Leading off today: Albany Academy senior Matt Kandath's bid for a third straight singles title at the NYSPHSAA tennis championships fell short yesterday as Daniel Kreyman of Long Beach avenged last year's loss with a 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-3 victory at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

   It was Kandath's first high school loss in more than two years and his first postseason setback.

   The first set lasted nearly an hour and a half as neither player could break serve and both saved set points in the tiebreaker. Kreyman won the set with a forehand pass down the line.

   "He was just really consistent today," Kandath told The Times Union. "He didn't beat himself, and he stayed in the rallies. When I had break points, he popped in a big serve, so it made it difficult to break."

   Kandath would have been the first player in tournament history to win three straight singles titles. He will attend Stanford in the fall. Kreyman will continue his career at Wake Forest.

   In the doubles final, Bryan Roberts and Zack Dean of Commack downed Bryan Chow and Chris Frost of Niskayuna, 6-1, 6-2. Because of rain on Thursday, the doubled finalists were playing their fifth match in two days.

   Binghamton wins a marathon: Paul Ryan's two-out double in the top of the 13th inning scored Joe Klenchik and carried fifth-seeded Binghamton past fourth-seeded Union-Endicott in a Section 4 Class AA baseball quarterfinal, 5-4.

   "This really was probably the best high school baseball game that I've been a part of," Binghamton coach Tim Lee told The Press & Sun-Bulletin. "Both teams never wanted to quit."

   U-E grabbed the early lead as pitcher Pete Roma's two-run double keyed a four-run second inning, but Binghamton responded with four runs over the next three innings. There was no more scoring until Ryan's decisive hit in the 13th knowcked in Klenchik, who had doubled to lead off the inning and moved up on a sacrifice.

   Wayne Bonsell threw six scoreless innings and struck out three to earn the win. He worked out of bases-loaded jams in the ninth and 10th.

   Speaking of long days: Caroline Chesterman's fifth goal of the day, midway through the third overtime, carried Nyack to a 16-15 victory over Rye in the Section 1 Class C girls lacrosse final.

   Chesterman, Nyack's only senior, was playing on an ankle sprained two days earlier in the celebration after the semifinals and arrived on crutches. Her winner came 1:37 into sudden death.

   "Obviously she was not 100 percent," Indians coach Kathryn Perrella told The Journal News "She was being cautious, but her placement of her shot is just unstoppable, so all she needs is to get one step in front of somebody and she's got it."

   It was the second time in three years that Rye lost the Section 1 final in triple overtime. The Garnets had overcome a six-goal deficit to tie with :07 left in the second mandatory three-minute overtime.

   Molly O'Brien scored seven goals in the loss.

   The beat goes on: A season that began with losses to Union-Endicott, Binghamton and Ithaca has turned into an 11th straight Section 4 girls lacrosse championship for Corning East.

   The Trojans' latest title and 12th straight trip to the state tournament came courtesy of a 17-7 win over Corning West in the Class C final. Trey broke to leads of 3-0 and 10-4 in the first half to seize control. Kelly Reilly finished with a game-high five goals and an assist. Kaitlyn Reilly made 10 saves in goal.

   Corning East is 12-8 after the three early losses to larger schools by a combined seven goals.

   "We struggled a bit in the beginning of the season, so we’ve been working on that a lot and it’s helping," East

Spring tournament schedules NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse NYSPHSAA baseball

coach Kim McNaney told The Leader. "It was one of our better all-around efforts."

   Perfect ending: Nicole Flint pitched her second perfect game of the season as Brentwood defeated Bay Shore, 3-0, to win the Section 11 Class AA softball championship for the first time.

   Bay Shore had hit Flint hard two days earlier in Brentwood's 8-5 victory.

   "I figure if you get down on yourself and you have all these thoughts in your head, you're not going to do as well," Flint told Newsday. "I just try to make sure I stay calm and just go with it."

   Colleen Rivers doubled home two runs in the second inning to give Brentwood all the offense it would need.

   Color barrier: The Times Herald-Record took note today of the relatively small numbers of black players on lacrosse rosters at a time when there are large numbers of African Americans participating in other sports.

   Rather than delving into questions of whether elitism or a bourgeois atmosphere exist, I would have cut right to the same bottom line that affects minority participation in other sports such as baseball, ice hockey, golf and tennis.

   Minority populations are often concentrated in urban areas lacking the facilities to attract and accommodate youngsters. Coupled with the expensive equipment most of those sports require, there's a real economic barrier to participation.

   Milestone alert: Corning East opened the Section 4 boys lacrosse playoffs Friday with a 20-6 victory against Horseheads to give coach Bob Streeten 500 career wins.

   Corning East, the second-ranked team in Class B and seeking its first state title since 1990, scored seven straight goals to break open a 6-4 game.

   Cody Lucas led the Trojans with four goals and three assists. Jordan Frysinger added two goals and four assists and Mitch Keefer recorded a goal and five assists.

   The Trojans are in pursuit of their 25th consecutive sectional championship and 30th overall.

   More Friday leftovers: Niskayuna avenged two regular-season loses by beating Shenendehowa in the Section 2 Class AA softball quarterfinals and ended the Plainsmen's run at six straight championships.

   Molly O'Donnell hit a grand slam in the fourth inning and Rachel Annello scattered eight hits during an 8-3 victory. All nine Niskayuna batters reached base at least once and combined to pound out 13 hits.

   Gregg Uffner had 19 assists as Bellmore JFK defeated No. 3 Roslyn, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 in the Section VIII Class B boys volleyball final to become the first school in Nassau County history to win both girls and boys volleyball county championships in the same school year, according to volleyball coach Allen Ma.

   Skip Brodhead dies: A memorial was to be held today for Palmer J. "Skip" Brodhead, the first 1,000-point scorer in Kingston basketball history. Brodhead, died Wednesday from cancer at age 71.

   Brodhead played from 1952-55 on a varsity team that marked the final three seasons of G. Warren Kias’ 28-year coaching career, going 44-16.

   "He was the third greatest basketball player at Kingston,” said Ron Woods, the former Kingston recreation chairman who wrote a 1990 book on the city’s sports titled.

   Brodhead averaged 16.1 points per game as a sophomore, 18.0 his junior year and 19.4 as a senior. He finished his career with 1,066 points.