LOCKPORT — The Lions were stunned.
In a rematch of last year’s Niagara Frontier League title game, it appeared Lockport was going to leave with the same victorious outcome. Instead, Grand Island fought back and emerged as the league’s lone unbeaten.
After leading for nearly 22 minutes and holding a double-digit advantage at one point, Lockport’s scoring droughts caught up to them as a Grand Island 12-1 run in the third quarter, capped by a layup from Jayce Wylke, gave the Vikings their first advantage of the night — something they capitalized on.
Two dunks from Caleb Barry and 16 points from Charlie Croff were not enough to stop Wylke, Neville and the Vikings’ bench after things fell into place in the second half, giving Grand Island, ranked first in the Niagara Frontier League and second in Section VI Class A, a 51-48 win and a leg up in the NFL standings.
“It’s a big win, we haven’t beat Lockport in a long time,” Grand Island’s head coach, Chris Simpson, said. “It’s also working toward our goal of getting to Buffalo State and getting a home game by getting the six big points for sectionals… it feels nice to finally knock that one off our bucket list.”
The first half was highlighted by a pair of dunks from Barry, and while Lockport, which is first in Section VI Class AA and second in the NFL, took an 11-point advantage. GI’s defense quickly tightened up while their offense took advantage of open shots and went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to four at halftime.
“Everyone sat in the paint, we got rebounds, played physical. We just ran out in transition and got buckets,” said Grand Island point guard Jon Neville.
It took the Vikings nearly four minutes to score in the second half while Lockport scored seven points, but Wylke hit a layup and a pair of free throws to propel a 9-0 run. Jake Castiglia followed up with a 3-pointer to tie the game and Wylke netted another to go ahead 38-36 — Grand Island’s first lead of the night.
Croff hit both of his shots from the charity stripe to go into the final quarter tied at 38-apiece.
With emotions high and a crowd at the edge of their seat, the Vikings went on a 7-1 run to lead by six with 5:45 left in the game. Lockport’s Davonte Pietricone netted a layup and Maurice Woods made both of his free throws to make it a one-possession game before the Vikings made back-to-back triples to lead 51-43 with just over two minutes to play.
Lockport held GI scoreless in the final minutes and pulled within three, but Lockport held onto the ball with 21 seconds left and set up a three-point play that ended with the ball bouncing off the rim.
The win wouldn’t have been possible without Grand Island’s relief players.
Zach Christian came off the bench and totaled 15 points — the same as Wylke. Christian’s double-digits aided the Vikings as Wylke scored less than his average, and Dane Brown was held to only six points. Jake Castiglia added 14 points for the Vikings off the bench, including four 3-pointers.
Croff led all-scorers with 16 points while Barry added 10 for the Lions. Woods was 8 of 10 from the charity stripe and had 12 points.
“We had to play a little bit better team defense (in the second half),” Simpson said. “Everybody helping, everybody doing their part. It can’t be one guy or two guys, it’s got to be everybody doing it.”
Grand Island’s next game is at home on Friday versus Niagara Wheatfield at 6:30 p.m.
Lockport’s next game is next Tuesday at Lewiston-Porter High School against the Lancers at 6:30 p.m.