Grover, Nichols win

Grover Cleveland and Nichols will square off Friday in the championship game of the Jerry Cooper Division of the Pastor-Cooper Memorial Tournament at Daemen.

Grover had all it could handle to fend off Frontier and its stars, 6-foot-6 Jason Norsen and Pete Morgante, 83-79. Norsen had 32 points and Morgante 19 for the Falcons.

“We had a really good first half,” said Grover coach Earl Schunk. “I’ve only had some of these guys four days since football ended so I was worried about fatigue on the big court and Norsen was hurting us inside so we went to a zone. When Morgante started hitting threes we had to go back to man.”

Melvin Virgil overcame foul trouble to lead the Presidents with 25 points. He had 23 when he sat down with four fouls in the third quarter. Kenyon Edwards had 23 for Grover.

Ricky Alejandro hit a clutch three for Grover after Frontier had closed to 75-73 late in the game.

Will Regan had 23 points as Nichols advanced by rolling past Maryvale, 71-47.

Sweet Home rallies for win

Sweet Home, with only eight players in uniform, rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit and defeated host Niagara-Wheatfield, 67-66, on Reginald Burke’s layup with seven seconds left. Carl Graff had 31 points, 22 in the first half for N-W. . . . Hamburg erupted for a 31-point fourth quarter and defeated host Iroquois, 72-65, in an ECIC II opener. Caleb Sarikey had 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half for Hamburg. . . . Sophomore Joe Licata sank 6 of 9 three-point attempts and extended his streak to 22 games with at least one trey in Williamsville South’s 67-59 triumph over Bishop Timon-St. Jude. Justin Mitchell had 26 points for the Tigers. . . . Alex Barth had 21 points and 12 rebounds to power Williamsville North over Williamsville East, 75-54.

Sharks win Pastor game

Devon Hornung (14), Alycia Pontello (13) and Sarah Healy (12) combined for 39 points to lead Sacred Heart over Sweet Home, 56-42, in a Rose Pastor Division game of the Pastor-Cooper Memorial Tournament. Sweet Home’s Bianca Smiley led all scorers with 26.

West Seneca West, winless in ECIC I last season, opened its league schedule with a 49-33 victory over visiting Clarence. Jenna Phillips led West with 16 points and 10 rebounds.