Leading off today: Mother Nature is making her power known in Western New York this weekend, forcing the postponement of several New York State Public High School Athletic Association basketball games scheduled in the Buffalo area.
Friday night's Class A game between Buffalo East and Pittsford Sutherland was moved to Sunday at Buffalo State, and Saturday's tripleheader will also be moved to Sunday because additional heavy snow is expected Saturday.
Sunday's new schedule at Buffalo State calls for a quadrupleheader beginning at noon. The Class D game was played on Friday, with Northstar Christian defeating Pine Valley, 48-45, to earn a berth in Glens Falls.
Charges in Dansville: A West Sparta woman accused of stealing about $35,000 from the Dansville All Sports Booster Club, was scheduled for arraignment today in Livingston County Court.
Laurie J. Perry, 48, was charged Wednesday with one count of third-degree grand larceny and 25 counts of first-degree falsifying business records, all felonies, Livingston County Assistant District Attorney Eric Schiener said.
The alleged thefts took place over a four-year period, when Perry served as the treasurer for the booster club that assisted athletic teams at Dansville High School, Schiener said. Perry formerly worked at the high school as the secretary to the school’s athletic department, Schiener said.
If convicted, Perry faces up to seven years in state prison.
Oooooops: The nation's No. 1 girls basketball recruit will have to tie up some loose ends to protect her eligibility before her college career starts. Elena DelleDonne, a 6-foot-4 guard from Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Del., has signed to play at UConn next season. A video on a recruiting-service site shows her and her father, Ernie, promoting the service. At one point in the video, DelleDonne says, "If you want to go to the next level, go to mybasketballprofile.com."
According to the NCAA manual, "Subsequent to becoming a student-athlete, an individual shall not be eligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics if the individual accepts any remuneration for or permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind."
NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson told USA Today by e-mail, "Prior to enrollment in college, an individual is permitted to promote a commercial entity as long as they take steps upon becoming a student-athlete to retract permission for that commercial entity to use their name and they cease receipt of any payment for the arrangement."
So, all in all, DelleDonne doesn't seem to be facing serious NCAA trouble. But here's my question:
