Shifflet Leads Williamsville East To Class A-1 Title Game

Cal Shifflet is no secret anymore. The Williamsville East standout averages more than 20 points per game and is widely recognized as one of the best players Section VI has to offer.

But on Thursday night, the Flames star junior made his debut on the grand stage at Buffalo State College’s Sports Arena. As usual, he delivered.

Shifflet scored a game-high 29 points to lead the upstart Flames to a surprisingly lopsided 66-43 win over Niagara Wheatfield in a Section VI Class A-1 semifinal.

“All season long, defenses gear up to stop him and he still finds a way to come through,” East coach R.J. Killinger said. “I told him, top players play well at Buff State and I thought he played really well tonight.”

The impressive win continued a strong late-season push for the young Flames, who have just four seniors on the 15-man roster. East has won four straight and reached the sectional final for the first time since 2012.

“Our season started out slow but we’re peaking at the right time,” Shifflet said. “I think that’s a good thing.”

Quite possibly the low point in the Flames’ season came on Jan. 18 – a 67-48 loss to Niagara Wheatfield. Since then, East has won six of nine games.

“In a way, that was the turning point of our season,” Killinger said. “That was the most unhappy I was and I let them know. That was not acceptable. Something changed that night. We’ve been playing much better basketball since them. We showed tonight what we’re capable of and it feels good.”

While the Flames’ two stars – Shifflet and freshman point guard Max Schneider (11 points, 10 assists) shined brightly – Niagara Wheatfield’s top two guns were held in check. Star guard Davon Ware was limited to just two late game free throws and freshman T.J. Robinson, who hit seven 3-pointers in the regular season meeting, was limited to just one early trey in the rematch.

“No. 11 (Ware) had some 30-point games and he’s been over 20 a lot lately,” Killinger said. “The freshman, Robinson … we know he’s an excellent shooter … we were able to hold those two to five points, to me that was the difference in the game.

Williamsville East will play defending Class A-1 champion West Seneca West at 8:30 p.m. Saturday back at Buffalo State for the sectional crown. The fourth-seeded Indians knocked off top-seed Sweet Home 67-58 in Thursday’s first semifinal.

“I know they have some good players, a couple of them are my buddies,” Shifflet said. “But it’s like any other game, if we play hard, we should be able to win.”

Much like the Flames, the Indians are also peaking at the right time. A year ago, West Seneca West rolled into the sectional title game undefeated. This season has seen a much rockier road, but the Indians are back in the title game.

“It’s exciting,” WSW senior Adrian Baugh said after pouring in a game-high 35 points. “I just want to get our title back and get to Rochester.”

West’s three-headed monster of Baugh, Nate Ryniec, and Maurice Robertson delivered again when it mattered the most. Baugh added 10 rebounds and four blocks, Ryniec netted 17 points, and Robertson scored 12 points.

But when Sweet Home took a two-point lead on a KiAiir Brunner 3-pointer, it was the junior Ryniec that grabbed the moment. He buried three straight 3-pointers as part of an 11-0 run that put the game back in control for the Indians.

“Nate, he’s been battling a sprained ankle the last six games of the season,” WSW coach Des Randall said. “But he’s a tough kid, he’s one of the toughest – if not the toughest kid on the team. I challenged him during one of the timeouts. I told him, ‘You’re going to play or you’re going to sit down because you’re too hurt.’ He looked me in the eye and said OK and that’s when he went on that string. For him to on that 9-0 stretch on his own, that was huge.”