Leading off today: Kaia Goode's late corner 3-pointer capped a fourth-quarter rally as
Bishop Kearney edged Williamsville South 57-53 in intersectional girls basketball between state-ranked teams Friday.
Goode took a pass from Marianna Freeman with less than 25 seconds remaining and connected to break a two-game losing streak for Kearney, ranked 198th in the state in Class AA. Williamsville South is top-ranked in Class A.
Saniaa Wilson scored 10 of her 15 points in the final nine minutes for the winners in a battle with UConn commit Amari DeBerry (16 points).
Kearney (9-3) was coming off losses to Shenendehowa and Queensbury last weekend.
Still rolling: Two-time defending Section 2 hockey champion Bethlehem improved to 14-1 with a 2-0 win over G/M/S/V/S.
Junior Jack Carroll scored the goals and Mike Kurdziolek stopped 21 Storm shots to register the shutout.
"They are a very talented team. We didn't come out playing our best but we hung in there and played until the end, that is really all that matters," Bethlehem coach Dylan Lappe said.
G/M/S/V/S, which had been unbeaten in league play, is a combination of Guilderland, Mohonasen, Schalmont, Voorheesville and Scotia-Glenville.
Thursday action: Northstar Christian guard Ryan Garwood broke a Section 5 record by making 13 3-pointers in 20 attempts in a 107-51 boys basketball rout of Global Concepts. Chris Verosky set the record of 12 in 2007 for C.G. Finney.
Buffalo Sacred Heart girls basketball senior Siobhan Ryan now holds the school record in points scored with 1,634 after connecting for 30 in a 65-44 victory against Mount Mercy. Ryan is a University of Richmond commit.
Softball news: There is a significant change to the softball landscape coming this spring:
Deposit has won four of the last five NYSPHSAA state Class D titles. The squad has also won the last six (and eight of nine Section 4 championships.
Following up, Part 1: Section 8 administrators hope to have a policy on lopsided scores in place for all team sports by September, Newsday reported.
Dom Vulpis, assistant executive director of the section, said a group of athletic directors met this week to draw up the framework for a uniform sportsmanship policy they said is "designed to serve a wider range of players with additional playing time while keeping the league competitive."
Football, soccer, field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball and volleyball would potentially be affected. Coordinators for each team sport would have to determine the specific guidelines for what they would categorize as "an egregious sportsmanship issue involving scoring."
Coaches of teams winning by margins judged to be excessive would face a penalty procedure that Vulpis described as a three-strike system of progressive discipline.
The section has had a lopsided score policy in place in football since 2017. Plainedge's Rob Shaver became the first coach suspended under the policy in October following a 61-13 win because the six-person committee believed he kept starters on the field too deep into the contest.
Following up, Part 2: A column by Rich Thomaselli of Hudson Valley Sports Report notes that the fallout from Carmel football coach Todd Cayea being in limbo is that the weight room is not open, which would seem to be an obvious hindrance for a football program coming off a 42-14 loss to eventually NYSPHSAA Class AA champion New Rochelle in the Section 1 title contest.
North Tonawanda athlete dies: North Tonawanda's Michael Marra, a 17-year-old senior who competed in volleyball, swimming and lacrosse, died Tuesday following a car accident in Wheatfield.