For the Westfield senior, ending the 19-year division title drought couldn’t have tasted any sweeter.

The Wolverines defeated Sherman, 52-44, on Monday night to capture the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West title outright for the first time since 2000.

“I’m so proud of our guys. It means everything to me,” Hauser said. “We wanted this. We practiced for this. We talked about it every day. We made it our goal and we accomplished it.”

Coach North knows the significance of the division title to his group, especially his four seniors.

Clymer’s Lucas Beckerink drives into the lane against Cassadaga Valley during CCAA Division 2 West boys basketball action in Sinclairville on Monday. P-J photo by Lisa Monacelli

“It means a lot to them, and it means a lot to me too. These kids will never forget it,” said North, who noted that while in 2009 his team earned a share of the division title, this year’s team is the first undisputed champion of the league since 2000.

It didn’t come easy for Westfield (14-6, 10-2) on Monday night, as defending league champion Sherman (8-11, 7-5) got out to an early lead. Westfield remained scoreless halfway through the first quarter, until Andrew Baribeau scored six straight points to put the Wolverines on top.

Ryan Jafarjian drilled a 3-pointer for the Wolverines near the end of the first quarter, but Sherman answered with a layup with just a few seconds left to tie the score at nine after the first period of play.

Sherman pulled ahead through the first half of the second quarter, leading by as many as seven points before the Wolverines clawed back into it. Baribeau hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to just three points, 21-18, but Sherman responded with the final five points of the first half to take a 26-18 lead into halftime.

“We were a little discouraged because we couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the first half,” North said. “If it weren’t for Andrew (Baribeau) we would’ve been in trouble.”

Randolph’s Gabe McCoy (23) has his shot contested by Allegany-Limestone’s Michael Wolfgang (33) and Casey Curran (32) during CCAA Division 1 East action in Allegany. P-J photo by Tim Frank

In the first two minutes of the second half, Westfield came out like a team playing for a division title should, with six straight points to cut the deficit to just a bucket. Baribeau nearly eliminated the deficit completely, but was called for a charge that infuriated the Westfield bench. The deficit didn’t last much longer, however, as Hauser connected on a fast-break layup to tie the game at 26 apiece with 5:32 to go in the third quarter.

“In the second half, they (Westfield) are a veteran team … they turned up the intensity and we couldn’t quite match it,” Sherman coach Cory Emory said.

Jayvee call-up Darien Swanson drilled a 3-pointer to give Westfield the lead with 3:22 in the third quarter.

“Darien Swanson, my freshman call-up, he looked fine out there,” North said. “He wasn’t afraid to shoot it.”

The two teams traded one-score advantages until the final moments of the third quarter, when Westfield took a 36-33 lead into the final quarter. The Wolverines outscored the Wildcats 18-7 in the third quarter.

Two minutes into the final quarter, Westfield and Sherman were deadlocked again at 38-all. Westfield’s Michael Johnson was determined to change that — offensively or defensively — and he did. Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to give Westfield the lead — a lead that lasted the rest of the game.

“I thought Michael Johnson gave us a huge lift in the second half, especially defensively,” North said. “(Sherman leading scorer John Swabik) is tough, but he wanted the assignment and he came out strong. … Maybe he didn’t score a lot tonight, but boy did he defend.”

Jafarjian piled on three points of his own on an and-one layup that sent him tumbling to the floor. Westfield extended the lead to nine points in the final minute and held on for the eight-point victory, in a game where neither side led by double digits at any point.

“Down the stretch, they made the plays and we didn’t make the plays,” Emory said. “They may have had a little more of an edge playing for a division title on their home floor on Senior Night. It was just a great game and a great atmosphere. They just got the better end.”

Baribeau led Westfield with 17 points while Jafarjian added 12. The Wolverines had 34 rebounds as a team, six of which came from Nathan Culbreth, who also had a team-high seven assists. Swabik was the only player to reach double figures in scoring for Sherman, with a game-high 18 points.

“I told my team there was nothing to hang their heads about. We played against a very good team on their home floor in a very playoff-like atmosphere,” Emory said. “We’ve improved so much. Now we just have to get ready to put in the work for the playoff run.”

Westfield now awaits a playoff matchup to see if Monday was the last time this group of Wolverines hit the floor together in Westfield. But no matter the outcome of the playoff brackets, Hauser made his goal of hanging a banner in the Westfield gym come to fruition in his final regular-season game.

“It felt great. I’m so proud of how our team came out and came together,” Hauser said. “We all played great. … I couldn’t be happier.”

T’BIRDS PUT GAME

AWAY AT LINE

MAYVILLE — Chautauqua Lake went 12 of 19 from the free throw line to erase a two-point deficit and beat Dunkirk, 70-60, in Division 1 West action.

Zach Fischer scored 11 of his 19 points in the final eight minutes for the Thunderbirds (10-9, 4-7).

The Marauders (1-18, 0-12) led 21-9 after the first quarter, but Chautauqua Lake battled back to tie the game at halftime, 31-31, thanks in part to Luke Waters scoring 11 of his 15 points, including three 3-pointers, during the second quarter.

Kyler Majka scored 14 points, Nate Adams had 12 points and 13 rebounds, Bryan Anderson grabbed eight rebounds, Fischer had four assists and Waters had three steals for the Thunderbirds.

Earl Stewart led Dunkirk with 26 points while A’Amarion Tell had 13.

“Luke Gullo has done a great job with his kids,” Chautauqua Lake coach Mike Putney said. “Earl Stewart is the real deal. We threw everything at him. It didn’t matter who we put on him, he can score.”

DUNKIRK (60)

Stewart 10 3 26, Lockett 1 0 2, Kubasik 3 0 7, Gonzalez 3 0 9, Leeper 1 1 3, Tell 4 3 13, Barreto 0 0 0, Mendoza 0 0 0, Pagan 0 0 0. Totals 22 7 60.

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (70)

Gleason 1 0 3, Anderson 1 4 6, Waters 5 2 15, Fischer 5 9 19, Majka 5 3 14, Kuhn 0 1 1, Adams 4 3 12, Stahlsmith 0 0 0, Putney 0 0 0. Totals 21 22 70.

3-point goals–Stewart 3, Kubasik, Gonzalez 3, Tell 2, Gleason, Waters 3, Majka, Adams.

Dunkirk 21 10 17 12 — 60

Chautauqua Lake 9 22 15 24 — 70

Jayvees: Chautauqua Lake won.

PANAMA RALLIES

PAST BULLDOGS

PANAMA — Brocton led for most of the game, but Panama scored the final nine points of the game to beat the Bulldogs, 61-58, in Division 2 West play.

Brocton led 58-52 with 1:40 remaining before Cameron Barmore hit a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game. The Panthers’ Jack Sperry then hit a 3-pointer to make it 58-57 before Barmore was fouled and made both free throws to give Panama the lead with 29 seconds left.

Brocton then turned the ball over on its final possession and Mitch Hovey made two free throws to seal the win.

Barmore finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots while Sperry added 10 points for the Panthers (13-6, 9-3).

“Brocton came to play, that’s for sure,” Panama coach Ed Nelson said. “They shot the ball well.”

Darien Booker led the Bulldogs (6-12, 2-10) with 18 points, including 14 in the first quarter, while Ronald “Bubba” Brown chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“He was an animal,” Nelson said of Booker. “We couldn’t stop him.”

Caleb Chelton chipped in 9 points and five rebounds for Brocton.

BROCTON (58)

Shelton 3 0 9, Booker 8 2 18, Morello 1 2 5, Brown 4 4 12, Steward 1 1 3, Krystofiak 1 0 2, Dispense 1 0 2, Rivera 3 0 7. Totals 22 9 58.

PANAMA (61)

Lawson 0 0 0, Spontaneo 2 3 8, Sperry 4 0 10, Harper 1 0 3, Barmore 9 13 31, Hovey 1 2 5, Joslyn 0 0 0, Hinsdale 1 2 4. Totals 18 20 61.

3-point goals–Shelton 3, Morello, Rivera, Spontaneo, Sperry 2, Harper, Hovey.

Brocton 23 13 8 14 — 58

Panama 17 15 10 19 — 61

Jayvees: Panama won.

GOLDEN FALCONS

PREVAIL IN OT

FALCONER — Nate Seaholm made four free throws in overtime to help Falconer beat nonleague Cattaraugus-Little Valley, 47-45.

Chris Bollman opened the extra period with a 3-pointer for the Golden Falcons (5-14, 1-11 CCAA Division 2 West) and Bobby Samuelson added a free throw. Seaholm then made his final two free throws to give the hosts a four-point lead before the Timberwolves (2-16, 1-8 CCAA Division 2 East) scored just before the final buzzer.

Samuelson led Falconer with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Ben Schrader had 11 points. Bollman added six assists; Seaholm had four rebounds, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot; Nate Abbey grabbed five rebounds; and Drew Troutman grabbed five rebounds.

Elijah Perkins had 14 points and nine rebounds; Michael Perkins had 14 points and eight rebounds; and Nick Burroughs grabbed 12 rebounds for Cattaraugus-Little Valley.

CATTARAUGUS-LITTLE VALLEY (45)

Drewiega 1 0 2, MPerkins 5 3 14, EPerkins 5 2 14, Savidge 2 0 4, Burroughs 0 0 0, Halterman 2 4 9, Lee 1 0 2. Totals 16 9 45.

FALCONER (47)

Seaholm 1 4 7, Bollman 1 1 4, Schrader 5 1 11, Samuelson 6 4 16, Abbey 2 0 4, Troutman 2 1 5, Rowan 0 0 0, Buffone 0 0 0. Totals 17 11 47.

3-point goals–MPerkins, EPerkins 2, Halterman, Seaholm, Bollman.

Cattaraugus-Little Valley 4 14 8 13 6 — 45

Falconer 4 9 13 13 8 — 47

Jayvees: Falconer won.

PIRATES DOWN COUGARS

SINCLAIRVILLE — Lucas Beckerink scored 16 points and Zavon Overton added 12 to lift Clymer to a Division 2 West victory over Cassadaga Valley (7-11, 4-8).

The Cougars’ Conner Crabtree continued his quest to 1,000 points by scoring 19 and teammate Ty Pattyson added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

GATORS CLINCH

LEAGUE TITLE

ALLEGANY — Sam Flanders scored 17 points to lead Allegany-Limestone to a 58-46 win over Randolph, clinching the CCAA Division 1 East title outright for the Gators.

Ben Giardini and Casey Curran each added 12 points for Allegany-Limestone (15-2, 10-0), which used a 19-8 third quarter to take command.

Ty Hind and Gabe McCoy each scored 16 points for the Cardinals (14-5, 8-2).

RANDOLPH (46)

Steward 3 1 9, THind 5 3 16, McCoy 7 2 16, Bernard 2 1 5, Morrison 0 0 0. Totals 17 7 46.

ALLEGANY-LIMESTONE (58)

Giardini 4 3 12, Flanders 5 4 17, TCurran 1 0 3, Golley 3 1 7, CCurran 4 3 12, Wolfgang 3 1 7. Totals 20 12 58.

3-point goals–Steward 2, THind 3, Giardini, Flanders 3, TCurran, CCurran.

Randolph 11 15 8 12 — 46

Allegany-Limestone 16 12 19 11 — 58

Jayvees: Allegany-Limestone won, 63-60.

HUSKIES COAST

PAST TROJANS

OLEAN — Matt Droney scored 20 points as Olean moved to within one game of a perfect regular season with a 70-45 Division 1 West victory over Southwestern.

Mike Schmidt added 12 points and Jarrett Prizel had 10 for the Huskies (19-0, 11-0).

Alex Card led the Trojans (14-4, 8-3) with 13 points and Cooper Pannes had 9.

Olean will look to finish its perfect regular season Thursday at Fredonia.

SOUTHWESTERN (45)

Card 5 2 13, Certo 1 0 2, Pascarella 3 0 7, Pearson 0 0 0, Kennedy 1 0 2, Munir 1 0 3, Pannes 4 1 9, Mathews 1 2 5, Hnatyszyn 1 2 4. Totals 17 7 45.

OLEAN (70)

Schmidt 4 2 12, Bihler 3 2 8, Droney 9 2 20, Dwaileebe 3 0 8, Weakfall 1 0 2, Prizel 5 0 10, James 3 0 6, Davis 1 0 2, McClain 1 0 2. Totals 30 6 70.

3-point goals–Card, Pascarella, Munir, Mathews, Schmidt 2, Dwaileebe 2.

Southwestern 11 9 17 8 — 45

Olean 21 16 19 14 — 70

Jayvees: Olean won, 45-32.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

• Daily Newsletter
• Breaking News
• Obituaries

Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

• Yes
• No