Leading off today: Catching up on some recent news while noting that today is the
17th anniversary of the NYSPHSAA completing a series of votes that took a chainsaw to many aspects of high school sports as the realities of the Great Recession set in.
It's been a long road back to where we once had been.
The big game is a 'Go'
The football game that has garnered much speculation this offseason is officially on the schedule. Iona Prep tweeted out its 2026 schedule, ad the defending CHSFL champions will be playing NYSPHSAA champion Syracuse CBA on Thursday, Sept. 3, at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse.
We're unlikely to see an end-of-the-season matchup between champions of the NYSPHSAA, CHSFL, and/or PSAL anytime soon, so regular-season battles like this one are as good as it's going to get.
Paul Longo signs on with Shoreham-Wading River
Paul Longo, who stepped down last month after 31 seasons as the head football coach at William Floyd, has accepted the top coaching job in the Shoreham-Wading River program.
The school board approved the hire during its Tuesday meeting. Longo, 68, is the winningest coach in Section 11 history with a 253-67 mark, and he led William Floyd to 15 Suffolk Division I titles and five Long Island Class I crowns.
"I liked the Shoreham opportunity because they have such a storied past,” Longo told Newsday. "They have winning tradition and the program has so much potential. I want to build a youth league as a feeder program for our middle school. And the biggest challenge is to restore the junior varsity team and get the varsity back into the upper echelon of the division. It's a challenge I'm excited about."
The Wildcats are coming off a 3-6 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Coach Aden Smith retired with a 57–23 record and one Long Island titles in eight seasons.
Crystal Dunn calls it a career
One of the big brags for those of us living in Section 5 was that all-time USWNT scored Abby Wambach was a local. But Wambach wasn't the only stalwart of the women's soccer team who hailed from New York. Former Rockville Centre South Side great Crystal Dunn was right alongside Wambach for many of the great moments in U.S. soccer history.
Now, Dunn has announced she is headed into retirement. Dunn, 33, and the Paris Saint-Germain club agreed on Thursday to end their year-long collaboration. She made nine appearances for PSG, registering two goals and providing two assists while continuing to demonstrate her ability to play nearly any position.
"This decision has not come easily, but I am at peace and deeply fulfilled with all that I have accomplished," she wrote on social media. "I've achieved nearly everything I dreamed of in this sport and gave all I had to give."
Dunn helped the United States win the 2019 Women's World Cup and the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. She finished with 25 goals in 160 appearances with the national team.
Dunn was a three-time first-team all-state pick at South Side, earning the Class A player of the year award as a senior in 2009.
Numerically speaking
• Senior
Corey Famines scored 10 of Bay Shore's 13 fourth-quarter points to send William Floyd to its first Suffolk League I loss in four years, 64-53. William Floyd had won 53 straight league contests.
• Suffern senior guard Jake Pampolina became the leading boys basketball scorer in Rockland County history on Friday, scoring 19 to reach 1,592 for his career. Brendan McManus graduated from Pearl River in 2005 with 1,583 points.
• Forward Braedan Taggart scored all the Skaneateles goals in a 4-3 boys hockey win vs. Whitesboro, raising his career points total over the 100 milestone.
Section 5 district leaders denounce racist remark
The leaders of the York and Lyons school districts have spoken out against a racist remark uttered at last weekend's boys basketball game in Retsof,
WROC-TV reported.
York Superintendent David Furletti said in a statement that his district is investigating the remark from a York fan that was directed at Lyons athletes.
"We apologize and condemn this behavior, as it does not reflect who we are as a district and community," Furletti wrote.
The Lyons district issued a statement sharing a similar sentiment.
"We appreciate the prompt response from York Central School District and Superintendent Furletti," the Wayne County school's statement said. "We recognize the willingness to address the behavior and the clear statement that it does not reflect their district or community."
