Falls way leads back to Glens Falls, as NFHS reaches state semis for 8th time in 24 years
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — For some schools, a trip to states comes once in a generation. For the Niagara Falls Wolverines, it’s a perennial expectation.
Niagara Falls is going back to Glens Falls to play in the NYSPHSAA boys basketball semifinals for the eighth time in the 24 years since the school opened after the Wolverines outworked U-Prep from Section V for a 53-48 victory in Friday night’s Class AAA Far West Regional at Buffalo State Sports Arena.
“It’s great for our program. This is our goal every year,” said coach Carlos Bradberry, who led LaSalle to a state championship as a player in 1993 and was an assistant for most of the current school’s postseason runs. “It’s something we want to try and make the standard for Niagara Falls High School.”
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Niagara Falls (16-6), ranked No. 21 in the state in AAA and the top-ranked local public school, last went to states in 2019, two seasons before Bradberry took over as head coach. He cited the school’s return to an independent schedule for the first time in 18 years.
“This is the reason why,” Bradberry said. “We’ve been through this now. We’ve seen everything we can possibly see. And it helped us here.”
An offensive struggle in the early going, Niagara Falls led 26-16 at halftime before U-Prep scored the first 15 points of the third quarter. The Wolverine steadied themselves to regain the lead before the fourth quarter, and were stronger than the opposition in the deciding moments.
“Locking in more on defense, that really started it,” said junior guard Nick Estell, who scored 13 points, matching senior backcourt partner John Strong for the team high. “Being more unselfish with the ball, and not settling for threes at much. Sometimes, we may not shoot the ball so well, but getting in the lane, getting rebounds, getting fouled, going to the line. We went to the line a bunch in the fourth quarter, which really set us apart.”
Omarion Ralands added 11 points and impacted the outcome with his physical play, while Ephraim Strong secured the victory with an offensive rebound and two clutch free throws in the closing seconds.
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Estelle and his teammates weren’t born yet when Niagara Falls won its lone state championship in 2005. But he remembered watching the 2019 team that was led by freshman point guard Willie Lightfoot and featured sophomore scoring sensation Jalen Bradberry.
“It was inspiring to see all those dudes who were older than me play,” he said. “I was like, one day I want to play there, too.”
“We haven’t been here in a while, so it’s kind of been a dry spell,” Estelle added. “But getting that new look, new Glens Falls, it’s a good feeling.”
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.
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