What a night at St. Joe's, what a night for St. Joe's. Check out PrepTalkTV's highlights, interviews, analysis, rundown of other huge results and a look ahead to next week:
Tonight, our focus is on one game, as it should be.
We'll have a live blog going below from the terrific 7 p.m. matchup of top-ranked large school Canisius at No. 3 St. Joe's.
Tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will automatically show up there. So if you are out at one of tonight's many other good matchups, and you're updating that game via Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. I'll have periodic tweets updating the game at @KeithMcSheaBN, but most of my updating will come in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, and check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
See you out at the big game, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
Monday Night Football continues for Western New York's football coaches with the offering of weekly clinics free to members of the WNY Football Coaches Association. Meeting are held at the Elks Lodge in Lancaster, 33 Legion Parkway at 7:30 p.m. Membership dues are $25 per coach or $90 for an entire staff. Cost is $10 per clinic for non-members. The first meeting is the day after the Super Bowl, Feb. 6, featuring UB football coach Jeff Quinn
Chuck Huber has put together an impressive lineup that includes:
Feb. 6: Jeff Quinn, Head Coach University at Buffalo, "The UB Run game."
Feb. 13: Wayne Bradford, Defensive Coordinator, Edinboro University, "Stopping it all the Edinboro Way."
Tonight at 9, we'll get our weekly live chat started with a video segment with myself and PrepTalkTV partner Lauren Mariacher.
As always, anything in the world of high school sports -- or our coverage of it -- is up for discussion. That includes a ton this week: Tuesday's St. Mary's win, today's Archbishop Walsh-at-Canisius game (which I'll check out before the chat), Friday's Canisius at St. Joe's game, today's Prep Talk column, the basketball polls, how The News voted in them, my Power 10 and whatever else comes up.
I promise I'll get to your question or comment in the chat -- but please be patient. It can get busy fielding all of the questions and I can only answer one at a time. And PLEASE don't enter your question/comment multiple times -- that only makes things more hectic.
Here's the video (Give it a few minutes to load please):
* * *
Our previous winter chats: Jan. 18 (2012 video debut), Jan. 11 (2012 debut/Aquinas-Kearney viewing), Dec. 14 (from the MMA-ECIC Challenge), All-WNY football talk (Dec. 7 w/video); our first was Nov. 30 (live from the Pastor-Cooper Showcase tipoff).
As always, if you have a question but you won't be able to make the chat, post one in the comments section here, email me, Tweet it or post it on Facebook and I'll do my best to address it.
Here's more, starting with video interviews with the victorious Lancers (classy job by St. Mary's coach Dan Gill starting his postgame comments by lauding longtime Timon coach/athletic director Jim Palano, who will be retiring at year's end):
I walked in at halftime and immediately saw that St. Mary's was ready to play in South Buffalo. Timon senior sharpshooter Kyle Kobis drained a jumper in the final seconds, but it left just enough time for Erik Simmons to speed to the other end and beat the buzzer for a tie at 33-33.
St. Mary's shot the lights out in the second half, but it's not like they just had a good shooting night, like one of those everything-they-were-throwing-up-went-in deals. They certainly shot the ball well, but most of the baskets came off good shots created by good passing and good decisions during good possessions. Some of it came off of alert, fundamental defense and/or rebounding.
The Lancers played with a confidence, an intelligence and a togetherness on both ends of the floor that was more than impressive. That play was rewarded with a big lead, and when Timon had Kobis and Jordan Williams hit big shots to give the Tigers a chance, St. Mary's responded.
Here's a recounting of the second half from my notebook & going over the game film (that means my iPhone video :-) ):
Third quarter
Redden hit a three-pointer (36-33). ... Ryan Winnicki hit a three off an Erik Simmons drive-and-kickout (39-37). ... Jake Denz got fouled on a three-pointer and sunk all three FTs (42-39). ... Simmons with a spectacular drive finished with an up-and-under scoop-to-the-hoop (44-39). ... Simmons again with a drive (46-39). ... Denz with a nice follow of a missed Redden drive (48-42). ... An offensive rebound by Paul Rath turned into a three by Nate Meyers (53-45). ... A Redden open three (56-47) was followed by pressure on the inbound that forced a Timon timeout with 1:25 left in the third. ... Denz with a nifty scoop vs. DeMilo Gibbs (58-49). ... Nicc Johnson with a nice-looking pop-up baseline jumper from the right side (60-51) -- that shot was the only one, to me, that was like, wow, they're hitting everything. There was some good defense and I believe the shot clock was running down, and he popped up and hit a tough jumper.
St. Mary's finished the third with a 60-53 lead after Kobis got the benefit of a goaltending call although -- from the way I saw it -- the shot never got above the rim. Kobis, Jordan Williams and Gibbs -- who played very well down low -- were effective on offense to keep Timon in the game.
Fourth quarter
St. Mary's did a great job defending Gibbs in the post, and they did it right from the start. There was some great help defense on Timon's first possession to earn the ball back for St. Mary's.
That was followed by two free throws by Redden after a good, aggressive drive to the basket (62-53). ... Johnson put on a fantastic drive with an off-the-glass finish (64-55). ... Denz made a great play to poke the ball free from a Timon dribbler, leading to a fast break in which Johnson's shot didn't fall but Denz was right there for the follow (66-55), prompting a Timon timeout with 5:48 to go.
Timon made it 66-60 with a little over five minutes to go by doing what they do: Kobis hit a three; Williams drove and scored. At this point, crunch time seemed to get both sides a little tight -- no field goals for about two minutes.
Denz made a nice play to pick off an entry pass for Gibbs, St. Mary's called a timeout with 3:15 left, and then ran a play which resulted in a Denz kickout to Simmons for a three (69-60).
This started a nice-back-and-forth (video below) that saw a Jordan Williams crossover-and-fadeaway (69-62), then a Redden jumper off a Meyers kickout (71-62), then a Zach Hayes follow of a missed Kobis drive (71-64) that prompted a Timon timoeut with 2:03 left.
Redden took advantage of some loose Timon defense to score on a drive (73-64); Kobis hit a three (73-67) to make it a two-possession game with about 1:20 to go. St. Mary's had some great ball movement against some aggressive defense that resulted in Denz finding Redden on the baseline but that was one shot that rimmed out for the Lancers. It was still a two-possession game with 1:00 left.
Big play here. Jordan Williams got the ball on the left wing, faked out his man and drove to the basket, and Denz came off his man (Gibbs) and drew a charging foul on Williams with 37.6 to go.
Now, I am the biggest anti-flopping basketball fan in the world. I think the beautiful game of basketball is soiled by "take a charge," which I like to call flopping, because that's what it is most of the time. That being said, and this is a testament to how difficult this call is to make for officials (maybe the most difficult in sports?), at first glance I thought this was a good call.
But when I went to the iPhone video, it was a block. Williams is leaving the floor as Denz slides over. Denz makes sure he gets a shoulder in Williams' way and falls to the floor. That's defense? That's not defense, but that's what passes for defense in basketball for many people these days. The offensive player blows by his defender, has a clear lane, and he's made his move to the basket truly before the help defender has established position.
The shot didn't fall, and it would have been two free throws, so Timon would certainly have had a better shot to win. I don't think they got robbed of the game whatsoever. St. Mary's went 0 for 2 down the stretch so Timon still had a shot to win. I definitely think St. Mary's deserved this one, big-time. And to be clear: This is not a knock on Denz by any means. He was fantastic on both ends, he did a great job fronting DeMillo in the fourth quarter, and the charge play was one of several smart ones he made during the game -- including not inbounding the ball on this final play.
Overall, a fantastic performance by St. Mary's. Timon may have underperformed a bit, but they were mostly outplayed by St. Mary's.
I'll be headed to another top 10 large school-small school matchup of the Monsignor Martin Association this evening when Canisius hosts Archbishop Walsh at 6:30 p.m.
I'll talk about that game, the St. Mary's game, Friday's Canisius at St. Joe's game, today's Prep Talk column, the basketball polls, the Power 10 and whatever else comes up during our video chat starting at 9 p.m.
1. Canisius (9-4) [last ballot: 1] -- I'm sticking with these guys, Friday night guests of the guys who beat Aquinas.
2. Niagara Falls (9-3) [2] -- Sticking with these guys here over ...
3. St. Joe's (13-2) [6] -- ... the guys who beat Aquinas.
In other seasons, a win over one of the best programs in the state would vault a team, especially a 13-2 team, to the top. I would argue that Aquinas should be ranked No. 1 in a combined Section V/Section VI/Monsignor Martin Association poll. And in voting St. Joe's No. 3 here, I guess I would have Aquinas at the top? Canisius played Aquinas tough at home without Matt Hart. Aquinas lost at St. Joe's without starter Jarron Jones, who is certainly a great body to have in the lineup but certainly not the kind of impact player that Phil Valenti or Christian White or Jhamahl Pardner are.
For me, it came down to my gut, based on what I've seen and gathered from this season. I would take No. 1 and No. 2 over No. 3 if they played. Which means I would take No. 1 over No. 3 no matter where they played. And would you look at this: No. 1 Canisius at No. 3 St. Joe's on Friday night. PrepTalkTV will be there (duh :-) ).
[After-the-votes-were-tallied note: I'm quite surprised that St. Joe's didn't get more than one No. 1 vote. I thought I might be on an island in considering Canisius still at the top.]
4. Jamestown (10-1) [3] -- Slide down with Joe's moving up. (at Clarence on Ridiculously Busy Friday).
5. Bishop Timon-St. Jude (11-3) [4] -- Make that two. (hosting Kearney on Ridiculously Busy Friday).
6. McKinley (8-2) [5] -- Make that three. (
7. Riverside (8-2) [7] -- Same spot for Frontiers, and with exams this week we're not expected to learn much about the city teams ...
8. Hutch-Tech (6-3) [8] -- ... including these guys.
9. Williamsville East (11-2) [9] -- Really liked the way the Flames played without their coach, on rival's floor, against a program that had owned them the last six years or so. Liked the team play big-time. They play together on both ends, they are fundamentally sound, they have guys making unselfish plays, with 6-foot-3 Isaiah Kaudeyr making a ton of them. I wanted to vote them higher -- but they're just kind of stuck here in some sense. These three are in like a tie for seventh.
10. Kenmore West (9-2) [10] -- Blue Devils (at Niagara Falls on Ridiculously Busy Friday) still a step ahead of other contenders for this spot, a huddle that Frontier just rejoined after completing a season sweep of a Will North team I thought was on an upswing. East Aurora definitely in this crowd, Will South, Cheektowaga and maybe even Amherst too from competitive ECIC III that also includes top 10 small school Depew. Tough to figure out where the rest of ECIC I fits with Lancaster beating Clarence, along with Orchard Park beating Hamburg and then OP losing to Sweet Home in its next game. The rest of the NFL probably is in that neighborhood.
SMALL SCHOOLS
1. Olean (11-1) [1] -- Schedule check: Dunkirk at Olean, next Tuesday, Jan. 31.
2. St. Mary's (11-5) [2] -- Fairly close ones over Nichols and Niagara Catholic and a huge blowout of St. Francis. Hmm.
3. OTC Middle College (6-3) [3] -- Host MST Seneca on Ridiculously Busy Friday.
4. Archbishop Walsh (11-3) [6] -- Chances to see these guys up north: Wednesday at Canisius, Friday at St. Francis. Scheduling note: First game with St. Mary's is home on Jan. 31.
5. Tonawanda (12-0) [5] -- A week after I wrote how impressed I was at Lackawanna, I can't say the same about the home win over Holland. Part of the reason for the Walsh promotion.
6. Depew (7-4) [7] -- I liked what I saw from Cheektowaga in close loss to I-Prep (probably No. 11 on this list) at MLK Classic; Cheektowaga just won in OT at Depew. I suppose you could argue that these Wildcats should drop further, but ECIC III is no picnic with large schools like Cheektowaga, Amherst and EA (which got a good run from Maryvale the other night).
7. Wilson (8-2) [8] -- I saw one quarter in a tiny, packed, loud CSAT gym and really liked what I saw. Diez hitting threes, Martin playing like a senior, well-run operation. Like Will East, wanted to vote them higher, but just couldn't.
8. MST Seneca (8-1) [4] -- Drop down with loss to City Honors, which moved probably from Top 20 to Top 15 with that win.
9. East (4-6) [9] -- Saw them against McKinley without top guard Johnathon Lewis. Team deserves to be -- just holding on -- in the top 10.
10. Silver Creek (7-1) [10] -- Hosting Portville, one of many contenders for this spot, on Ridiculously Busy Friday.
Don't like what you're reading? The comment space is below.
Photographer/videographer Mark Mulville & I headed to Athol Springs this afternoon to talk to St. Francis standout senior running back Akeel Lynch about committing to Penn State:
More to come in Tuesday's paper and we'll certainly discuss Lynch's choice during Wednesday evening's live video chat.
At the time, he said he selected BC over Penn State.
That was long before the news broke -- in November -- of the child sex abuse charges against former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky. The tumultous months that followed included the school's firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno, the hiring of current New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien earlier this month to replace him, and Paterno's death on Sunday.
Lynch's committment to Boston College became more and more tenuous as the high school season came and went. Lynch did participate in a recruiting trip to BC on Dec. 3, which caused him to miss the Connolly Cup awards banquet (he was one of 10 finalists).
After his successful senior season -- during which St. Francis won the Monsignor Martin Association championship -- Lynch began to received more recruiting attention.
In early January, he told Boston College that he would be considering other schools. Iowa and Oklahoma had coaches visit Lynch. On Monday, Lynch said Penn State was a finalist along with Iowa, Ole Miss and Oklahoma.
Lynch visited Iowa in early January, had a visit to Oklahoma canceled when a snowstorm canceled his flight, and he visited Penn State this past weekend.
The first day football recruits can sign with schools is Feb. 1. Lynch will make his official announcement then during a ceremony at the Athol Springs school.
A highlight game in his highlight season was running for five touchdowns and a school-record 376 yards on 31 carries (the totals were updated after the game) in St. Francis' 42-27 win at fellow top 10 large school Bishop Timon-St. Jude on Oct. 7. Check out the PrepTalkTV video from that game:
It was a busy night in the gyms and a busy night for PrepTalkTV: Highlights and interviews from six games, discussion of even more and a look ahead to next week:
The PrepTalkTV team is heading out to several locations during a busy Friday night of basketball.
We're doing another experiment tonight as we run around to different games. We're setting up a Prep Talk Live blog below, like we had during football season.
Tweets to the hashtag #preptalkscores will automatically show up there. So if you are out at a game and on Twitter, be sure to include that hashtag. That's what I'll be doing (@KeithMcSheaBN on the tweeter) as I bop around to different games. At certain stops I'm hoping there will be enough time to open my laptop and provide better play-by-play in the live blog.
Check out tonight's full schedule on our scoreboard page, and check back throughout the night for updated box scores and highlights.
* * *
Here's our game plan: Lauren Mariacher and I will begin with MST Seneca vs. Emerson at Waterfront School (6 p.m.), then up the I-190 to Wilson at CSAT (6:30), then futher north to Holland at Tonawanda (6:30), then hopefully time will allow us to catch the end of Lockport at Kenmore West (7).
We are also sending photographer/videographers into the field: Mark Mulville is heading to East Aurora at Maryvale and then Cheektowaga at Depew (both 7:30) while John Hickey is going south to South Dayton for girls action as Forestville is at Pine Valley (6:30), where Panthers coach Tim Nobles has the astounding opportunity to win his 500th career game.
See you out in the gyms, in the chat and on the tweeter. :-)
* * *
Here's the PrepTalkTV video, produced by Lauren Maraicher and including contributions from photographers Mark Mulville and
