By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
Syracuse Christian Brothers Academy snapped Jamesville-DeWitt's 38-game winning streak in boys basketball with an emotionally charged, 67-66 victory Friday night.
A three-pointer by senior guard Mike Kitts gave CBA a 15-13 lead late in the first quarter, and the Brothers never trailed again. J-D (19-1), ranked No. 1 in Class A by the New York State Sportswriters Association, won their first head-to-head battle back on Jan. 9 by a 61-57 margin.
Kitts finished with five three-pointers and 19 points for CBA (16-4). Brandon Triche of defending state and Federation champion J-D led all scorers with 36 points.
The game was played in front of a capacity crowd at CBA and turned heated with 5:40 left and the Brothers up by 53-47. J-D's Alshwan Hymes was ejected for a flagrant foul after elbowing Pat Wiese while chasing a loose ball, agitating the crowd while players milled about on the court.
The teams retreated to their locker rooms while supervisors attempted to restore order in the bleachers, The Post-Standard reported.
"This is too good a basketball game to ruin it with something like that," CBA coach Buddy Wleklinski admonished the crowd over the public address system.
Basketball Milestones
* Franklinville’s Samantha Kopp became Section 6's all-time girls basketball scoring leader, continuing her family's amazing run. The 6-foot-3 senior scored 36 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked eight shots in a 58-56 triumph over Randolph on senior night at Franklinville. She passed her cousin Joelle Connelly’s mark of 2,300 career points with a pair of free throws with two minutes left and now has 2,303 points. Her mother Laura ranks fourth in Section VI history with 2,196 points.
* In Rochester, Freddie Thomas senior Nate Dukes quietly went over 2,000 career points late last month and now stands at 2,108 points. That places him fifth on the all-time Section V boys list.
Hockey: Un-crowded house
It was the best finish to a hockey game you never saw.
The final 93 seconds of last weekend’s hockey game between Niskayuna/Schenectady and Saratoga Springs were played in an empty arena after officials ejected the crowd, The Times Union reported.
It began with Niskayuna/Schenectady senior forward Chris Farah being issued a game misconduct and ejected. Tony Farah, the player's father yelled, "You are horrible" to one of the officials from the stands and was ordered to leave the arena.
"If he felt I raised my voice too much, that is fine," Tony Farah told the paper. "I didn't even give him an argument and started to walk out. It was embarrassing enough for me."
Farah, however, soon had company. The officials said the game would not continue unless all the fans left the rink. The fans eventually complied, and Saratoga broke a 3-3 tie with a late goal to pick up the Capital District High School Hockey League victory with no fans in attendance.
On-ice official Bruce Geddes told the paper he felt as though he had no choice but to empty the building because the crowd got much louder and upset after he ordered the player’s father ejected. He said there was no security working at the Schenectady County Recreational Facility.
"The kids and benches were good all night,” Geddes said. “You don't know where the next call would be and things were already heated in the stands. One thing you can never do is engage the crowd."
More Hockey: Good-news, bad-news week for Clarkstown North
Little-used John Redgate scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the second period for No. 6 Suffern in a 4-1 victory over No. 5 Clarkstown North in a battle of state-ranked Division 1 hockey teams.
Redgate broke in on a 2-on-1 rush early in the second period and beat Chris McIndoe between the pads. Five minutes later, his slap shot deflected off traffic in front of the net for a 2-1 lead.
"I was nervous before the game," the freshman Redgate, whose only previous goal came Dec. 23 against Oswego, told The Journal News "My captains were picking me up, telling me, ‘Don't worry, just play your game,’ and that's what I focused on."
Clarkstown North (22-1-1) rebounded Saturday with an 8-2 victory against North Rockland that featured a record-setting performance.
Senior center Matt Willows’ shorthanded goal with 3:18 to play was his 81st tally of the season, breaking the state record set by Scarsdale's Bryan Gitler in 2003-04. Gregg Zegras of Rye (71 in 1984-85) is the only other player so score as many as 70 in a season.
"It's a great accomplishment, but I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates and my coaches,” he told the paper after connecting for the 24th straight game this season. “I scored 81 goals, but hockey is a team sport, and without everyone around me I wouldn't have any."
Willows had three goals – all in a 5:59 span of the third period -- and three assists on the night to up his season total to 131 points, tying him for No. 2 on the single-season list with Bob Holmes of Rye in 1987-88. Gitler holds the state mark of 134 during his 80-goal season.
Wrestling: New kingpin in Section IX
Valley Central wrestling star Cody Ruggirello overcame an early mishap to make Section IX history. The 130-pound junior pinned two-time champion Mike Vespa of Monroe-Woodbury in 2:44 in the sectional finals.
Ruggirello’s 50th straight win this season and 40th pin of the year handed him his fourth straight sectional title. But it was also his 215th career victory (with just 17 losses), one more than former teammate Mike D'Amato had en route to the previous Section IX record in 2008.
Vespa scored a quick takedown moments into the match and Ruggirello cut the deficit in half with an escape. Then, early in the second period, the 2007 state champ and ’08 runner-up caught Vespa in a half-nelson and turned him for the pin.
In other Section IX action, Monroe-Woodbury 125-pounder Jamie Franco matched the feat of Pine Bush legend Troy Bouzakis from two decades ago by winning his fifth sectional championship.
Arlington and Fox Lane will be sending 12 and 11 wrestlers, respectively, to the Section I championships next weekend after big weekends in divisional action. Fox Lane crowned an impressive six champions, including freshman Sam Speno, whose performance at 96 pounds earned him the outstanding wrestler award.
Speno major-decisioned teammate Tom Grippi, 13-0, to win the title over a deep field.
He was joined atop the awards podium by the Foxes’ Steven Rodrigues (112), Pat Fay (119), Joey Grippi (130), Jose Rueda (135) and Luke Speno (145) all won.
Coaching News
* Indian River boys basketball coach Denny Seitz will retire at the end of the season. Seitz, who previously coached 28 years at Newfane and Williamsville North, is 135-56 since 2000 at Indian River and 457-289 overall.
* Massena boys coach Tom Miller won his 300th game with the Red Raiders' 71-57 victory vs. Malone. Miller has coached six years at Edwards-Knox, seven at Indian River and 10 with Massena.
* Fayetteville-Manlius rolled past Fabius-Pompey, 75-39, to present Tom Blackford with the 400th win of his 27-year coaching career.
* McQuaid's 5-1 victory against Irondequoit last week was No. 299 for hockey coach Al Vyverberg in 22 seasons with the Knights. Former Irondequoit coach Al Maerz holds the Section V record with 303 wins.
* Dunkirk has selected Tim Majka to take over as the football coach. The 1990 Dunkirk grad was an assistant for eight years at Pine Valley and two at his alma mater.
Getting out the vote
Dozens of Liverpool students have registered to vote on the Feb. 26 proposition for a $5.8 million renovation of the school's athletic facilities, The Post-Standard reported.
"We need to get this athletic field built because high school students are suffering, sports are suffering, the marching band is suffering and future Liverpool High School students will suffer if change doesn't happen," senior Jason Savlov, 18, told the paper.
District residents will decide the fate of the proposed renovation, which is not projected to raise school taxes. The proposal calls for new artificial turf, an eight-lane track and bleachers on the home sideline. Voters defeated two similar proposals last year.
The 10-year-old artificial turf stadium was declared unsafe in December 2007 because of problems with the field and track. The football team had to play “home” games at schools in nearby districts last fall.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
