The winning colors at Sweet Home Friday night were the red, white and blue of Williamsville

South — and the orange of "Shell Strong."

South capped off an outstanding evening at Sweet Home by taking control of the ECIC II race

with a 65-61 win over the host Panthers. The theme of the boys-girls basketball doubleheader

during Coaches vs. Cancer week was "Shell Strong," an effort inspired by 9-year-old Jacob

Shell's battle with neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer.

Jacob Shell is the son of Matt Shell, head coach of the Albany-area Burnt Hills football

team which Sweet Home has played in the last two state championship games. Fans from both

teams as well as Williamsville South coach Al Monaco and Sweet Home coach Paul Schintzius wore

"Shell Strong" T-shirts in Jacob's favorite color of orange.

"This Jacob Shell event was the classiest thing that I may have been a part of for the last 20

years," said Monaco. "It was so great of the people of Sweet Home to put this on. I can't say

enough about them."

South, ranked seventh in The News large school poll, took control of ECIC II by finishing

off a season sweep of Sweet Home. The Billies (12-3, 9-0) won at home last Friday and now have

won eight straight games.

Junior Phil Stasiak had 19 points, Joe Licata had six three-pointers for his 18 points and

senior point guard Mark Coppola had 10 points and 15 assists for South. Junior Erik Hansen had

12 points, including a key drive late in the game that put South up, 65-59, with 1:37 left.

Senior guard Keron Briggs scored 28 points for No. 8 large school Sweet Home (11-4, 7-2),

which entered the fourth quarter with a 52-51 lead in what was a close game throughout. Sweet

Home played without senior D.J. Nettles, who was not in uniform due to disciplinary reasons.

"It's huge [to sweep Sweet Home]," said Monaco. "It's a great rivalry — our kids have

grown up playing against each other in Amherst Youth basketball. It means a lot to beat them

because we respect them so much. You can see the way they play, and we didn't back down at

all. They don't lose too many games on this court, so I consider this such a quality win

because we have such respect for them."

In another ECIC II contest, Trent Miller's 25 points led Williamsville East to a 76-60 win

over Iroquois.

ECIC I: Jamestown is back at full strength and that wasn't the only cause for

celebration following a 77-55 rout of visiting Lancaster.

Carlos Rivera had 16 points, 10 assists and five steals, while Darrin Butts sank 11 of 13

from the floor in a 23-point performance to help 12th-year coach Ben Drake earn his 200th win.

"I have a great coaching staff that's been with me over the years," said Drake, who's

200-67. "We've had a lot of good players over the years come through the program. It's just a

culmination of a group effort."

ECIC IV: Jordan Farrant had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for Holland in a

66-37 triumph over Eden. ... Ryan Kowal had 20 points and Christian Boettcher added 12 in his

varsity debut as JFK held on to beat Tonawanda, 69-66.

Niagara-Orleans: Desmond Lamar scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half of

CSAT's 66-61 win over Roy-Hart. ... Levi Pace had 20 points and 13 rebounds as Medina topped

Barker, 57-41. ... Russell Craft had 27 points and 16 rebounds for Albion in a 65-60 win over

Akron. Brad Rush added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Purple Eagles (11-4, 9-3).

Monsignor Martin Association: Will Regan erupted for 28 points, 12 rebounds and

eight assists as Nichols handled St. Joe's, 73-51.

CCAA I: Olean passed its toughest test in its league, beating host

Allegany-Limestone, 64-42, to clinch the CCAA I title.

The Huskies, the No. 2-ranked team in New York State in Class B, got 16 points from Ryan

Carney and 14 more from Ryan Lollier to improve to 13-2, 10-0.

For A-L, which lost 74-41 in the season's first meeting with Olean, the game wasn't a total

loss.

"When we played at Olean we didn't even compete. Tonight we competed," said Allegany-

Limestone coach Mike Ruether. "This game is going to make us better come playoff time."

Olean built a 23-point lead in the second quarter only to see if shrink to 11 by the third

quarter. Olean hit a three-pointer at that point and began to pull away. The Gators fall to

8-2 in the league with their only two loses to Olean.

Fredonia beat Dunkirk, 57-43, as Anthony Polvino had 19 points and nine assists. Brian Ward

added 16 points for the Hillbillies.

Senior Dave Hammond scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed six rebounds to help Gowanda

to a 52-48 triumph over Falconer.

CCAA II: Mike Bova had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Westfield in a 60-42 victory

over Salamanca. ... Brady Morrison had 17 points as Randolph beat Silver Creek, 56-47.

CCAA III: Anthony Sutton had 21 points and Jeff Engels added 17 with 12 rebounds as

West Valley beat North Collins, 60-46. ... Cliff Bailey had 17 points and Dan Wiggers was

close behind with 15 as Clymer downed Pine Valley, 60-50.

YALE CUP: Riverside went on the defensive and beat Burgard, 79-62, to snap a

five-game losing steak and even its record at 7-7. Justice Feggans led the Frontiers with 19

points and Willie Jefferson added 10 points and 10 assists.

"We talked about playing defense and in the first half we held them to 19 points. That was

the key today. East put up 95 points on us, Grover 91," said Riverside coach Ron Killinger.

"We've been giving up far too many points. Today we played much better defensively."

Deon Robinson handed out 12 assists and Domonique Jackson had 27 points for East in an 81-57

victory over Lafayette. ... McKenzie Brown had a double-double with 20 points and 13 boards in

Bennett's 75-50 win over Emerson. ... Maurice Miles had 25 points and 12 rebounds as

Hutch-Tech topped Seneca, 66-51. ... Chris Holland had 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven

assists as Grover Cleveland downed City Honors, 78-68. The Presidents led just 17-16 after the

first quarter, but after three had built a 57-39 margin. ... Davon Alexander's 25 points led

five players in double figures as Middle College beat Buffalo Arts, 97-46.

Niagara Frontier League: The last time North Tonawanda needed to rebound from a loss,

it did so in triple overtime fashion against Lewiston-Porter. On Friday night, NT didn't need

to work overtime for that bounceback win.

The Lumberjacks earned a 69-50 win over the Lancers as Aaron Davis led the way with 20

points and nine rebounds. Lucas Pichette had 14 points and 10 rebounds for NT (12-3, 10-2),

which lost to Lockport on Tuesday.

Jona Stalyga had 27 point and 10 rebounds for Grand Island in a 53-48 win over Niagara-

Wheatfield. ... Davon Marshall had 20 points and Marcus Feagin grabbed 20 rebounds as No. 1

large school Niagara Falls moved to 12-3 with a 59-50 win over Kenmore West.

Nonleague: Sean Bellomo had 27 points and 12 rebounds as Lake Shore, up 16-2 in the

first quarter, hung on to beat Maritime Charter, 45-42. Bellomo, a 6-foot-8 center, signed a

full-tuition scholarship with Daemen College on Tuesday.

"He hit a three-pointer as a sophomore against Williamsville South to send the game into

overtime, and from then on was infected with basketball. He just fell in love with it," said

Lake Shore coach Dan Gerken. "They are graduating five guys. I think he'll be able to slide in

right there. I've asked him to work on something and he comes back twice the player. He works

hard at whatever you ask him."

Chris Secky had a game-high 26 points, eight steals and five assists to lead Maple Grove to

a 55-42 nonleague win at Southwestern.

Ben Crane had 21 points and Mike Reed added 14 with 10 rebounds as Sherman moved to 9-1

with a 56-47 win over Panama.