Close games are becoming old hat for the Canisius boys basketball team. The Crusaders (4-0

overall) stayed perfect on the season Tuesday night with a 68-64 win over Williamsville South

at the Monsignor Martin-ECIC Challenge at St. Mary's of Lancaster.

"It's only going to help," Canisius coach Kyle Husband said of his team's experience in

close games.

Catholic schools went 3-0 in the first of two nights of tripleheaders.

"Year in and year out our league is one of the best around," Husband said. "Right now, top

to bottom, it's playing great."

Blair Helton led Canisius with 22 points in the win.

"He can flat-out score. In big spots he wants the ball and he usually finishes," Husband

said of Helton.

Williamsville South (2-2), which played without injured point guard Mark Coppola, was led

by Phil Stasiak's 25 points.

In the middle game, the host Lancers got contributions from three sophomores in a 60-54 win

over Maple Grove. Nate Meyers had 12 points and Rashaad Rogers added 11 off the bench, while

Jake Denz pulled down 10 rebounds.

"It was a big night for all three of those guys," St. Mary's coach Dan Gill said. "It's

their first seasons on varsity and they came through on a big stage."

Maple Grove had a couple chances to tie the game late, but Chris Secky's three-point

attempts fell short. Secky finished with a game-high 20 points.

"He really put them on his back in the fourth quarter," Gill said of Secky, the returning

All-Western New Yorker.

Vince Kazmierczak led St. Mary's (5-1), whose only loss this season has come to Nichols,

with 18 points and seven steals.

Dave Scarcello's clutch three-point shooting helped Bishop Timon-St. Jude open the

Challenge with a win. The Tigers defeated Lackawanna, 74-67.

Scarcello hit back-to-back three-pointers with about 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter

after Lackawanna had cut the lead to five points. Dut Dour led Timon (4-0) with 22 points,

while sophomore Kyle Kobis finished with 20 and senior point guard Mike Scarcello set a career

high with 12 assists.

"It's a really nice event. It's great to see the public [schools] and Catholics playing

together. It shows it can be done," Timon coach Jim Palano said.

Dondre Alexander led Lackawanna (3-1) with 24 points.

The Tigers leave today for a trip to Disney World, where they'll play three games in the

Disney KSA Classic.

Davis sets NT scoring mark

Senior Aaron Davis became North Tonawanda's all-time leading scorer Tuesday, breaking the

record of the man who helped him get there. Davis finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds in a

57-47 win over Grand Island in Niagara Frontier League play.

He now has 1,308 career points, breaking the mark of 1,303 held by his coach, Erik O'Bryan.

Davis, a varsity member since eighth grade, is NT's all-time leading scorer in football and

basketball.

"It's special for me because we've been together here the whole time," said O'Bryan, the

fifth-year coach. "We didn't even know during the game, we were so caught up in it."

ECIC I

"A tough battle all the way through," is how Orchard Park coach Bob Rumschik described his

team's 57-55 win over Clarence. "We just kept coming back at each other."

Troy Nowak led Orchard Park (2-1), which ended the game on a 7-2 run, with 15 points. David

Hill had 12 points for Clarence (1-1).

Junior Jon Safir had 13 points and six assists to lead Williamsville North to a 49-35 win

over Frontier. Eighth-grader Sterling Taplin added 11 points for the Spartans (2-2, 1-1).

ECIC II

Keron Briggs finished with 19 points and D.J. Nettles added 14 as Sweet Home (2-1, 1-0)

cruised to an easy 65-36 win over Starpoint in the league opener for both teams. Jon Corbi led

Starpoint with 11 points.

Lake Shore's Sean Bellomo finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 61-53 win over

Iroquois.

"It's nice if you can get three threes out of your 6-8 center," Lake Shore (3-1, 1-0) coach

Dan Gerken said.

Also for the Eagles, Erik Marx had 14 points and R.C. Hubbard finished with 11.

Calvin Sluberski and Chris Evans finished with 13 points each for Iroquois (0-3, 0-1),

while Dan Parker had 10.

ECIC III

Six lead changes in the fourth quarter ended with East Aurora on top, 53-51, over Amherst.

Ryan Sweet's putback with 1 second left proved to be the winning basket. Sweet finished with a

game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Bryce Shepard finished with 23 points and Blair Estarfaa added 16 as Maryvale won its

league opener, 72-46, over Pioneer. Adam Fuller led Pioneer with 12 points.

Jake Maryniewski hit three three-pointers in the first quarter on his way to 15 points,

leading Depew (3-0) to a 59-51 win over Cheektowaga in ECIC III action. Maryniewski, who also

had nine assists, went 4 for 4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Aswad Jones led Cheektowaga (1-3) with 16 points and eight rebounds.

ECIC IV

Christian Barczykowski had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead Alden (3-1, 1-0) to a

57-46 win over JFK in the ECIC IV opener for both teams. Tyler Stoldt added 11 points and

Dakota Peel finished with 10 in the win.

Sean Fox had four three-pointers among his 14 points for JFK (2-1, 0-1), while Brandon

Kacala also finished with 14.

Niagara Frontier League

In other NFL action, Zach Bouley finished with 15 points and Dominic Czarniak grabbed a

dozen rebounds as Kenmore West downed cross-town rival Kenmore East, 57-38. Kevin Wagner paced

East (2-1) with a game-high 16 points.

Sean Smith finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in Lockport's convincing 83-52 win over

Lew-Port. Also for the Lions (2-2), Andrew Granchelli had 12 points. Alex Nowocien led

Lew-Port (2-1) with a dozen points.

Nonleague

Jesse Lalka finished with 24 points, leading Tonawanda (1-1) to a 61-37 win over Park.

Junior Steve Stich had 10 assists and 10 rebounds in the win, while Kyle Schroeder poured in

15 points.

Jordan Kumro had his third double-double in a row with 21 points and 10 rebounds, leading

West Seneca East to a 68-40 win over Springville.

Aquinas of Section V used a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat St. Francis, 69-61. Senior

Kyle Clifford had a nice all-around game for the Red Raiders (3-2) with 13 points, six

rebounds, six assists and four steals, while Anthony Wiechec had 17 points of 8-of-8 shooting

from the field.

Tim Barron, nephew of former St. Bonaventure coach Jim Barron, led Aquinas (4-1) with 22

points.

Lorenzo Joseph had 22 points and eight assists as Niagara Catholic cruised to an 86-50 win

over Roy-Hart. Also for the Patriots (4-0), Jerome "Mouse" Matthews had 16 points and Zach

Evans finished with 10. Tim Mullen led Roy-Hart (2-2) with 12 points.

Senior guard Tashir Allen narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 30 points, 11

rebounds and eight assists in Emerson's 65-49 nonleague win over Cardinal O'Hara. Demetrius

Stokes and Daniel Lopez pulled down 16 rebounds each in the win.

"Our team offense moved the ball well and they hit their shots," said Emerson coach Gary

Raimondo, who has his team off to a 4-0 start.

Falls-Nichols set for tonight

When it comes to tonight's marquee matchup at the Monsignor Martin-ECIC Challenge, the

names say it all: Niagara Falls vs. Nichols.

So does the first large school poll of the season. Niagara Falls has five first-place votes

and 95 points; Nichols has five first-place votes and 95 points.

The battle of co-No. 1s is at 8:30 p.m. at St. Mary's in Lancaster. Nichols (3-0) is coming

off Monday night's 77-51 win over No. 1 small school Olean. The Vikings have also routed Hutch-

Tech and St. Mary's.

Last year the teams played one of the best games of the regular season with Falls edging

Nichols, 57-56. Kenny Stokes converted a pass from now-graduated Kelvin Agee and the

Wolverines survived a couple of Nichols shots in the final seconds.

Falls has started 2-0 after wins over Lockport and St. Joe's.

"They're lightning quick," Nichols coach Greg Plumb said of Falls. "We typically like to

press teams and we'll see if we can do it against them — we'll see what happens with it.

Davon Marshall is a great shooter so we want to keep the ball out of his hands, and C.J. Cox

we want to keep him out of the lane — he's a great shooter, too. And keeping [Jordan]

Street off the boards — if we do those things, it gives us a chance."

A capacity crowd of 1,800 to 2,000 is expected for the finale of the evening's

tripleheader; Niagara Catholic against Cheektowaga at 5 p.m. and Christian Central against

Holland at 6:45 p.m.

St. Mary's Athletics Director Dan Gill said he sold two dozen presale tickets Tuesday and

stressed that fans arrive early. Gill said tickets can be picked up during the day; for more

information call Gill at 683-4824 ext. 35. In addition to the main lot at the Laverack Ave.

school, parking will be available at Cowing St.

Girls basketball

ECIC II

Xavier-bound Shaquita Smith had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Amherst to a narrow win

over local rival Williamsville East, 47-42, in a nonleague game. Also for the Tigers (2-0),

Kasey McGuire had 13 points. Williamsville East (1-4) got 15 points and seven rebounds from

Shannon Hughes and 14 points from Bailey Weigel.

Cayla Slade scored 11 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter as Iroquois pulled away from

Lake Shore for a 51-39 win ECIC II girls basketball.

"It's a hard-working bunch of kids who are all about the team," Iroquois coach Rich

Violanti said. "Every game it's a different girl that steps up. In the last three games we've

had a different girl [be] the leading scorer."

Niagara Frontier League

Joelle Pollak finished with 29 points and Jordyn Broas added 15 as Kenmore East defeated

cross-town rival Kenmore West, 58-45, in Niagara Frontier League girls basketball. East (4-0,

1-0) went on a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Ashley Krier led the Blue Devils (0-2, 0-1) with 15 points.

Lea Sobieraski had 10 points and 13 rebounds to lead Lockport to a 57-31 win over Lew-Port.

Kallie Banker had 19 points and Brooke DeMarco finished with 11 as Grand Island got points

from eight different scorers in a 70-15 win over North Tonawanda.

Niagara-Orleans League

Twin sisters Jenna and Kim Harrington played a big part in Roy-Hart's 49-30 win over

Barker in the league opener for both teams.

Jenna finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kim added 12 points and seven steals.

Jessie DeWaters added 14 points and six assists for Roy-Hart (1-0, 1-0). Aileen Hinton had 11

points for Barker.

Lindsay Schmid scored 19 points, going 11 of 13 from the free-throw line, and pulled down

eight rebounds to help Akron to a 48-37 win over Newfane. Gus Hallet-Jonathan added 15 points

in the win.

Jessica Curry narrowly missed a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals

as Wilson cruised to an 85-30 win over Charter School of Applied Technologies in a

Niagara-Orleans League girls basketball game. Also for Wilson (2-1), Lindsay Frauen finished

with 17 points and five steals and Molly Curry scored 10 points to go with six steals.

CCAA III

The Sherman Wildcats got balanced scoring with four players in double figures, led by Ellen

Reed's 14 points, in a 65-23 win over North Collins in CCAA III girls basketball. Also for

Sherman (2-0, 2-0) Alyssa Cole had 13 points and Amy Sands and Kaylyn Zemcik finished with 11

each. Rhianna Foit led North Collins (2-1, 1-1) with 10.

Nonleague

Shannon Dougherty had 24 points and five assists and Kristen Nazuruk finished with 16

points and 11 rebounds as West Seneca West (1-4) defeated cross-town rival West Seneca East

(0-5), 55-36.

Rommel sets Red Devils record

Charlie Rommel set a Clarence record in the 50-yard freestyle, touching in 21.32 seconds

during a 132-51 win over West Seneca West in ECIC I boys swimming. Rommel broke Danny

Glauber's 2003 record of 21:39.