Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015: Basketball HOF releases list of 2016 inductees

   Leading off today: Three Section 1 boys coaches with a combined 1,032 victories are among 12 people selected for induction into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York has announced.

   Spencer Mayfield won NYSPHSAA championships with White Plains in 1994 and '99 and has won 333 games in 22 seasons; William Thom has 386 victories in 30 seasons at Croton-Harmon; and Robert Murphy won 313 games in 20 years at Poughkeepsie, capturing a NYSPHSAA championship in 1995.

   The induction ceremony will take place in March in Glens Falls during the NYSPHSAA basketball final fours weekend.

   Also selected to be enshrined:

    • Jeff Anastasia, who has 508 wins, five trips to the state semifinals and one NYSPHSAA boys championship in 28 seasons at Olean.

    • Andrew Athanas, whose girls teams at John Glenn have won 352 contests in 31 seasons, including NYSPHSAA and Federation titles in 2005.

    • Charles Bridge Jr., who won 376 games in 27 seasons at Sackets Harbor, serving 17 years on the Section 3 basketball committee.

    • Thomas Diana, whose Uniondale boys teams have won 304 games in 20 seasons and reached the final four in Glens Falls three times.

    • Tom Howe, who won 60 games as Cornwall's girls coach and has notched another 360 victories with the boys program there.

    • Stephanie Joannon, who was the first Nassau County girls coach to reach 300 victories and finished with 320 in 27 years at Port Washington in a career that included 18 years on the Section 8 Athletic Council.

    • Sam Kallock, whose 42-year career at Poughkeepsie began before the Great Depression and concluded with 588 basketball victories as well as another 600-plus in football and baseball.

    • Mike Kitts, a referee with IAABO Board 38 in Section 3 who worked more than 2,100 collegiate games.

    • Susan Marie Zawacki, who started the women's basketball program at Hamilton College and is a member of the Hendrick Hudson Hall of Fame and SUNY Cortland Hall of Fame.

   Scoring milestone: Junior Sydney Cerza scored three goals and reached 100 for her career as Clarence defeated Lancaster 8-2 in girls soccer on Monday. Cerza had 19 goals and eight assists this season.

   Worth a watch: If ever someone creates a hall of fame for outstanding high school football plays requiring a combination of brains, hustle and athleticism, my guess is that Brian Zahn has to be elected on the first ballot.

   Zahn and his Gillett (Wis.) team lost to Crivitz 30-6 over

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

the weekend, but not for a lack of effort by Zahn at the end of the first half. On the play in question, the Crivitz quarterback was attempting to spike the ball at the line of scrimmage to kill the clock.    With rare exceptions -- usually when the QB opts to fake the spike and then loft a pass to a receiver over the head of an unsuspecting defender -- the play is routine.

   But not with Zahn around to make a spectacular heads-up play. Check out the video of him pulling off the most unlikely of interceptions:

   College hoops choices: A pair of Christ the King seniors announced basketball commitments on Friday. Forward David Cole opted for Robert Morris University over a slew of other mid-majors across the Northeast, and Tyrone Cohen selected Holy Cross.

   Is this even possible? According to NYChoops.net, St. Raymond's basketball player Cahiem Brown has transferred to Abraham Lincoln, where Dwayne "Tiny" Morton has returned as coach.

   Morton told the website Brown has decided to re-classify as a junior and will graduate in 2017 instead of next June. Age-wise, Brown is an appropriate fit since he'd still only be 18 years old entering next school year.

   But can anyone recall a case of a public-school athlete re-classifying? It happens routinely when kids go off to prep schools, but I can't think of a case in public high schools of a player being permitted to do it for reasons other than illness or injury that kept him out of school for an extended period.

   Morton said Brown has offers from Seton Hall and Minnesota that apparently will still be there in 2017.

   Extra points: Victor senior swimmer Makayla Sargent has committed to the University of Florida. The Gators' Gregg Troy was head coach of the 2012 U.S. men's Olympic team in London.    Sargent finished third at last summer's junior nationals in the 400 individual medley and fifth in the 200 IM.

   Pelham has put together a three-day, eight-team boys hockey tournament set for Dec. 11-13. Iona Prep, Mamaroneck, Niagara-Wheatfield, Pelham, Scarsdale, Shenendehowa, Suffern and Williamsville East will all play a pair of games.