BATAVIA — The 41st annual Pete Arras Memorial Boys Basketball Tournament, presented by the Batavia Lions Club, got off to a non-competitive start on Tuesday night, with three games being decided by 30-plus points and another resulting in an 18-point margin of victory.
Although the volunteers on hand at Genesee Community college provided excellent service and the athletes on the court never failed to produce a full effort, each game on Tuesday finished as a laugher. Oakfield-Alabama, Notre Dame and Batavia each won their opening-round matchups by over 30 points, and Le Roy finished as an 18-point winner.
In Game 1, Le Roy moved past Attica, 48-30, with Meritt Holly Jr. propelling the Knights’ victory with 27 points and six rebounds. Le Roy jumped out to a 15-7 lead after the first quarter and increased their advantage to 12 points at the half.
During the second half, the Knights outscored Attica, 22-16, to salt away the opening-round win. Jean Agosto produced a quality performance for Le Roy, chipping in 12 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Cole Harding led Attica (3-4), which will face Roy-Hart in the consolation game, with 18 points.
The Knights are now 5-3 and riding a four-game winning streak. Le Roy will be looking to repeat as champion of the large-school division, as it will meet Batavia in the final game on Thursday at 8 p.m.
Powered by a 27-point first quarter, Batavia ushered past Roy-Hart, 77-41, in the large school division’s other opening-round matchup. The Blue Devils were led by Ja’Vin McFollins, who scored a team-high 17 points, throwing down a number of dunks in the process. Rashawd Christie put forth a solid performance consisting of 16 points. Sawyer Siverling, Batavia’s leading scorer entering Tuesday’s action, contributed 13 points to the winning effort.
“I really liked the energy we played with tonight,” said Batavia head coach Buddy Brasky. “Our pressure defense sped them up and got us out running in transition. That’s when we are at our best. We need to tighten up our turnovers — we committed 22 tonight — but overall, I liked the way we played.”
Roy-Hart’s Jamel Johnson Jr. scored a game-high 25 points for the Rams, who fell to 3-3. The Blue Devils improved to 3-1.
Oakfield-Alabama got Tuesday’s small-school action started with a 69-39 opening-round victory over rival Elba, riding hot shooting from Kyle Porter to the lopsided win. The Lancers put up a fight in the early going, packing things in defensively, forcing the Hornets to rely on their perimeter shooting to open things up offensively. After a slow start, Porter ignited the Hornets’ strong second-quarter performance when they outscored Elba, 23-12, to help seize a 20-point lead at halftime.
Porter finished with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, while Brayden Smith chipped in a solid performance consisting of 14 points and seven assists. Colton Yasses added 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Hornets.
“I was proud of the boys’ effort tonight, especially on the defensive end,” said O-A head coach Ryan Stehlar. “We had a tough matchup against a well-coached league team in Elba and had to be ready to go early. I was proud of our bench for stepping up when we needed them as well. Overall, it was a good team win.”
Elba (3-4) was powered by Jake Walczak, who scored 10 points. The Lancers’ leading scorer, Connor Scott, was limited to just nine points, with O-A face-guarding him throughout the night, which made it difficult for the senior guard to find open opportunities. The Lancers struggled from the free throw line in the loss and missed a number of easy looks near the basket, which inhibited their chances of keeping pace with the high-powered Hornets, who improved to 5-1 and will look ahead to a matchup with Notre Dame in the small-school title game.
Notre Dame dominated Medina in the other small-school opening-round matchup, rolling to the championship game with a 67-37 win over the Mustangs. The Irish deployed fierce pressure defense throughout the first half, forcing a number of Medina turnovers, which helped ND rack up a 33-18 lead at halftime, from which they never looked back.
Jordan Welker had a big night for the Irish, scoring 21 points, doling out seven assists and recording four steals, while Jay Antinore finished with 10 points and recorded six steals. Hayden Groff and C.J. Thornley each finished with nine points for Notre Dame (5-3), with Groff securing six rebounds and Thornley grabbing seven boards.
Aiden Pitts finished with a team-high 14 points for Medina (2-3). The Mustangs will meet Elba in the small-school consolation game on Thursday.
