Jack Leasure Shooting and Skills Camp Championship Preview: Lyons and Wheatland-Chili to decide the Boys’ Class C3 title

One team is looking for its second title in three years, the other is hoping to win its fourth title in the last six years. Top-seeded Lyons takes on Wheatland-Chili to decide the 2023 Section V Class C3 Boys’ Basketball Championship. Here’s the breakdown:

No. 1 seed LYONS LIONS (21-1/Wayne County)
vs.
No 6 seed WHEATLAND-CHILI WILDCATS (16-7/Genesee County Division II)

Scoring offense: Lyons (81.7 PPG), Wheatland-Chili (63.8 PPG)
Scoring defense: Lyons (43.0 PPG), Wheatland-Chili (50.8 PPG)

Current Streak: Lyons has won 12-straight games and its only loss was on January 16th. Wheatland-Chili has won three straight and five of its last six games.

How they arrived here: Lyons defeated No. 9 C.G. Finney, 85-60, in the quarterfinals and overcame No. 4 Warsaw, 70-48, to advance to the championship. Wheatland-Chili defeated No. 11 Marion, 73-36, in the first round of action. Wheatland-Chili beat No. 3 South Seneca, 67-56, in the quarterfinals before downing No. 2 Byron-Bergen, 77-74, in overtime to advance to the championship.

Players to watch

Lyons: Mikey Briggs Jr. G 8.0 PPG, 5.0 APG, 6.0 SPG; Jamire Johnson Fr. C; Jaiden Lopez Sr. G 9.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG; Jacob Sides Sr. F/G 13.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.0 SPG; JC Walker Sr. C/F 26.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG

Wheatland-Chili: Terry Bayly-Henshaw Sr. G 14.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.5 APG; Javier Ellington Jr. G; Jaden Schwenebraten Fr. G 18.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.9 APG; Anari Trotter So. F 5.6 RPG, 1.7 SPG; Leighton Williams So. G 21.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, 2.2 SPG.

Coaches: Dean Schott II (Lyons), Scott Lund (Wheatland-Chili)

History 101: Lyons is looking for its fourth title in the last six years and what would be its 21st in school history. Most recently Lyons went back-to-back in 2019 and 2020. In 2022 Lyons fell to Oakfield-Alabama in the Class C2 championship game. Wheatland-Chili most recently won the title just two seasons ago in 2021 and fell just short last year losing to Avoca/Prattsburgh in the Class D1 final. The Wildcats have won three sectional titles in program history.

What’s next: The winner will advance to regional qualifier action.

An 11 a.m. tip off is scheduled at Blue Cross Arena.