Thursday, April 3, 2014: Newsday reporter Marcus Henry, 41, dies

   Leading off today: Marcus Henry, a reporter for Newsday whose many duties included covering high school and local college sports, died Tuesday at his home in Hempstead. He was 41.

   The cause of death was not immediately known pending an autopsy. Newsday reported funeral arrangements are pending.

   Henry was a 1991 graduate of Baldwin High, where he captained the football team and earned All-Nassau Conference I honors as a three-year starting lineman. His college career at Temple was cut short by an injury.

   "His first love was football," his brother Sean Henry told the paper. "On the football field he became a different person, a real warrior. As soon as the helmet came off, he was back to just being a great guy, a genuinely kind soul."

   Henry joined Newsday in 2003, where he wrote frequently about boxing and covered a number of major fights including Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto vs. Shane Mosley.

   "Everyone at Newsday is devastated by this," said Hank Winnicki, Newsday's assistant managing editor for sports. "Marcus was a great guy and a terrific colleague who loved what he did. I don't know anyone who didn't like him. He was gracious, generous and kind."

   "Carmela Henry said her husband was active at Union Baptist Church in Hempstead. "He was motivating them at the church to eat right and get healthy," she said. "He loved working with the senior citizens.

   "We never had a bad moment," she added. "We had a wonderful marriage, and I was totally blessed to have him in my life."

   Streak intact: Dennis Buckstein threw five more no-hit innings Tuesday, stretching the Sachem North pitcher's streak of hitless innings to start the season to 12.

   Buckstein threw a seven-inning no-hitter last week against Walt Whitman. He left Tuesday's 9-0 win over Half Hollow Hills East after throwing 85 pitches.

   "He gave me a little, 'Come on, coach, I'll throw a couple of three-pitch innings,'" coach Tom Gambino told Newsday. "Our goal was around 90 pitches. There was no way he was going to be there by the seventh inning. He wasn't getting the complete game today. I wasn't comfortable leaving him in with his pitch count and the cold."

   Coaches appointed: Corning's school board has appointed George Bacalles as varsity football coach and John Fesetch as boys basketball coach, The Star-Gazette reported.

   Bacalles, previously the Hawks' JV coach, takes over for Tim Hughes, who resigned in February after four seasons as coach at Corning East and three more in charge of Corning's combined team.

   Fesetch coached Elmira Southside from 2005-11. He

More N.Y. postseason coverage All sports • NYSSWA site for brackets of tournaments from the past and present seasons. Boys basketball • Road to Glens Falls for scores and stats. • NYSPHSAA tourney brackets • Current state rankings. Girls basketball • Road to Troy for scores and stats. • NYSPHSAA tourney brackets • Current state rankings. Ice hockey • NYSSWA site for tournament brackets. • Current state rankings. Wrestling • NYSPHSAA Div. I | Div. II

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takes over for Rick Gallant, who coached one season at Corning.

   What a story: As one of the readers commented beneath the online version of the story, there's nothing like a good cry at 8:30 in the morning.

   Donnie Webb of The Post-Standard told a terrific story Thursday about the family of Mitch Dunay, Cicero-North Syracuse's all-star running back and linebacker.

   Shortly before succumbing to brain cancer on Jan. 24, Bonnie Dunay told her husband of a dream she had: Mitch had been accepted to Princeton.

   That dream came true Saturday when a FedEx package from Princeton's admissions office arrived. The papers announced Mitch, who rushed for 1,313 yards and scored 19 TDs as a senior, was officially accepted as a student and football player at the Ivy League school.

   "It's more than just a kid going to Princeton," C-NS coach Joe Sindoni told the paper. "It's all this other stuff of how he persevered, what he had to overcome and all the work he really put into it. That's the best part."

   It capped a whirlwind year that began without any large colleges showing interest in Dunay, who also made 150 tackles as a senior. He created his own highlight tape and Sindoni started shopping it around. Princeton coaches visited and Syracuse University coaches invited Dunay to join the Orange as a preferred walk-on.

   Webb's story provides details of Dunay's determination to post an SAT score that assure admission to Princeton while also dealing with his mother's illness.