WESTFIELD - The No. 5 Westfield Wolverines found the test of playing No. 12 Buffalo Science in a Section 6 Class C-2 prequarterfinal matchup an easy one as the Wolverines coasted to a 69-48 win on Wednesday.
Jon Coe and Dan DeMarco helped the home team to a nice start as they scored seven and six points, respectively.
Westfield took a 23-9 lead through the first eight minutes and appeared to be finding its comfort zone.
"We played a little sloppy early, but as the game went on we played much better," Westfield coach Bob North said. "We played some man-to-man defense, because we are going to need it down the road, but once we got into our normal 1-3-1 zone, we played better."
Buffalo Science scored six points to open up the second quarter to make it 23-16, but the Wolverines came back with a vengeance, scoring 11 straight points.
Westfield held its opponents to just three more points the rest of the quarter while dumping in a total of 20 for a 43-18 halftime lead.
Tanner Dahl had nine of his team-high 16 points in the second quarter to lead the Wolverines.
"Tanner had another solid game for us," North said. "I thought that he did a really good job of controlling the game."
Buffalo Science had a little more luck in the second half as they were able to outscore Westfield 18-14 in the third quarter.
"I think one thing that we really need to work on is rebounding," North said. "Their big kid really out-rebounded us and it hurt us at times."
Buffalo Science's Brandon McCants scored a game-high 24 points, partially because of his second-chance opportunities.
With a 57-36 lead heading into the final quarter, the Wolverines were able to utilize many younger players from their bench, giving them some playoff experience.
"We got a little flat at the end," North explained. "There were some jayvee players that didn't really know what was going on, but it was good to get them the experience."
Apart from Dahl's 16 points, the Wolverines were led by Coe's 14 and Jordan Imm's 12.
"Imm played well underneath the basket for us," North said. "Coe also had another solid game for us. We are at our best when we spread the ball and have three or four players in double-digits scoring. That is exactly what we did tonight."
Westfield will move on to play No. 4 MST Seneca (11-7) at 7 p.m., Friday.
CLASS C-1
GATORS UPSET WARRIORS
SALAMANCA - Trevin Barber made a layup with only 1.2 seconds left to enable No. 9 Allegany-Limestone (6-13) to upset No. 8 Salamanca (9-9), 64-62, in the prequarterfinals .
Allegany-Limestone overcame a 20-4 first quarter to nail down the victory, which was led by Dominic Saglimben with 29 points, which included five 3-pointers.
Ryan Vossler hit 13 points in the winning cause.
Bryce Stahlman connected for 18 points, Tanner John 14 points, and Jarred Fish and Jarron Ball 12 each points for Salamanca, which was outscored, 60-42, over the last three quarters.
Allegany-Limestone takes on No. 1 Middle College (13-5) at Eric Community College on Friday night.
ALLEGANY-LIMESTONE (64)
Conroy 2 2 7, Barber 2 0 4, Fidurko 2 0 4, Saglimben 12 0 29, Vossler 5 2 13, Nye 0 0 0, Harrington 1 1 3, Stanton 2 0 4. Totals 26 5 64.
SALAMANCA (62)
Beattie 0 0 0, Fish 4 4 12, Ball 5 0 12, Crandall 0 2 2, Hinman 0 0 0, Siperek 2 0 4, Stahlman 7 3 18, T. John 6 1 14. Totals 24 10 62.
3-Point Goals - Conroy, Saglimben 5, Vossler, Ball 2, Stahlman, John.
Allegany-Limestone4 24 17 19 - 64
Salamanca20 16 11 15 - 62
COUGARS ADVANCE
BUFFALO - A final quarter surge carried iron-man No. 10 Cassadaga Valley (9-10) to a 51-43 victory over No. 7 Maritime Charter (8-11) at St. Mary's School of Deaf.
Tim Bender scored six of his 10 points when the Cougars went on a 11-2 run to pull it out in the last stanza.
Three-pointers helped Cassadaga Valley as it hit seven, including five by Mike Lancaster, compared to just one for Maritime Charter.
Lancaster wound up with 17 points, and Bender and Randy Dalaba had 10 each for the Cougars, who sank 12-of-14 from the foul line with Dalaba making 8-of-10.
Dalaba got a double-double as he also finished with 10 rebounds while Bender had five assists and four steals.
Brandon Cruz swished 12 points and Tyree Koble 11 for Maritime Charter.
Cassadaga Valley now plays at No. 2 Oracle Charter (17-1) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., Friday.
CASSADAGA VALLEY (51)
Bender 3 4 10, Ruge 2 0 6, Dalaba 1 8 10, Johnson 4 0 8, Lancaster 6 0 17. Totals 16 12 51,
MARITIME CHARTER (43)
Ingram 2 2 7, Mostiller 2 1 5, Koble 5 1 11, Cruz 4 4 12, Adekeke 1 0 2, Lee 2 0 4, DeBose 0 2 2. Totals 16 10 43.
3-Point Goals: Lancaster 5, Ruge 2, Ingram.
Cassadaga Valley17 13 10 11 - 51
Maritime Charter12 12 17 2 - 43
CLASS D
BLOSE SHINES IN LOSS
PANAMA - Alec Blose of Panama (5-13) came up with an outstanding performance in a losing cause in a prequarterfinal game.
Blose scored 35 points yet it wasn't enough as the defending champs were beaten in overtime by West Valley (4-15), 63-62.
Mike Grisby hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final seconds to put the game into overtime at 50-50. In the extra session, the Wildcats outscored the Panthers, 13-12, despite Blose tallying seven points.
Blose scored 18 points in the first half as the Panthers grabbed a 29-24 lead.
Colton Myers hit 26 points and made six steals for West Valley. Grisby checked out with 16 points and Dylan Westfall 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Dan Odell added 17 points for the Panthers.
West Valley goes to No. 2 Sherman (13-5) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., Friday.
WEST VALLEY (63)
Wells 0 0 0, Westfall 5 2 12, Grisby 6 2 16, Myers 9 6 26, Enser 3 0 9. Totals 23 10 63.
PANAMA (62)
Payne 1 0 2, R. Eddy 1 0 2, Odell 7 0 17, A. Blose 14 4 35, Lewis 3 0 6, Rensel 0 0 0, C. Blose 0 0 0, J. Odell 0 0 0, Delahoy 0 0 0, Kirby 0 0 0. Totals 26 4 62.
3-Point Goals - Odell 3, Blose 3, Grisby 2, Enser 3, Myers 2.
West Valley13 11 15 11 13 - 63
Panama11 18 11 10 12 - 62
RIPLEY LOSES
BUFFALO - Ripley played a good game but fell to a final record of 0-16 as No. 7 Global Concepts (6-10) prevailed, 73-61.
The Eagles, the No. 11 seed, trailed 47-44 entering the final quarter, but the hosts went on a 26-17 run to win by double figures.
Eric Symankowski tallied 18 points, Vinny Shioleno 14 and Kyle Hammond added 11 for the Eagles.
For Global Concepts, Golda had 28 points, Searles 14, Herbert 12 and Sneed 11.
Global Concepts advances to meet host and No. 3 seed Clymer (12-5) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., Friday.
CLASS B1
DUNKIRK FALLS
DEPEW - For the second straight season, the Dunkirk (7-13) boys varsity basketball team saw its season come to an end at the hands of Depew (12-7). Unlike last year, the No. 7 Wildcats were the favorite in their Section 6 Class B-1 matchup, taking the prequarterfinal matchup over the No. 10 Marauders, 63-36.
The teams played to a 15-all tie after the first quarter, before the Wildcats exploded for 22 points in the second, building a 37-23 lead at the break. A 21-3 edge in the third quarter put the game away, as Depew finished scoring just five points in the fourth quarter to Dunkirk's 10.
For the Marauders, Alex Crossan and Jacob Lockett each scored 11 points while Michael Bess chipped in eight points.
Depew advances to take on No. 2 Lackawanna (15-3) in Friday night's quarterfinal action.