Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018: Retired St. Francis Prep coach Tim Leary dies

   Leading off today: St. Francis Prep boys basketball coach Tim Leary, who retired after last season with 646 victories in 43 seasons, died Tuesday at the age of 73.

   Leary, an inductee into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame, was second to Archbishop Molloy's Jack Curran all-time among CHSAA coaches in victories and seventh overall in the state.

   His team won the CHSAA state Class A championship in 1992 and reached the AA final in 1997. Leary also spent 10 seasons as the varsity baseball coach at St. Francis Prep, winning five borough titles and a city championship.

   "He was a better teacher of the game than anybody I've ever seen," former Xaverian coach Jack Alesi said. "He could teach the game and used to do camp clinics. If they ever could have filmed the lectures, he could make a million dollars on DVDs."

   As a player, Leary led St. Francis Prep's basketball team to the city title, losing to the Lew Alcindor-led Power Memorial in 1963. After a two-sport career at Manhattan College, Leary spent 30 years as a teacher and dean in the New York City schools system.

   Monster effort: Marcus Chance scored 55 points while posting a triple-double in a Clyde-Savannah boys basketball victory Wednesday.

   Chance also had 11 steals and 11 assists as the Golden Eagles rolled past Marion 101-47. His scoring outburst broke the 1984 school record set by Terry Brown, who went on to play for the University of Kansas.

   Derrick Chance complemented his brothers performance with 34 points, 12 assists, and five steals.

   Following up: St. John's University edged DePaul 77-76, giving Cardinal Hayes the No. 1 seed in the CHSAA Archdiocesan tournament via a quirky tiebreaker.

   If the total score of the college game was an even number, Iona Prep would have been seeded No. 1. Hayes was awarded the top seed because the combined score was an odd number.

   The tournament starts Sunday with a quadrupleheader. Hayes will take on Monsignor Scanlan and Iona Prep will play seventh-seeded All Hallows.

ADVERTISEMENT

   Lawsuit scrapped: The lawyer representing two coaches organizations in a lawsuit against the leadership of Section 1 leaders, told The Journal News that the suit will be dropped.

   "While we think the Executive Committee violated their own constitution in selecting Pace (University) for the finals without the approval of the Athletic Council, the litigation has served its purpose and it is time to move on and play basketball," Bill Harrington said.

   Schools have until Friday afternoon to sign a licensing agreement with the county to play semifinals in the sectional basketball tournaments at the Westchester

County Center. Section 1 intended to move all the semifinals and finals out of that building, setting off a rebellion.

   A meeting of more than 30 athletic directors last week hammered out final details of the WCC arrangement, a deal pulled together with the help of new Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

   "An inordinate amount of time and energy has been spent trying to provide the kids this opportunity," North Salem AD Henry Sassone said.

   Huh? USA Today did a lengthy feature on Tommy Murr of Lindsay Lane Christian Academy in Athens, Ala., who leads the nation's boys basketball players in scoring at 39.8 points per game ... or as Joe Girard III calls that, a respectable three-quarters of a game.

   Though Girard, the Glens Falls junior who just set the career scoring record for New York, is averaging about 50 points a game, USA Today relied upon statistics compiled by MaxPreps, which relies upon game data reported by the respective schools. Glens Falls does not participate, so Girard does not exist in USA Today's mind.

   The 6-foot, 135-pound Murr scored a school-record 57 points in a 76-65 overtime win over Athens Bible in the Class 1A, Area 15 semifinals. Lindsay Lane trailed by nine points with 1:23 to play before Murr led his team on a wild comeback.