By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
Three sports, three sections, three peeks into what Upstate high school sports fans might expect next month when postseason action heats up:
There were significant head-to-head battles in ice hockey, wrestling and girls basketball that will help shape the rankings for now and establish tournament favorites in February.
* Goals by Alex Fukes and Tom Fiorentino 33 seconds apart clinched New Hartford’s 6-3 hockey victory over Cazenovia and all but assured the teams will flip positions at the top of Division 2 when the next state rankings come out.
Fiorentino and Fukes (who also had an assist) finished with two goals apiece for New Hartford (11-2), giving them 22 and 11 goals respectively this winter. Goalie Dylan Smith recorded 24 saves in the victory.
The Spartans cruised to a 3-1 lead through two periods before Cazenovia (10-1-1) closed the gap to 4-3.
The rematch is scheduled for Feb. 10.
* In girls basketball, Buffalo Sacred Heart and Nichols, rivals in the Monsignor Martin Association, have been regarded as a cut above the Class A competition across New York all season.
Sacred Heart played suffocating defense up and down the court and came away with a 45-40 victory Tuesday to maintain its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the state and improve to 11-0.
But it was hardly easy. Nichols (6-3) actually maintained a small lead through the entire opening three quarters. Senior Kacey Bougard scored the Sharks’ first eight points of the fourth quarter for their first lead, and sophomore Christina Healy scored their last eight points, including four free throws in the final 12 seconds. Together they accounted for all of Sacred Heart’s offense in the quarter.
* The wrestling showdown had predictable results even if the final score was closer than what Spencerport is used to. The Rangers (14-0), ranked No. 1 in Division I by the New York State Sportswriters Association, went into Fairport and defeated the No. 4 Red Raiders, 26-21.
Fairport (14-1) even forged a 15-11 lead as 152-pounder Dave Foley pinned Ray Daniels in 2:23, daring the home crowd to wonder whether they might be witnessing the end of Spencerport’s 55-match winning streak.
Enter John Troina.
"We were coming apart and someone had to put the glue back," Spencerport coach Bill Jacoutot told the Democrat and Chronicle. "John glued us back together."
Troina scored a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the 160-pound match to decision Adam Onderdonk, 7-5, cutting Fairport’s lead to 15-14 and starting a string of Spencerport victories. Nick Baxter scored a pin at 171, and Bradley Englert (189) and reigning state champ Paul Glover (215) followed with decisions to all but end the drama.
More Basketball
* In Section VIII action, Carey drained a school-record 14 3-pointers during a 78-52 win over Massapequa. The previous mark was 11 in a game.
* Roslyn’s George Beamon continued to light up the scoreboard with his third straight 40-point game. Coupled with 12 rebounds it was more than enough to turn back Floral Park, 69-59.
* Remember this name for another four-plus seasons: Our Savior New American eighth-grader Emily Carmel hit for 41 points and a school record during a 58-43 win over Solomon Schecter.
* Kaitlin Donahoe of Buffalo Nichols and Emily Bird of Niagara Catholic had the highly unusual distinction of surpassing 1,000 career points in the same game. Nichols coasted to a 77-30 victory.
* Catherine Lewis’ fifth 3-pointer sealed a 67-59 St. Peter's victory against Blair Academy from New Jersey in the Champions Challenge at Monmouth University, giving Bob Daggett his 400th coaching win.
* In Section II, the Coaches vs. Cancer High School Challenge at the Times Union Arena in Albany on Sunday, Jan. 25, will conclude with a spiffy doubleheader. At 3:30 p.m., No. 11 Brooklyn Boys & Girls and No. 19 Bishop Maginn tangle in first of back-to-back games between state-ranked Class AA teams, At 5:15, it’s No. 4 Albany Academy vs. No. 18 Newburgh Free Academy.
On The Coaching Front
* Upon further review, perhaps Fairport football supporters wish they had given Richard Morgan the benefit of the doubt. Morgan had to follow legends Don Santini (1975-92) and Dave Lanning (1993-2000) as Red Raiders coach and inherited a relatively empty cupboard in 2001.
Morgan tried to give the program a major makeover, but he ran into frequent resistance from parents and supporters still celebrating a 1997 state title and finished 3-6. That was enough for some to celebrate his departure following the season, but that turned out to be irrational exuberance. Morgan, who coached two seasons at Thousand Islands before arriving at Fairport, directed Chesapeake's Oscar F. Smith High to a 15-0 record and the Virginia AAA Division 6 championship last month with a 54-24 romp against Osbourn at Virginia Tech.
* As for more current Section V football developments, Tom Zaccardo has resigned after four seasons at McQuaid with a 23-13 record. And Bishop Kearney has promoted assistant Ed Long to replace Art Carlisi (38-30 in seven years). Long plans to continue as head coach of the Rochester Raiders indoor football team.
* In Section VI, Wilson High is still without baseball coaches for the upcoming season after the school board abruptly tabled an agenda item that would have appointed John Thilk to the varsity job and Jerry Kadryna to the JV position. The search for candidates will now be reopened.
According to The Niagara Gazette, the fact that both were volunteer assistants last spring at a time when two other coaches were accused of ignoring an alleged hazing of young players on a bus following a game did not sit well with parents attending the meeting even though Thilk and Kadryna have not been accused of wrongdoing.
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.
