Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018: Catching up on a few notes

   Leading off today: With not very much going on early in the week, it's a good day to empty the notebook and catch up on a few tidbits ...

   Rooting for the enemy: Niagara-Wheatfield suddenly had a larger cheering section late in pool play Saturday during the NYSPHSAA girls volleyball tournament in Glens Falls.

   Cornwall's players and fans threw their support behind N-W as the Falcons took on Wantagh in the final match. That's because Cornwall needed N-W to win the second set, which would have created a tie in the standings between Cornwall and Wantagh and resulted in a one-set playoff for a berth in Sunday's Class A final.

   Alas, Wantagh rallied from a seven-point deficit to win 25-22. That advanced Wantagh to the final, where the Warriors defeated N-W in five sets.

   Cornwall and Niagara-Wheatfield each finished 3-3 in pool play, but N-W advanced because it scored a head-to-head sweep with Cornwall.

   "It's a tough way to go out," Cornwall coach Jeff Moulton said. "I don't think they are going to hang their heads. I know they are sad because we had to wait on somebody else to find out.'

   More volleyball: The O'Dell brothers had quite the day Saturday, even if their victories came 3,000 miles apart.

   In Albany, the Fairport boys coached by John O'Dell defeated Sachem North 25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20 in the 2018 New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division 1 final for the Red Raiders' first championship since 2013.

   Meanwhile, the Mater Dei girls coached by Dan O'Dell won their first California Interscholastic Federation championship in Santa Ana by sweeping Fresno Central 25-13, 25-12, 25-13 in the Open Division final.

   "This was a near-perfect match for us," O'Dell said.

   Mater Dei finished 43-4 and is ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps.com. The team has players who are committed to attend Stanford, Long Beach State, Santa Barbara, Nevada, Alabama and Providence.

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   Speaking of scholarship athletes: The Flynn family from Ursuline will be able to boast of three Division I runners next fall.

   Anna Flynn, twice a top-three finisher at state meets, already runs for Boston College. Next fall, twins Lily and Sarah will be heading to Stanford and BC, respectively. Lily turned down a soccer offer from Boston College in order to continue her running career.

   Lily was the state girls indoor 1,000-meter champ last winter.

   Their dad, Tim, was a distance runner at UMass-Amherst. He got his girls involved in running and began the running program at St. John & Paul School in Larchmont.

   Sec. 5 basketball decisions: If Northstar Christian reaches the state semifinals in boys basketball for the third straight year, it will be in rarefied air.

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   Meeting two weeks ago, Section 5's classification committee voted to move Northstar from Class C to Class A for the upcoming season.

   The boys basketball committee narrowly recommended placing the Knights in Class B-1 rather than A-2, but the classification committee rejected that by a 7-4 vote. After more discussion, a motion to put them in Class A-2 was approved by a 6-5 vote.

   C.G. Finney makes a move from C-2 to C-1 and Aquinas drops from AA to A-1. McQuaid, University Prep and Bishop Kearney will remain in Class AA.

   In girls basketball, Batavia Notre Dame's status resulted in the closest vote, with the Fighting Irish being bumped from C-1 to B-1 by a 6-5 tally. Bishop Kearney and Mercy will remain in Class AA and Aquinas stays in Class A.

   For what it's worth, the Monroe County. League continued its recent policy of opposing nearly everything with the possible exception of the lunch menu.

   Calling all helpers: We've begun work on the 2018 New York State Sportswriters Association all-state football teams, and this is our annual request for assistance.

   As usual, we are asking reporters to send in their selections (we will not publish your picks, just use them in the selection of our teams) by Dec. 15. Since the all-area teams picked by various publications tend to be dominated by players (usually from the skill positions) from large-school teams, getting lists of top players from each of the five classes as well as eight-man football will help speed up our process.

   Similarly, it would be helpful if reporters or the respective league or sectional chairmen could send copies of all-league teams.

   All material should be emailed to sgrandin55@aol.com. Printed information can be mailed to: Steve Grandin, 28 Orenda Spring Drive, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.

   We ask that you rank the players against other players in their specific class. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to let us know by email.

   The all-state teams will be announced in early January.