Leading off today: This may not be the ugliest score in the history of New York girls basketball, but it's obviously in the running.
Defending champion Francis Lewis defeated Brooklyn Collegiate 117-8 Tuesday in their PSAL Class AA playoff opener.
The Patriots used a ferocious full-court press to build a 35-4 lead. Coach Stephen Tsai called off the press after that and played his backups liberally, but the margin kept growing. Collegiate did not score in the second half.
"I always love it when the girls that don't get to play are out there and the girls who do get to play are on the bench cheering for their teammates," Tsai told The Daily News. "But competitive-wise and game-wise, there wasn't as much strategy used tonight."
Collegiate coach Rodney Johnson wasn't upset, telling the paper he was proud of his team for the improvement it has shown this season.
"We're rebuilding for next year, and we plan on being on the other side of this soon."
Boys basketball: Bayport-Blue Point senior center George Riefenstahl scored on a bank shot with a minute to play, blocked a shot with :35 left and scored on a putback 10 seconds later as the Phantoms completed a rally and beat Harborfields 50-49 in the Section 11 Class A championship game.
B-BP was down 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Phantoms outscored Harborfields 19-6 in the fourth quarter.
"When we were down 12, I kept telling everyone that it wasn't over," Riefenstahl told Newsday after his final basket gave B-BP its only lead of the game.
Bayport-Blue Point advanced to the Suffolk Small School title game against Southampton on Monday. The Phantoms will play the Section 8 winner for the Long Island championship and a trip to Glens Falls on March 14.
Big night: Senior guard Peyton McLaurin made 26 of 31 free throws en route to 52 points as Carthage defeated Fulton 81-55 in the Section 3 Class A quarterfinals.
The Comets went to the line 45 times to 30 for Fulton.
McLaurin also grabbed 17 rebounds. He had set a career high with his 41-point performance in the Frontier League "A" Division title game vs. Watertown this month. But with second-leading scorer Jerry Willis managing just eight points, and center Jake Redmore saddled with early foul trouble, McLaurin knew he had to do even more vs. Fulton.
"I tried to attack as much as I could because Jerry was not hitting and Jake was struggling," McLaurin told The Daily Times. "But I never realized I had that many points. I figured I had a few because I went to the foul line so often. But you're never quite sure until somebody tells you."
All-time scorer: Lake George senior star Joel Wincowski became Section 2's career scoring leader Tuesday during an 81-53 win over Maple Hill in the Class C tournament.
Wincowski needed only 21 points to eclipse Jimmer Fredette's total of 2,404 points, and he did it two minutes before halftime. The Maryland-Baltimore County recruit parlayed two screens at the top of the key into a drive to the rim for the final two points.
"I felt a little out of control, but I was able to finish it," Wincowski, who finished the night at 2,417 career points, told The Times Union.
The game was stopped for a ceremony that lasted four minutes.
