Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019: Park School tunes up for showdown by beating Lew-Port

   Leading off today: Guard Noah Hutchins put together 22 points and 11 assists as Park School earned an 84-68 victory over Lewiston-Porter in boys basketball Friday.

   Keonjay Carter and Ebuka Quentin Nnagbo (seven rebounds) added 17 points apiece as well for Park, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A by the New York State Sportswriters Association and the defending Federation champion in the class. Lewiston-Porter is ranked 18th.

   The game was Park's first after a nine-day break and served as a tuneup for a Sunday contest at No. 2 Albany Academy in a rematch of last March's Federation final.

   "We have to be pleased when we are allowed to learn and grow and still win," coach Rich Jacob said. "That's the good news. But there is absolutely a gap between where we are and where we want to be."

   Lew-Port has lost three straight games following its 12-0 start, but the first two setbacks were to Niagara Falls, ranked seventh in Class AA, and Cardinal O'Hara, the state's No. 3 team in Class B.

   More boys basketball: Brandon Harris had 26 points to help Alexander Hamilton to a 61-51 win over Tuckahoe, ranked seventh in the state in Class C.

   Daniel Barrera added 13 points and Mike Napoli had 12 points and eight rebounds.

   More basketball news: Star senior guards Aubrey Griffin of Ossining and Celeste Taylor of Long Island Lutheran earned invitations this week to the McDonald's All-American Game in April.

   Griffin has committed to UConn and Taylor will play for Texas next season.

   No boys on New York rosters were selected for the all-star doubleheader, but exports Cole Anthony (Oak Hill Academy by way of Archbishop Molloy) and Isaiah Stewart (La Lumiere by way of McQuaid) made the final cut.

    • Indiana University junior guard Devonte Green, a former standout at several Long Island schools, has been suspended indefinitely, the team announced Tuesday. A school statement said the suspension was the result of Green "not meeting the standards expected of members of the program."

   Green was averaging 8.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 24.5 minutes per game this season.

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   Recent deaths: Dave Simmons, 157-98 as the wrestling coach at Port Jervis from 1989-2007 as well as a longtime football assistant, died Tuesday at the age of 70.

   Simmons' wrestlers compiled 13 podium finishes at state meets and 10 won 100 or more career matches.

   "He was as loyal as any person you could have as a friend and a coach," said longtime football coach Bob Corvino. "There's not enough good things that you can say about him. I didn't have any sisters or brothers. He was an uncle to my two kids."

   Said current wrestling coach Eric Hartman: "You wanted to play for him. You didn't want to disappoint him."

    • Margaret Wigiser, who started the PSAL's girls program, died Jan. 19 at the age of 94.

   Wigiser played pro- fessional baseball for the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls Baseball League in 1945, depicted in the movie "A League of Their Own."

   Done for the year: Ossining wrestler Zac Bonner, a state-meet competitor last season, is out for the remainder of the year after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs last month.

   Bonner was diagnosed after struggling with endurance early in the season.

   "I felt something was off, but I never paid any mind to it," the senior said. "There wasn't any pain. I thought it was a mental thing."

   Bonner was sixth in the state in Division I at 138 pounds as a junior.

   Living in the past: Going against the wishes of a substantial majority of coaches, the Idaho High School Athletic Association rejected the latest proposal to introduce a shot clock to boys and girls basketball.

   Letters from high school conferences in the state pleading for a shot clock were briefly read at an IHSAA board of directors meeting Wednesday, but no board member called for a vote on the matter.

   A survey last season showed 84 percent of Idaho's boys and girls coaches supported approval of a 35-second shot clock. That included near-unanimous support from the state's two largest classes. Athletic directors voted 72 percent in favor of a shot clock.

   IHSAA board members cited a need for support by principals and superintendents before moving forward with a rule change that would require anywhere from $1,500 to $4,000 per gym for new hardware.