Leading off today: Six-foot-eight senior Jacob Houseknecht continued a strong postseason with 20 points and 19 rebounds yesterday as Olean scored a 50-39 victory over Chenango Valley in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B basketball semifinals in Glens Falls.

   Forward Sam Moore added 21 points as Olean earned its first berth in a state championship game after falling a game short twice in the previous four seasons.

   Houseknecht produced three straight dunks to wipe out a five-point deficit late in the first half, and Olean opened the second half on a 13-4 run.

   Olean (24-2) will take on defending champion Malverne (13-10) in the final. Malverne eliminated Ogdensburg Free Academy by overcoming a 15-point deficit in the second half. Dashiem Cherry put the Mules up for good at 73-71 with a 3-pointer and finished with 28 points.

   Boys Class C: Mechanicville overcame foul trouble in the second half to beat Friends Academy, 52-51, as senior Jon Williams' 3-pointer at the buzzer went astray.

   Mechanicville's only points over the final 3:25 came on two Pat Marra free throws with 10.9 seconds to play. The senior finished with eight points and seven assists for the Red Raiders (21-5), who will play Maple Grove in the final.

   Maple Grove (23-2) eleiminated West Canada Valley, 64-59, as senior Cam O’Neill scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and shot 7-for-7 from the field. Sophomore Chris Secky led with 19 points and Tom Secky added 13.

   Boys Class D: Northstar forward Jaanai Beckford put in a moster performance with 24 points, 19 rebounds and 8 blocked shots as Northstar Christian breezed past Sackets Harbor, 45-29, with a big fourth quarter.

   Though seven of the blocks came in the first 16 minutes, Beckford had only four points at the half. Beckford scored the final three baskets of the third quarter to give Northstar a 25-20 lead. A Dave Valle 3-pointer ignited an 8-0 run to build the lead to 41-27 with 1:16 to play.

   Northstar will play in the final against Chateaugay, a 61-58 winner over Greenport in its bid to bring home Section 10's first championship. The Bulldogs enter with only a loss to Class A Massena on their 23-1 record.

   "We think that we are able to play with anyone in our class,” Chateaugay senior Zach Peck told The Post Star. "We can keep up with them and show them that we can play good."

   Girls Class AA: Shenise Johnson, newly anointed by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York as Miss New York Basketball, piled up 29 points and 16 rebounds in Troy as two-time defending champion Rush-Henrietta topped Kingston, 58-51.

   R-H junior guard Angelica Simmons finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.

Winter tournament brackets NYSPHSAA boys basketball NYSPHSAA girls basketball NYSPHSAA boys ice hockey

   The Royal Comets (23-3), who trailed by six points early in the fourth quarter at Hudson Valley CC, will face North Babylon (21-5), which never trailed while defeating Syracuse Corcoran, in a rematch of the 2006 title game.

   North Babylon junior Eugeneia McPherson scored 31 points to lead North Babylon to victory, extending her big personal binge. McPherson scored 33 points in the Section 11 final and 27 in the semifinals. Last season she scored 35 points in the Suffolk final and 27 in the Long Island championship game.

   Girls Class A: Cornwall was assessed a technical foul for calling a timeout that the Green Dragons did not have available in the closing moments, helping Honeoye Falls-Lima secure a 42-39 victory.

   The subsequent successful free throws by Beth Allport gave HF-L a 41-37 lead with 10.5 seconds to play. Cornwall contended that junior Kelly Whalen never called the timeout, but referee Dorothy Jones made the call.

   Malone Franklin Academy secured the other spot in the finals with a 43-32 win against Floral Park by breaking to an 8-1 lead.

   Girls Class B: Briarcliff (25-1) advanced to its first state final with a 37-33 victory over Seton Central Catholic as senior Shelby Coon picked up eight points and 12 rebounds.

   In the other semifinal, Hoosic Valley (27-0) topped Rochester's Nazareth Academy, 53-43.

   "I think we're the smallest Class B team in the state and we're playing for the championship. That is pretty amazing," Hoosic Valley senior Kayla Ryan said.

   2008 ESGs: A story I ran across in The Ithaca Journal caught my eye for all the wrong reasons.

   In detailing some of the preparations for the 2008 Empire State Games in Broome County, the story reported that state Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton is one of the sponsors of the annual sports festival, courtesy of a $100,000 state grant that he arranged.

   Please, please, please tell me that the story was wrong. Please tell me that what the reporter meant to say is that Libous wrote the check from his own personal account. Because if he is instead using money from the state legislature slush fund known as "member items," then you and I are the real ESG sponsors because that is tax money being spent.

   If that's the case, it's outlandish that Libous is reaping free publicity geared toward getting himself re-elected. I hope to be on the phone at some point Monday to get to the bottom of this one; from where I sit, this one smells very fishy.

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