Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015: The 2014-15 New York school year in review (con't)

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   A federal investigation concluded New York City's Department of Education violated Title IX by shortchanging girls by a total of 3,862 spots in athletic programs. The investigation found schools failed to accommodate girls' interest in volleyball, softball, swimming, soccer and cross country among other sports.

   The Department of Education announced it would survey girls in grades 8-12 at every school across the city in the spring about the sports they want added.

   John Jay East Fishkill guidance counselor and softball coach Bonnie Schilling was fired in November by the Wappingers Central School District. Schilling, who directed the softball team to a pair of NYSPHSAA championships and 11 Section 1 championships, was suspended from administrative and coaching duties in March 2014. Media accounts said Schilling was accused by the school district of changing a grade on a transcript for her son.

   A Mahopac father was arrested in March after he allegedly punched and spat on lacrosse coach Jim Lieto, who cut the man's junior daughter from the varsity team. Alfonso DiFusco, 46, was charged with second-degree harassment, a violation, and the misdemeanors of third-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief.

   A Greece Olympia cheerleading coach accused of having sexual encounters with a 16-year-old male student pleaded guilty to third-degree rape. Under the plea agreement, Christina Jewell-Belluccio, 33, was ordered to serve eight work Sundays with the Monroe County Jail and will be on probation for 10 years. She resigned from her positions as coach -- she was selected Section 5 Class A coach of the year in 2014 -- and a teacher's aide in the district after being charged in May.

   West Seneca Christian boys soccer coach Caleb Sexton was charged by Cheektowaga police in October with having sexual contact with a 12-year-old girl over a period of time in 2013, The Buffalo News reported.

   Former Ramapo football coach Duffman Pannell was acquitted in a non-jury trial of charges he assaulted a player by hitting the teenager with a helmet during a practice in October 2013. Rockland County Judge William Nelson acquitted Pannell of one felony count of second-degree assault and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.

   Well, that was quite the week or so in Section 2 back in the fall.

   Multiple penalties, a sideline brawl and accusations of racial epithets brought Rensselaer's football game at Whitehall to an end midway through the third quarter. Whitehall was leading 28-6 when referee Mark Cleveland called the contest following the ejection of a Whitehall player.

   State Police on the scene following the game directed Whitehall players and fans to remain on the field until the Rensselaer team could leave the campus.

   Just days later, the Whitehall Board of Education fired coach Justin Culligan. The unanimous decision followed a two-hour executive session. A week later, The Post-Star reported Culligan was fired for allegedly using profanity -- and not for the physical violence that ended the game -- after school officials warned coaches over the summer that there was a zero-tolerance policy on swearing.

   Eight days after the football incident, a boys soccer playoff game between Maple Hill and Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville ended with punches being thrown in the closing minutes and Schodack police being called. It happened just a week after referees ended a boys soccer game between Columbia and Averill Park early when two players tried to punch each other and were ejected.

   "My kids got attacked," Maple Hill coach Dan Gillespie said.

   The game made it to the final three minutes, with Maple Hill ahead 4-2 in the Class C pre-quarterfinal when things went downhill in quick fashion with Maple Hill senior Nick Fettuccia suffering a facial injury before coaches and officials could step in to keep the incident from escalating. Police later said they arrested James Arthur Miller II in connection with the incident, The Times Union reported. Miller, 17, was charged with misdemeanor assault, police told the paper.

   Defending state football champs Chenango Forks and host Maine-Endwell faced off on a mid-October Friday night in front of an estimated 9,000 fans in Section 4.

   Kyle Balmer threw three touchdown passes to Michael Palmer to lift M-E to a 20-7 win that ran the state's top-ranked Class B team's winning streak to 44 games. Chenango Forks, ranked No. 1 in Class C, saw its 16-game win streak broken.

   At roughly the time the game was kicking off, Forks assistant coach Christopher Spencer was at Tony's Italian Grill for the rehearsal dinner the day before his marriage to Sara Carabino. The wedding date was set a year earlier, far before the football schedule was determined.

   "Originally I knew it probably would not happen because of football season," Sara said. "But I told Chris, 'I really want fall, that's the one thing that I want.' He was like, 'That's fine, it's just one day.'"

   Two boys basketball teams ranked No. 1 in the state played a game that lived up to the hype Jan. 6. Waterville and New York Mills, from Class C and D, respectively played a nail-biter before Waterville prevailed 58-54, snapping New York Mills' 22-game winning streak.

   Hunter Williams led the way with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Zach Sawyer added 18 points and eight rebounds for Waterville, which held New York Mills scoreless for the final 3:32 of the fourth quarter.

   Sometimes, you look at the schedule at the start of the season and circle games that are obvious don't-want-to-miss-it contests. Others fall under the heading of showdowns you can only hope for because they can only happen in the postseason, and only if the planets align just right.

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