Amherst Youth Basketball Results
Colorado defeats Missouri in sixth grade girls hoops

The Colorado Buffalos came prepared to play Thursday evening as they jumped out to an early lead and eventually held off a very tough Missouri Tigers team at the Clearfield Community Center, 29-8, in a sixth grade Amherst Youth Basketball game.

In the first half, Colorado used the hot shooting of Kayla Burt (eight first half points) and the ball-hawking and playmaking of Megan Cirbus, to bolt to an early lead. When Cirbus wasn't setting up Burt or Nadia Vasquez for easy baskets, she was getting to the basket herself and chipped in a quick four points. Missouri stayed close, primarily behind the fantastic all-around play of Katie Porter and Shannon Doherty, both with two points in the first half.

In the second half, Colorado's overall depth, team defense and tough rebounding, led by Alexis Cook, Shelby Donhauser and Jane Truesdale, kept the Tigers at bay. Doherty and Melissa Magiera tried to bring Missouri back in the second half but each time they mounted a charge, Burt and Cirbus were able to counter with baskets for Colorado.

Burt and Cirbus each finished with 10 points, Truesdale chipped in three points while Cook, Donhauser and Vasquez each had two. Doherty led Missouri with four points while Magiera and Porter each chipped in two.

Nebraska 24, Texas 12

In a tightly contested battle in Amherst girls basketball play, Nebraska beat Texas on Thursday night at the Clearfield Recreation Center.

Nebraska jumped ahead early in the game with Maggie Steele hitting four of her team-high eight points. Gabby Tejada helped out with a jumper, bringing Nebraska's lead to six by the period end. Sarah Stanford and Divya Sukumaran played it hard on the defensive end of the floor with Haley Stogsdill grabbing several defensive rebounds. The all-out effort kept Texas scoreless in the first period, though that was not to last.

In the second period, Sabrina Lipowsky found her range and netted four quick points for Texas. Dana Macchia helped out by knocking in two, with Jackie DellaNeve and Bridget Tichenor giving the Nebraska guards a hard time. Nebraska would answer back with Tejada taking charge and scoring twice off a give and go. Stogsdill and Steele also each hit for two, all of which helped Nebraska pull ahead of Texas by the end of the quarter.

The second half of the game began with Texas' Maria Cicatello connecting for two. Sarah Stanford would answer back for Nebraska, netting two from underneath. And despite a strong defensive effort by Texas' Alexis Polokff and Dana Larkin, Nebraska would pull ahead in the end with Stanford hitting another two, Steele going in for a layup, and Stogsdill netting four. Cicatello of Texas would try and hold off the Nebraska advance by making two, along with Bridget Tichenor, who swished one from the lane, but it would not be enough to overtake Nebraska in the end.

Steele led Nebraska with eight points. Stogdill and Tejada were close behind with six a piece. Stanford knocked in four.

For Texas, Cicatello and Lipowsky each put in four. Macchia and Tichenor each contributed two apiece.

Kansas 15, Nebraska 12 Behind a quick start, Kansas upended Nebraska in Amherst Youth Basketball action this past Saturday.

Slick passing and aggressive defense from the Jayhawks enabled them to jump out to an early 6-2 lead after the first quarter.

Alison Safir, Brooke Atkins, and Marley Weinstein all scored for the Jayhawks in the first quarter. Chelsea Thomeer answered with a strong basket inside for the Cornhuskers to keep the game close early.

In the second quarter, both teams tightened the defense and scoring was limited. Safir and Sarah Stanford from the Cornhuskers traded baskets and the Jayhawks led, 9-4, at halftime.

Defensive standouts for the Jayhawks were Sarah Moran, Weinstein, and Rachel Siva. Kristen Markarian, Haley Adams, and Tori Andrews helped the Jayhawk effort inside with some great rebounds and blocked shots.

Gabbie Tejada and Haley Stodsgill led the Cornhusker defense with great hustle and some timely steals.

The Jayhawks increased the margin to 15-8 after three quarters as Moran, Atkins, and Adams all scored.

The Cornhuskers, despite only having five players, battled intensely in the second half. Stanford and Thomeer led the Nebraska charge in the third quarter by scoring key baskets.

The Cornhuskers, behind baskets from Divya Sukumaran and Thomeer in the final quarter and a great defensive effort, held the Jayhawks scoreless to close the gap to 15-12 as the final horn sounded.

Girls seventh-eighth grade

Stanford 26, UCLA 15

Krista Rasey scored 10 points and Morgan O'Leary had eight in leading Stanford to victory over UCLA.

Laura Zaprowski, Catherine O'Brien, Julia Collins and Alyssa Bellus scored a basket apiece in a game that Stanford controlled right from the opening tip.

Stanford led 16-6 at the half and 20-12 after three quarters on the way to its eighth consecutive win.

Kaitlyn McKnight played the off-guard to Zaprowski and did a solid job.

UCLA's Lisa Harb played a terrific game for UCLA at point guard and led her team with seven points.

Fourth-fifth grade girls

South Carolina 15, Florida 11

It was a balanced scoring and strong team work down to the stretch that led South Carolina to victory over Florida on Saturday.

Both teams came on strong defensively with the first basket not coming until six minutes into the game by South Carolina's Jenna Stogsdill.

Incredible defense by Carolina's Lauren Diduro and Nyla Robertson's rebounding helped blank Florida the entire quarter while Florida's Abbie Stone and Grace Florian helped hold South Carolina to one basket up until eight seconds left when Jordan Weinstein got the rebound, took it down court and made the basket leaving her team up by four at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was much like the first with Florida's Andrea Kiely sinking the first basket 6½ minutes in. Great hustle and defense by Florida's Liz Hine and Nina Vazquez held South Carolina the entire quarter while MacKenzie Cutler added two with four seconds left to tie up the game for Florida at four at the half.

Florida took the lead with four points by Caroline Ranallo in the third, while South Carolina's Sally Fors helped end her team's draught with two. Florida's Hailey DeBiew (one point) and South Carolina's Ally Spicer (two points) drew foul points as both teams cranked up the defensive intensity to end the quarter 9-8.

The defensive intensity continued at the start of the fourth with South Carolina's Samantha Stanford drawing a foul point to tie the game at 9-9. South Carolina's Colleen Doyle then took control of the game with terrific ball handling and four points to give her team the lead by four. DeBiew fought back to bring Florida within two but Stogsdill's bucket in the last minute of play sealed South Carolina's victory.

Fourth-fifth grade boys

St. John's 34, Providence 13

St. John's evened the series with Providence at 1-1 after their win this past Saturday.

After a lopsided first half in St. John's favor, the two teams played an even second half, resulting in a 34-13 win for St. John's.

Alex Wehrlin led the Red Storm's offense with an explosive 13 points, his personal best, and a strong control of the boards. His defensive performance, especially in the area of blocked shots, helped keep the Providence offense in check.

Cort Williams also had his season high with 10 points and played impressive under the boards where most of his baskets were scored.

Matthew Laughlin had the difficult task of defending Providence's extremely competent Kyle Fabian, who is capable of generating significant offense, and was a key in Providence's win in their prior meeting. Laughlin, along with Connor Smith and Ryan Konotopskyl, played some of their best defense of the year, allowing Providence to only 13 points.

Smith and Konotopskyl (four points each) are the two point guards for St. John's whose ball handling and passing to the open man kept the offense moving in a continuous flurry of good, close shots or layups.

Andrew Rasimas had some of his best passing of the season, assisting on a number of points. He also played aggressively on offense and defense, scrapping for a number of loose balls.

Stephen Gervase and Max Brightenfield continued their consistent play, strong performance under the boards and good defensive work while showing continuous improvement of finding the open man.

Providence's had a balanced team scoring with Ryan Johnson and Lee Gaskin leading with four points each. Kyle Fabian added three points and directed the team's offense with his excellent ball handling ability. Justin Collins completed Providence's offense effort with two points.

Pittsburgh 22, Notre Dame 14

The Pittsburgh Panthers beat the Fighting Irish last Tuesday night.

Balanced scoring from both teams showed 10 different players making the scorebook, five from each team.

Leading the Panthers were Mike Losi's team-high eight points and Mike Shanahan's six points.

For the Irish, it was Joe Sanford with four points. Nicolas Noll and Robbie Zabel controlled the boards for the Panthers while solid defense from Mitch Fors and Alex Grano helped keep the Irish within reach.

Pittsburgh 33, Marquette 23

The Pittsburgh Panthers came out firing on all cylinders last Saturday, allowing them to take a 23-13 halftime lead into the locker room.

David Lyskawa (13 points, three assists) and Casey Davis

(eight points, 13 rebounds) led the Pittsburgh offensive attack.

Joe Brady's (15 points) and Jeff Calderon (seven points) pulled the short-handed Marquette team within four after three quarters.

Solid defense by Mike Losi and Nic Noll and ball control by Mike Shanahan and Jack Manzella helped the Panthers wear down Marquette in the final quarter.

Louisville 27, West Virginia 9

Louisville played great team basketball on both offense and defense and took control of this game early. Louisville led, 13-4, at halftime.

The Cardinals blitzed the Mountaineers for 12 points in the third quarter while holding West Virginia to one point to stretch the lead to 20.

The Mountaineers fought back brilliantly in the fourth quarter, holding the Cardinals to two points but couldn't overcome Louisville's big lead.

Louisville was led offensively by Michael Garofalo, Mickey Evans, and Ben Clement, who each had six points. Other Cardinals scoring were Pedro Pereira (five points) and Kevin Roginson (four points).

Kevin Zachau, Garofalo, and Roginson played great games at the point guard position. Clement, Pereira, and Paul McKay had strong games on the boards for the Cardinals. Matt Rosen made several key picks which set Roginson free for several uncontested layups.

The Mountaineers were led offensively by Mitchell Koslowski, who made two long jump shots for four points. Other Mountaineers scoring were Jacob Huber (three points) and Billy Hartford (two points).

John Freda, Austen Renzi, and Steve Bunce played well defensively for West Virginia.

Louisville 28, Providence 25

These two teams played an evenly matched first three quarters.

Providence led, 20-18, at the end of the third quarter. Louisville exploded for 10 fourth quarter points while holding Providence to five points to come from behind and secure the victory.

Louisville had a balanced scoring attack with seven of nine players scoring. Kevin Zachau led the Cardinals with eight points. Other Cardinals scoring were Ben Clement (six points), Kevin Roginson (five points), Pedro Pereira (five points), Mickey Evans (two points), and Matt Rosen (two points). Clement and Pereira had big games on the boards for the Cardinals.

Michael Garofalo, Zachau, and Roginson played great games at point guard with each player getting several nice assists. Defensive standouts for Louisville were Paul McKay, Garofalo, and Evans.

The leading scorer in the game was Kyle Fabian with 13 points. Other Providence players scoring were Brandon Hill (six points), Justin Colins (three points), Lee Gaskin (two points), and Conner Cooley (one point).

Alexander Martin, Jason Bulmahn, and Jack Karnes played well defensively for the Friars.

Marquette 31, Georgetown 26

On Tuesday night last week, Georgetown and Marquette squared off in a Big East battle at ECC North with the Golden Eagles coming away with the win.

The two teams were evenly matched, as there were six lead changes in the first 16 minutes of play. The first half ended with the score tied at 14-14.

Marquette opened a seven-point lead in the third quarter, sparked by some great defensive pressure applied by Mandela Namaste and Liam Hughes, and some great assists dished out by Jonathan Hall.

In the last quarter, the Hoyas closed the lead to three points, but the Golden Eagles were able to withstand this final attack, mount a small counter-offensive, and win the battle by seven.

Although the Hoyas lost the game, they played great team ball with all eight players scoring led by Vikram Saini (seven), followed by Austin Oetinger and Dylan Lambert (five points each), Sean Hill (three points), Armond June and Joe Nobile (two points each) and Jack Grossman and Kevin Gramlich (one point apiece).

The Golden Eagles were led by Joe Brady's 18 points, followed by Jeff Calderon (eight points), Patrick Hartigan (three points), and Eric Duran (two points).

Sixth grade boys

Wisconsin 30, Penn State 14

Wisconsin ended the first quarter holding Penn State scoreless. However, Penn State's defense challenged Wisconsin's offense by only allowing Kyle Zurak to score four points.

In the second quarter, the Badgers were able to penetrate the Lions' defense. Leading the Badgers scoring was Evan Poole with four points, followed by teammates Hank Ransom, Nick Kiener, and Zurak, who all sank a basket. Ezra Steinfeld's quick feet contributed to the Badgers defense by creating three Lions turnovers. The Nittany Lions fought back with Tyler Piasecki and Mike O'Brien scoring two points each. Norman Yu and Joshua Jager played strong defense and contributed offensively with good passing.

The Badgers continued the pressure into the third quarter with Zurak leading the scoring with four points. Ransom and Kiener were both able to drive up the zone with a layup. The Badgers' Evan Haskins was instrumental in getting four rebounds and demonstrating his boxing out skills.

The Lions continued to fight with O'Brien breaking through the Badgers defense for a layup. Piasecki took advantage of foul shot opportunities and put two more points on the scoreboard for Penn State. The Lions' Nick Pieri played a strong game and was able to create two turnover opportunities for his team.

The action continued hard into the fourth quarter. Zurak (14 points) again led the scoring with strong drives to the basket for four points. Poole (six points) took advantage of a rebound and hit a jump shot for two points. Kiener (six points), on a full court drive, placed in a perfect layup. Dave Costanza and Matthew Shank provided strong offensive picks and blocks, allowing teammates to drive to the basket. The Lions' Nick Fago, Piasecki (six points), and O'Brien (six points) were each able to break through the Badgers' defense, scoring a basket.

Dave Klosterman also played a strong game at both ends of the court.

Seventh grade boys

Georgia Tech 37, Duke 27

Georgia Tech defeated Duke Friday night in a game that had very balanced scoring.

The Duke team was led by Trenton Miller's nine points and strong play. Sam Dusenberry played a great game under the boards and added seven points. Mike Cerza (three points) did an outstanding job running the offense.

Robert Bojanek (five points) played great defense for the Blue Devils.

Georgia Tech used a combination of strong guard play and great inside play to win the game. In a game where every player scored, Andrew Berg had his best game of the season when he scored 10 points on strong moves to the basket.

Joe Hill played tremendous defense and scored eight points. Zack Battaglia scored two points and had several key rebounds. Jake Foster added two key free throws at the end of the game. Eric Markarian added a clutch free throw. Connor Keenan led all scorers with 12 points.

Georgia Tech 29, Clemson 26

In a game in which each team only had on substitute, Georgia Tech defeated Clemson.

With limited time to catch their breath, Clemson ran the floor and got all players involved. Luke Service scored eight points and collected several key rebounds.

Coach Stone had his team playing great defense. His players put out a terrific effort and the game was not decided until the final 30 seconds of play.

Georgia Tech ran an up-tempo offence. With Andrew Berg and Francis Mangubat collecting the rebounds, Jake Foster, Zack Battaglia, Eric Markarian, and Connor Keenan were free to run the fast break.

Keenan and Foster made five free throws in the final two minutes of the game to seal the win.

Keenan led all scorers with 22 points. Foster contributed seven points.

Eighth grade boys

Bulls 56, Knicks 55

Both team's offenses started the game in high gear.

The Bulls led, 18-17, at the end of the first quarter. Both teams continued their torrid offensive pace for the next two quarters.

The game was tied at 42 points apiece at the end of the third quarter. The stage was set for a dramatic finish.

The Bulls carved out a three-point lead with 35 seconds on the clock. The Knicks stole a Bulls inbounds pass under their own basket and quickly converted the steal into two points, cutting the Bulls' lead to one point.

On the next Bulls' possession, a Bulls' player missed a shot, the Knicks rebounded the ball and drove it up court and called a timeout with 14 seconds left on the game clock. The Knicks inbounded the ball to their ace, Pierce Young. Young was instantly triple-teamed by the Bulls. Young tried a desperation shot at the buzzer that came up short to seal the victory for the Bulls.

The Bulls were led offensively by Scott Zachau (30 points) and Farhan Hussain (17 points). Other Bulls scoring came from Nicholas Penberthy (six points), Michael DiMichele (two points), and Ryan Wistner (one point).

Zachau, Hussain, and Penberthy controlled the boards for the Bulls. The trio also played great defensively, blocking numerous Knicks' shots. R. Wistner, Zachau, and Hussain played great games at the point guard position for the Bulls. John Janeczko played well defensively for the Bulls.

The Knicks were led offensively by Young, who scored 26 points. Other Knicks scoring were Kevin Hall (10 points), Mansour Mazraany (10 points), Andrew Milbrand (five points), Andrew Pryshlak (two points), and Christoph Kothe (two points).

Sam Guerin, Kyle Black, and Billy Hyland played well defensively for the Knicks.

Knicks 44, Braves 39

The Knicks avenged a previous loss to the top-rated Braves in a very close and tough game.

Vincent Mazraany got the Knicks off to a good start with eight first quarter points. Nick Corbett countered with six for the Braves and Murad Ali hit a three-pointer as the first quarter ended with the Knicks up 12-9.

Kevin Hall of the Knicks and Aaron Adams of the Braves controlled the defensive boards for their respective teams, limiting the offenses to one shot per offensive possession.

The second quarter was closer than the first with both teams scoring 11 points. Sam Guerin, Billy Hyland, Christoph Kothe and Andrew Pryshlak led the Knicks defensive pressure while Peter Fiorella, Adam Kalnitz and Karm Mishra did the same for the Braves. Corbett continued his hot shooting with seven second quarter points for the Braves. Mazraany scored five more for the Knicks, while Hall scored four points, as did Kyle Black.

The game got even closer during the third quarter as the defenses of both teams turned it up a notch. Both teams had to work hard on the offensive end to get open shots and struggled to get offensive rebounds.

Tim Hartigan hit two big buckets for the Braves during the quarter and Matt Cohen added two points. Andrew Milbrand scored his first two points for the Knicks during the quarter, which was an indicator of good things to come.

The third quarter buzzer sounded with the Knicks holding a slim 30-28 lead.

Aaron Adams of the Braves had been quiet up this point in the game, but he broke out with seven fourth quarter points to keep the game very close. The Knicks maintained their four to six point lead because of their pressure defense and 10 points from Milbrand during the quarter. Hall hit two free throws with less than a minute to go to build the Knicks lead to five, and after a Braves' miss and a Knicks' rebound, the Knicks were able to hold the ball until the final buzzer sounded.

Corbett led all scorers with 16 points. Adams finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for the Braves. Hartigan contributed six points to the Braves cause. Mazraany had a team-high 15 points for the Knicks. Milbrand scored a season high 12 points. Hall matched Adams with nine points and 11 rebounds. Black had six points for the Knicks.

The rubber game of their three-game is set for 1:30 Saturday at Sweet Home High School.

Heat 59, Pistons 54

This game had two evenly matched teams that played a close game throughout.

The Heat scoring was boosted by 10 points from Mike Lupp in the first quarter.

The Heat scoring was led by Edwin Young (20 points), Mike Lupp (19 points), Shane McKay (12 points), Michael Murphy (four points) and Ben Georger (two points). Ivan Tso, Matt Morse and Alex Hong provided strong defense to help the Heat hold off the Pistons.

The Pistons scoring was led by Jonathan Safir (24 points), Andrew Castilone (18 points), Jack Dengler (six points), and Christopher Schnabel (six points). David Gardner, Jacob Manny, Martin Mann and Connor Weiher provided solid rebounding and strong defense to keep the Pistons in a close battle until the last minute of the game.

Braves 49, Cavaliers 35

The Braves got back to playing team basketball on Saturday as seven players scored in their victory over the Cavaliers.

Led by Matt Nicosia's 12 points and six rebounds, the Braves got out to a 14-6 lead after the first quarter.

The Cavs came back in the second period. Brett DeLuca got hot and had seven second quarter points as the lead was cut to 18-15 at halftime. Great work by Elias Abou-Jaoude (four points) and Russell Braun got the Cavaliers going.

Matt Radel finished with a team-high 12 points while Andrew Nusall battled on the boards and finished with six points. Jake Garvelli (two points) rounded out the Cavaliers scoring.

The Braves exploded with 14 points in the third quarter as Tim Hartigan, Adam Kalnitz and Matt Cohen each had four points in the quarter. Aaron Adams played his steady game, finishing with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points.

Murad Ali had his best overall game, finishing with eight rebounds and playing great defense. The third quarter ended with the Braves leading 32-26.

The fourth quarter was more of the same as Nick Corbett scored all six of his points and Karn Mishra had a bucket as the Braves had 17 points in the quarter and blew open a very close game.

Bulls 40, Cavaliers 39

The Cavaliers stormed out of the gate and beat the Bulls offensively and defensively in the first half to take a commanding 28-19 halftime lead.

Matt Radel led the Cavaliers first half scoring charge with 13 points.

The Bulls changed defensive assignments at the half and put Scott Zachau on Radel for the second half. The Bulls defensive pressure limited the Cavaliers to 11 second half points. The Bulls finally took a one-point lead late in the game.

Radel got off a shot with six seconds on the clock. The shot missed and the Bulls rebounded and killed the clock to earn the win.

The leading scorers for the Bulls were Zachau (13 points), Farhan Hussain (12 points), and Andrew Couche (eight points). Other Bulls scoring were John Janeczko (four points), Michael Graziano (two points), and Nicholas Penberthy (one point).

Zachau, Hussain, Penberthy, and Michael DiMichele played well defensively for the Bulls. Zachau, Hussain, and Penberthy had strong rebounding games for the Bulls. Graziano and Couche played well at the point guard position for the Bulls.

Radel led the Cavaliers offensively with 17 points. Other Cavaliers scoring were Brett LaDuca (eight points), Steve Tromposch (six points), Andrew Nusall (four points), Jacob Garvelli (two points), and Elias Abou-Joude (two points). Dan Berland, Russell Braun, and Griffin Kramer played well defensively for the Cavaliers.

Lakers 67, Heat 51

On a very cold afternoon at Clearfield Arena, the Heat squared off to play the red-hot Lakers.

In the first quarter, Edwin Young started the scoring for the Heat by hitting a long three-pointer. Sammy Divita then raced down the court, hitting a key basket for the Lakers.

Young and Divita pretty much traded baskets for the entire first quarter. Young scored a total of eight points and Divita countered with nine.

The Lakers led 12-10 at the end of the quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, the lead changed several times. Michael Lupp and Young continued most of the scoring for the Heat. The Lakers got baskets from six different players making for a much more balanced attack. The Heat lead was 28-25 at halftime.

At the start of the second half, the Lakers exploded for their best quarter of basketball this season. The Lakers applied a full court press. Matt Burke and Sammy Silver were key players in creating so many turnovers. The Lakers outscored the Heat, 25-12, in the quarter, giving them a commanding 50-40 lead.

In the final quarter, the Lakers continued to pour on the press, resulting in three baskets apiece for Ed Shi and Ryan Greenwald. The Lakers outscored the Heat 17-11 in the final quarter to win.

Young led the Heat with 20 points. Lupp (17 points) and Shane McKay, Ben Georger and Matt Morse (four points each) also chipped in.

Shi scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lakers. Divita added 15 points and five assists. Travis Hengerer added 12 points and dished five assists. Greenwald (10 points, six rebounds), Michael Peterson (six points), Evan Martone (three points) and Anthony Martorana (two points) also scored for the Lakers.

This was the most complete game the Lakers have played all season. Everyone contributed on offense and defense.