NYSSWA blog: No. 2 New Hartford topples No. 1 Cazenovia in hockey

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Leading off today: Goals by Alex Fukes and Tom Fiorentino 33 seconds apart clinched New Hartford’s 6-3 victory over Cazenovia last night and all but assured the teams will flip positions at the top of Division 2 when the next NYSSWA hockey rankings come out.

Fiorentino and Fukes, who also had an assist, finished with two goals apiece for New Hartford (11-2), giving them 22 and 11 goals, respectively. Goalie Dylan Smith recorded 24 saves in the victory.

The Spartans cruised to a 3-1 lead through two periods before Cazenovia (10-1-1) closed the gap to 4-3. The rematch is scheduled for Feb. 10.

Spencerport streak at 56: The winner was predictable even if the final score was closer than what Spencerport is used to. The Rangers (14-0), ranked No. 1 in Division I by the New York State Sportswriters Association, went into Fairport and defeated the No. 4 Red Raiders, 26-21.

Fairport (14-1) went up 15-11 as 152-pounder Dave Foley pinned Ray Daniels in 2:23, daring the home crowd to wonder whether they might be witnessing the end of Spencerport’s 55-match winning streak.

"We were coming apart and someone had to put the glue back," Spencerport coach Bill Jacoutot told the Democrat and Chronicle. "John glued us back together."

Troina scored a takedown late in the 160-pound match to decision Adam Onderdonk, 7-5, cutting Fairport’s lead to 15-14 and starting a string of Spencerport victories. Nick Baxter scored a pin at 171, and Bradley Englert (189) and reigning state champ Paul Glover (215) followed with decisions to all but end the drama.

Gatorade honors Lipari: The award has only existed for her sport for two years, and Roslyn sophomore Emily Lipari is 2-for-2.

Also worth checking out

Boys basketball page

2008 all-state football team

Lipari, the NYSPHSAA Class A champion, has been selected again as New York's girls cross country runner of the year by Gatorade.

The other winners announced from the fall season thus far are Riverhead football player Miguel Maysonet and Irondequoit girls volleyball player Mary Cushman.

Seventh-graders are 'prospects': The NCAA has decreed that seventh-graders are now officially classified as prospects in the sport of men's basketball.

The organization voted Thursday in Oxon Hill, Md., to change the definition of a prospect from ninth grade to seventh grade to keep college coaches from working at camps and clinics for junior-high athletes. Previously, the NCAA couldn't regulate those camps because the players were not considered prospects.

"It's a little scary . . . where does it stop?" asked Joe D'Antonio, chairman of the Division I Legislative Council. "The fact that we've got to this point is really just a sign of the times."

Extra points: George Beamon scored 40 points for Roslyn in a 69-59 win over Floral Park. He's scored at least that many in three straight games, all wins. . . . Our Savior New American eighth-grader Emily Carmel score 41 points in a 58-43 win over Solomon Schecter. . . . Mark Sunday, Jan. 25 on your calendar if you are a boys basketball fan near the Times Union Arena in Albany. The final two games of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic are Bishop Maginn vs. Boys & Girls at 3:30 p.m. and Albany Academy vs. Newburgh Free Academy at 5:15.