Leading off today: Saturday was most kind to Section 3 basketball, with six Central New York teams having qualified for the state basketball semifinals by day's end.
Four boys squads won quarterfinals, led by Jamesville-DeWitt's 74-34 romp over Bshop Gibbons to set up a potentially memorable New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A semifinal against top-ranked Peekskill, the three-time defending champion. Jamesville-DeWitt (22-2), ranked No. 2 by the New York State Sportswriters Association, fell to Peekskill by a 63-60 count on Dec. 28 at Peekskill.
"They have been waiting for us for three years and we haven't lived up to our end of the bargain of getting out of own section," J-D Coach Bob McKenney said. "We're thrilled to be going back. Peekskill is a great team and Mookie (Jones) is obviously a great player. We're going to work hard all week."
Junior guard Brandon Triche played without a knee brace for the first time in 14 months in the rout of Bishop Gibbons in Troy. He contributed eight points and three assists during an early 20-7 burst.
Accusations against McKinley coach: A South Carolina woman is alleging that Buffalo McKinley boys basketball coach James Daye had an improper relationship with her when she was a 17-year-old aspiring to play college basketball, The Buffalo News reported today.
If substantiated, the allegations would be a blow to Daye and could cost him his job in Buffalo. He has already been the subject of scrutiny recently regarding a possible role in the dismissal of a volunteer girls basketball coach at McKinley, setting off a chain of events that included