Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018: Section 3 bowler rolls 298 game, 854 series

   Leading off today: East Syracuse Minoa bowler Ryan MacCombie rolled an 854 series Monday in the Spartans' 3-0 sweep of Auburn.

   The series, which included a high game of 298, set a school record and possibly a New York State Public High School Athletic Association record. The NYSPHSAA lists an 831 series by Bryan Komornik of Hyde Park FDR in 2000 as its record, but there have not been any new boys marks cited in any category since 2003.

   The U.S. High School Bowling Foundation lists the national record as an 867 series by John Delp III of Pennsylvania in 1990.

   Earlier this year, Elena Carr of Hilton rolled an 831 series that the USHSBF recognizes as the national girls record.

   Girls basketball: Ossining junior forward Aubrey Griffin scored 30 points, including the 1,000th of her career, in a 92-58 win over Kennedy Catholic.

   After missing her sophomore season with a torn ACL, Griffin bounced back to reach the milestone in just her 40th game.

   Shut down: The Colton-Pierrepont boys varsity basketball season is over. With the team off to an 0-9 start and just three players remaining on the roster, school officials forfeited the remaining games.

   Colton-Pierrepont went 2-18 last season.

   Too much heartache: Here's what players and coaches at Northeast Douglass High in Rochester faced Thursday ahead of its game against East High.

   Leading scorer Jiahmere Mitchell was unavailable because he was attending an out-of-state funeral and backcourt mate Maurice Glenn was out due to an illness that kept him out of school most the week.

   Making it even worse, two others Panthers received bad news prior to tipoff -- one the death of a family member and another the passing of a close friend.

   "Basketball really was put on the back burner, and the team for these kids was an extension of their family," coach Kyle Crandall said. "We did everything we could to pick each other up and play hard. Not worry about the result, but just play hard and play for each other. That's really what they did. They overcame a lot of adversity."

   In the game, sophomore Adonis Flagler connected for 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 63-58 victory.

ADVERTISEMENT

   "For our kids the message really was about chemistry and unity," Crandall said. "It's really powerful that when adversity strikes and backs are against the wall, how much stronger a team can be if they pay together and play for each other."

   More good reporting: The Daily Gazette did a brief feature on Paul Cravetz, one of the behind-the-scenes folks who help keep things running during school events.

   Cravetz, 69, retired midway through last month as a crowd chaperone at Shenendehowa after starting with the school in 2003 and working an estimated 1,000 games for the Plainsmen.

   From the story:

   "It got to the point that the Shenendehowa High School student section referred to any home game as taking place at #PaulsHouse on social media."

   "In every high school athletic program, there's always these people working behind the scenes," Shen AD Chris Culnan said. "Those are the people who make high school sports what they are."

   Cravetz's departure was motivated by the recent birth of his first granddaughter in North Carolina. With her arrival, Cravetz moved south to be closer to her.

   “But since I've been retired," he said, "a day doesn't go by that I'm not on the cell phone seeing how Shen sports teams did. I do really miss it."

   Extra points: Jarrod Bell, a 1999 Portville graduate currently residing in North Carolina, was appointed football coach at Wellsville at the school board meeting Monday. He has been the offensive coordinator at Lake Norman in North Carolina and inherits a program that has gone 4-28 over the past four seasons.