Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020: Stepinac's Griffin diagnosed with sprain

   Leading off today: Archbishop Stepinac boys basketball star Adrian Griffin Jr. received good news this week after a scary injury in Friday's victory over Iona Prep.

   The 6-foot-7 junior who has already committed to Duke was diagnosed with a sprained left knee following more thorough examinations, including an MRI. The Journal News reported he is expected to miss just two to three weeks of action.

   Griffin suffered a dislocation on what appeared to be a non-contact play midway through the fourth quarter in Stepinac's 62-54 victory at a sold-out County Center. He collapsed on the court and was writhing in pain before being tended to by the school's athletic trainer and then helped off the court.

   Griffin is averaging 18.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.4 blocks through nine games this season for Stepinac, which beat St. Peter's 66-52 without him on Tuesday.

   Stepinac is ranked No. 2 in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association. (Full rankings here.)

   Milestone victory: Rochester East coach Darrell Barley booked his 300th career victory in boys basketball as the Eagles defeated World of Inquiry 82-43 on Wednesday.

   Barley, the former East High and Canisius College star, is in his 17th season.

   East, ranked fifth in the state in Class A, got a combined 22 points from the coach's sons. Damani Barley, a sophomore, had 13 points. Kaori Barley, a senior, added nine.

   "At the end of practice yesterday, he was like this probably will be my 300th win," Kaori said. "'Maybe y'all could win this for me.' We went out tonight knowing that we had to get this win.

   "It's a great feeling knowing that he's accomplished, 300 wins. I watched my older brother (Darrell, Jr.) play for him and now I play for him and all my role models have played for him. It's just like a good feeling."

    • In other Section 5 action, Aquinas defeated Rochester Leadership Academy, ranked 15th in Class A, 73-71. Gabe Miller (15 points) dropped in a lay-up in the closing seconds to break a 71-71 tie.

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   Record-tying night: C.G. Finney freshman Markus Robinson tied the Section 5 single-game record for points in a boys basketball game when he scored 65 on Tuesday in an 87-85 loss to Rochester Prep in overtime.

   It was the highest output in the state since a 69-point game last season by Glens Falls star Joe Girard III. Robinson matched the sectional record set by Cuba's Gordon Enderle in February 1979.

   "It's crazy, but I know he has more in him." Finney coach Joe Marchand said after Robinson topped 50 in a game for the fifth time in his last 11 outings and improved his season average to 45.4 points a game.

   Robinson, who had 29 points at the half, scored 10 in overtime. He finished the night 23-for-41 from the field and 17-for-25 on free throws. He also had 18 rebounds and seven steals.

   Issue moving to center stage: Georgia, Tennessee, Washington and Missouri are now among the states that

have introduced legis- lation that would require transgender athletes to compete as the gender on their birth certificate.

   Philip Singleton, a member of the Georgia House of Represent- atives, took the ongoing controversy to a new level when he filed his proposed legislation Dec. 19. The bill states that public fields, stadiums and gyms can't be used by teams with a transgender member.

   Singleton said he doesn't know of any athletes the bill will immediately affect if enacted, but "We're seeing a lot of things happening in states across the country and a big part of my campaign promise was to preserve the character of my community."

   The bill has drawn sharp criticism.

   "I think probably the bigger problem to me is that we're going to make this a 'law,'" said transgender Doralville City Councilwoman Stephe Koontz. "What's the enforcement? What are they going to do, inspect the genitals of every athlete?"

   The Georgia High School Association has a policy that a student's gender is determined by their birth certificate, but many states allow athletes to compete against the gender they identify with. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation in August based on a complaint by Connecticut female runners that two biological boys were dominating the field.