Leading off today: Cold Spring Harbor is continuing a strong school year in sports. Fresh off a Long Island Championship in football in the fall, the Seahawks have made their way into the NYSPHSAA boys basketball tournament with a 56-50 win over Malverne in Saturday's Section 8 Class B final.
Point guard Thomas Milana hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third quarter to break open a six-point game and Aidan Adomaites had 18 points to lead the winners.
"Thomas is never scared of the moment," coach Jason Mercurio said. "Any game we play in, he'll never be scared. He's a fearless competitor and when he was in eighth grade playing games, I in knew he had that mental toughness, that edge.
Malverne fought back to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter but the Seahawks made their free throws down the stretch to overcome D.J. Gaston's 24 points.
Cold Spring Harbor returns to the court March 6 in the first round of the state tournament.
"I think we have a bunch of winners on this team," Mercurio said. "They are champions. A lot of them were Long Island champions in football and they have a champion mentality."
Hayes pulls away: Guard Joe Toussaint led Cardinal Hayes with 24 points, Shemani Fuller scored 16 and Jaylen Murray added 15 as Cardinal Hayes rolled past St. Raymond 86-65 for the CHSAA Class AA New York sectional championship.
The Cardinals had lost the 2018 title game to Archbishop Stepinac, which went on to capture the state CHSAA title and then the Federation crown.
Hayes led 40-35 at the half but extended the lead to 18 by the end of the third quarter.
"It was very important for us to win, seeing that we were in the same spot last year and took a tough loss," Toussaint said. "It seemed like were ready coming into this game. It's my last year so I'm trying to go out with a bang."
Brown finishes No. 3 on list: Rochester Wilson defeated Northstar Christian 76-68 in the Section 5 Class A quarterfinals.
Northstar senior Miles Brown scored 31 points to finish his career with 2,916. That ranks third in state history behind Glens Falls' Joe Girard III, whose season is still in progress, and NBA player Lance Stephenson (2,946), the former Abraham Lincoln star.
Close call: Greece Odyssey, ranked 18th in the state in Class B and seeded No. 1 in its Section 5 tournament bracket, escaped with a 54-53 win over Livonia in the quarterfinals.
