Saturday, May 25, 2019: Geneva coaches placed on leave before semifinal win

   Leading off today: Geneva rolled into the Section 5 boys Class C lacrosse championship game with a 17-4 win over Honeoye Falls-Lima on Friday, but the Panthers did so without their coaching staff.

   Long-time head coach L.J. Russell and assistant Brian Travis were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by school district administrators, the Finger Lakes Times reported.

   "Due to personnel reasons I can't make any comments," Superintendent Trina Newton told the paper. "We're taking our time and being thorough during this investigation."

   Russell, 194-93 in 15 seasons, declined to comment, citing legal reasons. The paper said it could not confirm information it received indicating that the districts action may me related to concussion protocol not being followed.

   Sam Miller scored six goals and added five assists as Geneva advanced to Tuesday's finals. Nick Askin added four goals.

   More boys lacrosse: Hilton reached a Section 5 final for the first time, beating Pittsford 8-7 in overtime.

   Matthew Mojsej (two goals, one assist) scored the winning goal from 10 yards out after the Cadets won the overtime faceoff and called a timeout to set up the offense.

   Hilton had tied the contest on a Ben Mitrano goal with 2:24 left in regulation. Pittsford owned possession for the final 1:28 but two shots in the final 15 seconds sailed wide.

   Jacob Kelsey made 10 saves for the winners and Shawn Doran won 14 of 17 faceoffs.

   Baseball upsets: Sixteenth-seeded Clinton pulled off a 5-3 win over top seed Holland Patent in the Section 3 Class B tournament.

   Holland Patent had won both regular-season meetings in one-run games.

   Starting pitcher Jandre Garcia drove in the tying and winning runs in the top of the seventh inning and reliever Joel Cleveland threw 2 2/3 hitless innings. Holland Patent stranded 13 runners, including 10 in the final four innings.

   "When I texted the bracket to my players and they knew there could be an opportunity to play Holland Patent again they went crazy," coach Rocco Bouse said.

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    • Thomas Furmanski threw a three-hitter with sixth strikeouts as Albion downed No. 1 seed Springville 6-4 in the Section 6 Class B-1 quarterfinals.

   Team folds: Dior Johnson, who was a 1,000-point career scorer for the Saugerties basketball team before the end of his eighth-grade season but left the program twice before the end of his freshman year, is now apparently a player without a program.

   That's because Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., is not expected to field a team next year, program director of operations Robbie Findlay told the Las Vegas Review Journal. That's because Findlay's relationship with Henderson International School, an accredited but dormant institution that had supported the basketball team, has ended.

   Henderson International intends to re-open its private high school, which had closed in 2010.

   "We're planning to take a year off and try to find a new campus," Robbie Findlay said. "There's a chance (the program would end) unless we find a good fit."

   Findlay Prep was 378-43 in 13 seasons and sent 14 players to the NBA. Bol Bol, Oshae Brisett and P.J. Washington could all make that jump this year.

   Johnson had transferred to IMG Academy in Florida last year and briefly returned to play for Saugerties early last season. He did not finish the year with the Section 9 school and announced his decision to play for Findlay in February.

   He said he was blind-sided by the news Friday, only learning of the decision after stepping off a plane and being overwhelmed with text messages.

   "I couldn't believe it," Johnson said. "I was planning to play all four years at Findlay. I didn't get a call from the coaches or anything."

   'Titans' coach dies: Bill Yoast, the assistant T.C. Williams football coach portrayed in the movie "Remember the Titans," died in Springfield, Va., on Thursday at the age of 94.

   Yoast was portrayed by William Patton in the movie. He helped lead the team to a state championship in 1971 and bolstered race relations after the all-black T.C. Williams and two all-white Alexandria high schools were integrated under African-American coach Herman Boone.

   "Bill was not going to allow racial differences to exist in this city," Boone said in a statement released by the Alexandria school district.