Thursday, April 24, 2014: Chaminade survives overtime scare in lacrosse

   Leading off today: I'm getting an unexpectedly late start to Thursday's blog, so I figured I might as well start with two boys lacrosse developments from earlier in the day, including a big milestone, rather than hang on to them for Friday fodder.

   (1) Sean Cerrone scored with two seconds left in overtime to give Chaminade an 8-7 triumph against St. Anthony's in CHSAA action.

   Chaminade is ranked first and St. Anthony's sixth in this week's New York State Sportswriters Association Class A rankings.

    Eamon Campbell of St. Anthony's had tied the game with 1:05 left in regulation. Cerrone and Brendan Kearns scored two goals apiece in the victory.

   (2) Peter Fiorini picked up career win No. 400 when Baldwinsville defeated Cicero-North Syracuse 14-7.    Fiorini, 58, who has already announced he is stepping down at the end of the season, became head coach in 1979. He's the fifth Section 3 coach to reach 400 wins in the sport.

   Steve Petrelli scored four first-half goals to help build a 7-3 lead.

   Sec. 3 moves Ludden up: Three straight appearances in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament has earned the Bishop Ludden boys basketball team a move up to Class AA next season.

   The Post-Standard reported that the Section 3 classification committee made the decision after the Gaelic Knights won a Class B state title in 2012 and captured the sectional Class A crown the past two seasons.

   The committee, comprised of 26 athletic directors, also decided the boys and girls basketball teams at Syracuse CBA, which have played in Class AA, should move to Class A next winter. The Utica Notre Dame boys and girls teams, which had been in Class B, will play in Class A next year, and the Manlius Pebble Hill boys will drop down one level to Class D.

   John Rathbun, Section 3's executive director, said Ludden administrators will appeal the change. Ludden AD Laura Norris told the paper she would reserve comment until after the appeal is heard early next month. If Ludden loses in front of the three-person Section 3 committee, the school can appeal to the NYSPHSAA.

   Bishop Ludden's BEDS number for the 2014-15 school year is 160, which would put it in Class D based upon the projected classification cutoffs.

   Big performance: Rome Free Academy junior Mariah Mays broke the Section 3 girls discus record Wednesday with a throw of 146 feet, 5 inches during a home meet against Oneida and V-V-S.

   Auburn's Kristen Logue set the previous mark of 137-4 in 1986.

   RFA coach Brett Couchman said the chilly and damp conditions were favorable for Mays because she was

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throwing into a slight head wind.

   "I kind of like cold and rainy weather for throwing," Mays said.

   The state record is 172-0 by Stacy Schroeder of Grand Island in 1992.

   Ex-Pavilion coach dies: Keith Buttles, who retired in 1993 after winning more than 300 boys basketball games with Pavilion during a career spanning more than three decades, died Sunday at the age of 80.

   "He was a great man," Holley wrestling coach John Grillo told the Democrat and Chronicle. "He was a man of few words and he didn't have to yell because he was a stern, firm man who stood by his principles."

   Buttles' teams were perennial contenders in the Genesee Region and Livingston County League.

   "When I think of Keith Buttles, I think of a guy who was always a very classy individual, Batavia Notre Dame coach Mike Rapone said. "I never heard him say a bad word about anyone and I never heard anyone say a bad word about him.

   "I always looked forward to playing Pavilion because you knew it was going to be a good, hard-fought basketball game and not some sort of a debate match."

   Extra points: The NYSSWA released its first baseball rankings of the spring. Softball will begin next week.

   Syracuse landed a commitment from Lawrence junior running back Jordan Fredericks, a first-team all-state pick in Class A last fall, less than a week after the Orange offered during his visit to the campus. He announced his decision on Twitter and then confirmed his commitment to CuseNation.com.