Monday, Dec. 11, 2017: Gatorade honors Lindenhurst's Ruckert

   Leading off today: Lindenhurst senior Jeremy Ruckert was selected Gatorade's New York football player of the year Monday.

   Ruckert, an Ohio State recruit, caught 61 passes for 1,094 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. He also made 61 tackles and intercepted two passes as a linebacker, and kicked six field goals.

   Lindenhurst finished 12-0 and won the Long Island Division I championship.

   J-D earns OT win: Jamesville-DeWitt freshman guard Momo LaClair made the game-tying 3-pointer as time expired in the fourth quarter, then added another basket from behind the arc in overtimes as the Red Rams defeated Rochester's Bishop Kearney 52-48 in girls basketball Sunday.

   LaClair finished with nine points. The first 3-pointer came after Kearney's Allure Simmons hit a 3-pointer with just under a minute to go in regulation.

   Meg Hair of J-D and Saniaa Wilson of Kearney scored 17 points apiece.

   Bad finish to good game: Tempers flared and punches were thrown during postgame handshakes Sunday after West Seneca West defeated Kenmore East 5-3 in hockey action, WNYAthletics.com reported.

   The website reported multiple game miscon- ducts were assessed, triggering automatic one-game suspensions.

   "Our guys were a little upset with the officiating," WSW coach Kevin Rozo said. "Still, that's no excuse. We need to be smarter, shut our mouths and focus on the game."

   Editorial roasts Section 1: Newspaper editorial pages seldom weigh in on high school sports topics, but anger over a Section 1 decision to move its boys and girls basketball finals from the Westchester County Center to Pace University has not subsided.

   The Journal News editorial over the weekend called into question several policies while terming the local governing body for high school sports "an antiquated mini-bureaucracy

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that operates almost entirely out of public view."

   About the only thing the paper missed in skewering Section 1 for not identifying members of its executive committee -- who presumably would have (should have?) had an important voice in the decision to change basketball venues. -- is that its website does allow users to translate content into more than 100 languages including Bengali, Hmong, Pashto, Swahili, Welsh and Zulu.

   Significantly, agendas and meeting minutes are non-existent on the website, adding to a perception that business is being done in secret. "A major decision like moving the boys and girls basketball championships from the County Center -- where they are truly an event -- should never be made without public notice that such a move is under consideration and will be voted upon," the editorial said.

   The paper also prodded school boards and superintendents to engage in "a conversation" with Section 1 immediately.

   "It shouldn't have to be a long conversation," the paper opined. "Just tell Section 1 to act like the public agency it is."

   'S'no joke: This may have been the only thing to go wrong with the West Seneca West football season:

@NYSPHSAA Champions honored by the @buffalobills at end of 1st quarter. That’s the end zone! What a day. @WestSenecaCSD #PrepTalkLive @BeeSportsJN @WGRZHSSports @coachVast @coachcant #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/fZxwJF9BxQ

— West Football (@WSWFB) December 11, 2017