Leading off today: The remainder of the girls volleyball season at two Buffalo schools has been canceled in the aftermath of a brawl in which
five teens were arrested, The Buffalo News reported.
Police said multiple students were injured Oct. 13 when a majority of the Emerson team was assaulted by South Park students outside the South Park gym. Police arrested five of the seven participants in the brawl that could be identified. A portion of the fight was captured on security cameras.
School district spokeswoman Elena Cala confirmed that five teens, all athletes believed to attend South Park, have been suspended under the district's code of conduct. Cala said two Emerson players were injured.
Police said one of the teens was taunting a female student and followed her outside the gym when she was leaving with her mother and sister. The situation escalated, leading to the teen punching, kicking and throwing the other girl to the ground. That led to the other teens joining the altercation, police said.
All five students arrested were charged with second-degree gang assault as well ad child endangerment. Some face additional charges including inciting to riot.
Boys soccer: Sophomores Sam Arrigo and Nate Wright did the scoring as eighth-seeded South Lewis knocked off top-seeded Cooperstown 2-0 in the Section 3 Class C quarterfinals.
Cooperstown was ranked second in the state in Class C this week.
Derek Crofoot stopped 10 shots for the shutout in the face of constant pressure. Cooperstown had nine corner kicks to none for South Lewis.
• Utica Academy of Science has forfeited its 3-2 victory over Hamilton in a Class D second-round game played Wednesday. The forfeit was a result of a school issue and not a Section 3 violation, Syracuse.com reported.
Girls soccer: These qualified as upsets on paper ... but soccer is played on grass (or quasi-grass).
Eighth-seeded Albion earned a 3-1 win in the Section 6 Class B-1 quarterfinals over top-seeded Buffalo City Honors as Mariah Plain, Brylie Hapeman and Claire Squicciarini scored for the Purple Eagles.
In Class B-2, the eighth seed also prevailed over the top seed as Fredonia knocked off Olmsted 2-0.
Coaching developments: Albana Gega will become just the third woman to be a head coach of a PSAL boys varsity basketball team when takes over at Thomas Edison High in Queens.
Gega, who coached the JV team the past two seasons, starts behind the 8-ball. Tykei Greene, the team's top player, transferred over the summer to Long Island Lutheran.
Besides Gega, Ruth Lovelace (Boys & Girls) and Anastasia Bitis (Maspeth) have coached boys squads in the league. Lovelace is still active with the Kangaroos; Bitis
