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Déjà Vu for NR-W, Wellsville upsets Cougars

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In a rematch of last year’s Section V Class B2 final, the North Rose-Wolcott Cougars faced the Wellsville Lions again on Friday night inside the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. And, much like last year, Wellsville held the Cougars to their lowest point total of the season and emerged as sectional champions after a 48-41 win.The last of three title games in Class C1, C2 and B2, the much anticipated contest was slated for a 9:00 pm tip. Despite the late start, both schools’ fan bases turned out to fill the majority of the stands between the baselines. The crows wasn’t treated to much offense as both teams would fail to break the half-century mark and North Rose-Wolcott would never record a three pointer finished 0-11 from behind the arc. But, Wellsville would win their second straight Class B2 sectional title the same way they won the last one, with a suffocating half-court defense.Listen to the full broadcast of last night’s game on FL1 Radio. Jim Sinicropi and Zac Young give the call from inside the Blue Cross Arena for FL1 Sports.Wellsville was led by senior standout Liam Ebert who poured in 25 points on 10-20 shooting, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out five assists in a scintillating performance that had the 5’10 guard juking Cougar defenders with the ball on a string, and pulling up for timely jumpers that provided for more than half of the Lions offense on the night.Senior forward Garrett Hoyt did his best to keep NR-W within reach of Wellsville who, much like the 2015 final game, jumped out to an early lead grabbing a 16-8 first quarter lead. Hoyt’s early shooting would pull the Cougars to within 3 at the halftime break, trailing just 23-20.The second half proved to be all Wellsville, however, as North Rose-Wolcott went ice-cold from the field shooting just 25% (8-32) from the floor in the final two quarters.Hoyt would finish with 19 points on 7-15 shooting with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots in his final high school basketball game.Also, playing their final games in a Cougar jersey were Luke Gerstner who finished with 7 points, Connor Pendleton who scored 6, Dustin Reed, Elijah Durham and Steven Geffert.The lone contributing junior, Tyler Norris, struggled for the second straight year at the Blue Cross Arena, shot 3-11 to finish with 7 points. Norris will have a new supporting cast for his senior season in 2016-17 as the Cougars roster will be decimated by graduation.The NR-W loss, coupled with East Rochester’s loss to Early College in the early game Friday night, eliminates both remaining Wayne County teams. The Wayne County league has produced a section champion in each of the previous five seasons.While the Cougars fell short of capturing their school’s first sectional title since 1943, they did win the Wayne County League outright for the first time in North Rose-Wolcott’s history and this core group of 6 seniors and Tyler Norris won 36 games over the past two season losing just seven. NR-w ends their historic 2015-16 season with a record of 20-2.Wellsville will await the winner of Sunday night’s Newark vs. Pal-Mac all-Finger Lakes East Class B1 final for the state play-in game in Class B. Both games will be streamed live on FL1 Radio.FRIDAY NIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TWEETS

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