Monday, Feb. 1, 2016: Sometimes a .500 mark is a pretty good weekend

   Leading off today: It was a challenging weekend for some pretty good boys basketball teams, and they can for the most part be satisfied with their results.

   Sophomore Daniel Buie scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half as Troy bounced back from a Friday loss to Shenendehowa by beating Green Tech 71-57 in a non-league game Sunday. The Flying Horses trailed 29-21 before Buie's huge second half.

   Green Tech is ranked 11th in the state in Class AA. Troy, ranked 21st in Class A, had dropped a 72-64 final to Shen, the state's No. 1 large school, to open its weekend.

   In New York City, Christ the King went 2-1 over the weekend -- all against state-ranked opponents -- by grinding out a 49-45 win over Archbishop Molloy on Sunday. Senior Issac Grant scored 15 points.

   "I thought our guys dug in and played outstanding defense," Royals coach Joe Arbitello told Rivals.com. "Offensively, we had to grind it out."

   Christ the King, ranked 16th in Class AA, fell to Cardozo 66-63 in the SNY Invitational title game a day earlier for their second setback to the Judges this season.

   Cardozo was led by tournament MVP Aaron Walker, who had 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and made two clutch free throws to seal the win. Guard Tareq Coburn had 21 points, including Cardozo's first 8 points to start the third quarter.

   More NYC basketball: Lasana Camara posted a game-high 26 points Sunday to lead Frederick Douglass Academy over previously unbeaten John Bowne, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A, 59-55 at the PSAL A Division Boys Basketball Showcase in Queens.

   FDA, ranked 10th, went on a 9-0 run to open the second half with two 3-pointers from Camara and one by Anthony Boateng. Christian Hinckson had 17 points for previously unbeaten John Bowne.

   A day earlier, Jaden Gaffney had 17 points to lead Uncommon Charter to a 62-52 triumph vs. previously unbeaten Fannie Lou Hamer, ranked second in the state in Class B.

   Playing without senior point guard Frempong Boateng, Fannie Lou Hamer went on a 14-0 run to wipe out a first-quarter deficit, but Uncommon Charter pulled ahead by seven early in the third quarter.

   Charter made 10 3-pointers in the game, including three by Gaffney and four by Justin Williams (16 points).

   Rankings note: When the season's eighth set of weekly rankings comes out Tuesday, Johne Bowne will still show up at No. 1 in Class A -- though in reality Greece Athena now has to be regarded as the actual top-ranked squad.

   Athena got 35 points from Anthony Lamb on Saturday to down then-No. 2 Canisius 71-59 in the Rochester Area Players Showcase.

   The reason for the rankings discrepancy is that basketball tends to be a seven-days-a-week sport and we have to cut off weekly updates from our regional advisers at some point late on Sunday afternoons in order to get discussions wrapped up, decisions made and website files encoded in time for release on Tuesday mornings.

   Marching toward a memorable mark? Virginia schoolboy Drew Hunter broke eight minutes for the 3,000 meters at the Camel City Elite Meet in Winston-Salem, N.C., over the weekend. Running against an open field, the Oregon recruit place fifth in 7:59.33 to shatter the U.S. high school record

of future Ducks teammate Ed Cheserek by five seconds.

   Cheserek set his mark in 2013, breaking a 47-year-old mark by Gerry Lindgren.

   I note the feat because Hunter, the Foot Locker cross country champ in December in San Diego, is scheduled to compete in the men's mile next weekend at the Armory Track Invitational as is regarded as a prospect to go sub-four at that distance at some point this year.

   Decisions coming this week: The New York State Public High School Athletic Association will host its boys and girls lacrosse committees this Friday morning, at which time bids for the 2017-19 lacrosse tournaments will be opened.

   Opinions are all over the board as to who'll prevail and I'm not going to wager -- especially after my swing-and-a-miss late last year on the destination of the outdoor track championships.

   But I will put this out there, since someone whose opinion carries a lot of weight with me mentioned it awhile back: Though the boys (finals only) and girls (semifinals and finals) have historically spent the final weekend of the tournament at separate locations, it really isn't out of the question from a logistics standpoint to have two venues in the same community bid for and win the right to host.

   Extra points: Senior Ryan Schmadel broke a 16-year-old school record for career points in basketball as Oriskany improved to 17-0 over the weekend. Schmadel scored 15 points in an 82-42 win over Holland Patent to reach 1,579 for his career.