BUFFALO — It’s been over 30 years since Grand Island was king of Section VI.
The process of rebuilding to get to the top of Section VI took a while. It did not happen overnight, it took plenty of work over the years to head to the semifinals in 2024.
It’s been a remarkable turnaround by head coach Chris Simpson. Simpson returned to the Grand Island program after a 21-year hiatus and inherited a two-win team, Simpson went 16-43 during his first three seasons, only to go 60-9 over the last three.
The Vikings reached the sectional semifinals in 2024, followed it up with a championship game berth last season. And despite losing their leading scorer, Jayce Wylke, they were back on the doorstep.
The 33-year wait is now over for Grand Island after a 63-39 win over Lewiston-Porter in the Section VI Class A1 title game Thursday at Buffalo State University’s Sports Arena.
After the buzzer sounded, Grand Island head coach Chris Simpson looked around and reflected on the journey it took to get here. He looked back on his 27-year coaching career.
“I literally stood on the sidelines and looked around because I’ve been working here at sectionals for about 28 years and I said, ‘Man, this is what it feels like to win a sectional championship and be on the court,’” Simpson said. “It was nice. I was just looking around and taking in the moment and putting it away in the back of my mind.”
The last time Grand Island won a sectional title came in 1992, when they beat Hutch Tech 63-52 in the B1 title game. This title comes one year after Grand Island lost in the Section VI title game to Williamsville South 66-45.
After last year’s loss to Williamsville South, Grand Island had this game circled on the calendar. They knew all year that they were not going to be happy until they returned here and came out on the right side of the championship game.
“We remembered that loss for the whole season,” Grand Island junior Dane Brown said. “Before every game, we’d think about the loss to Will South and it really hurt us and we used that as motivation, the whole season.”
Grand Island won the opening tip and scored on the ensuing possession and over the next eight minutes they dominated taking an 18-4 lead into the second quarter.
The second quarter was a different story though with Lewiston-Porter starting the quarter on a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to 18-11. Grand Island ended the run with a jumper to take a 20-11 lead and went up 25-13 later in the frame.
But Grand Island’s Jake Castiglia had other ideas, hitting a buzzer-beating jumper to go into the half up 27-17.
In the second half, Grand Island was forcing turnovers and getting out in transition leading to easy baskets, pushing the lead to 16 by the end of the third quarter. The sectional champions were using their speed and their passing ability to their advantage.
“We’ve been doing that all year,” Lewiston-Porter head coach Patrick Krawczyk said. “We have real big quarters and then we’ll have bad quarters and then we’ll have real big quarters. … We’re a jump-shooting team so when they’re going in it’s good and when they’re not, it’s tough to collect.”
Grand Island’s Dane Brown scored 30 points, with only one of those points coming at the free-throw line. Brown found his points in a multitude of ways, splashing three 3-pointers when he needed to, while also hitting the offensive glass for second-chance points and layups when those opportunities were presented to him.
The junior big man now has five 30-point games this season with his season-high being 37-points against Lew-Port on Jan. 29.
“I got to bring it every single day, but I also believe in my teammates,” Brown said. “It’s not just me who can score. Every player on my team could score and I believe in them. If I’m not hitting my shots I know someone else is so I’m looking for them and I know my shots are going to come no matter what.”
The Vikings now have a few days off until they faceoff against the winner of the game between Fredonia and Olean in the Section VI Class A Crossover game at 2 p.m. on Sunday, at Buffalo State.