Leading off today: Defending state champion
Patrick Carter earned an unprecedented fifth consecutive Section 11 boys diving title Thursday, breaking his own scoring record.
The West Islip senior put up a mark of 625.35 points for 11 dives.
"That was something I was really thinking about this season," Carter told Newsday. "Usually I wouldn't be thinking about records as much but I knew that going into the season I wanted to end on a high note and I wanted to leave something with the county."
Carter broke his own six-dive record earlier this season with a 395.47.
Said West Islip diving coach Karyn Storan: "He took what he had and worked at it and that's what took him to the next level. To be able to be given something, a gift, a talent, and use it and work hard to the next level, that's the secret. I've coached a lot of athletes with one or the other. Never with both."
PSAL progress: Eagle Academy scored an 83-57 boys basketball victory over KIPP NYC College Prep to clinch a berth to its first Bronx borough championship game.
Tyrese Crosdale (16 points), Demarley Smith (15) and Negus Hazel (14) led a balanced scoring attack for the winners.
In the other semifinal, top seed Wings Academy defeated Walton 59-47 as Andres Rivera finished with 22 points and 20 rebounds. Wings owns wins by eight and five points over Eagle Academy this season.
In Queens, sophomore center Kareem Reid recorded a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 blocks for third-seeded John Bowne in a 79-48 rout of second-seeded Springfield Gardens. Alejandro Vasquez scored a team-high 29 points to help set up a final vs. No. 1 seed Queens High School of Teaching, an 84-69 winner over Cardozo.
The Brooklyn semifinals kept to form. Donald Cannon Flores has 12 points and 11 assists as Abraham Lincoln fought off Thomas Jefferson 59-54. South Shore downed Brooklyn Law & Technology 66-54 behind Jaykwan Ellison's 20 points.
In Manhattan, Frederick Douglass Academy edged Mott Haven 80-72 to advance to the final against Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, a 90-79 victor over Wadleigh.
• St. Peter's forward Armend Djukanovic is in concussion protocol and will likely miss Friday's Staten Island High School League championship game against Curtis. Djukanovic lost his balance while trying to block a shot in Wednesday's win over Monsignor Farrell and fell face first onto the court. The junior was motionless on his back for more than 20 minutes before EMTs arrived to transport him to Staten Island University Hospital North. The Advance reported x-rays and a CAT scan came back negative.
Meanwhile, Curtis junior guard Malik Martin will be a game-time decision. The three-year starter was injured during the Warriors' quarterfinal victory over McKee/Staten Island Tech on Saturday. Martin hyperextended the patella tendon in his left knee and missed Wednesday's semifinal win over Susan Wagner.
Welch breaks 50: Cheektowaga senior Dominick Welch scored a career-high 51 points for Cheektowaga in a 94-40 win over Depew that earned the Warriors their first division championship since 1963.
Welch, who also had 16 rebounds, is now 49 points from breaking the Western New York career mark of 2,355 set in 1990 by Ritchie Campbell.
Indoor track: Gates Chili sophomore Erica Ellis set the Section 5 girls pole vault record for the third time since Jan. 14 by clearing 13-1 at the Section 5 Class A championships.
In the same meet, junior Lanae-Tava Thomas continued her recovery from a December hamstring injury by winning
