Newark, College Prep, UPrep, SOTA, HFL also hold a shot at the Title
Jeff Redband scoring his 51st point against Irondequoit earlier this season. The Senior’s great night was good enough for an all-time school record.
| BataviasBest.org
Monday, February 23, 2015
After earning a first round bye, the top-seeded Batavia Boys Basketball team (16-2) will begin Sectional play this Saturday, February 28th with a home game at 7:00 pm against the winner of #8 Wayne (4-14) and #9 Geneva (6-13). Following their weekend matchup, if they are to advance, Batavia will next face the winner of #4 College Prep (14-5) and #5 HFL (8-10) who will also play on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
If the Blue Devils are to advance to the Championship game after winning their first two games, they will meet #2 Newark (17-2), #3 SOTA (17-2), #6 Monroe (8-11), #7 U Prep (6-12), or #10 Greece Olympia (2-16) – who will all fight it out in the bottom half of the A2 bracket for the other Finals berth.
In all honesty, outside of Batavia, I believe there are a total of five teams in this Class with a realistic chance at making it to the Finals and eventually winning the Title. I have listed them in terms of who I believe has the best chance:
College Prep
The only two teams that were both on College Prep and Batavia’s regular season schedules were Brighton and University Prep. While College Prep went 2-0 against these teams, the Devils went 1-1 – losing to UPrep in the Lions Club Tournament
CP is a well-sized team with several capable scorers, and will likely present a difficult challenge for the Devils’ Jeff Redband and Malachi Chenault along the interior if the two teams are to meet. Their roster lists four players 6’3″ or taller – all of which seem to contribute on a regular basis. Their guard play also seems to be strong according to what I have gathered
University Prep
UPrep – having already defeated Batavia this season – will likely put forth another great effort against the Devils if they are to square-off once again during the Sectional Tournament. Freshman Jeenathan Williams led the Griffins in the previous matchup, and I expect he and Cameron Myles to propel their team to a late-round appearance despite their low seed
The Griffins played an incredibly difficult schedule and will be battle tested
SOTA
School of the Arts was the top-seed in Class A2 for some time during the early portion of the season, however, due to their weaker regular season schedule they wound up falling to #3 despite losing just two games. The Silverhawks have two primary scorers, as Sergio Alicea and Christian Simmons have worked together for much of the season in order to propel their team to such a great record
If the Devils are to meet them in the Finals, I would expect SOTA to give the top-seed a run for their money
HFL
The Cougars, much like College Prep, possess great size in forward Evan Quackenbush – a 6’5″ hard-nosed defender, who brings toughness to each matchup. In addition, HFL also comes equipped with one of the top-scorers in Monroe County, Tommy Eastman, who is a 6’3″ G/F who has led his team to the five-seed
The Devils previously beat the Cougars, but I believe they will be a tough out in the Sectional Tournament
Newark
Newark has had a great run this season on their way to earning the #2 seed in A2, however, the Reds are a small team with only three players standing 6’0″ or above. Their tallest player is 6’6″ Freshman Taylor Clements, and as a result of their lack of size, they have become a pressing team who plays various styles of defense in order to mask their inefficiencies along the interior
Batavia beat Newark last year in the Sectional semi finals, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they met during the tournament once again this year
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Stay tuned throughout the entire Sectional Tournament for increased coverage of each local team’s journey towards a Championship.
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Batavia and Notre Dame Hockey bow out in first round of Sectionals
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