The stars came out one last time at Cheektowaga Central High School as the best basketball players in Western New York participated in the Cheektowaga Lions 15th Annual Senior High School Ladies Basketball Classic on March 23. The girls were separated into four teams for two games in one night, with an MVP selected from each team, along with a scholarship winner from their respective schools, which are awarded by the Cheektowaga Lions and Fr. Justin Council Knights of Columbus. “This is always fun,” said Frank Martin (Allegany-Limestone), who coached the Knights with Brian Baker (Wilson). “They’re kids that you coach against and read about. The Lions Club does a great job with this each year...

At they’ve been in recent seasons, hopes are high for the Clarence High School boys lacrosse team. With a ton of talent back from last year’s division co-championship team, there’s plenty of reason for that optimism for the Red Devils. “We have high standards here, we always do,” senior midfielder Alec Dietsch said. “We like to set the bar high for ourselves.” They have the talent to back it up, too. The Red Devils finished the regular season at 13-5 overall and ranked sixth overall in Western New York. Clarence claimed a share of the Class A division championship, beating Orchard Park in the regular season for the first time. That came a year after the first sectional championship in...

A rough start turned into a big finish for the Clarence High School girls lacrosse team a year ago. This year’s club is hoping to continue that momentum into this season. The Red Devils started last season at 1-9 but then won six of eight to close the season. They hope to start strong and keep it that way in 2013. “The beginning was a little rough but toward the middle, we got a lot better,” junior tri-captain Kasey Thur said. “Hopefully we can stay like that.” That late-season run included victories at Lancaster and Amherst, teams that went on to claim Section VI championships in Class A and C, respectively. Clarence gave Lancaster all it could handle in the Class A sectional semifinals,...

The Sacred Heart lacrosse team has a new coach with a different approach. Linda Mroz is entering her first year as the leader of the Sharks’ program, and so far so good. “I am really loving the attitude from the girls,” said Mroz. “When you come in as a new coach, there are always expectations from the coach’s standpoint and from the players’ standpoint. “I feel that our attitude towards one another, and the practices and the preseason has been great,” she added. “Everybody is on board with what I expect from them and I could not have asked for a better group of kids.” Mroz has quite the coaching resume. She has been coaching the junior varsity field hockey team and the softball team, as...

The start of a new high school lacrosse season in Western New York means for the Metro Source newspapers first an array of previews from the many communities and schools that we cover and then getting out to see all of the talent from this area. Along the way, we’ll be taking notes and we hope you are too as the season culminates with what has became a successful and proud event for us, the All-Metro Boys and Girls Lacrosse Banquet, which honors the finest players and student-athletes in our area. Under the guidance of our editor, Matt Ondesko, and plenty of insight from myself and our crack staff of reporters and lacrosse gurus covering your communities, we’ll put together an all-star team...

Perhaps it didn’t end in the fashion the Clarence High School wrestling team was expecting. But all told, it was perhaps the greatest season in the history of the program. The Red Devils sent four wrestlers to the state tournament, but couldn’t secure a medal after some close losses against some of the state’s best. “Our goal was to get some guys to win some sectional titles and we did that,” Clarence coach Jason Chase said after the Section VI meet. “We set out to accomplish a lot as a team and we’ve had a great year.” Although they didn’t get any place-winners at last weekend’s state tournament, the best seems to be yet to come. Three of the four state-qualifiers will be back next season....

The Clarence boys basketball team’s 2011-12 season ended with a nine-game losing streak, erasing what looked to be a promising start. Many of those Red Devils were back this season and determined to turn things around. And that’s exactly what they did. The Red Devils again started strong and continued to play well until the end of the season. Clarence finished with a 15-5 record and returned to the Section VI semifinals for the first time since 2010. “It’s real good to bounce back and work hard and get back to this level,” junior Ryan Funk said after scoring 33 points in a Section VI quarterfinal win over Lockport on Feb. 22. In the end, the Red Devils had the same problem all the big...

For four straight years, no one in the Monsignor Martin league has been able to swim with the Sharks. Sacred Heart won its fourth consecutive Monsignor Martin title with a 53-32 victory over Cardinal O’Hara. Winning four straight championships is no small feat; needless to say emotions were high for the Sharks following the victory. “No words can describe it,” said senior forward Kelly Farrell, had a big night for the Sharks scoring 13 points, six rebounds five assists and three steals. “As a senior, getting the title all four years is all I can really ask for. It’s all I wanted coming into the season.” This win was made a little sweeter for Sacred Heart considering O’Hara was the team that...

In a Monsignor Martin semifinal playoff game, Holy Angels gave the Sharks of Sacred Heart all they could handle. In a back-and-forth thriller, Sacred Heart held on for a closer-than-expected 47-44 win on Tuesday night at Canisius College. “It was too close of a game to begin with,” said Sacred Heart standout forward La’Trice Hall. “In the first half, they gave us a good run. We didn’t really show up to play our type of basketball. But at the end of the day, we got what we wanted.” After the dramatic win over Holy Angels, Sacred Heart not only has a chance to four-peat as Monsignor Martin champs, but to get redemption against the team that handed the Sharks their only loss of the season in...

Everyone knows what Jamestown’s Tommy Campion can do for the Jamestown boys basketball team. But his backcourt mate can play some ball, too. Campion was solid as always on Thursday (Feb. 28) night but it was fellow guard Zack Panebianco that led the Red Raiders to a 73-61 victory over Clarence in a Class AA Section VI semifinal at Buffalo State College’s Alumni Arena. “I thought Panebianco played very well,” Clarence coach Todd Banaszak said. “He was the deciding factor; I thought we did a pretty good job on the other guys.” Panebianco, who came in averaging 10.7 points per game, poured in a game-high 26 points for the Red Raiders (18-2), who beat the Red Devils for a third time this season...

(Buffalo)-Niagara-Wheatfield coach Rick Wrazin stood before his team inside their locker room and spoke the words his boys had been waiting to hear all season. "First off congratulations," Wrazin said."Back-to-back championships boys, nice job!" Sophomore Domenic Senese (five points) turned in an MVP performance and goalie Nate Sommers made 32 saves as Niagara-Wheatfield scored a stunning 7-2 win over Clarence in the Section VI Division I championship game that kicked off Super Monday triple header that was held at the First Niagara Center on Monday. "We wanted to repeat but we had to go out there and do it again," goalie Nate Sommers said."We worked hard as a team...

All season long, the Clarence boys basketball team has had its eyes on Buffalo State College and the Class AA Section VI semifinals. Less than four minutes from that goal, Ryan Funk and the Red Devils were down but simply refused to let it get away. Funk scored 13 of his game-high 33 points in the final quarter and the Red Devils escaped a pesky Lockport team for a 65-54 victory on Friday (Feb. 22) night in a Class AA sectional quarterfinal game at Clarence High School. "We were just not going to lose, that's what was going through my mind," Funk said. "We're going to Buff State, 100 percent." Clarence closed the game on a 15-2 run after the Lions had rallied from 12 points down to take...

As the top seed in the 152-pound weight class for the Section VI state qualifier, Clarence sophomore Nate Schwab felt good about his chances of claiming a championship. But that sure didn’t take away from the excitement when his hand was raised after the first-place match. “It feels really good; I don’t know how to explain it,” said after stepping off the top of the podium on Feb. 10 at the University at Buffalo’s Alumni Arena. “I was confident coming into it, but I’m excited.” He’ll be one of four Red Devils at the NYSPHSAA Wrestling Championship this weekend at the Times-Union Center in Albany. Schwab punched his ticket to the state tournament with a workmanlike 4-1 decision of Terrance...

It was just a matter of time before the Clarence hockey team broke through in its Western New York Federation large school semifinal game. Once they did, there was no stopping the Red Devils. Clarence came back from down two goals in the first period to defeat Frontier 4-2 on Monday (Feb. 18) night at the Northtown Center in Amherst and advance to the sixth-year Federation program’s first championship game. “I think it was coming. In the first period, I felt like the guys were nervous and playing tight,” Clarence coach Rich Brooks said. “We gave up two beautiful chances and they were able to capitalize. What we talked about in the locker room was bringing it back to fun — not playing nervous...

The Clarence High School boys basketball team might not be the favorite in the loaded Class AA Section VI playoffs. But suffice to say, the Red Devils are a team nobody wants to play at this point. The Red Devils won seven of eight to close the regular season with a program-best 14-4 record. Clarence earned a fourth-seed for the upcoming sectional playoffs. “We’re going pretty well,” Red Devils coach Todd Banaszak said. “There’s some things we still have to work on; we have to get more physical. But we just keep it rolling, work hard in practice and next Friday night at home, we’ll be ready.” Indeed, the Red Devils will host their quarterfinal game on Feb. 22 against an opponent to be...

AMHERST – Before the game, Clarence received its plaque for the Section VI Federation Hockey Division I championship. Then the Red Devils went to work on getting another title. Top-seeded Clarence scored early and often on Saturday and rolled to a 17-1 win over overmatched Lockport in a Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation quarterfinal at the Northtown Center. "We have one goal and that's to make it to First Niagara Center," said senior forward Mike Santa Maria, who was on the winning side of a playoff game for the first time in his three-year varsity career. "It's a great win anytime you can win in the playoffs. We prepared for them just like any other team, we didn't want to take it...

When Ryan Burns first stepped on the mat as an eighth-grader, wrestling at the varsity level for the Clarence High School wrestling team, the last thing he was thinking about was 100 wins. But two years later, he’s already got it. “I never thought when I wrestling varsity as an eighth-grader, I could come along this fast,” he said. “Every single year, I just keep working harder and trying to get better.” He’s done just that. Burns hit the 100-win mark in a recent dual meet victory over rival Lancaster and pushed it up to 103 with a second-place finish at the Section VI Class AA Championships last weekend at Lockport. And that magical 100th victory came at the perfect time. He beat his...

There were game-changing three-pointers, thunderous blocked shots, momentum swings, hard fouls and a plethora of turnovers seen on the court in front of a near-deafening crowd at Villa Maria College. All in all, the match-up between two top teams in Western New York girls basketball, Cardinal O’Hara and Sacred Heart, lived up to every ounce of hype it received prior to tip-off Tuesday evening. The battle of the two Monsignor Martin powerhouses and a pair of unbeaten squads came down to a last second shot by Sacred Heart that fell short, giving O’Hara a 57-55 win. It is Hawks’ first victory over Sacred Heart in over 20 years. Cardinal O’ Hara improved to 18-0. “The game didn’t come up short...

AMHERST - It was an action-packed Thursday evening at the Northtowns Center at Amherst, with schools jockeying for postseason seeds in the forthcoming WNY Varsity Hockey Federation postseason. On the facility’s Olympic Rink, Canisius Crusaders forward Greg Marsh scored the game-winning goal at 12:18 in the third period, breaking up a 3-3 tie with the Lancaster Redskins (7-4-1). It didn’t take long for the news to make its way to the Feature Rink, on which the Clarence Red Devils were in the late stages of a 5-1 victory over the Williamsville North Spartans. When the final horn sounded on the Feature Rink, the Red Devils (9-4) secured the top spot in Division I and in the large-school postseason....

Clarence senior Austin Krawczyk knew he was a big underdog when he stepped on the mat against Lancaster standout Eric Lewandowski for the 138-pound match in the recent Border Brawl. After all, Lewandowski was ranked second in Western New York, placed at states last season and is widely recognized as one of the area’s elite on the mat. Krawczyk has a ton of respect for his opponent but he certainly wasn’t going to back down from him. “He went out there to battle,” Clarence coach Jason Chase said. “He wasn’t worried about the outcome at that point.” Maybe not when he stepped on the mat. But after a first-period takedown, all of a sudden the Clarence contingent was on its feet and Krawczyk...

AMHERST – The Clarence Red Devils jumped into second place in Division I of the WNY Varsity Hockey Federation, defeating the Frontier Falcons – the team previously two points higher in the standings – by a count of 4-1 on Thursday at the Northtowns Center at Amherst. The win – coupled with a Niagara-Wheatfield Falcons loss – also propelled the Red Devils (7-4) into the No. 2 seed for the postseason, at the moment. Frontier (7-4) fell to third place in the division and currently holds the No. 4 seed in the postseason rankings. “I’m worried about public-school seeding,” said Red Devils head coach Rich Brooks, moments before Niagara-Wheatfield took the ice – a 7-4 loss to the Canisius Crusaders....

Some good old-fashioned hard-work came in handy for Clarence senior Nate Ward in the final match of the ECIC Wrestling Championships. In double-overtime of a grueling first-place match, the Red Devils heavyweight had just enough left in the tank to score a late takedown in a 4-2 decision over Lake Shore’s Luke Catalano in the 285-pound championship bout. “I definitely knew conditioning would be an important part of this match,” Ward said after collecting his first-place patch. “So I was working all week, just working as hard as possible to get this victory. “I knew it was going to be a tough match; I knew it was going to go down to the wire,” he added. “Definitely, the extra conditioning...

In recent weeks, the Clarence High School hockey team has put things together and been on a roll in Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation play. Large school rival Lancaster found that out the hard way on Thursday (Jan. 25) night. The Red Devils scored early and often and posted an impressive 6-1 win over the injury-depleted Redskins at the Northtown Center. Clarence improved to 6-3 against fellow large schools and moved into a second-place tie with Frontier in Division I. Both are just one point behind first-place Lancaster, which has been on a slide ever since opening the season so hot. “That was a big game for us,” said Clarence forward Matt Colicchia, who scored a hat-trick in...

Entering the season, if the Clarence High School girls basketball team wanted to rely on past varsity experience, the Red Devils probably better have been looking at Blair Budzinski. The team’s lone returning starter was also the only current player to see notable time on the hardwood a year ago. The junior point guard has welcomed that leadership role – a duty made much easier by a quality group of teammates on her side. “I guess it’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “But it’s really nice working together with all of these girls. We’re a really hard-working team and we’re playing really well.” Leadership has always been a big part of Budzinski’s game. This year she serves as a tri-captain...

On a Clarence High School basketball team with weapons galore inside and out, sophomore Tanner Schmit might not get a whole lot of looks. But when the sophomore center gets his hands on the basketball, he knows his team needs him to put the ball where it belongs ­— in the basket. That’s been going much better lately and the results are showing on the court and on the scoreboard. “I’m a lot happier with how I’ve been finishing,” he said. “I need to keep working hard at finishing; finish inside when we need it.” Schmit has averaged 7.6 points per game for the Red Devils. He has reached double-figures four times and Clarence is 4-0 in those games. His services were needed in a Jan. 3 showdown...

Sacred Heart forward La’Trice Hall is having a brilliant season for the undefeated Sharks. The 5-foot-9 senior has been a big reason why Sacred Heart is currently sitting atop the Monsignor Martin League in girls basketball. Hall uses her size to impose her will on her opponents. She very rarely gets out-muscled for rebounds and loose balls. Sacred Heart’s star senior is also quite nimble on her feet for a forward. Equipped with impressive passing skills, Hall is certain to draw plenty of attention from opponents every game. Even with opponents dedicated so much attention to Hall, other teams haven’t had much success shutting No. 24. The Sharks retained their unblemished record improving...

Clarence High School's Bobby Florio saved his best for last, well, his last regular season boys basketball game against rival Williamsville North anyway. The senior, in his third varsity season, poured in a team-high 20 points helped the Red Devils to a thrilling 77-76 win over the previously-unbeaten Spartans. "That was probably my best game ever," Florio said. "That's definitely a great feeling." Florio's efforts, whether it was shooting, passing or providing a calming presence in the right game, has been something the Red Devils have come to expect in recent seasons. "He was just outstanding," Clarence coach Todd Banaszak said. "He was a great leader out there for us. He was probably the...

Check the box scores of some Clarence High School boys basketball games and you'll see some pretty impressive numbers next to the name of Bryan Jost. Just don't expect him to worry about that. The only numbers the sharp-shooting junior guard care about are the ones on the scoreboard at the end of the game. "I just love winning," Jost said. "Whatever my stats are, it doesn't matter. I just want to win.” Jost has certainly done his part to help in a strong start to the season for the Red Devils. When he gets hot from long range, look out. Jost averaged 17.1 points per game in eight contests before New Year's Day. He reached double figures six times and topped 20 three times. "When he hits...