West Genesee scored a huge victory in girls lacrosse on Saturday by ending the 103-game winning streak of Maryland powerhouse Mount Hebron, 14-6.

   It came in the final of the annual Mount Hebron tournament.

   Mount Hebron had not lost since May 10, 2001 and won its first six games this spring by a combined 108-17 score. Mount Hebron had won its opening-round game Friday to match what is believed to be the national record for consecutive wins by Loch Raven, another Maryland buzzsaw.

   West Genesee (6-0) broke to a 3-0 lead before Mount Hebron had even gained possession and stretched the margin to 6-2 at the half.

   Mount Hebron had not lost at home since April 19, 1998.

   In other girls action, Skanealetes traveled to Scranton, Pa., and scored a 13-12 win over Shawnee, N.J., in overtime. Skaneateles surrendered a 9-4 lead before regrouping against New Jersey's top-rated program.

   Cataract Classic bigger and better: The Cataract Classic will be returning to Western New York with a vengeance next basketball season -- growing from four games to

nine over two days.

   The highlight is likely to be Niagara Falls vs. Buffalo St. Joe's on Dec. 8 in Niagara Falls. The teams will also play a regular-seasonn non-league game at St. Joe's, the Tonawanda News reports.

   Intersectional clashes on Dec. 7: Canisius vs. Rochester Aquinas, Sweet Home vs. Rochester East and Niagara Falls vs. Syracuse Henninger.

   Intersectional games on Dec. 8: Cardinal O'Hara vs. St. Francis from Ontario, Cananda; Hamburg vs. Rochester McQuaid and Niagara Catholic vs. Liverpool; and Frontier vs. Rush-Henrietta.

   There will also be an all Western New York game that day between Grand Island and Franklinville.

   Lacrosse shorts: Nice boys lacrosse win Saturday by Niskayuna, which defeated Duxbury, Mass., 10-4. . . . Syracuse University midfielder Pat Perritt of Sachem, mentioned in this blog March 30 for his apology following a fracas in Armory Square, has withdrawn from school and returned home to Long Island. He cited unspecified medical reasons.

   No, no, no, no.

   That's not my Mr. Negative persona showing through again or me being unbending in my opinion to the news of the day.

   No (there's that word again!), that's just a summary of the state of softball in Suffolk County this spring. No-hitters are, again, all the rage on the dirt diamond. By Newsday's count, there have been at least 13 no-hitters by Section 11 pitchers already this season.

   And we haven't even gotten to IRS tax deadline day. So here comes my annual appeal to improve the quality of the game: Move the pitcher back five feet at all levels of play.

   Yes, it will make a few lopsided games even more lopsided, but that's why we have a mercy rule. A good-hitting team, after all, is a good-hitting team and will jump all over the extra fraction of a second between the release of the ball and its arrival at the plate.

   But, at the other extreme, it will take some of the tedious pitch-and-catch aspect out of the sport. The typical final scores of college games will climb from 1-0 and 2-0 to something along the lines of 4-1 or 4-2. Good high school pitchers will strike out six batters a game instead of eight or 10, meaning the ball will get put in play a little more often. The rightfielder might even have to handle a ball once in awhile.

   A father's thoughts: Jim Johnson, the father of the Pittsford freshman lacrosse player who died following a mishap during warm-ups, posted a short message on his blog on Friday.

   Jeff Milano-Johnson was kept on life support for a brief period until arrangements could be made to transplant some of his organs.

   "I hope that some of his smarts, verve, sense of humor and wackiness will go along to those who receive some small physical part of Jeff and that they will benefit from not just his life but receive too his love of it," he wrote.

   "Please hug your loved ones and hold them tight for an extra moment or two today."

   Scholarship money is tight: While poking around for other information earlier this week, I stumbled across a fascinating blog item by former Pittsford coach Paul Wilson on the Section 5 lacrosse site.

   Though it was written two months ago, it's very much worth bringing to the attention of parents who assume that there's plentiful college aid available in the form of athletic scholarships.

   I've always known Paul as a sharp-minded guy, and his math here is brutually accurate. He lumped together some NCAA data, some high school statistics and a few very reasonable assumptions and came up with this:

   There are about 230 full Division I or II men's scholarships up for grabs in any given year, and that money is frequently broken up into fractions as coaches attempt to spread the aid around to as many student-athletes as is practical.

   But Wilson also calculates that there are around 18,400 high school seniors playing the sport each season. Even if you skimmed it down to just the most elite 2 percent, that would be about 370 players competing for those 230 scholarships.

   "Thinking about going after a college lacrosse scholarship?" he asks. "Are you in the top two percent of your team, league and section? Perhaps you should work on your grades and look for an academic scholarship."

   Question of the week: This week's survey question on the front page of the site asks for your thoughts on which 2006 NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse champion is most likely to defend its title this spring. Next week we'll pose a similar question for baseball.

   Extra points: Rockville Centre South Side postponed today's boys lacrosse game against Levittown Division while and investigation into players drinking on a recent trip continues. . . . The investigation into a drug distribution network in Amsterdam, mentioned here earlier this week, has netted 26 arrests so far. Former football star Michael Altieri is being described by police as one of the four key suspects.

   Rockville Centre South Side is in danger of losing a boys lacrosse season that has barely begun after allegations that several players consumed alcohol during the team's annual trip to California.

   Newsday reported that school officials have put the season on hold. Tuesday's game against Jericho was postponed, and a game Saturday vs. Levittown Division might also not get played. School administrators are interviewing each member of the team.

   South Side, won a 2004 NYSPHSAA championship, went 17-3 last season and was off to a 2-4 start this spring after splitting a pair of games in San Diego.

   California trips have been part of the South Side schedule for the past eight seasons. Coaches discovered an empty vodka bottle in a hotel room and reported details to AD Michael Heller after returning last weekend.

   Heller said some players have "come forward" regarding the allegations and that a decision about the future of the team could be made before the weekend. One TV report said six students have admitted involvement thus far and face five-day suspensions. It's unclear whether there is a minimum number of games they will be required to sit out.

   GateHouse Media buys Utica paper: Gannett announced Thursday that it is selling four newspapers, including the Utica Observer-Dispatch, to GateHouse Media headquartered just outside of Rochester.

   Coupled with last year's purchase of the Canandaigua newspaper, GateHouse will now operate eight dailies in upstate New York. The others are in Corning, Herkimer, Hornell, Little Falls, Oswego and Wellsville.

   That's quite a footprint across sections 3, 4 and 5, though it's difficult to envision any implications this might have

for broader high school sports coverage in general.

   What being part of a network like that does do, however, is give the individual papers quicker access to technological innovations and upgrades that GateHouse launches across its entire network. There's no disputing that they've assembled a top-notch roster of online talent.

   Turf-field census (part 4): We'll get around to creating a reference page on the site this weekend to incorporate all of the updates we've received on artificial-surface high school feeds this week.

   The latest additions: Construction at Chenango Forks (Section 4) and Johnstown (Sec. 2) will begin this summer or fall.

   Gates Chili runner murdered: Gates Chili junior sprinter Shamar Patterson died Thursday evening from gunshot wounds to the head suffered Wednesday.

   Patterson, 16, was injured in a drive-by shooting in Rochester and was being treated at the Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong. Police had not made an arrest in the incident, in which a 14-year-old boy was also wounded, as of noon on Friday.

   Alanzo George donations: A fund has been set up to help defray medical expenses for Alanzo George.

   The 6-foot-8 Samuel Tilden basketball player, who was going to attend prep school or Manhattan College in the fall, was seriously injured in a car crash recently and has lost the use of his legs.

   According to Scout.com, Anyone wanting to contribute to the Alanzo George Road to Recovery Trust can mail donations to Maxim Group C/O Ed Rose, Alanzo George Road to Recovery Trust, 405 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10174.

   Pittsford lacrosse player Jeff Milano-Johnson died today of injuries suffered Wednesday during a pre-game mishap.

   Milano-Johnson, 14, was a freshman at Pittsford Sutherland and the leading scorer on the district's varsity lacrosse team this spring.

   He is at least the third New York scholastic athlete to die following injuries sustained on the field this school year.

   Mark Milano, a Spackenkill High junior died in October hours after suffering a dislocated ankle injury in a football game at Millbrook. Tests later indicated that he suffered a reaction to pain medication he received during treatment for the injury.

   Binghamton lacrosse player John Mack died two days after being checked and going into cardiac arrest during an indoor lacrosse scrimmage in late November in the town of Union.

   A serious head injury suffered during warmups before a game has left a Pittsford boys lacrosse star on life support.

   Freshman Jeff Milano-Johnson, 14, was listed in guarded condition Thursday morning at Strong Memorial Hospital after being hit in the back of the head below the helmet during preparations for a game at Spencerport. He underwent surgery early Wednesday evening.

   An ambulance crew administered CPR to the player at the game site. The game was postponed after the incident.

   Milano-Johnson, a Sutherland High student, leads Pittsford's combined district team with 11 goals. His brother Doug Milano-Johnson, a Pittsford senior, tops the squad with 12 points.

   The injured player reportedly had stood up in front of the net with his back to midfield just as an incoming shot was fired toward the cage.

   A socio-political blog maintained by the players' father,

who sometimes mentions his sons' athletic activities, did not contain any information Thursday morning about Jeff's injury.

   You can monitor the Democrat and Chronicle and Time Warner Cable's RNews for updates throughout the day.

   'USA Today' baseball rankings: James Monroe High in the Bronx starts the season at No. 10 in USA Today's high school baseball rankings.

   Monroe was off to a 20-0 start through the weekend and has won 70 of its last 72 games. Brooklyn's Xaverian High is No. 7 in the newspaper's East Region rankings.

   Turf-field census (part 3): One more addition to Tuesday's list of high school fields with artificial turf:

• Section 6: Medina.

   Lewiston-Porter (Sec. 6) will be adding a field this fall.

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