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Said coach Ron Kelley: "It's so easy to give up and give in after the season we had. It's Nazareth High School, there is an expectation and pride that we have."
• The Nichols School played Villanova (Ont.) to a 15-15 tie in football. If you think a tie in the current era of high school football is somewhat unusual, then you'll love how they arrived at that outcome. Nichols led 15-14 when Villanova missed a 32-yard field goal with 29 seconds left. A Nichols player fielded the miss but was unable to bring the ball out of the end zone. Under Canadian rules, Villanova was awarded one point for the rouge.
With Villanova treating the matchup as a scrimmage, the teams agreed to forego overtime.
A week later, Finney/Northstar got off to a 4-0 lead when Nichols surrendered a pair of first-half safeties. Nichols went on to win 34-12.
• Is Bernie Hughes the only boys basketball player to win a New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship and go on to officiate a state tournament game at the Glens Falls Civic Center?
Hughes was a Brookfield junior guard when the Beavers edged St. Patrick's 40-38 in the 1983 Class D final. Hughes, now 48 and a Mohawk Valley basketball official for 25 years, returned to the GFCC court this past March as a referee and worked a pair of semifinals.
• The Carrier Dome hosted high school hockey for the first time. Sutter Donegan's overtime goal gave Cicero-North Syracuse a 3-2 victory over Baldwinsville on Nov. 21 in the Frozen Dome Classic, a warm-up act for the next day's AHL game between the Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets.
• Despite 23 consecutive Suffolk County team championships, Ward Melville had never crowned an individual champion at the state girls swim championships until Casey Gavigan placed first in the 100 backstroke.
Coaching milestones
West Genesee rolled past Cicero-North Syracuse 13-3 in the Section 3 Class A semifinals, presenting coach
Mike Messere with his 800th win.
Stephen Pierce became the winningest girls volleyball coach in state history during the fall season. A three-setter over Holland was Pierce's 803rd win at Eden and 913th overall, surpassing Sally Kus' total at Sweet Home and Cuba-Rushford.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls volleyball coach Gary Bynon won his 600th match with a sweep of Niskayuna, which was the Spartans' 355th in a row in the Suburban Council. Clarence coach Kevin Starr picked up his 400th in 35 seasons of boys volleyball.
Hendrick Hudson coach Diane Swertfager chalked up her 500th girls volleyball win in 26 seasons.
The St. Anthony's boys soccer team won its second straight state CHSAA championship by beating Fordham Prep 4-2 and handed coach Gene Buonaiuto his 400th career victory. His overall career mark is 400-116-42. Joe Roach, Jamesville-DeWitt's 38th-year coach, reached 400
