Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017: Williamsville North repeats with overtime win

   Leading off today: Adam Batz's goal 46 seconds into overtime was the difference as Williamsville North repeated as the Section 6 Division I hockey champion Monday with a 3-2 victory over Lancaster at KeyBank Center.

   With the win, Williamsville North advances to the New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association quarterfinals Saturday at West Genesee. (See updated brackets here.)

   Batz finished with two goals while repeating as the championship game most valuable player. Last season, he scored the goal in a 1-0 victory over Niagara-Wheatfield in the final.

   Lancaster had knotted the score with :05.3 left in regulation on a goal by Shawn Kross.

   Brett Sardina also scored for Williamsville North, which played in a Section 6 championship game for the 10th time in the past 11 seasons.

   In Division II, West Seneca East earned its first championship by defeating fourth-seeded Kenmore West 3-1. Sophomore Tyler Arndt scored twice in the final 6:19 seconds for the winners, who got 27 saves from Jagger Maving.

   Arndt's empty-net goal with :16 left completed a run in which the Trojans knocked off No. 1 seed Williamsville East, No. 3 Grand Island and No. 4 Kenmore West.

   "I think that it's crazy that it's our first time and that I am part of the team that did that," Arndt told The Buffalo News. "I think it's just crazy that it happened."

   In the Monsignor Martin final, St. Joe's won its fifth Niagara Cup in seven years by beating Canisius 4-0. Senior Jack Lalley's two power-play goals in the first period put the Marauders in command.

   Goalie Donovan Boshier finished with 23 saves for the shutout.

   The Marauders will seek to repeat as state CHSAA champions when they face St. Anthony's Sunday at HarborCenter in a rematch of last year's final.

   Pittsford, Brockport advance: Pittsford broke to a three-goal lead early in the second period and held on to edge Fairport 4-2 in the Section 5 Class A title game.

   Ryan Walpole scored twice and Connor Haims and Andy Bronstein had one each for the Panthers in their second straight title-game win over the Red Raiders.

   "It's never an easy night against Fairport," Haims told the Democrat and Chronicle. "They're an excellent team and we knew we needed a big-time effort to get past them."

   In Class B, Brockport skated past Webster Thomas 4-1. The Blue Devils got a pair of goals from leading scorer Maison Fadale and one each from Alec Rockow and Peyton Young. Goalie Liam Schreiner made 25 saves.

   "Our goalie played fantastic, and we walled it in on defense, just locked it down defensively and got the job done," said defenseman Ben Leach.

   Section 10 finals: Massena secured its sixth straight Division I crown with a 1-0 win over Canton. Junior Jack Loran scored off a deflection during a scramble midway through the second period.

   "When you get to this point, it really is more of a chess match where things are happening with every shift," Massena coach Mike Trimboli said. "It's always a great game against Canton. I didn't really expect this to be a 1-0 game but we'll take it."

   Junior Nate Moffitt turned aside 20 shots for the shutout in his postseason debut.

   In Division II, St. Lawrence scored the first three goals and rolled past Norwood-Norfolk 7-2. Andrew Lantry started the onslaught with a goal just 48 seconds into the final.

   "I think all year we've had really quick starts to our games," Larries coach Mickey Locke said. "We've scored the first goal in every game but maybe three all year. When we get the first goal we can kind of settle into our game."

   Salmon River will be the at-large representative in the state quarterfinals by virtue of a second-place finish during the regular season.

   Massive rallies: Two of the wildest comebacks of the Section 5 boys basketball season took place in Class C semifinals Monday.

   Down by 17 early in the third quarter, Cuba-Rushford rallied to shock Clyde-Savannah 62-61 in Class C-3. Senior forward Evan Tucker scored the winning bucket on a sort jumper with :10 to play.

   Cuba-Rushford went on an 8-for-11 binge from the field beginning early in the second half to swing from a 41-24 deficit to a seven-point lead.

   Trevor Smith led C-R with 23 points.

   Meanwhile, Enrique Mosman had 27 points and 15 rebounds as Gananda rallied from a 19-point deficit at halftime to defeat Vertus 52-48 in a Class C-1 semifinal.

2017 NYSPHSAA boys basketball brackets 2017 NYSPHSAA girls basketball brackets 2017 NYSPHSAA boys hockey brackets 2017 N.Y. wrestling results (PDF)

   NYSPHSAA ski meets, Day 1: Lake Placid scored a sweep of the individual races on the first day of the state nordic championships at Gore Mountain.

   Seniors Henry McGrew and Gabby Armstrong each claimed first place by wide margins. McGrew bested fellow teammate and defending champ Scott Schulz by more than a minute, while Armstrong took first in the girls race by 49 seconds. Armstrong's sister Nina was the 2015 winner; Schulz's brother Karl was the 2015 boys champ.

   McGrew completed the 9.9-kilometer course in 30:44.8 seconds. Armstrong clocked 24:10.5 for 6.6 kilometers.

   "They're just kind of skiing on a different level. It's awesome," Lake Placid coach Bill Frazer said. "I'm so happy for them."

   In the alpine competition at Bristol Mountain, Lane Feldeisen of Lake George-North Warren turned in two fast runs to win the boys slalom title in 1:34.47.

   "It's what I've worked for about nine years, and it feels great, my senior year, to get this title," he said.

   Feldeisen's times for the two runs were a consistent :47.33 and :47.14. Ian Montgomery of Stillwater finished second in a combined 1:37.07.

   Albany Academy's Alexa Moynihan was the girls champion in a time of 1:36.84. Her runs of :47.76 and 49:08 held off Sophia Jaeger (1:36.54) of Windham-Ashland-Jewett.

   Section 9 forfeits: Middletown has been seeded last in Section 9's eight-team bracket in the boys Class AA basketball tournament after forfeiting five regular-season games over the use of an ineligible player.

   The unidentified player was a Pine Bush student last school year but lived with a parent in Middletown this year. Under the rule, the athlete's parents had to have been legally separated for him to transfer, The Times Herald-Record reported.

   Middletown AD David Coates said his school self-reported the situation and the player sat out subsequent games until the situation was resolved. The school won its appeal through the Section 9 eligibility committee to have the player reinstated during the season.

   "When we recognized we had an issue, we self-reported ourselves and wanted to make it right," Coates said.

   The forfeits, all in non-league games, drop Middletown's record to 6-14.

   Retired Sec. 6 coach dies: John Strum, who coached Kenmore East to a 53-game winning streak in boys soccer in the 1970s, died Thursday at the age of 90.

   During his 22 years as soccer coach, the Bulldogs went 200-75-67 with sectional championships. He also coached baseball at Kenmore East for 18 years, with a 175-73 record.