The Gates Chili girls basketball team won its first Section 5 championship Wednesday night, defeating Penfield 55-50. What made it unusual is that the Spartans were playing in their own gym, which will also be the case tomorrow when they face Hilton for a berth in the NYSPHSAA Class AA quarterfinals.

   Gates Chili has a beautiful new facility, and Section 5 has scheduled numerous girls games there the past few seasons. But it seems completely out of line to give a school the home-court advantage twice in three nights at such a crucial stage of the season.

   Democrat and Chronicle reporter Jeff DiVeronica blogged today that he'll have more on that situation tomorrow. I'm looking forward to hearing the explanation on this one.

   More girls basketball: Binghamton capped its second straight 20-0 local season by defeating Horseheads 54-44 for the Section 4 Class AA championship.

   Emily Lewis scored eight fourth-quarter points as the Patriots held on down the stretch.

   And this likely won't be the last you hear of Binghamton. The Patriots roster includes just one senior.

   399 and holding: Olivia Suhr scored a game-high 21 points and teammate Brittany Bove added 15 as defending state Class C champion Marion scored a 58-36 win vs. Keshequa in the Section 5 Class C final. The Black Knights will play Gananda for a berth in the state tournament.

   The loss ended Keshequa's season at 20-2, leaving coach Pete Piraino at 399 career victories.

   Ski meet concludes: Section 5 reeled in two team titles and two individual titles on the final day of the state ski meet.

   The Pittsford Sutherland boys won their fifth alpine championship in seven years and Honeoye Falls-Lima senior Taylor Burgart won the slalom (1:29.23) and giant slalom (1:53.10) en route to defending her girls combined title at Whiteface Mountain. Her sister Kelly, who now skis at Boston College, was the 2009 champion.

   The Honeoye Falls-Lima girls won their second consecutive nordic team title, and Pittsford Mendon junior Alyssa Likly was the overall champion at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

Winter season bonus links Boys hoops: Road to Glens Falls, your all-purpose destination Boys hoops: Sectional tourney scores and NYSPHSAA brackets Girls hoops: NYSPHSAA brackets Boys hockey: NYSPHSAA brackets - D-I | D-II

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   Former sports reporter dies: Brian Hillabush, a former sportswriter for The Daily News in Batavia, died Wednesday at his home. He was 33.

   No cause of death has been determined, Sgt. John Peck of the Batavia Police Department said. There was no evidence of foul play, Peck said.

   Hillabush covered sports at the paper from 2000-08 and later worked at the online-only TheBatavian.com. He was attending Genesee Community College at the time of his death.

   "Brian cared deeply about the people he covered and he always tried to do the best job possible," Daily News Managing Editor Mark Graczyk said. "I will miss him and he will be missed by his many friends and contacts in the community."

   Mandl set to sue: Attorneys for Steve Mandl, the George Washington High baseball coach who has won over 900 games, have filed a Notice of Claim against the Board of Education, PSAL and Schools Chancellor Kathleen Black demanding his one-year suspension for alleged illegal recruiting be rescinded, The New York Post reported.

   Lawyers William J. Dealy and Milo Silberstein contend the suspension violated due process rights for tenured teachers. Mandl was suspended Feb. 15 for one year after the PSAL investigated claims by Lehman baseball coach Adam Droz that Mandl recruited former Lehman student Fernelys Sanchez.