Leading off today: The Jasper-Troupsburg boys basketball team will try to play out the string with JV replacements for six varsity players dismissed from the team following allegations of under-age drinking at a recent party.
The development stems from the disclosure that volunteer assistant coach Jordan Butler was charged by New York State Police last week with first-degree unlawful dealing with a child, a class A misdemeanor, for allegedly providing alcohol for the party, The Evening Tribune reported.
The team will play on with three remaining varsity players and seven call-ups from the winless junior varsity, which will forfeit the remainder of its schedule. Jasper-Troupsburg (8-4) is ranked No. 12 in Class D by the New York State Sportswriters Association.
J-T Superintendent Chad Groff said six student-athletes violated the athletic code of conduct. They will serve 30-day suspensions from sports and be required to attend a counseling session before regaining eligibility to play sports.
"The parents, athletes, and coaches were asked to make that decision, and the consensus was to have the JV players move up," Groff said in a statement.
Tied at the top: Rod Chando racked up his 560th victory in 36 years of coaching boys basketball at Red Hook to tie the Section 9 mark held by Jerry Kaplan of James I. O'Neill. The milestone came in a 63-50 triumph against Wallkill as the Raiders improved to 11-3 behind nine points and 14 rebounds from sophomore center Chris Loftus.
Chando, 60, was inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. Included in his 560-173 record are four consecutive sectional championships beginning in 2003.
Going up: Bishop Gibbons, the reigning Section 2 Class A champion, will move to Class AA next season, the sectional boys basketball committee has decided.
The Section 2 classification committee was set to meet today, and basketball chairman Mike Lilac told The TImes Union he expected that vote to be a formality. He said Bishop Gibbons will not appeal the ruling. A year ago, the basketball committee recommended that both Albany Academy and Bishop Gibbons should move up one class for this season, but Section 2 chose to only elevate