LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MARCH 19, 2023 John F. Rider Real Estate RiderRealestate.com Not the biggest, just the best! PROUDLY SERVING LEROY & SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES SINCE 1962 John F. Rider, Licensed Real Estate Brokerage 8130 E. Main St. Rd. Le Roy John F. Rider - Founder • Steve F. Rider 585-490-4564 JoAnn Snyder 585-813-4771 • Greg Rogers 585-314-3786 SCREEN PRINTING ON T-SHIRTS SWEATSHIRTS WARM-UPS SHORTS PANTS & MORE 1 Church St., LeRoy, NY 14482 585.768.2201 · www.lpgraphics.net Le Roy Youth Basketball Subitted by Ric Vangalio BOYS5THGRADEGLOWBASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND: GLOW WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP: The Le Roy 5th Grade Knights season started with practices in November, games in January and finally came to an end with the year end tournament this weekend in York. They knew they had their work cut out for them this weekend as they went into the GLOW “Elite Eight” being the lowest seed as the 3 seed. First game of the daywas for the GLOW Western Division Championship against the #1 seed in the division, Wheatland-Chili. Wheatland-Chili had gone undefeated in the regular season playing 5th Grade opponents, but had never faced a team with the top to bottom talent of Le Roy. The Knights have had a reputation of starting off games slow, and this game was no different. Both teams started off a little tight while trying to play through some nerves. Although the shots from the Knights weren’t falling, it didn’t mean it was a bad quarter. Guard Ryker Vangalio used aggressive drives to the lane to get Wheatland-Chili’s top player into early foul trouble as he amassed 3 early fouls, forcing him to sit out a good portion of the 1st half. With Vangalio hitting on 5 of his 6 foul shots and Carter McClurg adding 4 points of his own, the Knights got out to an early 9-4 lead. The second period saw the Knights offense come alive as Dylan Loftus, Blake Biracree, Cole Cray and Thomas Englerth all got shots to fall, while Harrison Porter anchored down an impressive defensive effort for the team. Le Roy went into the half with a 31-10 lead. The 2nd half was much like the first as Wheatland-Chili was never really able to put up much of a fight. Kiptyn Cone helped out on offense as well as Le Roy ended not only Wheatland-Chili’s perfect season, but their season all together with an impressive 56-23 victory. With that victory Le Roy won the 5th Grade Glow Western Division Title, and a chance to move on to the GLOW League Championship Tournament. Leading the Knights in scoring was Ryker Vangalio with 20 points. Other offensive contributors were Cole Cray (9 points), Dylan Loftus (8 points), Carter McClurg (8 points), Blake Biracree (7 points), Kip Cone (2 points) and Thomas Englerth (2 points). GLOW LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL GAME: Le Roy’s earlier Western Division Championship game earned them the right to continue playing for the day and move on to play in the League Championship Tournament. There would be no rest for the Knights as they faced #2 seeded and GLOW Eastern Division Champion HFL. A team that is consistently one of the top GLOW basketball teams year in and year out. Le Roy and HFL both tried to figure each other out early in the game as both teams went back and forth on the scoreboard. It became apparent early that these were two evenly matched teams that were going to give it everything they had all game long. Le Roy’s Blake Biracree, Dylan Loftus and Ryker Vangalio all scored for the Knights and Harrison Porter, Cole Cray and Kip Cone all fought hard on defense as the Knights led by a tight margin 10-8 to end the first quarter. The second quarter saw the Knights pull away a little as Vangalio got hot and was able to hit on multiple shots from the outside, and Carter McClurg was able to get on the board as well. At the end of the first half, the Knights led 23-14. Right when it looked like the Knights were in control the offense went cold, and HFL’s offense started heating up. Outscored 17-8 in the 3rd quarter, the Knights saw a once secure lead completely vanish as the game was tied going into the final quarter. The 4th quarter was intense, and went back and forth the entire time with neither team wanting to give up. The difference ended up being the composure of the Knights vs the composure of HFL. Le Roy frustrated the HFL team all game, and that frustration finally boiled over as a player on HFL was called for an overly aggressive intentional foul which gave Le Roy two foul shots and the ball back. Vangalio was able to hit on the foul shots to give Le Roy a 2 possession lead with 30 seconds left. HFL scored on their next possession to cut it to two points. On the following possession, the knights missed a shot but Thomas Englerth was able to secure the rebound and dribble it out with a huge heads up play to run out the clock. With the 41-39 victory Le Roy advanced to the League Championship game to face off against top seeded Arkport-Canaseraga. Leading the Knights in scoring was Ryker Vangalio with 29 points. Also contributing on offense was Dylan Loftus (5 points), Carter McCLurg (4 points), Thomas Englerth (2 points) and Blake Biracree (1 point). GLOW LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Le Roy’s 5th Grade Basketball team’s entire season came down to this one game. Playing their 3rd game of the day, they knew they had to get out to a hot start because they didn’t know how much gas was left in the tank. Le Roy was playing a very talented Arkport-Canaseraga team that went undefeated in the regular season and was the top ranked team in the tournament. Le Roy, who came in as the #3 seed was hoping that Cinderalla’s story could last a little longer. Le Roy guard Ryker Vangalio’s hot hand helped the Knights get into the Championship game, and it looked like it was going to be more of the same in this one as he hit shots all over the court, including a 3 pointer to score 11 first quarter points. Dylan Loftus and Blake Biracree also came out hot as both were able to find the bottom of the net to make sure the Knights were not going to start off slow. Unfortunately, Arkport-Canaseraga had some very talented players as well so for every point Le Roy scored, they scored as well. The first ... Continued on page 7
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