FROM THE PRESS BOX: INTERESTING STORYLINES BUILDING IN FIRST MONTH OF WINTER SEASON (2023-01-02)
The first month of the winter season is in the books, and play will resume Tuesday night.
There are some interesting storyline building.
The Waverly wrestling program has jumped to No. 6 in the state in the Division 2 rankings, and are 8-2 in duals. And, they’ve done it without state qualifier sophomore Kam Hills and senior Gage Tedesco in the line-up.
Senior Ty Beeman (17-2) appears to be on a mission to return to States this year, and improve on last year’s performance.
Junior Josh Courtney, and seniors Connor Stotler and Braeden Hills, and freshman Troy Beeman have been very solid in the early-going.
The Wolverines also have a trio of good-looking youngsters in 8th-grader Matthias Welles 7th-grader Drayton DeKay and 8th-grader Rhylee Stotler.
One of Waverly coach Devan Witman’s goals this season was to qualify for the New York State Duals To do so, the Wolverines will either have to take down the Tioga juggernaut, or more likely earn a wildcard.
We’ll see how Waverly stacks up with Tioga Wednesday night at Tioga.
The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2, and return six state qualifiers, including two-time state champ Gianni Silvestri, state champ Ousmane Duncanson, state runner-up Caden Bellis, fifth-place state finisher Tyler Roe, and Drew Macumber — all juniors, and freshman Jayden Duncanson, who finished third last year.
Silvestri, Duncanson, and Bellis — all football players, who got off to a late start — looked simply dominant in winning Windsor Christmas Tournament titles.
Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Silvestri has posted a record of 100-2, and Bellis is 97-6, while Duncanson is 50-2 since his arrival at Tioga prior to the 2021-22 season.
Jayden Duncanson had a hiccup in a 5-0 loss to B-G’s Joey Florance in the Windsor semifinals, but wrestled back for third place. The younger Duncanson and the elder Florance will see each other again this season — probably on multiple occasions.
If junior Levi Bellis was at any other school, he’d probably have 100 career wins by now, but he’s had problems getting in the powerful Tioga line-up. He put together a nice performance for a fifth-place finish at Windsor, and could make waves in the postseason.
Tioga had just nine wrestlers at Windsor, and won the team title by 55 points, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.
Athens has had some early struggles this season, losing two of its first three duals, but junior Josh Nittinger (8-0), and senior Jake Courtney (7-1) are off to very good starts, and will likely make a serious run in qualifying for States.
Highly-touted freshman Cooper Robinson is also off to a good start, and is definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Junior Mason Vanderpool (6-2) is another one to keep an eye on. If he stays healthy, he could make some noise in the postseason.
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The biggest story on the hardwoods in December was the 8-0 start of the Waverly girls, which included a win over Towanda in the championship game of the Valley Christmas Tournament.
The Lady Wolverines are using coach Bob Kelly’s longtime recipe for success — defensive pressure and scoring in transition off the pressure, and executing it to near-perfection.
This team, however, has something few of Kelly’s teams have had in the past — an excess of 3-point shooters and considerable depth.
Senior Kennedy Westbrook can not only shoot the 3, but is as good with the ball in her hands as anyone in the region. At her disposal are sophomore Addison Westbrook, 8th-grader Ryleigh Judson, and juniors Peyton Shaw and Paige Robinson, who can all knock down the 3. Toss in freshman Brilynn Belles off the bench as another weapon from 3-point range, and Waverly has a ton of options.
A wildcard for the Lady Wolverines is junior Caprice Haney, who has battled knee injuries for the last two years. Once she is 100 percent healthy, Haney is a dynamic all-around player, who can shoot the 3, score in transition, rebound, and defend.
Waverly could make some serious noise in Section IV, but it will have to go through last year’s state runner-up Newark Valley. They square off Wednesday at Waverly, so we’ll get an early indication of where the Lady Wolverines stand.
Brian Miller’s Athens Lady Wildcats play very good defense, so they’re in every game, but scoring has been a struggle at times this season.
Senior Karlee Bartlow has been their most consistent scorer, and senior Emma Bronson has shown flashes of being a double-digit scorer.
Sophomore Addy Wheeler is probably Athens’ best all-around player. She handles the ball well, distributes it, plays good defense, and can rebound. I don’t say this often, but she needs to be a little more selfish, and look for her points more often.
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The boys basketball scene has been pretty interesting over the first month.
Waverly junior Joey Tomasso scored 30 or more points in three of the Wolverines’ first four games, with a silky smooth jumper, and an ability to get to the rim, and the free-throw line.
Part of his scoring spree is the lack of scorers around him. Tomasso is really Waverly’s only returner who saw significant varsity time last year, and that lack of experience has caused a slow start offensively for Tomasso’s supporting cast.
Juniors Jay Pipher and Jake VanHouten have flashed the abilities to become double-digit scorers, and freshman Hogan Shaw could become a major offensive weapon for the Wolverines quickly.
Tomasso’s scoring will likely drop, but only because his teammates will develop, and pick up some of the scoring slack.
That said, he’s already shown he’s capable of 35 to 40 points on any given night.
We’ll get a good indication of where Waverly is Friday when they host state-ranked Lansing.
Athens senior Mason Lister has been nearly unstoppable taking the ball to the bucket this season. At 6-3, he has good size, good quickness, and a good handle, which allows him to get to the rim. He’s scoring 20 points per game right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised a bit to see him maintain that throughout the season.
Sophomore Xavier Watson is showing signs of becoming the next big thing in the NTL. He’s explosive, with good size at 6-4, and can shoot the three. Once his confidence catches up with his abilities, he’s going to be very tough to contain.
Six-foot-four senior Lucas Horton has also been a good addition for the Wildcats. He can score in transition, rebound, and can knock down the outside jumper.
Junior Korey Miller has been a steadying influence at point guard, and has knocked down some big 3-pointers in the early-going.
The Wildcats have played a tough early-season non-league slate, which should pay dividends in the upcoming NTL season. We’ll get a better read on them Friday when they travel to Troy.
Tioga is riding a three-game losing streak, but those losses are to state-ranked Newfield and Moravia, as well as Athens.
The Tigers had a whopping six practices as a full team prior to the Christmas break, so they should be in better basketball shape when play continues Tuesday against a sold Candor team.
Junior Evan Sickler is a 20-point scorer, and junior Valentino Rossi is a double-double machine in the making, while juniors 6-3 Gavin Fisher and Ethan Perry are capable of scoring 20 points on any given night.
Tioga also has some capable hands in the rotation in Shea Bailey, 6-3 Ethan Landmesser, and Karson Sindoni.
If the Tigers put everything together, they could make some serious noise in the Section IV, Class C playoffs.
New Sayre coach Jon Ward has his Redskins playing hard night in, and night out. Senior Jackson Hubbard is capable of scoring 25 to 30 points on any given night, while sophomore Nick Pellicano is rapidly developing into one of the better players in the NTL.
Senior Zach Garrity is the heart-and-soul of the team, playing defense, getting on the floor after loose ball, drawing charges, and doing all the little things coaches love.
The rest of the Redskin roster is a bit on the inexperienced side, but there is size there, and athleticism.
Sayre is 1-1 in divisional play, and should be in the hunt for a division title, and a win at North Penn-Liberty Friday would go a long way toward achieving that goal.
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The Waverly boys, and the Athens swim teams didn’t see a lot of action in December, but there were a lot of positive in what we did see.
Senior Jerrell Sackett met the state standard in the 50 free in Waverly’s first meet, and is headed back to the New York State championships.
Seniors Oscar Williams and Ryan Clark are also in position to do some big things this year, and sophomore Liam Wright appears poised to step up and be a big producer for the Wolverines.
Athens has some strong seniors in Chris DeForest, Ethan Denlinger, Taegan Williams, and Taylar Fisher leading the way, but are also got some strong performances from sophomores Ethan Hicks and Ronel Ankam, and freshmen Olivia Cheresnowsky, and Elizabeth Denlinger.
The swim season is set to pick up the pace in January. We should have a better idea about postseason expectations by Feb. 1.