Leading off today: Raising this is sure to upset some people, but it needs to be noted: Section 6 has a behavior problem. Not all of Section 6 and not in all sports, mind you. And they're not alone.
But at this moment, Section 6 is ground zero for boorish behavior in the form of unnecessarily brutal blowout victories.
Second-seeded East Aurora defeated Maryvale 12-0 in a boys sectional soccer contest over the weekend. With eight players scoring goals, it wasn't as awful as it could have been. And it wasn't even remotely the Class A2 quarterfinal that had jaws dropping to the floor in disbelief.
Rather, it was top-seeded Lewiston-Porter, ranked third in the state by the New York State Sportswriters Association, beating Lake Shore 20-1.
Now, 20-1 is outlandish by any measure, but it is somewhat mitigated by the fact that 13 players scored goals. And it's not as if Lake Shore was totally helpless, having won five games during the season (though it also took a 15-1 beating at the hands of Lackawanna) and outdistancing three other teams for the eighth and final tournament seed.
I might have been inclined to let the lopsided score slide by without comment, especially since the star of the Mount Academy girls team was allowed to ring up all 10 of her team's goals in a recent downstate game. (And I also note that three of Section 5's top-seeded boys teams in its nine classifications have won games this fall by scores of 10-0 or 12-0). Unfortunately, any sentiment along the lines of "but what could they have done differently" kind of went out the window after Lew-Port scored goal No. 20 in the closing seconds.
Lew-Port's blowout came a week after Health Sciences/Buffalo Academy of Science/Global Concepts routed Hamburg in football by a 76-3 margin on the shoulders of nine rushing touchdowns by one player.
Lest we forget, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association has recently taken an interest in runaway scores, a development that has come about in no small part because last season's North Tonawanda girls basketball team won games by scores of 102-39, 93-21, 101-23, 102-38, and -- drumroll, please -- 102-9.
Any one of those scores might have set off remarks along the lines of "well, maybe the other team should try harder." But when it happens five times in the same season it's confirmation that the blame lies elsewhere.
So, it's worth noting that North Tonawanda will have a new coach when practice starts next month. Ryan Bradt, a 2012 graduate of the school and a police officer who has been running the local PAL, was appointed in June.
It will be interesting to see how he handles game management. Bradt inherits both a loaded roster and an independent schedule full of heavyweights, so he's going to need his rotation players to be at their best.
The hunch here is that he can maximize performance and win a fair share of the big games without having to behave like Georgia Tech against Cumberland during easier games on the schedule.
A monumental comeback to secure a sectional title
Bayport-Blue Point junior Lily Castka was really up against it on Saturday in the girls tennis team's Section 11 championship match against Ross School.
Trailing 5-7, 0-5 in first singles against sophomore Brooke Saracco, Castka rallied for a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory that game BBP a 4-3 win and the programs fifth straight sectional championship.
"Even when I was down 0-5 in the second set, I just knew I had to keep fighting and hitting the ball even if I missed," Castka told Newsday after the three-hour match. "We lost to Ross during our regular season so we had a chip on our shoulder coming into this match. We expected this to be a challenge but we were prepared for it."
Four days earlier, Castka earned the Section 11 individual championship in singles.
Garden City closing in on state record in football
Garden City breezed past Calhoun 51-7 in Nassau County football action over the weekend to improve to 7-0 for the season and extend its Long Island-record winning streak to 61 games.
With a win against New Hyde Park on Saturday, the Trojans will tie Maine-Endwell for New York's longest football winning streak.
