneca West at 5-Niagara Falls, 4:30 p.m.; 11-Sweet Home at 6-Hamburg, 4:30 p.m.; 10-Frontier at 7-Niagara-Wheatfield (Fairmont Park),4:30 p.m.; 9-Orchard Park at 8-North Tonawanda (Belbas Fields), 4:30 p.m.
Class A Pre-Quarterfinals
16-Lackawanna/17-Lewiston-Porter at 1-Maryvale, 4:30 p.m.; 15-Starpoint/18-Tonawanda at 2-Williamsville East, 4:30 p.m.; 14-Pioneer/19-Lake Shore at 3-West Seneca East, 4:30 p.m.; 13-Iroquois/20-Springville Griffith at 4-Depew, 4:30 p.m.; 12-Amherst at 5-Grand Island, 4:30 p.m.; 11-Dunkirk at 6-Cheektowaga, 4:30 p.m.; 10-Kenmore East at 7-Albion, 4:30 p.m.; 9-Williamsville South at 8-East Aurora, 4:30 p.m.
Class B Pre-Quarterfinals
15-Southwestern at 2-Cleveland Hill, 4:30 p.m.; 14-Alden at 3-Fredonia, 4:30 p.m.; 13-Akron at 4-Wilson, 4:30 p.m.; 12-Newfane at 5-JFK, 4:30 p.m.; 11-Gowanda at 6-Roy-Hart, 4:30 p.m.; 10-Medina at 7-Olean, 4:30 p.m.; 9-Falconer at 8-Eden, 4:30 p.m.
Class C Pre-Quarterfinals
15-Portville at 2-Frewsburg, 4:30 p.m.; 14-Silver Creek at 3-Cassadaga Valley, 4:30 p.m.; 13-Maple Grove at 4-Holland, 4:30 p.m.; 12-Franklinville at 5-Salamanca, 4:30 p.m.; 11-Allegany-Limestone at 6-Westfield, 4:30 p.m.; 10-Barker at 7-Randolph, 4:30 p.m.; 9-Chautauqua Lake at 8-Cattaraugus-Little Valley, 4:30 p.m.
Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.
- Sports
-
-
NCAA TOURNAMENT: Gonzaga trumpets small conference cause as a mid-major player
With a big budget, a 6,000-seat arena that’s nearly impossible to get into, and a string of top national and international recruits, Gonzaga has become the poster child for the emergence of mid-major basketball.
-
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Falls' Harrison helps Robert Morris into WNIT
It’s not quite a homecoming, but it’s close enough to get Destiny Harrison excited. The Niagara Falls native will be in Olean tonight when her Robert Morris team meets St. Bonaventure in the first round of the women’s National Invitation Tournament.
-
MMA: GI’s Weiser heads from field to octagon
Former Grand Island standout and current Buffalo State linebacker Eddie Weiser’s roots run deep when it comes to fighting.
-
SABRES: Miller pulled in 4-3 loss to Thrashers
Ryan Miller was pulled after giving up three goals in the first 6 minutes and Jim Slater’s third-period goal gave the Thrashers a 4-3 win over the Northeast-leading Sabres on Tuesday night.
-
FOOTBALL: Falls to get semi-pro team
According to numerous reports, Niagara Falls will be the site of an expansion team in the United States Football League, a semi-pro league that currently has teams in Lockport, Buffalo and Lackawanna.
-
MEN'S HOCKEY: UAH stuns Niagara in OT to take CHA title
In what might be a fitting finale to a league that never really found continuity or conformity, the last College Hockey America hockey game finished with a surprise and little sense of closure for the home team.
-
NCAA TOURNAMENT: Syracuse opens in Buffalo as seedings unfold
Kansas, Kentucky and Duke won their conference tournaments and the top seeding that went with them when the selection committee rolled out its 65-team NCAA tournament bracket Sunday.
-
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Next year, Niagara will be in Nelson's hands
Always a gifted passer, Nelson has improved his all-around game since his freshman year, and although he wasn’t one of the five point guards on the 15-member all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s team last year, Lewis predicted he’ll be recognized as one of the league’s best players next year.
-
FOOTBALL: Niagara basketball player piques Packers' interest
All those times Tyrone Lewis went flying into the Gallagher Center grandstands, could he have been preparing to take the Lambeau leap?
-
BANDITS: Kilgour sets NLL wins record
Niagara-Wheatfield graduate Darris Kilgour became the National Lacrosse League’s all-time winningest coach Friday and added to his record with another victory Saturday.
- More Sports Headlines
-
