Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017: Croton-Harmon scraps homecoming, forfeits game

   Leading off today: The Croton-Harmon football team has forfeited its Saturday homecoming game after marijuana was found in a school locker room, The Jornal News reported.

   School officials found a bag containing the drug in the boys' locker room at Croton-Harmon late last week, according to a school statement. State police were called to the school on Tuesday, the statement said.

   The incident resulted in multiple school code of conduct violations and several players were suspended for one week. Combined with an already-depleted roster due to injuries, Croton-Harmon opted to forfeit.

   The Tigers, who lost to Irvington in double overtime last week, fall to 0-3. Its homecoming game has been rescheduled for Oct. 3 vs. Briarcliff.

   Girls golf: It was a close call, but Sacred Heart edged Nardin 261-265 at Glen to score its 50th straight victory in the Monsignor Martin Association.

   More on Academy soccer: The Journal News was the latest to take on the topic of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy system this week.

   Mike Dougherty reported nearly 30 players from the Lower Hudson Valley have left high school soccer this fall to play exclusively for the U-16 or U-18 squads of the two local Academy clubs. This is the first year that Academy teams are requiring girls to play Academy or high school soccer but not both.

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   "I coached the boys when they went through this whole mess and now it's caught up to the girls," Irvington coach Pat DiBenedetto said. "They're forced to make a decision to play with friends or play with girls at a different level."

   That's not to say there aren't advantages to some aspects of Academy soccer. The season runs from September to

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July, and a typical week includes four mandatory practices and one game -- a routine that addresses the common complaint that high schools cram too many games into a short window of time at the expense of practice time.

   "We kind of define a top-level players as very athletic, technically proficient and self-motivated," said Christian Gonzalez, the academy director for Sky Blue NYSC. "We're looking for players who want to play at the highest possible levels whether that be top-level college, youth national teams or professional."

   Costs depend on the club, but the all-in figure ranges from $3,000 to $5,000 per season, the paper reported. With an estimated 6,000 girls on Academy rocsters across the country, it's fair to question how many will find the innovation to be their ticket to high-level collegiate and professional soccer.

   "I think in the end, it only impacts 1 percent of the 1 percent," Pearl River girls coach Tim Peabody said.

   Basketball: Taj Anderson, the nephew of former NBA star Kenny Anderson, has transferred from Cardozo in the PSAL to a school in Georgia, nychoops.net reported.

   Meanwhile, K.C. Ndefo -- fourth-team all-state in Class A for Elmont last season, has surfaced at Brooklyn powerhouse Abraham Lincoln.