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

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   We were treated to one of those in the NYSPHSAA basketball tournament in March as Greece Athena and defending champ Scotia-Glenville won Saturday semifinals in Glens Falls, setting up a Class A championship game between unbeaten squads. It was the first final between unbeatens in a decade, and one of the rare instances in which the game lived up to expectations.

   Scotia-Glenville senior and two-time state final four MVP Joe Cremo (24 points, 11 rebounds) made the shot that started the key sequence of the game, delivered a double-double and canned two free throws with 23 seconds left to complete a 54-49 win -- the Tartans' 53rd in a row.

   Cremo's buzzer 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line tied the score at 19 at the end of the first quarter and was the spark to a 19-0 run that built a 35-19 lead. Scotia-Glenville made five 3-pointers in the key sequence, capped by one more from Cremo.

   Cremo finished his career with 2,159 points. Fellow Section 2 star Joel Wincowski wound up at 2,615 ... not that many people 30 years from now will remember any but his final three points in another thrilling state final.

   Given space after a double-team backed away slightly following a Lake George inbounds pass with 7.5 seconds to play, Wincowski let it fly from 30 feet to beat Waterville 53-50 for the Class C championship. The shot capped a 30-point night for the two-time state Class C player of the year.

   Lake George and Waterville traded leads 11 times, the last coming when Lake George guard Dylan Hubbard made a 3-pointer for a 48-46 lead. The Indians tied it at 50 when Hunter Williams put back a missed free throw.

   The following weekend in the Federation tournament, Canisius scored seven points in the final 57 seconds and beat Scotia-Glenville 68-63 in overtime to snap the Tartans' 53-game streak. The Crusaders, who already had CHSAA football, hockey and basketball titles under their belt in this school year, beat Albany Academy the following night in the Federation final.

   The longest boys basketball playoff game in Long Island history came to an end after six overtimes with Northport outlasting Huntington 96-89 in the Section 11 Class AA quarterfinals. Lukas Jarrett had 41 points before fouling out and Brennan Whalen added 26 for Northport to offset 38 from Huntington's Kenny Charles.

   In overtime No. 6, Gerard Brady made a 3-pointer for an 88-86 lead with 2:28 left, and baskets from Cole Quortrup and Luke DelRossi gave Northport a 92-88 advantage with :57 to play.

   The first state CHSAA football championship game included the second-longest field goal in New York history. Senior Michael Tarbutt kicked three field goals, including a 60-yarder, to help Canisius to a 23-10 win over Archbishop Stepinac.

   Tarbutt broke the school and Monsignor Martin record of 52 yards that he set earlier this season. He ranks behind only a 62-yarder by Todd Sauerbrun (Ward Melville, 1990) in state history.

   Tarbutt finished his season with 11 field goals for the state's top-ranked team.

   Maple Grove pounded out 47 hits and walloped Panama 47-0 in Section 6 small-school baseball on May 1, understandably producing some outlandish statistics and plenty of discussion.

   Brandon Reagle of Maple Grove went 7-for-8 at the plate and Matt Roach was 6-for-9 with three doubles. Jonah Tanner went 8-for-10 at the plate, setting a NYSPHSAA record for hits in a game. He was also the winning pitcher, throwing a two-hitter, walking three and striking out 13.

   The story behind the story was worth digging up, and The Post-Journal in Jamestown did just that.

   Both coaches were on board with playing the game to its conclusion. "The losing coach always has the option of calling the game," Section 6 baseball coordinator Jim Conley told the paper, "but usually it's, 'I'm not going to give up, we've gotta get better.'"

   And that was the philosophy of Rick DeKay, who

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coached West Valley to nearly 400 wins and was in his second season at Panama and already on the wrong end of scores such as 32-10, 15-0 and 24-0.

   "In 33 years at West Valley, I never had to use the mercy rule," DeKay told the paper. "Last year (at Panama) I used it several times. I told the kids this year that we weren't going to do that. I have a lot of seventh- and eighth-graders on varsity. They need to get some playing time."

   Defending champion Francis Lewis defeated Brooklyn Collegiate 117-8 in their PSAL girls basketball Class AA playoff opener. The Patriots pressed their way to a 35-4 lead after one quarter, and then Francis Lewis coach Stephen Tsai called off the pressure and played his backups liberally.

   Collegiate did not score in the second half.

   Collegiate coach Rodney Johnson wasn't upset. "We're rebuilding for next year, and we plan on being on the other side of this soon," he said.

   Queensbury's 62-12 football win over South Glens Falls included an outlandish sequence of big plays in the first quarter. In succession:

• With Queensbury already up 14-0, the Spartans' Tyrell Adams (three carries, 155 yards for the night) raced 97 yards on a carry to stretch the lead to 21-0.
• John Styczynski of South Glens Falls then returned the kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.
• Brett Rodriguez of Queensbury responded with a 77-yard touchdown on the ensuing kickoff.

   Rodriguez's five TDs on the day included that kickoff return, a 62-yard punt return in the second quarter and a 77-yard romp with the second-half kickoff to conclude Queensbury's scoring. He rushed four times for 92 yards.

   Shortly before earning the school's first Section 2 boys bowling championship, Albany CBA team members learned that coach Tom Donato, 65, had died of an apparent heart attack.

   With former coach Brian McGraw and the operator of CBA's home bowling center arriving on the scene to help out, CBA administrator Jim Schlegel broke the news to team members after warmups. "They reacted very emotionally," he said. "They were very close to Coach."

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