By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
Sebastian Telfair, Kenny Anderson and Felipe Lopez are about to have company from the ‘burbs.
Greenport (9-1) is ranked second in the state in Class D by the New York State Sportswriters Association, with its only loss coming by a 61-52 margin to East Hampton, a ranked Class A squad. Leading the way for the Porters is senior Ryan Creighton, who surpassed 2,000 career points late last season.
After games against Archbishop Molloy, Ross and Stony Brook this week he should be in the all-time top 10 in state scoring a couple of dozen buckets behind Lopez and closing in on the big three of Telfair (Abraham Lincoln, 2000-2004, 2,785 points), Anderson (Molloy, 1985-89, 2,621) and Ken Wood (East Hampton, 1985-69, 2,613).
"It actually is strange," Creighton said recently. "I never thought I would be the leading scorer of my school or come close to being leading scorer of Long Island and possibly the state."
Creighton scored 14 in the East Hampton loss but has been averaging over 30 points a game since, including a school-record 45 against West Babylon on 17-for-26 shooting Dec. 30. As was the case with the Greenport career scoring mark he shattered early this season, the performance wiped the name of Porters coach Al Edwards out of the books.
Besides prepping the 6-foot-3 Creighton for the transition from high school swingman to college guard (he's undecided on a school thus far), Edwards is able to share his experiences with the young star.
"The plus is that I had the honor to break his record," Creighton said. "The minus is that I can't be compared to him because he is a legend. I still have my senior year left and I still have to go to college. Maybe someday they'll remember my name as well as his."
They just might do that for the same reason Edwards will still be remembered decades from now. Creighton, whose favorite player is LeBron James, envisions himself coaching basketball after his playing days are over.
Before then, there's the matter of perhaps wrapping up his scholastic career with a state championship. The Porters are ranked in the smallest division behind only Maple Grove, which came down a class after winning the NYSPHSAA Class C crown last winter. Greenport finished 20-3 last season, dropping a 61-58 semifinal to Chateaugay.
"I think we have more players this year that want to win and can help with scoring," Creighton said. "We all want to make it back to Glens Falls and become state champs."
More Boys Basketball: Jamesville-DeWitt beats Lincoln
It’s time to suggest that bigger isn’t necessarily better and that the best boys basketball team in New York this season might be playing in Class A instead of AA.
Jamesville-DeWitt, ranked No. 1 in Class A by the NYSSWA, is doing its best to make a case. The Red Rams traveled to New York City over the weekend and defeated Abraham Lincoln, 73-63.
Overcoming a sluggish start, J-D (13-0) out-rebounded Lincoln 48-43 and forced 25 turnovers. Alshawn Hymes led with 28 points, Syracuse recruit Brandon Triche added 20 and precocious 6-foot-8 freshman Dajuan Coleman had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Lincoln star Lance Stephenson scored just 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Maryland recruit James Padgett had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Railsplitters (12-5).
Triche scored six straight points in the third quarter as J-D went on an 11-2 run to build a 58-47 advantage. The margin never dropped under seven after that.
J-D already owned wins over state-ranked Rush-Henrietta, Brooklyn Bishop Ford and Syracuse CBA, so taking the matchup of winners in the two largest 2008 Federation tournament classes adds to the case for rating the Rams ahead of the likes of Niagara Falls, Mount Vernon, Albany Academy and half a dozen PSAL or CHSAA clubs in New York City.
More Basketball Heroics
* Greece Athena junior Casey Sheehan was the star of a 59-58 upset of previously unbeaten Irondequoit, scoring a career-best 32 points. He made his first four three-pointers (en route to seven in the game) and scored 17 of Athena's first 24 points.
* Newark routed Waterloo, 67-24, to give the Ron Ceravolo his 400th victory. Junior center Javon McCrea finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
* Norwich boys coach Mark Abbott won his 300th game with a 74-32 victory over Susquehanna.
* Will Regan, a 6-9 junior, scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half as Nichols downed Buffalo East at the fourth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Challenge at Erie CC, 55-41.
Indoor Track: New Yorkers thrive at Yale
Colonie freshman Kyle Plante scored a winning double of 8.20 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles and :56.0 in the 400 run at the Yale Invitational. Sam Roecker anchored the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake distance medley relay to a victory Friday in 11:59.71 over North Shore (12:00.32), and she returned Saturday to win the 3,000 in 9:51.18, second in the country this season.
Other noteworthy wins included Shenendehowa's Dan Harris in 8:40.94 for the 3,000 meters and St. Anthony's freshman star Olicia Williams takings the girls 800 in an eye-popping 2:12.87.
In the Stanner Games at the Armory, Roslyn's Emily Lipari won the 3,000 meters in a meet-record 9:50.21 to nip Roecker for the national lead. Senior Terrance Livingston of Great Neck South took over the national lead in the 1,000 (2:30.81) and the 600 (1:20.41).
Wrestling: What’s the eighth tiebreaker, SAT scores?
Last week’s PSAL wrestling match between Susan Wagner and Tottenville ended in odd fashion. Tied at 39-39 after the matches were completed, the teams and the referee had to resort to the seventh tiebreaker to determine a winner.
"I've been coaching almost 10 years, but I've been wrestling since I was 5 years old," Susan Wagner coach Don Gatti told The Advance. "And I've never in my life seen a match go that far in the criteria. Kevin (Justesen, Tottenville's coach) said he's never seen it either. (Referee) Billy Patton had to sit down with the book and go through it all for about 10 minutes afterward."
The deciding tiebreaker was near-fall points. Susan Wagner held a 20-15 edge in that category, thereby winning the meet, 40-39.
Speaking of drama, the 215-pound final of the Clayton Barnard Tournament in Hilton was a fan’s dream. Brockport’s Christian Boley, third in the state a year ago, moved up a weight class to set up a showdown with 2008 state Division 1 champion Paul Glover. The move paid off in the form of a 3-1 decision over the Spencerport standout. Boley was selected the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
Boley vs. Shenendehowa’s Austin Meys, moving up from 171 after his championship last year, is anticipated to be one of the highlights of the state meet this March on Albany.
New and Notes
* The Public Schools Athletic League announced it will move girls soccer from the spring to the fall for its 80 participating schools beginning next school year. The PSAL has been facing the threat of a Title IX challenge from a faction that believes changing seasons will open the door to more scholarship and financial aid opportunities.
* Wantagh postponed two dual meets and withdrew from a weekend tournament after a wrestler was diagnosed with herpes gladiatorum, a herpes simplex virus commonly known as "mat herpes," Newsday reported.
Wantagh participated in the Rocky Gilmore Tournament at East Islip on Jan. 10 and contacted the host school, which in turn notified officials of the nine other participating schools. The scare apparently does not extend back to Jan. 3, when Wantagh wrestled Sayville, Spencerport and Fulton at the Union-Endicott Duals.
* The local organizing committee has told the state that the Hudson Valley cannot host the 2009 Empire State Games as planned because of drastic state funding cuts. State officials announced last week that funding was being eliminated and that participants in the summer games would have to pay $285, apiece, a development the downstate organizers found unpalatable.
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.
