Athletic success was well-dispersed among Catholic high schools in the diocese this past winter. Highlights included Section 5 titles for Bishop Kearney boys’ basketball, BK boys’ bowling, Our Lady of Mercy girls’ indoor track and Aquinas Institute boys’ indoor track.
BK hoops
The Kings earned the Section 5 Class A1 championship by scoring a 64-58 win over top-seeded Greece Arcadia on March 5. Second-seeded BK was led by Chinonso Obokoh with 22 points and 18 rebounds. BK outscored Arcadia 40-25 over the second and third quarters to go up 48-33, and withstood a late charge by the Titans.
Kearney had earned its way to the title game by winning 51-43 over No. 7 Eastridge on Feb. 26 in quarterfinal play as Obokoh had 15 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks. Then came a 60-49 semifinal victory over No. 3 Pittsford Mendon on March 2 as Chukwuka Ikpeze scored 23 points and Obokoh had 14.
In its 59-54 state Class A qualifier loss to Aquinas Institute on March 9, Kearney was led by Obokoh with 22 points and Antoine Anderson with 10. The Kings finished with a 17-5 record.
It also was a stellar season for the Bishop Kearney girls, who reached the Section 5 Class CC final from their No. 6 seed position. BK started out with a 55-22 first-round win over No. 11 Oakfield-Alabama on Feb. 19 as Anna Brado had 12 points and Taina Graham had 10. Next up was a 49-15 quarterfinal win over No. 3 Byron-Bergen on Feb. 23 as Lauren Kelly totaled 13 points and 14 rebounds. In semifinal play, the Kings won 56-48 over No. 7 Bloomfield on Feb. 26 behind Brado, Kelsey Buscaglia and Graham, who had 19, 14 and 10 points, respectively.
BK then fell, 60-53, to No. 1 Gananda in the final on March 1. Brado scored 16 points and Graham and Skyler Gausney-Jones had 11 each. Kearney’s final record was 14-8.
Track, bowling champs
Mercy won the Section 5 Class B indoor track title on Feb. 15 by a narrow margin, scoring 108 points to edge second-place Pittsford Mendon’s 106-point total. The Monarchs’ Maggie Pryslak won the 600-meter run as well as the 300-meter run, and teammate Elsie Ikpot took first place in the 55 hurdles.
Aquinas’ boys won the Section 5 Class C indoor track crown on Feb. 17 with 104 points, besting second-place Batavia’s 77. Event winners for AQ were Matt Denk in the 600; Tom Green, 55 hurdles; the 1,600 relay of Matt Roorda, Sean Hare, Denk and J.P. Freel; the 800 relay of Alonzo Turney, Sean Whelehan, Josh Hanna and Green; Garrett Boehmer, pole vault; and Taylor Byrne, long jump.
Bishop Kearney won the Section 5 Class D boys’ bowling title on Feb. 18, edging out second-place Bloomfield with a total pinfall of 5,578 to 5,574. BK’s Alex Triassi had the day’s high series with 1,411 pins for six games, an average of 235.
Other highlights
- Kevin Tobey of McQuaid Jesuit won the Section 5 Class A boys’ swimming 100-yard butterfly event on Feb. 12.
- Robert Hurlbut of McQuaid indoor track won the Section 5 Class A boys’ 3,200-meter run on Feb. 16.
- Jarvis Knight, a Geneva DeSales wrestler, reached the Section 5 Class B 285-pound title match on Feb. 5 before being stopped by Jordan Shute of Keshequa.
- Elmira Notre Dame boys’ basketball earned the No. 2 seed in the Section 4 Class C playoffs. The Crusaders won 58-38 over No. 15 Bainbridge-Guilford in first-round play on Feb. 23 and 68-49 over No. 7 Walton in a quarterfinal game on Feb. 26, but fell 55-31 to No. 3 Spencer-Van Etten on March 2 in the semifinals to end with a 17-4 record.
- Aquinas girls’ indoor track tied for second place in the Section 5 Class C meet on Feb. 17. Event winners were the 800 relay of Jaya Granger, Winsom Hudson, Jenna Sabers and Allyssa Darling; and Amber Thomas in the triple jump. In the Meet of Champions state qualifier on Feb. 26, the 800 relay of Granger, Hudson, Darling and Camaria Long again placed first.
- Bishop Kearney’s Andrea Seeger took first place in the 300 meters at the Section 5 Class D girls’ indoor track championships on Feb. 17.
- BK’s 800 relay of Evan Santiago, Troy Salley, Elijah Simmons and Quentin Gause earned first place at the Section 5 Class D boys’ meet, also on Feb. 17.
