PORTVILLE, N.Y. — The Big 30 Athletic Fund has its upcoming Big 30 Basketball Classic with contests set to match graduating seniors from each side of the New York-Pennsylvania border against each other. This fifth-annual installment will take place on Sunday, March 31 at Portville Central School with the girls game set to begin at 3 p.m. followed by the boys at 5.
This year’s games follow two competitive games last March. In 2018, the New York girls scored the tying and go-ahead points on two free throws with only three seconds left to play to seal the victory. In the boys’ contest, the two teams combined for 27 three-pointers as New York prevailed, 104-99, in a shootout over their cross-border rivals.
The weekend will include the introduction of the newest set of inductees into the Big 30 Basketball Hall of Fame at halftime of the girls game. This year’s class of Jim Colestro (Bradford Central Christian), Jim Snyder (Olean) and Jim Turner (Port Allegany) bring the total number of inductees to 23.
At halftime of the boys game, this year’s group of Big 30 Athletic Fund Scholarship winners will also be introduced. A number of exceptional senior student-athletes from various Big 30 schools will be awarded their scholarship checks as a result of their outstanding scholastic careers.
The Big 30 Athletic Fund is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and support of high school sports and athletes in the Big 30 area constituting parts of New York State and Pennsylvania. In addition to recognizing and promoting local student-athletes, the Big 30 Athletic Fund Scholarships are awarded to help meet the financial needs of those individuals who are continuing their education.
This year the New York girls will be coached by Max Payne of Pioneer. On the other bench Brian Green, formerly of Northern Potter and Coudersport, will lead the Pennsylvania girls. For the boys’ game, Pennsy coach Bryce Benson, of Oswayo Valley and St. Marys, will face off against former Salamanca varsity (and current JV) coach Pete Weishan’s New York squad.
The 2019 Pennsylvania girls roster includes: Britney Greeley and Haylee Frederick (Otto Eldred), Hannah Buhl and Ella Marconi (Kane), Cassidy King and Rylee Casilio (Johnsonburg), Erin Stauffer (Port Allegany), Alyvia McKimm (Cameron County), Abigail Anderson (Northern Potter), Shaelyn Black (Coudersport), Alyssa Kasmierski (Ridgway), Sady VanAlstine (Elk County Catholic).
New York’s girls roster includes: Briana Broadwell (Franklinville), Bryn Milne (Portville), Bailey and Mackenzie Bennett (Genesee Valley), Grace Greer (Archbishop Walsh), Jana Whitehouse and Quincy Buckley (Wellsville), Linnea Jimerson (Ellicottville), Sara Pfeiffer and Justine Brooks (Olean), Carmen Mancuso (Fillmore), Falyn Lewis-Ellison (Whitesville).
The Pennsylvania boys roster is comprised of: Jake Walters and Marcus Brown (Cameron County), Blake Burgett (Austin), Will Thompson and Jake Reynolds (Ridgway), Andrew Sheeler (Otto Eldred), Evan Brooks (Galeton), Gavin Babcock (Bradford), Alec Wehler and Alex Bridel (Elk Co. Catholic), Issac Scholder (Johnsonburg), Caleb Lutz (Smethport). Coudersport’s Owen Chambers was selected for the team but is unavailable to participate due to a school trip.
Members of the New York boys roster include: Nick Rinker (Pioneer), Chris Calladine (Andover), Sam Flanders and Conner Golley (Allegany-Limestone), Gabriel Lucena (New Life Christian), Joe Tronetti (Wellsville), Tyler Hedlund (Salamanca), Steve Rowland (Ellicottville), Mike Schmidt and Matt Droney (Olean), Carter Scholla (Scio), Adam Enders (Belfast).
