B  U  F  F  A  L  O      N E  W  S

1/21/09

With Niagara Falls coming to town, it was time to pull out both sides of the bleachers in Grand Island’s gym. The big crowd that packed the Home of the Vikings saw Niagara Falls pull away in the fourth quarter for an 85-60 victory.

Both teams entered the game with undefeated records in the Niagara Frontier League.

The contest was much closer than the final score. Grand Island led, 13-12, after the first quarter and, 34-32, at halftime. Niagara Falls had a 51-46 advantage after three. It wasn’t until Niagara Falls hit five three-pointers in the fourth quarter that the game was decided.

“They were pretty deep ones,” said Grand Island coach Greg Ross. “They stretched us out defensively and they were hitting everything in the fourth quarter. It was about an eight-nine-point game with about four minutes left when they started hitting. We were hanging around, but then they hit a bunch of big shots.”

Kenny Stokes led Niagara Falls (11-0, 6-0) with 28 points. Davon Marshall added 15 with four three-pointers. Alex Neutz led the Vikings (10-1, 6-1) with 19 points while Jonas Stalga added 15 with 12 rebounds. Pioneer (4-0) maintained its grip on first place in ECIC III with a 66-57 come-from-behind win over Depew. Mike Malicki (21 points) hit three three-pointers early in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers the momentum. “That got us a lead, the other kids stepped up and we maintained it,” said coach Mike Haskell. Pioneer held Depew to 21 points in the second half, but there was no stopping the Wildcats’ Tyler Stevens, who led all scorers with 27 points, including five threes.