Sunday, March 22, 2015: Wappingers Falls soccer player gets pro contract

   Leading off today: The relatively new -- and still controversial -- academy system in soccer now has a success story to point to.

   Tyler Adams of Wappingers Falls signed a contract on Thursday with the New York Red Bulls II, a United Soccer League team owned and operated by the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.

   "I look at this as the right opportunity," Adams, a sophomore at Roy C. Ketcham, told The Poughkeepsie Journal. "You don't see 16-year-olds signed every day. I think if you're really into soccer, you want to play every day, and developing as a player -- this is the next platform."

   Adams' stepfather, Darryl Sullivan, is a social studies teacher at Ketcham and coached John Jay to two state girls soccer titles. He's now director of soccer operations for the Marist College men's soccer team. Despite Sullivan's obvious connections to the traditional development model -- athletes playing high school and college soccer en route to earning looks from the U.S. Soccer Federation hierarchy, Adams did not play scholastic soccer.

   Instead, he was introduced to the New York Red Bulls at age 10, and joined the Red Bulls Regional Development School, the paper reported.

   The Red Bulls Regional Development School offers players ages 8-14 supplementary training by the Red Bulls' professional staff. Adams, a member of the national under-17 team, is now the first player to graduate from the Red Bulls Regional Development School and earn a professional contract.

   Adams admits missing certain features of teenage life in school.

   "I'm missing the social aspect, which is hard for any kid my age," Adams said. "But then again, I have the opportunity to play pro soccer. That doesn't come around every day."

   Award time: Cheick Diallo, a 6-foot-9 senior center at Our Savior New American in Centereach has repeated as Gatorade's New York boys basketball player of the year.

   Diallo averaged 17.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game this past season, leading the Pioneers to a 22-12 record. He has been selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic and the McDonald's All-American games, as well as the Nike Hoop Summit.

   Rice guard Felipe Lopez (1993-94) is the only other New York boys basketball player to win the Gatorade honor twice.

   Lockport in mourning: Lockport students will don school apparel Monday to honor Michael Dmochowski, a senior swimmer who was killed in a Friday car crash while returning from a visit to Ithaca College.

   Dmochowski was recognized as an Academic All-American by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association, Lockport Principal Frank Movalli told The Buffalo News.

   PSAL recap: Springfield Gardens won the PSAL boys Class A basketball championship by beating Frederick Douglass Academy 58-54 on Saturday. It was the Golden Eagles' first title since recently deceased Anthony Mason was led the 1983 squad to the 'A' crown.

   Junior Kissoon, scoreless in the first half, tallied nine consecutive points in the third quarter to help turn a 24-24 tie into a 41-33 lead, and senior Karim Diouf led the Golden Eagles with 13 points.

   In Class B, Maspeth topped Frederick Douglass Academy III 57-42 for a title in its first year as a varsity program. Paolo Tamer (13 points) led four Argonauts in double figures.

2015 NYSPHSAA boys basketball brackets 2015 NYSPHSAA girls basketball brackets 2015 NYSPHSAA boys hockey brackets N.Y. wrestling championships (PDF): Div. I | Div. II N.Y. indoor track championships: Boys | Girls

   "This was our goal since last year," Tamer told The Daily News. "We wanted to come here and win the 'chip.' It's all we've been thinking about for two years, so it means everything for us. Coach (Anastasia Bitis) put in so much work with us and we put in so many hours at the gym. We hated her for most of the time, but we're here now."

   In the girls Class B final, Brooklyn College Academy edged East Harlem Pride 46-42 in a rematch of last year's championship game won by EHP.

   In Class A, McKee/Staten Island Tech overwhelmed Evander Childs 67-46. The Seagulls broke a third-period tie with a quarter-ending 17-4 run he program's first city championship after falling just short in the final in two of the last three seasons.

   Sophomore Clare Mitchell followed up her 34-point, 13-rebound semifinal effort against Lab Museum with a 33-point, 10-rebound day in the final. She went 11-for-15 from the free-throw line.

   The Seagulls (20-9) earned a spot in next weekend's Federation Class A semifinals vs. Nazareth next weekend at SUNY Albany.

   Retired reporter dies: Rockland Hall of Fame inductee Dick Yerg, an authoritative high school sports reporter and editor for many years in the Westchester/Rockland region, died Saturday in Florida. Yerg, 75, had been battling cancer for several years.

   In 1997, Yerg received a lifetime achievement award from the Rockland County Coaches Association. The Nyack native also covered New York Rangers hockey for two decades before retiring in 1998.

   Yerg was one of six founders of the New York State Sportswriters Association in the 1960s. He helped lead the organization's campaign to get state high school sports administrators to consider extending the eight-game football season and launch a state basketball tournament.

   From there, the NYSSWA launched a weekly newsletter that editor Neil Kerr produced and distributed for more than four decades until we went to an online-only format in the fall of 2012. When I last heard from Dick earlier that year, he was still reading the newsletter and then passing it along to retired coaches and ADs living nearby in Florida.