Leading off today: Senior forward Klay Brown scored a game-high 24 points as
No. 1 Abraham Lincoln earned a 69-53 boys basketball victory over No. 7 Queens High School of Teaching in a confrontation between state-ranked large schools at the Cardozo Classic on Saturday.
Donald Cannon-Flores added 12 points and freshman John Wilson added 11 as the Railsplitters improved to 21-2 by jumping out to a 23-9 lead in the first quarter.
• In Friday action, Cardinal Hayes upset No. 8 St. Raymond 91-83 despite 54 points from Isaiah Washington, the University of Minnesota signee.
"Our defense didn't work," winning coach Joe Lods said of Washington. "What could we do? Whoever we put on him he continued to play great. That's why he doesn't have to pay for college tuition."
Girls basketball: Ossining, ranked eighth in Class AA, defeated Murry Bergtraum 84-68 despite losing leading scorer Andra Espinoza-Hunter to a sprained ankle in the third quarter. Kailah Harris (back) did not play, but Kelsey Quain scored 29 points.
• Sixteenth-ranked Rochester Mercy defeated No. 7 Cardinal O'Hara 78-62 as Katie Titus piled up 34 points for a career high and grabbed 11 rebounds. Emily McDonough added 17 points.
Anndea Zeigler had 17 points for the Hawks in her return from an injury, but O'Hara was without guard Cori Dickson.
• Rochester's Bishop Kearney beat Bishop Grimes 67-57 as Allure Simmons finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 steals. Kearney is ranked 22nd in Class AA and Grimes 15th in Class B.
Watson lowers U.S. record: Rush-Henrietta senior Sammy Watson lowered her national record in the indoor 600 meters to 1:27.13 at the Armory Track Invitational in the Bronx. She had previously raced to a 1:28.67 on the unbanked track at Houghton College on Jan. 21.
She placed third overall in the invitational heat, which was won by Ajee Wilson (1:24.48), the former New Jersey scholastic star whose career portfolio is eerily similar to what Watson has done thus far -- and may very well be the template for the next phase of her career. (More on that at a later date ...)
Watson was last in the field through one lap, turned up the heat over the next 200 meters and simply didn't have the jets to stay with Wilson -- hey, who does? -- on the bell lap.
"The pressure was off of me to go out and set a pace," Watson told Dyestat.com. "It let me run my race and try and be competitive. I was nervous because I knew how fast (Wilson) was and how fast it would go out. I think that nervous energy helped me. I wasn't in as much pain and was just trying to catch up."
Suffern star needs surgery: Kamryn McIntosh of Suffern was expected to compete alongside Watson and Wilson on Saturday. Instead, she was a scratch amidst some scary news announcing the end of her season.
Suffern coach Jeff Dempsey told Milesplit.com that the Clemson recruit was diagnosed with "a cardiac issue that is going to require surgery in the next 2-3 weeks. It is minor surgery as far as heart surgeries go, and she will make a full recovery."
That development came about after McIntosh, second only to Watson on the all-time U.S. scholastic list for the indoor 600, visited a doctor to get to the bottom of fatigue she's been experiencing.
McIntosh already lost much of her junior year to stress fractures that ultimately led to the discovery of a benign tumor in the knee. Dempsey expressed optimism that McIntosh could overcome the latest setback to return to competition this spring.
More track: Gates Chili's Erica Ellis cleared 12-10 in the pole vault to break the Section 5 girls record of 12-7 and extend her own state sophomore record.
