Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015: Wheatley, Fredericks earn player of the year awards

   Leading off today: A pair of major-college football prospects landed large-school classifications player of the year honors this morning from the New York State Sportswriters Association.

   Defensive lineman and tight end T.J. Wheatley, who had a dominating season while leading Canisius to a perfect season and the first state Catholic High School Athletic Association championship, was selected player of the year in Class AA.

   The Class A player of the year is Jordan Fredericks, a running back who capped a stellar varsity career by leading Lawrence to a 12-0 record and a Long Island championship in the fall. He committed to Syracuse University before the season.

   Wheatley has numerous major-college offers and is expected to announce shortly. His father left his position as a Buffalo Bills assistant coach last week to join Jim Harbaugh's staff at the University of Michigan, one of the schools recruiting Wheatley.

   The combination of Canisius winning the CHSAA crown and Jamestown capturing the NYSPHSAA championship gives the Class AA a distinct Western New York feel. Joining Wheatley from Canisius on the first team are linebacker Brad Zaffram and kicker Michael Tarbutt. Jamestown played QB Nikkolas Holland, receiver Stephen Carlson, offensive lineman Joe Mistretta and defensive back Zack Panebianco on the first team.

   Today's announcement caps a pretty good 24 hours for Panebianco, a two-way football starter who went over 1,000 career points in basketball Tuesday by scoring 31 for the Red Raiders in an 89-53 victory vs. Clarence.

   "It was his night," coach Ben Drake told The Buffalo News. "He's a great kid, one of the best I've ever coached. He deserves all the accolades."

   Archbishop Stepinac also placed a trio of players on the Class AA first team, and Longwood had two picks.

   Fredericks is joined on the Class A first team by teammates Melik Mavruk, a defensive lineman, and Simon Jones, a linebacker. Carey also landed three players on the first team -- offensive lineman Anthony Catapano, defensive lineman Jorge Cequera and linebacker Connor Colasurdo.

   Sayville, Sweet Home and Poly Prep all landed two players apiece on the first team.

   A few links related to the all-state football team announcement:

• 2014 Class AA all-state team
• 2014 Class A all-state team
• 2014 Class B all-state team
• 2014 Class C all-state team
• 2014 Class D all-state team
• Recent NYSSWA players of the year
• All-state teams, 2000-14
• Final 2014 AA-A state rankings
• Final 2014 B-C-D state rankings

   A big thank you goes to the NYSSWA's Steve Grandin, who spent considerable time last month editing the all-state teams with the help of a top-notch network of sources across New York.

   Shaker tops Shen: Becky Rossier scored six of her game-high 23 points in overtime for 16th-ranked Shaker in a 52-44 victory over No. 3 Shenendehowa on Tuesday as two Section 2 girls Class AA basketball powers ranked in the state battled in a Suburban Council North showdown.

   Defensive dominated the game, with open looks at the basket hard to come by. Shaker committed 24 of the teams' combined 45 turnovers.

   "They played with a defensive energy that good teams do," Shenendehowa coach Joe Murphy told The Record. "We got second-chance shots but we couldn't capitalize. It was one of those things where Shaker's defensive pressure kind of rattled us a little bit."

   Carly Boland scored 15 points for Shenendehowa, which has a game Friday against Averill Park, the state's No. 6 Class A team.

   Milestones: Holland Patent's wrestlers scored a 54-33 win over New Hartford, earning coach John Richard his 300th career victory.

   Speaking of wrestling, Ithaca senior Richie Burke posted his 200th career win during a dual-meet triumph vs. Binghamton last week.

   Following up: Dean Russin at The Daily Star in Oneonta points out that Cooperstown's single-game records for 3-pointers in boys and girls basketball were broken in a five-day span.

   On Thursday, freshman point guard Tyler Bertram made 10 3-pointers en route to 33 points to lead Cooperstown's boys to a 69-25 win at Dolgeville.

   On Monday, junior point guard Liz Millea made eight 3-pointers and scored a program-record 46 points in Cooperstown's 73-50 girls win vs. visiting Frankfort-Schuyler. Karen Finn's school record of six treys had stood since 1988, and the Cooperstown mark of 37 points by Judy Graham had stood since 1982.