St. Joe’s, Kenmore East, Orchard Park claim high school hockey crowns
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — St. Joe’s took home the Niagara Cup, while Kenmore East claimed the small school title and Orchard Park won the large school crown Friday night at KeyBank Center.
St. Joe’s overcomes third-period deficit to claim title
It was a comeback effort in the Monsignor Martin title game for St. Joe’s.
The Marauders trailed Bishop Timon 2-1 at the end of two periods, but did not back down. They tied the game with 9:13 to play on a goal from Luke Deakin and then took the lead for the first time just 93 seconds later on a score from Patrick Ohle, which turned out to be the game-winner.
“After that [first] goal, we had a lot of momentum on that shift. The puck went up to me, I kind of just blacked out and the next thing I know the puck is in the net and we’re celebrating,” Ohle said. “It gave us the momentum going into the rest of the game.”
Bishop Timon took the lead early on a first-period goal from Cohen Springer. St. Joe’s tied it at one early in the second period on a tally from Bryce Cureo, but the Tigers quickly responded 38 seconds later on a goal from Josh Siler.
The win gave St. Joe’s its first Niagara Cup since 2020, a team that was unable to play in the state tournament due to COVID-19, and also coach Rich Crozier his eighth title in 15 years with the Maurauders. The team also did it after a 2-6 start and going into the game with an overall record of 13-10-1.
“It’s a great feeling to be here,” Crozier said. “People think it’s easy to go to St. Joe’s, you put the jersey on and we win championships. Let me tell you, people can’t be more wrong about that. This group worked incredibly hard, this coaching staff has worked incredibly hard, and that’s what wins championships.”
Section VI, Monsignor Martin girls basketball brackets
Kenmore East blows out West Seneca West in small school title game
Kenmore East used four goals in the third period to take down West Seneca West 6-1 in the small school title game.
The Bulldogs only led 2-1 after the second period but quickly extended their lead to 4-1 on two goals in the first 3:12 of the period, with the tallies coming 1:16 apart.
Sophomore Ben Martin had the goal that extended the Bulldog lead to 3-1, scoring on a two-on-none break. Just over a minute later, Austin Turnbull sauced a pass to Eli North, who flipped it into the net to make the score 4-1.
Martin added a second goal in the waning minutes of the game, while Turnbull had a goal in the first period as part of a three-point night.
“It sets the tone once we get to the third period. We only ahead by one so that just boosted our energy up, scoring again,” Martin said. “We just had to keep going, keep pushing, don’t stop.”
Kenmore East had come into the tournament as the No. 7 seed despite a record of 18-5, which head coach Kyle Pray said put a chip on the shoulder of the team. The Bulldogs took down the No. 2 seed in Williamsville East and top-seeded Starpoint on their way to the final.
“We used it as a rallying point, but there’s so much parity in the league this year and the teams are all so close, but that’s one thing that we constantly reminded them, of, ‘hey guys, we’re the underdog, we’re the 7-seed here, so we were able to knock off the one, two and five seed to get here,” Pray said.
Kenmore East advances to the state tournament, where it will face the Section V winner of either Batavia-Notre Dame or Webster-Thomas next weekend.
Section VI, Monsignor Martin boys basketball brackets
Orchard Park cruises to third straight sectional title
A hat trick from Tyler Buchheit lifted Orchard Park to its third straight large school title, beating Williamsville North 5-1 in the nightcap.
Buchheit scored his first goal of the game in the first period to give the Quakers a 1-0 lead, and then followed it up with another in the second frame to extend the OP lead to 2-0. He finished off the hat trick in the final period to give his team a 4-0 advantage.
Buchheit’s hat trick gave him five goals in two games after he tallied a pair of goals in Orchard Park’s semifinal win.
“We had a lot of confidence coming in, I think that helped us a lot,” Buchheit said. “I like big lights, it gets me hyped. Especially playing in the Sabres’ arena, there’s nothing better.”
Buchheit did have a chance at four goals, but missed a second-period penalty shot. That didn’t matter though, as Williamsville North did not get on the board until late in the third period when a goal from Ben Hansen cut the deficit to 4-1.
“It took some effort to get free,” Orchard Park coach Josh Dannecker said. “We were able to get free a few times and that’s what we needed to win.”
Brennan O’Hara scored early in the third period to make it 3-0, and Jonah Reashor iced the game on an empty netter with just over a minute to play.
Orchard Park won its third straight sectional title and will head out to face a Syracuse-area Section III team in the state quarterfinals. It will face either Rome Free Academy or West Genesee.
“Every team you’re going to play from this point forward is a good team,” Dannecker said. “We got to be ready for whatever they throw against us.”
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St. Joe’s, Kenmore East, Orchard Park claim high school hockey crowns
Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.
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