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The boys practiced with the varsity during the preseason this year until the sectional eligibility committee denied Rye's request to allow them to play. The Section 1 Athletic Council heard arguments in late September -- already deep into the season -- from a school district lawyer who asserted the eligibility ruling was inconsistent with the intent behind mixed competition guidelines and there is no evidence that the boys' participation would adversely impact female players. Walsh had just three goals as a junior on the 2014 varsity. Govaert was on the junior varsity, where he scored nine goals.
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The Athletic Council declined to reverse the ruling, pointing to a preseason physical fitness test that judged the boys to be superior to female players and also concluding the boys would displace girls from the team.
When the proverbial shoe was on the other football in volleyball later in the school year, a court ruled in favor of Anyela Aquino when she sought to play for her school's boys volleyball team. Aquino, who led the girls team to a city championship in the fall, was allowed to suit up alongside the Taft Educational Campus boys in April after the PSAL initially banned her.
Speaking of court decisions
What happened at the end of a Section 5 boys sectional basketball game qualified as the bizarre moment of the year.
Rochester East's Theodore Buckner scored the go-ahead basket in the closing seconds while his team had six players on the court, and the Eagles went on to defeat McQuaid 59-58. The issue went unnoticed at the time, McQuaid's potential game-winner at the buzzer missed the mark and East advanced to the Class AA semifinals.
A review by sectional basketball officials the following day determined that what took place was a non-correctable error and that the final score would stand.
In the key sequence following an Eagles timeout, East's Brandon Hunt took the inbounds pass and launched a 3-point shot that missed. Buckner was free inside to grab the rebound and score an easy put-back with 6.5 seconds left.
Another odd ending
Down 18 points with three matches to go, Mahopac wrestlers posted three straight pins against Putnam to momentarily tie the contest -- only to lose in astonishing fashion.
Junior Michael Delahanty's pin in the final match appeared to tie the score at 37-37, sending it to the tiebreaker criteria. Under the criteria, Mahopac was the presumed winner because it had won eight of the 15 bouts. But a one-point unsportsmanlike penalty on the Mahopac bench issued earlier in the dual meet had not been reflected on the scoreboard.
Final score: Carmel 37, Mahopac 36.
"We actually went into criteria twice this season, which I had never seen happen before this season," said 132-pounder Kevin Knox, who became Carmel's career leader earlier with his 156th individual win. "Everyone thought we had lost at first because they had won more matches, but no one really knew. Obviously they celebrated, then we celebrated, so it was kind of back-and-forth with the emotions."
Best summer jobs
In the alumni division, 2012 Cicero-North Syracuse graduate
Breanna Stewart was selected No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm in the WNBA draft after an unprecedented career at UConn -- four national
