By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
Shenendehowa’s Ken Strube, whose teams won four state girls basketball championships in 12 years, leads the list of selections for induction into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in Glens Falls Civic Center.
Strube, the winningest girls coach in Section II history, will be enshrined alongside eight others next March during the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Final Four weekend.
Strube’s record is 512-144 with nine Section II championships in 29 seasons and NYSPHSAA crowns in 1988, 1990, 1993 and 1999. The Plainsmen’s run of success included 112 consecutive Suburban Council victories over a stretch of nine seasons.
The others selected for the Hall of Fame class by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York are:
* Fred Ahart, boys coach at Roscoe with 541 victories in 39 seasons.
* Dick Bihr, men's coach at Buffalo State, winner of 439 games and 11 State University of New York Athletic Conference championships.
* Rich Castellano, girls coach at Northport, winner of 491 games and nine sectional championships in 28 seasons.
* Tim Leary, whose St. Francis Prep boys teams won 541 games in 39 seasons.
* Bill Merna, boys coach at Ogdensburg Free Academy for 35 years, winning 540 games and 15 sectional crowns.
* Dean Schott Sr., boys coach at Lyons with 417 victories, nine sectional titles, four trips to Glens Falls and a Federation title.
* Bob Zeh, who won 458 games with Oneonta's boys and girls teams in 36 years.
* Cecil Watkins, honored as a contributor for his work with the National Pro Am Cities League and numerous other organizations.
More Basketball: Oliva Considers Stepping Down
Christ the King basketball coach Bob Oliva, a New York City basketball fixture for three decades, is considering resigning or taking a leave of absence for medical reasons, The Daily News reported.
Oliva is tied for 13th in state scholastic history with 549 boys basketball victories.
Oliva, who was hospitalized for three days last week after complaining of chest pains, said a heart ailment was diagnosed this month and stress may be contributing to his condition. Last spring, Oliva, 63, told officials at the Queens school that he received a letter from a Florida law firm that accused him of sexually abusing a family friend more than 30 years ago.
The alleged victim is seeking $750,000 and Oliva's resignation from Christ the King. Oliva has strongly denied the allegations, has received a vote of confidence from school administrators and has not been hit with criminal charges.
"I'm looking to come back," Oliva told the paper. "I hope to be in the gym on Nov. 1, but it's an acute situation and my health comes first."
Oliva said doctors discovered an irregular heartbeat and a blockage. He has a follow-up appointment next week.
If Oliva steps aside, assistant coaches Artie Cox, Derrick Phelps and Greg Lemko are expected to run the team. Christ the King is 96-20 in the past four seasons, finishing in the top 10 of the New York State Sportswriters Association rankings each time.
Football: A Blow to St. Anthony’s
With sectional quarterfinals scheduled for most classes of most sections across New York this weekend, there are few marquee game. The most notable exception, however, has lost a marquee player.
St. Anthony’s (6-1) will be without Atiq Lucas when the Friars travel to Iona Prep (6-0) on Saturday afternoon. The senior running back suffered a broken leg Saturday early in a 24-6 victory against Chaminade in Uniondale.
Lucas underwent surgery after an examination showed a broken right tibia and fibula. A rod was inserted into the leg, putting Lucas out of action through the end of the year.
Lucas had piled up nine touchdowns in six games, including two on kickoff returns.
Field Hockey: Perfect Regular Season
Mamaroneck capped an amazing field hockey regular season on Tuesday by defeating Ossining, 5-0. Jocelyn Baumgarten scored twice in the triumph, which left Mamaroneck with an 18-0 record and a 103-0 scoring margin. A day earlier, the Tigers snapped Putnam Valley’s 14-game winning streak.
Mamaroneck was seeded No. 1 in the Section I Class A tournament and drew a first-round bye. The Tigers won the NYSPHSAA Class A championship in 2004 and have been to four consecutive sectional finals.
Girls Soccer: Felony Charge Dismissed
A judge has once again dismissed a felony assault charge against a former Wallkill soccer player accused of punching a Cornwall opponent during postgame handshakes in 2006.
In a decision filed Monday, Orange County Court Judge Robert Freehill ruled that part of the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act is unconstitutional because it more harshly penalizes a visiting student than a student on home turf, the way Ashley Thorpe was in October 2006 on Cornwall's playing field.
The case has attracted considerable attention in the sports and legal communities because it addresses an on-the-field incident; law-enforcement officials have been reluctant to get involved in physical altercations taking place during actual amateur or professional sports contests.
Wallkill's Jasmin Crespi was accused of punching Thorpe and charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. Freehill threw out the felony assault charge last year but a state appeals court reinstated the assault charge on the grounds that Freehill should have notified the state Attorney General's office before he made his decision because it questioned the constitutionality of the law.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subsequently decided his office wouldn't join the case.
Crespi, who still faces the misdemeanor assault charge, is due back in Freehill’s courtroom on Dec. 4.
Tennis: Game, Set, Match
Victor’s Bill Coleman is retiring at the end of the fall season, capping a 44-year career coaching boys and girls tennis coach.
Coleman, 73, founded the Blue Devils’ boys tennis program in 1964 and has coached varsity or JV squads for all but two years since. He also founded the girls program in 1975.
“It’s been a privilege working with young people all these years,” Coleman told the Finger Lakes Times. “I wish I could do it for longer, but it is time to hang it up. It’s time to leave it up to a younger person.”
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.
