Twelve field hockey players from Western New York have been named to the all-state team.
The list includes three players from Nichols, which repeated as Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association champions and went 19-1 on the season.
Senior Kierstin Smith and junior attackers Molly DiGiulio and Ella Murphy were selected. DiGiulio and Murphy were the only underclassmen selected. Each is a repeat all-state selection.
Smith finished tied for No. 1 in the nation in assists with 32 and DiGiulio was fourth with 27, according to MaxPreps. DiGiulio was ranked No. 5 in the nation in points with 101, and Smith was No. 9 with 92. Murphy finished with 18 goals and 18 assists.
Orchard Park senior goalkeeper Laura Chojancki had a 1.58 goals against average and 0.837 save percentage in leading the Quakers to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A final.
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Iroquois, which reached the Class B state final, was represented by defender Alex Robilard and attack Sam Current, who led the section with 41 points. Robilard was the lone WNY defender to make the all-state field hockey team for the second consecutive year.
Clarence attack Avery Cannistra, third in the section in scoring with 34 points, also was selected.
Five senior midfielders also were chosen: Olivia McClaine from Class C state semifinalist Akron, Eden’s Hailey Cooper, Hamburg’s Holly Stuart, Starpoint’s Quinn Hurley and West Seneca’s Eliza Freeland.
GI off to hot start
The Grand Island hockey team is off to a 4-0 start and has outscored the opposition 37-2.
Peyton Abbott, who has played in three games, is the team’s leading scorer with three goals and nine assists for 12 points. Sully Korte and Jake Benton each has five goals.
The team resumes play Dec. 18 against Kenmore West.
The hot start also includes the basketball team as GI was 4-0 entering Tuesday night’s game against Lewiston-Porter with non-league victories against Tonawanda, Wilson, Buffalo Science and Riverside Academy. The Vikings have averaged 76 points per game.
O’Hara vs. O’Hara
The Cardinal O’Hara girls basketball team had a unique experience last week when it played … Cardinal O’Hara.
The O’Hara Lions, based in suburban Philadelphia earned a 61-36 victory over the O’Hara Hawks, of Buffalo. Kyla Hayes had 20 points in the loss.
The game was part of the She Got Game Classic in Washington, D.C., as O’Hara hits the road for a total of 2,849 miles in the month of December, according to the school. That includes 40% of the team’s schedule for the season.
The Hawks beat Colonie at Tapestry to start the month, lost to American Heritage (Fla.) and O’Hara (Pa.) in Washington and next heads to the Tarkanian Classic next week in Las Vegas and the Josh Palmer Fund Basketball Classic in Elmira, set for Dec. 27 and 29-30.
FWR rematch
The Lancaster girls basketball team will face Webster Schroeder on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Class AA Far West Regional. The game is part of the Canandaigua Showcase with a 6 p.m. tipoff.
Shroeder ended the Legends’ season with 64-57 victory that stopped a 14-game winning streak in Lancaster’s 20-2 season.
Also in Canandaigua, St. Mary’s will face Bishop Kearney, which was the state Class AA champion in 2021-22.