The 2016-17 New York high schools year in review, Page 4

[From Page 3]

   Heatly built leads of 22-0 after a quarter and 36-0 at the half.

   "When you are rooting for the other team to score," said Heatly coach Brian Ford, "that tells you how screwy a night it was."

   Said Thunder Chickens coach Phil Carducci: "I've never been shut out before. I don't know what to say."

More assorted strangeness

   As one of 10 volunteer firefighters who rushed to the aid of an ice fisherman who became stranded on Lake Ontario, Lucus Patchen seemingly had a good reason for missing the team bus to Thousand Islands' boys basketball game on a mid-February Saturday.

   But Patchen was required to sit out the game vs. Sandy Creek even though he made it to the gym before tip-off as his coach enforced a school policy that says athletes who don't ride the team bus to the game must call the coach or AD and have a parent drive them to the game.

   Patchen drove himself to the game, and said he was unable to call anyone while he was on the rescue mission.

    • David Ghiloni was a handful for batters to deal with on the pitchers mound. Two handfuls, actually.

   The Warwick hurler's ambidextrous ability began when Ghiloni was just 2 years old.

   "My parents told me I would pick up a ball with my left hand and throw with my left hand and then I would pick up a ball and throw with my right hand," he said. "I didn't know what hand to throw the ball with."

   The senior throws the same four pitches with both hands: a two-seam fastball, four-seam fastball, curveball and circle changeup.

   "The thing that I love the most is everyone's faces as soon as I start to switch my glove over," he said. "It's hilarious. You can hear the umpire talking about it. It's funny every single time."

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    • Unseasonably warm weather forced the NYSPHSAA to move its nordic skiing championships from Section 5 to Gore Mountain in the greater Lake George area.

    • Coach Hunter Burnard missed the biggest game in Westlake boys lacrosse history because NYSPHSAA championship day coincided with his wedding in the Poconos to Ali Steinberg, which had been planned out last fall.

   "I didn't realize there could be a conflict until we got closer to the season, maybe January or February," Burnard said. "Ali's twin sister, Jessi, is getting married in September and we didn't want to overwhelm the family, plus the camp didn't have a lot of dates open."

   Varsity assistant Mark Castellano and JV coach Bryan Begala were in charge for what turned out to be a 12-5 loss to Syracuse CBA in Class D.

    • Lisbon boys hoops coach Sean Backus had to miss a mid-January contest to attend a wedding in New York City. Fortunately, he was able to turn the duties over to a cagey veteran who'd been coaching JVs or assisting on the varsity bench for three decades.

   His name is Mike Backus. Also known as "Dad," who booked a 63-28 win over Belleville-Henderson.

   "It was the first time he ever got to coach a varsity game and I have joked with him its his first win in 35 years," Sean Backus said.

    • A Division I college QB got himself mixed up in a fight on the field at a Monsignor Martin Association football game.

   Bishop Timon-St. Jude was leading 2-0 in the second quarter when the contest was vs. visiting St. Joseph's suspended by a melee triggered when St. Joe's QB Casey Kelly was tackled near the sideline, followed by an outbreak of pushing and shoving.

   Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, the NYSSWA Class AA player of the year in 2011, ran onto the field to come to the aid of his brother and had to be restrained.

   The contest was later ruled a double forfeit by league officials, who handed out player suspensions as well. With St. Joseph's players handing in their uniforms and vowing to boycott their next game in a show of unity with a suspended teammate, school officials relented by promising to appeal the penalty and declaring that Freddie Nixon Jr. would be allowed to play in the interim.

   With both schools upset, Brian Kiszewski resigned as executive director of the league.

Worst internal turmoil of the year

   Bishop Timon school administrators decided not to renew the contract of Principal Michele Battin at the end of the school year, triggering the resignation of football coach and AD Charlie Comerford, who was a football and basketball star as a student there.

   Next to go were several top athletes, including QB and University at Buffalo commit Matt Myers, and then basketball coach Des Randall. Hours after Randall stepped down -- and shortly before midnight -- the school announced that former Williamsville South football and basketball star Joe Licata, 24, had been hired as the AD and football coach despite having no background as a school athletic administrator.

[Continued on Page 5]