Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019: Mercy's Andreach wins second NYSPHSAA tennis title

   Leading off today: Our Lady of Mercy senior Julia Andreach captured her second NYSPHSAA girls tennis singles championship in three years on Monday at the Tri-City Tennis Club in Latham.

   Andreach rallied to win the first set 7-6 (5) and pulled away 6-1 in the second to claim the victory over Port Washington freshman Thea Rabman.

   Andreach won the 2017 New York State Public High School Athletic Association title as a sophomore before spending last season at the IMG Academy in Florida.

   "It really hasn't hit me yet," said Andreach, who will for the University of Notre Dame next year. "It has been great. There was never a doubt in my mind about playing tennis being the right thing for me when I came back from Florida."

   Rabman fell behind 3-1 and was leading 4-3 with the first set on serve and culminating in the tiebreaker.

   "I think that there was a little extra pressure from just being there in the finals and the fact I didn't know at first that she was a senior," Rabman said.

   Rachel Arbitman and Nyla Gershfeld of Hewlett won the doubles title over Kaya and Kavina Amin of Wheatley 7-5, 6-4.

   "That whole second set was a bit nerve-wracking because we were up 5-2," said Arbitman, the 2018 singles champion. "They're really good players but in that last game with my serve it was really great to be able to end it.

   The two teams also played two weeks earlier in the Section 8 final, with Arbitman and Gershfeld coming out on top 6-1, 6-2.

   Arbitman is the first in the state to win either a singles or doubles title one year and the other the next since Hauppauge's Jennifer Kellner in 2007-08.

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   One for the thumb: Greenwich senior Brynne Wright became a five-time Section 2 cross country champion, winning the girls Class C title on the 3.04-mile course at Saratoga Spa State Park.

   Her time of 17:46.91 was her personal best on the course.

   Only Corinth's Katie White, with six titles from 1988-93 has won more Section 2 championships in the sport.

   "I tried not to think about it all day, and all day Friday until the meet was canceled (by weather)," Wright said. "It is nice to finally take a deep breath and say I did it and go home at night knowing I did something great. Being the last race here is bittersweet. I'm happy I did it but sad I don't get to run here again."

   In boys action, sophomore Ryan Allison of three-time defending NYSPHSAA champion Burnt Hills turned in the best time of the day with his win in 15:15.85, nearly 34 seconds better than teammate Will Marchant, who finished second. Their work led the Spartans to their seventh straight Class B championship.

   Brentwood survives: Nathaniel Austin scored late in regulation and then midway through the second overtime to rally Brentwood to a 3-2 boys soccer victory over Smithtown West 3-2 in the Section 11 Class AA semifinals.

   The Indians (18-0-0) will play Commack for the title on Thursday.

   Austin's clutch work began when he converted a Brandon Yanez corner kick with :18 left in regulation left to make it a 2-2 game.

   "I couldn't believe it, we were 18 seconds away from going home," Yanez said. "Having the chance to go to the county final is unexplainable. I don't know what to say."

   The winning goal came with 9:10 to go in the second 15-minute overtime.

   Heading to the ACC: Archbishop Stepinac basketball star Adrian Griffin Jr. announced he will attend Duke University in 2021.

   Griffin announced his decision on his social media accounts. He had visited the school on Oct. 18 for "Count-

Football weekly schedules 2019 NYSPHSAA boys soccer brackets 2019 NYSPHSAA girls soccer brackets

down to Craziness," the Blue Devils' Midnight Madness event.

   "I feel like I wanted to get it out of the way and I knew that was the right place for me ever since I visited there," the 6-foot-7 junior said. "They came here to see me the first day of recruiting so I felt like they saw me as their No. 1 priority. I wanted to go somewhere where I can be loved and not liked. Obviously everyone is going to like me, but they made me feel special."

   During Countdown to Craziness, he received an ovation and heard the crowd chanting his name.

   "That was crazy to have the fans do that," Griffin said. "It's not even just for their own players. They show a lot of love. That's where I want to be in that environment."

   Stepinac teammate R.J. Davis gave a commitment to North Carolina on Oct. 21.

   No penalty for Clarke coach: Coach Tim O'Malley will not be suspended under Section 8's "lopsided scores policy" after W.T. Clarke's 43-point win Saturday, sectional football coordin- ator, Matt McLees said.

   Plainedge's Rob Shaver last week became the first coach suspended under the 3-year-old rule intended to stop teams from running up the score. The rule requires the coach of a team that wins by more than 42 points to submit in writing the lengths to which they went to avoid running up the score.

   Clarke beat Oyster Bay 57-14.

   McLees said O'Malley removed his starters with 7:40 remaining in the second quarter, attempted only one pass and only ran the ball up the middle in the second half against the winless opponent. The teams agreed to a running clock in the fourth quarter to speed up the conclusion of the regular-season finale.

   F-M coach exiting: Paul Muench is retiring after 17 seasons as football coach at Fayetteville-Manlius. The longtime social studies teacher will retire from teaching at the end of the school year.

   I'm retiring from teaching, and I've always seen those two jobs as going hand-in-hand," Muench said. "With retiring (from teaching) it made sense."

   Muench, 55, started teaching in 1988 at Oswego, where he became the head football coach in 1993. He moved to F-M in 2000.