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John Moriello's NYSSWA blog
Sunday, March 8, 2009: Syracuse CBA leads the list of teams working overtime for titles
   Leading off today: I'm not even going to pretend that today's blog is a comprehensive roundup of events from yesterday, annually one of the two busiest days of the year for big games and big performances in high school sports.

   That being said, away we go . . .

   Boys basketball: Greg Thomson's layup with 2.2 seconds remaining in overtime gave Syracuse CBA a 76-75 win over Henninger in the Section 3 Class AA boys basketball final at Manley Field House.

   Senior guard Stefan Thompson scored 40 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter to lead the Brothers' comeback from 14 points down.

   "Stefan simply took the game over in that final quarter," CBA coach Buddy Wleklinski told The Post-Standard. "That's as big a comeback win as we've had at CBA in all my years of coaching."

   With the victory, No. 20 CBA advances to the first round of the NYSPHSAA tournament against Massena on Friday.

   * Senior Chad Dillard made two free throws with 23 seconds remaining in OT to give Gates Chili a 56-53 upset of No. 5 Rush-Henrietta in the Section 5 Class AA final, moving the Spartans into a state qualifier against Greece Athena.

   Dillard had missed a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds left in regulation, sending the game to OT against a Royal Comets team that had not lost to a Section 5 opponent all season. Dillard finished with nine points, 12 rebounds and four steals.

   Rutgers-bound Dane Miller scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for R-H.

   * Senior Mansa Habeeb carried Buffalo McKinley to its third straight sectional championship by scoring 30 of his career-high 40 points after halftime -- to go along with 12 rebounds and six steals -- as the Macks, No. 25 in Class A, defeated Williamsville South in two OTs, 78-74. Habeeb had scored 31 points during last year’s Class A-1 final win over Grover Cleveland.

   * Ryan Carney’s three-pointer with eight seconds left carried No. 11 Olean over East Aurora, 46-45, in the Section 6 Class B-1 final. The verdict set up a state qualifier vs. Akron, which scored a 66-50 win against Allegany-Limestone to become the first boys basketball champion from the Niagara-Orleans League since Newfane in 1980.

   * In Section 5 Class DD action, No. 3 C.G. Finney beat Prattsburgh, 67-58, to send Vikings coach Jim Burke into retirement after 33 seasons and 694 victories -- 517 with the boys team and 177 with the girls. Burke won six boys and four girls championships in the sectional tournament and a state boys crown in 1991.

   "The other day at practice I called a kid Frank. There is no Frank on the team,” Burke joked. "I was calling kids Tom, Dick and Harry and there is no Tom, Dick and Harry. I don’t think practices have been as good as they could be and I think that’s because of me."

   Don Baker's retirement after 32 seasons will have to wait. His Genesee Valley club beat Alfred-Almond in the Class D game, 43-36. Ed Linnecke made five three-pointers en route to a game-high 18 points, Alfred-Almond had been 0-20 last season.

   * Burke Catholic rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, then went on to a 61-60 win in overtime over Spackenkill in Section 9 Class B action. Brian Clarke's 18-footer with 1.3 seconds left forced overtime, and the winners survived 13-for-39 free-throw shooting (2-for-14 in the fourth quarter) to advance to the state tournament.

   * In CHSAA Class A action, junior guard Jordan Bronner’s three-point play with 23 seconds left wrapped up a 60-54 victory for Iona Prep over Bishop Ford, which nearly rallied from eight points down with three minutes to go.

   No. 3 Iona Prep, which advances to the CHSAA state championship against No. 4 St. John the Baptist on Saturday for a Federation berth, became the first team to win CHSFL football and CHSAA city basketball championships in the same school year since Mount St. Michael in 1996-97. Gaels coach Vic Quirolo missed the game after being hospitalize earlier in the day with a ruptured appendix.

   * Lance Stephenson, who has yet to make an official recruiting visit to St. John's, nailed a game-high 28 points in No. 8 Abraham Lincoln's 86-80 victory over Transit Tech in the PSAL "AA" quarterfinals at the Red Storm's Carnesecca Arena. The Railsplitters meet No. 23 Boys & Girls next weekend in the semifinals.

   No.3 Bronx JFK stayed alive with an 85-81 win over McKee/Staten Island Tech in OT as Naquan Pierce poured in 38 points.

   Girls basketball: Germantown won its first Section 2 championship in 21 years and will climb to No. 1 in Class D this week after downing Argyle, 50-45, to improve to 23-0. The Clippers hadn't taken the trophy since a run of six straight championships ended in 1988.

   Junior forward Taylor Race paced Germantown with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Caitlin Briggs scored 16 points.

   * Senior forward Cassie McMullen scored 21 points as No. 12 South Kortright polished off No. 19 Schenevus in Section 4 Class D. McMullen had four putbacks and scored SK's first 10 points during a 14-6 run to open the game.

   * In Section III Class AA, Cicero-North Syracuse ended a 24-year wait by beating Fayetteville-Manlius, 44-30, for the championship and there may be more success to come over the next few seasons. Breanna Stewart, a 6-foot-3

  
Winter tournament brackets
  • NYSPHSAA boys basketball
  • NYSPHSAA girls basketball
  • NYSPHSAA boys ice hockey
  • freshman, led C-NS with 14 points -- 10 in the fourth quarter to pull away -- and was named the most valuable player.

       * Newark's Shakista Woolfolk banked in an acrobatic jumper in the lane with 1.6 seconds left to help the No. 4 Reds a 47-45 victory over No. 7 Pittsford Mendon in OT in Section 5 Class A action.

       "She made one of her typical Shakista drives – a double-pump, in-the-air, with-her-legs-up shot," coach Diane Kirnie told the Democrat and Chronicle.

       Mendon staged a huge rally, outscoring Newark by 12-1 in the fourth quarter, and forced OT on Carly Napier's two free throws with 12.6 seconds left.

       Boys hockey: Marc Flory scored five goals as third-ranked Pelham swept to a 6-2 victory over No. 2 Queensbury in the state Division II quarterfinals at Glens Falls Recreation Center.

       "He’s one of those guys you can ride,’’ Pelham coach Ed Witz told The Post-Star.

       Flory pushed his season total to 55 goals as he scored two goals on power plays, one on a breakaway, one on a turnover and one into an empty net.

       Queensbury scored the game’s first goal, Pelham answered with three power-play goals in the second period to build a 4-1 lead.

       * Also in Division II, No. 4 Kenmore East rallied from two goals down with 5:52 left in regulation and defeated unranked Saranac, 4-3, on Eric Gardner’s goal -- his second of the night -- at 6:04 of overtime in Amherst.

       * In Division I, No. 2 Mamaroneck avenged an OT loss in the 2008 quarterfinals by downing No. 3 Massena, 5-4, on Rob Fine's goal with 1:59 left in the second sudden-death period.

       All of the regulation scoring took place in a 13-minute sequence beginning midway through the second period.

       Mamaroneck (23-2-1) advances to the state semifinals in Utica for the first time in 10 years and the first time as a Division I program.

       Indoor track: Saratoga star Madalayne Smith swept the 55-meter dash and the hurdles to highlight the girls action in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association indoor track championships at Cornell University. Her hurdles time of 7.96 seconds moved Smith to No. 2 on the U.S. leaderboard.

       Lancaster junior Melissa Kuzdorfer improved to second in the country with a state record of 48-2½ in the shot put, and Colonie's Kyle Plante eclipsed the U.S. freshman record by winning the 300 meters in :38.53.

       In the distances, four-time Foot Locker cross country national qualifier Shelby Greany of Suffern earned her first indoor championship with a 9:53.99 effort in the 3,000 to fight off Lizzie Predmore (Shenendehowa, 9:55.93) and Aisling Cuffe (Cornwall, 9:56.40). Greany also took a second place in the metric mile.

       "I knew it was a hard double, especially indoors," Greany told The Journal News. "The two races are so close together, but my main concern was winning the (3,000) and I did that."

       Both 1,000-meter finals were wire-to-wire jobs. Emily Menges of Garden City went 2:54.12 in the girls race, and Alex Hatz of Fayettevile-Manlius clocked 2:27.86 to fight off the boys field.

       In other boys finals, Miles Lewis of Middle Country won a photo finish over Berfrantz Charles (North Babylon) in :06.40 in the 55, and Sam Ludgood of Webster Schroeder took the triple jump in 47-4.

       Boys swimming: Junior Jake Johnson of Shenendehowa defended his 50- and 100-yard freestyle state titles with All-America times in the NYSPHSAA meet in East Meadow. He clocked :20.91 seconds and :45.72, respectively, and also anchored the Plainsmen's winning 400 freestyle relay.

       Rye senior Ryan Feeley plodded to a time of 4:35.82 in qualifying and then tore up his state record in the 500 freestyle by dominating the final in 4:24.06 to retain his state and Federation titles. Feeley will attend Michigan in the fall.

       Thomas Luchsinger of Mount Sinai won the 200 freestyle (1:37.12) and 100 butterfly (:48.37).

       Bowling: West Seneca East’s boys overtook Colonie in the final game to win the NYSPHSAA championship at AMF Gates Bowl outside Rochester. Union-Endicott topped Frontier for the girls title.

       Brandon Simone (1,272) and Nick Morrissey (1,265) led the way for West Seneca East. The Trojans made up a 40-pin deficit in the final game with a 1,059 effort and 6,117 total, 72 pins better than Colonie.

       The U-E girls opened with a 1,114 game and never looked back en route to a 5,669 pinfall. Vicki Peters paced the victory with a 1,216 total for six games.

       More to come: I'll be back Monday morning with high school boxing (yes, boxing) and a few other items left over from the weekend. Later Monday, I'll start filling in boys and girls basketball brackets. Hockey brackets are up to date.


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