Red Fox men close regular season with loss at Siena

ALBANY – And, that’s it for the regular season.

The Marist College men’s basketball team suffered an 81-73 loss to Siena at the Times Union Center on Sunday night to conclude the regular season at 5-26 overall.

Red-shirt freshman swingman Anell Alexis led the Red Foxes with a career-high 22 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.

Four Red Foxes scored in double digits. In addition to Alexis, red-shirt sophomore swingman Dorvell Carter scored 17 on 8-for-12 shooting, sophomore point guard Devin Price added 14 and sophomore guard Candon Rusin had 10. Both Carter and Price played all 40 minutes.

Siena senior center Ryan Rossiter had game highs of 34 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Marist concluded the regular season at 5-26 overall and 3-15 in Metro Atlantic Ahtletic Conference play. Siena wraps up at 12-17 overall and 8-10 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes will be the ninth seed in the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Basketball Championship, and will open play on Friday in the opening round against eighth-seeded Niagara. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Marist women make history

Finish league unbeaten with record 23rd straight win

POUGHKEEPSIE – History. And still in the making.

For the second time in four seasons, the 21st-ranked Marist College women's basketball team completed its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season with an unblemished 18-0 record, as the Red Foxes posted a 60-45 win over Fairfield Stags on Sunday at the McCann Center.

Marist ran the nation's longest winning streak to 23 games, a program record, as sophomore Kate Oliver led the way for Marist with a career-high 19 points off the bench on 8-for-11 shooting.

Marist is now 27-2 overall heading into the MAAC Tournament later this week.

“Tremendous ending. Really, arguably, the best regular season we’ve ever had,” Marist coach Brian Giorgis said. “For me, it’s just tremendous satisfaction to see what a team can do. A lot of people always looked us as Rachele (Fitz) and then everybody else. Was Rachele a tremendous loss? Absolutely. Greatest loss in the history of the program. And these kids didn’t skip a beat.”

Oliver added five rebounds and blocked two shots, while all three seniors made at least two field goals. Erica Allenspach added 11 points, a team-high seven rebounds, six assists and a steal. Maria Laterza scored the first bucket of the game and chipped in six points, two steals and a block. Élise Caron scored five points and added two assists and four steals.

After the lead changed seven times in the first 5:04 of the game, the Red Foxes pushed the lead to three, 14-11, on an Allenspach layup with 13:01 to go in the opening stanza. Alexys Vazquez leveled the score at 19-19 with 5:26 to go in the first half.

From there, Allenspach and Oliver scored the last nine points of the half. The 9-0 run, which began with 5:09 remaining, was highlighted by an Allenspach three-point play and an Oliver triple. Marist was ahead 28-19 at the half.

The Stags got as close as six points three times in the second half. Katelyn Linney hit a jump shot with 11:54 to play to make the score 40-34. But Fairfield (17-12, 10-8 MAAC) would draw no closer.

Down the stretch, Oliver scored 10 straight Marist points over a span of 1:43 to push the lead to 15 points, 55-40, with 5:03 remaining on the clock. The spurt also marked a 10-2 run for the Red Foxes. In the second half alone, Oliver scored 14 of her game-high 19 points.
Marist grew the lead to as many as 18, 58-40, with 4:08 to play on a Brandy Gang triple off a pass from Allenspach.

For the game, the Red Foxes shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the field, led by eight field goals from Oliver. Marist edged Fairfield in the paint 32-14, while the Red Foxes got 16 points of 11 Fairfield turnovers. The Stags shot just 30.5 percent (18-for-59) from the floor.

The Red Foxes enter the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Basketball Championship as the top-seed and will square off with the winner of the game between the eighth and ninth seeds at the conference tournament. Marist will play its first game in the quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

CANTON – The Vassar College women’s basketball team made history on Saturday.

The Brewers overcame two earlier defeats to William Smith this season and upset the Herons, 77-67, to win the school’s first-ever Liberty League championship and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships on March 4.
Brackets and pairings will be announced on Monday.
The No. 2 seeded Herons had defeated No. 4 Vassar the two previous meetings this season, but Vassar used one of its patented offensive surges to break free from an early 10-5 deficit. Over a four-minute stretch of the first half, the Brewers went on a sizzling 17-6 run keyed by back-to-back three-pointers from junior guard Brittany Parks to secure a 22-16 lead.

The Brewers, whose 16-11, 10-6 regular season record are the most wins since the 1999-2000 season and the most ever in Liberty League play, used the same knockout punch against William Smith as was employed on St. Lawrence on Friday night. Parks and freshman forward Hannah Senftleber orchestrated the first half offensive assault. The second half belonged to Parks, who made all of her 14 free throws on 15 attempts, the majority coming when the Brewers were locking down the outcome.
Vassar built a 31-21 first half lead with 1:58 to play when unsung star sophomore forward Natalie Allen converted a layup down low. The Brewers held a 33-28 halftime lead, and weathered William Smith’s only serious challenge of the game, a 13-6 run that tied the contest at 43-all.

From that point, it was all Vassar.
Senior guard Carolyn Crampton followed up a missed shot by draining a three-pointer and lifting the Brewers to a 46-43 lead that was extended to 50-43 with 9:08 to play after Matsuoka scored on a driving layup. William Smith came as close as 54-51 after a three-pointer by Danahy with 5:38 to play, and then the Brewers proceeded to score nine straight points for a 63-51 lead.
Vassar scored all of its remaining 14 points off consecutively made free throws, eight of which came off the steady release of Parks, who ranks 17th in the nation in free throw percentage. The Brewers made 22 of 25 free throws (88 percent) in the game.
Parks led Vassar in scoring with 27 points.

One win away from perfection

Marist women top Siena, now 17-0 in MAAC, tie record with 22nd straight win

LOUDONVILLE – Sunday is shaping up to be something of a coronation for the Marist College women’s basketball team.

The Red Foxes, ranked No. 21 in the country, can finish off a perfect Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference season and break the program record for consecutive wins if they can beat Fairfield in the regular season finale at the McCann Center.

That was made possible after Marist clinched its seventh straight outright MAAC regular season title on Friday night following a 64-48 victory over the host Siena Saints. With the win, the Red Foxes tied the program record with 22 straight wins and completed the road portion of their schedule undefeated, a perfect 12-0.

In the game, senior guard Erica Allenspach (pictured) scored 20 points and shot 6-for-8 from beyond the arc.

Junior guard Corielle Yarde added 11 points and shot 4-for-9 from the field, while sophomore Kate Oliver and senior Élise Caron scored 10 points apiece. Yarde had six assists and Oliver had five blocks and a steal.

The game began in a back-and-forth fashion as the lead changed four times in the first 4:13. Marist (26-2, 17-0 MAAC) claimed the lead for good at the 15:47 mark on the second Oliver jumper of the half. The score became 11-9 following the basket.

At the 11:17 mark, the Red Foxes began a 17-3 run over a span of 5:30. During the spurt, Allenspach hit two of her four first half threes and junior Brandy Gang and classmate Corielle Yarde each hit a pair of foul shots. Caron capped the run at the 4:47 mark with a jumper that made the score 31-16.

Yarde grew the lead to as many as 18 points, 37-19 on a triple with 1:51 to play in the stanza. However, the Saints scored six of the last eight points in the first half to make the halftime score 39-24.

The Red Foxes scored the first seven points of the second half and pushed the lead to 22 points on an Oliver jumper, an Allenspach triple and a Yarde layup.
Siena (12-15, 10-7 MAAC) used a 9-2 run to get as close as 13 points, 54-41, with 7:44 to play in the game. The Saints got the deficit back to 13 points, 58-45, with 2:45 to go following a pair of Cristina Centeno free throws.

Marist shot 22-for-52 (42.3 percent) from the field in the game and made eight three-pointers. Additionally, the Red Foxes shot a flawless 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.

The win marked the first time that Marist went undefeated on the road during the regular season under head coach Brian Giorgis.

Arlington's Lanteri, Costello honored

Conference I, League A honored its girls’ basketball teams with all-league selections on Friday and, no surprise, Arlington High School led the way.

The Admirals’ Nicole Lanteri was named the Most Valuable Player of the league after helping Arlington to a 17-1 mark in the regular season, including a perfect 10-0 record in league play.

Arlington’s Kim Costello was chosen as Conference I, League A’s Coach of the Year.

Joining Lanteri on the all-league team were Teneka Whittaker of Lourdes, Arlington teammates Nicole Spaulding and Jocelyn Strack, John Jay’s Brittney Gullo, Carlee Hirt and Maggie Gallagher, Brittani Romanelli of Beacon, Ketcham’s Allison Ginter and Tanisha Coleman of Poughkeepsie.

Honorable mention selections were:

Jackie Rywalt - Arlington

Stevi Sala - Arlington

TK Starzyk - Arlington

Elantra Means - Poughkeepsie

Kelsey Roa - Poughkeepsie

Ja'Lisha Higgs - Poughkeepsie

Talah Hughes - Beacon

Carolann DelBene - Beacon

Carly Giavatto - Beacon

Krysta Vanacore - Lourdes

Nora McElduff - Lourdes

Cali Balfour - John Jay EF

Cate Ruland - John Jay EF

Shannon Spring - John Jay EF

Brittany Gregory - John Jay EF

Sam Alonzo - Ketcham

Kim Quiles - Ketcham

Three locals advance to semifinals at New York State wrestling championships

ALBANY – And then there were three.

Three Hudson Valley wrestlers each won a pair of matches Friday at the New York State wrestling championships to advance to today’s semifinal/championship round at the Times-Union Center in Albany.

NYS WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Arlington’s Jimmy Duckham advanced to today’s semifinals at 103 pounds in the Division I (large school) tournament by posting a pair of victories over Spencerport’s Geoff Brown and Frontier’s Rocco Russo, beating the former 9-4 and the latter 7-4, respectively. Duckham will face Long Beach’s Krishna Sewkumar in the semis.

At 152 pounds, Beacon’s Vin Grella advanced to the semifinals with a pair of civtories. Grella beat Jamestown’s Jacob Gullo in a thriller, 4-3 in double overtime, and then took out Newburgh’s Aaron More, 9-5, in the quarterfinals. Grella draws Islip’s Kyle Wadel in the semifinals.

In the Division II state tourney, Onteora’s C.J. Goldizen is into the semis after posting a 4-2 victory over Justin Kellett of Northern Adirondack in the opening around, and then a 7-1 decision over Drew Hull of Royalton-Hartland in the quarterfinals. Goldizen will take on Quiton Murphy of Holley in the semifinal round.

After the first two rounds, Section One is in second place in the Division I event with 91 points, trailing Long Island’s Section 11, which has accumulated 114.5 points so far. Section Nine is in 10th place. In Division II, Section One is in seventh place and Section Nine is in 10th.

One moves on, one goes home

Hackett's 30 not enough, Pawling out

BRIARCLIFF – Margo Hackett scored a game-high 30 points in the final contest of her high school career, but it wasn’t enough on the road as No. 7 Pawling lost to No. 2 Briarcliff, 66-46, in a Section One, Class B quarterfinal on Wednesday.

“It really was a great basketball game and much closer than it appears,” Pawling coach Jeff Hackett said. “We had one quarter that just did us in.”

That would have been the third quarter. The Tigers actually only trailed by two at halftime, and only because they missed a pair of front ends of one-and-one free throw situations, and Briarcliff capitalized by hitting a three-point shot after each miss to grab the slim lead.

But in the third period the hosts triple-teamed Margo Hackett, and outscored Pawling 23-8.

“We hit our open people, but we just couldn’t buy a basket,” Jeff Hackett said. “Aside from that one little spell in the third quarter, it was a good game.”

Zuvic leads Haldane boys into semis

COLD SPRING – The Haldane High School boys’ basketball team is one step away from its first trip to the Section One championship game in eight years.

Jackson Zuvic had 18 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday night, and the No. 2 Blue Devils beat No. 7 Solomon Schechter, 50-25, in a Class C quarterfinal game.

Haldane, now 13-6, will play No. 3 Lincoln Hall on Monday night at the Westchester County Center in a semifinal game.

“Solomon Schechter had a couple of guys on senior internship in Israel so we brought the pressure,” Haldane coach Joe Virgadamo said. “We had control the entire game and focused on rebounding and not allowing second opportunities. That’s what’s going to make or break us on Monday night. If we can rebound offensively on Monday we should be in good shape. We got the ball inside and that was the key to the game.”

Jimmy Meekins had eight points and eight assists for the Blue Devils, and Paul Mackey added eight points as well.

Virgadamo said he expects a tough game on Monday against Lincoln Hall – the two teams split their regular season meetings – and he’ll have his squad scrimmage against Class AA powerhouse Newburgh on Friday to help prepare.

Poughkeepsie boys just keep rolling

Pioneers drop White Plains in Section One, Class AA quarterfinals to move on

POUGHKEEPSIE – The Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball team just keeps rolling along.

Nate Gause had 21 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots on Tuesday night, and the undefeated and top-seeded Pioneers whipped No. 8 White Plains, 74-42, in a Section One, Class AA quarterfinal game.

Poughkeepsie, 20-0 and ranked second in the state, now has nine days off before playing No. 5 New Rochelle next Friday, March 4, in a semifinal game at the Westchester County Center.

“Our best situation tonight was we made defense our best offense and really turned the tables on a physical team like White Plains,” Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin said. “White Plains is a traditional power and they’ve always been a physical team, very defensive-oriented and athletic. But we were able to assert ourselves defensively tonight. The kids all talked about how White Plains was a good defensive team and they used that as a challenge and to press the issue.”

‘Press’ being the operative word.

Once again the Pioneers used their fullcourt pressure to disrupt an opponent and get out to a big lead. Poughkeepsie took a 16-4 advantage on the Tigers in the first quarter and White Plains was never closer than nine points the rest of the game.

Jayson McCaster had 10 points for Poughkeepsie and Elijah McLaurin added nine points and six assists.

And now it’s on to NewRo.

“They’re good,” Laffin said. “We’ve seen them quite a bit. We played in their Shootout (tournament) the last couple of years and we’ve seen them at the County Center. They’re good.”

Asked what he’ll be doing over the next nine days with his team, Laffin quipped, “Have a barbecue, drink some sodas, watch some Yankees spring training games. You know, the usual.”

SUNY New Paltz women advance

NEW PALTZ – The State University of New York at New Paltz women’s basketball team (16-10) overcame a two-point halftime deficit on Tuesday, exploding for 42 second-half points in a 69-54 victory against SUNY Oswego (11-15) in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament at the Hawk Center.
With the win, the third-seeded Hawks will meet up with second-seeded SUNY Oneonta in the semifinals on Friday evening in Geneseo. Top-seeded SUNY Geneseo earned the right to host the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament by throttling The College at Brockport, 73-33, in its quarterfinal-round match-up on Tuesday night. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m.
Oswego, which earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament, finishes its season at 11-15 overall.

Junior forward Shanay Bradley energized New Paltz with a double-double, scoring 11 points and adding 13 rebounds.

Holy-moly!

Ossining's Chong scores 61 points to beat John Jay

OSSINING – When he learned his team would be playing Ossining in the quarterfinals of the Section One, Class AA girls’ basketball tournament, John Jay High School coach Larry Brooks said the key to the game would be to stop scoring machine Saniya Chong.

So when Chong had 17 points at halftime on Tuesday and Jay held a 10-point lead, Brooks was thrilled.

What happened next was nothing short of stunning.

Chong scored 44 points in the second half for a total of 61 points – the third-highest scoring total in Section One playoff history – and No. 3 Ossining rallied for an 84-69 win over No. 6 Jay.

The Patriots finish the season at 14-6.

“It was unbelievable. Amazing. She’s the most talented player I’ve ever seen,” Brooks said. “We doubled her every time she touched the ball and she didn’t miss. She literally would bring the ball down the court and dribble-drive between two girls, or she’s shoot three-pointers from way beyond the arc.”

Chong, only a sophomore, had 21 of her 61 points on seven three-pointers.

“She is the most offensive-minded player I’ve ever seen,” Brooks said. “She just came out and took over.”

Chong’s 61 rank third on the Section One scoring list for girls’ basketball behind Kristin McGarvey of Pearl River, who had 63 points in a game in 1990, and Gorton’s Valerie Wilmer, who scored 62 in a game in 1983.

Brittney Gullo led John Jay with 24 points and nine rebounds, Calli Balfour had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Carlee Hirt had 14 points.

Brooks praised his seven graduating seniors – Hirt, Cate Ruland, Shannon Spring, Kristen Fernandez, Jade Dennett, C.C. Cobb and Maggie Gallagher – saying they were the heart and soul of the team.

Section One hoops tourney resumes today

The Section One boys’ and girls’ basketball tournaments resume today and tomorrow with quarterfinal play in Classes AA, A, B and C.

Tonight, the top-seeded and undefeated Poughkeepsie High School boys play host to No. 8 White Plains. The winner heads to the Westchester County Center next week for the semifinals.

In Class C, No. 2 Haldane will host No. 7 Solomon Schechter on Wednesday in another quarterfinal game.

Poughkeepsie and Haldane are the only two local boys’ teams left in Section One.

In the girls’ tournaments, No. 6 John Jay heads to No. 3 Ossining tonight for a AA quarterfinal game. The winner meets the survivor of No. 18 New Rochelle – which upset No.2 Arlington – at No. 7 Mahopac.

In Class B, seventh-seeded Pawling is at No. 2 Briarcliff on Wednesday.

And in Class C, top-seeded Haldane got a bye straight through to next week’s championship game.

Marist moves up to No. 21, then crushes St. Peter's for 21st straight

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Somewhere between Poughkeepsie and Jersey City on Monday, the Marist College women’s basketball team found out it had moved up in the Associated Press national rankings to No. 21.

So, at least the comforting thought for St. Peter’s College was that it didn’t just get humbled by a good Marist team, it got waxed by the No. 21 team in the country.

Erica Allenspach had 13 points and a career-high seven steals and the Red Foxes extended the nation's current longest winning streak to 21 in a row with a 79-38 victory over the Peahens in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game.

The victory not only wrapped up the top seed for the MAAC Tournament for the seventh straight year, but by holding St. Peter's to 38 points the Red Foxes are now the top team in the country in scoring defense.

Marist (25-2, 16-0) held St. Peter's without a field goal for the final 14:41 of the first half.

Kelsey Beynnon added a career-high 13 points as Marist had a 24-0 run in the half en route to a 33-13 halftime lead.

Earlier, Marist learned it moved up three spots to 21st in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Red Foxes garnered 130 points in this week's poll, a jump of 24 points from last week.

Marist won both of its contests this past week, earning a 72-60 home victory over Canisius on Feb. 14 and a 60-42 home triumph over Manhattan on Feb. 18.

Wild night, career night, sad night

First round of Section 1 hoops tourney produces glut of emotions

SECTION ONE BASKETBALL

High school athletics are already a ball of emotion, but the first round of the Section One boys’ and girls’ basketball tournaments on Friday produced a night of cheers and tears, and for different reasons.

Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball coach Brian Laffin coached the Pioneers to a win over Clarkstown North with a heavy heart on Friday after his mother passed away Thursday evening. It came almost exactly a year to that day that he coached the team to a win over Lincoln Hall the night after his father passed away.

There were some tears at Arlington High School, too, after the Admirals saw their amazing season come to a stunning end in the Class AA girls’ tournament. The second-seeded Admirals were stunned by No. 18 New Rochelle and eliminated in the first round.

And at Pawling, Margo Hackett made sure her last home game was a keeper. Hackett scored a career-high 46 points to lead the Tigers to a double-overtime win in the Class B first round.

Hackett's 46 lift Pawling to thrilling double OT victory

PAWLING – Back and forth, up and down, momentum swings, big shots, buzzer beaters …. what happened at Pawling High School on Friday night was nothing short of what girls’ basketball coach Jeff Hackettt called “the best girls’ game I ever saw.”

Hackett’s daughter Margo pumped in a career-high 46 points in her final home game, including a long three-pointer that forced the second overtime, and the seventh-seeded Tigers beat No. 10 Croton-Harmon, 65-56, in a double-OT Section One, Class B first-round game.

Pawling, now 11-8, will play at No. 2 Briarcliff on Tuesday in a quarterfinal game.

“It was incredible, the momentum swings,” Jeff Hackett said. “It was just big shot after big shot, big play after big play.”

It was actually the visitors who had the first big play, hitting a shot at the buzzer at the end of regulation. Hackett repaid the favor at the end of the first overtime, nailing a 28-foot three-pointer with two seconds left to tie the game.

In the second OT, Pawling’s Jen Jones made a power move for a big layup that put the Tigers up by a point, Hackett followed with a bucket and then added two free throws for a five-point lead.

“Once that happened we put the ball in Margo’s hands and let her ice it,” Hackett said. “It was a game of swings and it was a game for the ages for Pawling.”

No. 2 Arlington girls shocked by No. 18 New Rochelle

FREEDOM PLAINS – As far as shockers go, this one ranks right up there.

The Arlington High School girls’ basketball team entered the Section One, Class AA playoffs on a roll. The Admirals had a record-setting season en route to a perfect Conference I, League A record and championship, a 17-1 mark, a 13-game winning streak and the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the highest ever for the program.

And then it all came apart on opening night.

In Arlington’s first sectional game, No. 18 New Rochelle came to Freedom Plains and upset the No. 2 Admirals, 62-58 in overtime, on Friday night.

“Well, it obviously wasn't the outcome we were hoping for, but one loss does not define our season,” Arlington coach Kim Costello said. “New Rochelle is a much better team than their seed indicates, and they played very well tonight.”

Arlington was down by eight points in the fourth quarter and nearly pulled it out. Sarah Kaminsky banged a huge three-pointer to cap the Admirals’ comeback and force overtime.

But by that time, four of Arlington’s starters had fouled out and the Admirals struggled in the extra session.

Nicole Spaulding had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Arlington, Nicole Lanteri had 12 points, and Jocelyn Strack had 12 rebounds.

“In all my years of coaching, I have never enjoyed it as much as this season,” Costello said. “This group of young ladies is so special, both on and off the court.”

Laffin coaches with heavy heart after mother passes

POUGHKEEPSIE – Last year, well, everybody knew that Parkinson’s Disease had taken its toll on Mort Laffin, father of Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball coach Brian Laffin.

Mort passed quietly on a Wednesday morning, and Brian coached the Pioneers to a quarterfinal win that night over Lincoln Hall.

Sadly, the same scenario played itself out this year, only unexpectedly. Laffin’s mother, Patricia, passed away on Friday, almost a year to the day after her husband died. After entering the hospital to be treated for pneumonia, doctors found she had lung cancer. She was, without a doubt, an extraordinary woman who found great joy in her son’s accomplishments.

So there’s no question she was watching on high as the top-seeded Pioneers opened the Section One, Class AA tournament with an 81-46 win over No. 16 Clarkstown North.

Nate Gause led Poughkeepsie, now 19-0, with 32 points. Basheem Bennett added 12 and Elijah McLaurin had nine.

Poughkeepsie raced to a 29-9 lead after one quarter.

“The kids came out and had a very good offensive quarter,” Laffin said. “I thought we hit our shots and did a nice job on defense, putting pressure on the ball in the full court and asserting ourselves early in the game.”

Poughkeepsie will be home to White Plains on Tuesday in a quarterfinal game.

Marist wins 20th straight; Fitz's jersey retired

POUGHKEEPSIE – As Brian Giorgis said, it was the symbolic passing of the torch.

On the night the Marist College women’s basketball team honored its greatest player by retiring the No. 12 jersey of Rachele Fitz, her replacement in the starting lineup had a career-night.

Junior forward Brandy Gang opened Friday night’s game with a three-pointer en route to a personal best 19 points, and the 24th-ranked Red Foxes beat Manhattan 60-42 for their 20th consecutive victory.

“It's really apropos,” Giorgis said. “It's kind of like passing the torch in a sense. Brandy's a different type of player. She epitomizes the new Marist Red Foxes, that it is a team effort.”

The three-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year, Fitz finished her career as Marist's all-time scoring (2,447) and rebounding (1,066) leader and is the first player in women’s basketball history at the school to have her jersey retired. The team had a 116-21 record during her career, which included four trips to the NCAA Tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance in her freshman year.

“This was a great day for Marist women's basketball to have the first jersey retire,” Giorgis said. “She not only was the greatest player in Marist history, but the greatest player to play in the MAAC. Even though we lost that type of player we're still OK.”

Gang was 8-for-9 shooting from the field, the fourth-best performance on Marist's single-game list at .889 percent. She shot 6-for-6 in the first half and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Gang added three steals. Junior guard Corielle Yarde manufactured 10 points. As a team, Marist (24-2, 15-0 MAAC) shot 47.9 percent (23-for-48) from the field and made nine three pointers.

The Red Foxes opened the game on a 22-4 run over the first 8:34 of the contest. During the stretch Gang and Yarde combined for 13 points, behind seven from Gang and six from Yarde. Marist held Manhattan (19-7, 11-4 MAAC) to one field goal during the run.

Marist pushed the lead to 21 points, 31-10, on a Gang triple with 5:42 to go in the opening stanza. The lead grew to as many as 27 points, 39-12, with 2:41 to go in the period after a brief 6-0 run. Sophomore Kate Oliver capped the run with a jumper off a Yarde pass.

The Red Foxes will play their next two games on the road. Marist will begin the swing at Saint Peter's on Monday. Tip-off at the Yanitelli Center is slated for 7 p.m.

Jay girls salvage league's rep

WICCOPEE – The knock on the blogs at lohud.com was that the Dutchess County schools in Conference I, League A girls’ basketball weren’t as good as some thought. There was some validity to that after Our Lady of Lourdes, Poughkeepsie and, especially, No. 2 seed

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Arlington all went down to defeat Friday in the first round of the Section One, Class AA tournament.

Leave it to John Jay to salvage the league’s rep.

Four players scored in double figures and the No. 6 Patriots beat No. 11 Clarkstown North, 65-54.

Jay is now 14-5 and travels to No. 3 Ossining on Tuesday for a quarterfinal game.

“Obviously we had the balanced scoring but I thought our defense was the key,” John Jay coach Larry Brooks said. “We did a nice job defensively, crashed the boards, got out in transition and created some points off our defense.”

Cate Ruland led the Patriots with 13 points, Shannon Spring had 12, and Brittney Gullo and Brittany Gregory had 11 points each.

“We just played them straight up man-to-man,” Brooks said. “We’ve been a pretty good man-to-man team all year and I think that will tested against Ossining.”

Ossining features Siniya Chong, who has already gone over the 1,000-point career mark as a sophomore.

“She’s their go-to kid and very talented,” Brooks said.

Red Hook boys, Wallkill girls make MHAL history

Raiders win eighth title in 10 years, while Panthers upset Coleman to win for the first time since 1969

STONE RIDGE – One way or another, history was going to be made on Friday night in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League boys’ and girls’ basketball championship games.

MHAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Red Hook High School was going for its eighth boys’ basketball title in the last 10 years against Ellenville, a team that was making its first finals appearance since 1984.

And in the girls’ game, Wallkill was making its fourth consecutive trip to the title game and looking for its first championship since 1969, while Coleman was seeking its second consecutive title after winning its first-ever last year.

So, how did it work out?

Well, in a couple of great games, Red Hook continued on its merry winning ways, and the fourth time was the charm for Wallkill.

The Panthers stunned the state’s No. 1 Class D team with a 36-34 victory for the MHAL title, while in the boys’ game Dan Totten’s two free throws with 33.6 seconds left was the difference in the Raiders’ 57-55 win over Ellenville.

The Raiders needed to hold off a furious comeback by the Blue Devils, who trailed 52-39 in the fourth quarter but rallied behind Adrian Echols (19 points), John Paulsen (15 points) and Marc Candelario (11 points).

Joe Stortini led Red Hook with 15 points and Ray Wright added 13.

FDR turnaround continues

Presidents clinch sectional berth

HYDE PARK – Like football like basketball?

One of the great stories of the high school fall season was the resurgence of the Franklin D. Roosevelt football program.

One of the great stories of the winter season has been the resurgence of the Presidents’ boys’ basketball team.

Winners of just one game last year, the Presidents qualified for the Section Nine playoffs with a 58-55 victory over Marlboro on Wednesday in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League crossover game.

The win assured FDR of at least a .500 record. The Presidents are now 9-8 heading into the regular-season finale tonight against John A. Coleman. Section Nine seedings and brackets are announced next week.

“The turnaround has been the kids’ commitment in the offseason to getting better. That was really the difference,” Roosevelt coach Kevin Hart said. “I expect the same thing next year out of our sophomores and juniors. The future looks bright.”

One of those sophomores, Felix Riascos, scored a game-high 18 points for FDR. Matt Kennedy had 17 and Tim Miller added 10.

“I was really pleased with how our kids executed down the stretch,” Hart said. “That was the difference in the game.”

Poughkeepsie boys draw top seed;

Arlington girls No. 2 in Class AA

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

Every game, heck every passing day, seems to bring more accolades for the Arlington High School girls’ basketball team.

On Wednesday, it was a No. 2 seed in the Section One, Class AA tournament, as the seedings and brackets for the boys and girls were announced.

“This is the highest seed any Arlington girls’ team has ever had, so that is something the girls should be proud of,” Admirals coach Kim Costello said of her 17-1 team, which is currently ranked No. 24 in the state. “Regardless of our opponent, we just have to focus on continuing to play together and doing the things that got us to this point.”

Arlington wasn’t the only local team to draw a high seed. In the Section One boys’ tournament, undefeated Poughkeepsie, ranked No. 2 in the state, is the No. 1 seed in Class AA while a resurgent Haldane boys’ program nabbed the No. 2 seed in the Class C playoffs.

Coach Joe Virgadamo is thrilled that his team will be hosting No. 7 Solomon Schechter in a quarterfinal game next week.

“We haven’t had a home sectional game since 1998, either due to earning a bye to the (Westchester) County Center or we didn’t make sectionals or we didn’t have a high enough seed for a home game,” Virgadamo said. “Solomon Schecter is a well coached team and it will be a tough first round game. Our team is very focused and determined to continue playing as one unit. We have had numerous guys step up throughout the year and now it's time to put it all together.”

The Haldane girls drew the No. 1 seed in the Class C tournament and go right to the championship game to face either Keio or Hamilton.

For the complete seedings and brackets, check out our Postseason Page.

Correa places third at sectionals, advances to state bowling tourney

WHITE PLAINS – Beacon High School’s Erin Correa knocked down 1,156 pins over six games on Tuesday, and that was good enough to finish third in the Section One championships and qualify her for the state tournament.

It is the first time in at least a dozen years that Beacon has had a bowler qualify for the states.

“She did really well,” Beacon coach Brian Mahon said. “She needed to finish in the top three to qualify and she finished third out of about 70 bowlers. She found her groove and bowled really well.”

Wallkill, Coleman roll into MHAL girls' finals

STONE RIDGE — Will the fourth time be the charm?

We’ll find out on Friday.

MHAL GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Wallkill High School girls’ basketball team avenged an earlier loss to Red Hook this season, beating the Raiders 51-45 on Tuesday in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League semifinals at SUNY Ulster.

The victory puts the Panthers into the MHAL title game for the fourth consecutive year, and the second straight against John A. Coleman, which defeated Highland, 37-28 in the other semifinal.

Wallkill and the Stateswomen will square off Friday night at 6 p.m., back at SUNY Ulster, for the title.

Leading the way for Wallkill was Kristin Lundy with 15 points, six rebounds and five steals. Lisa Bouffard added 14 points, six rebounds and three steals, and Allison Baldwin chipped in with 13 points and two assists.

Jordyn Dezago had 15 points and Sabrina Eggink had 11 points for Red Hook.

Wallkill hasn’t won an MHAL title since 1969; Coleman will be looking for its third straight. The No. 1 team in the state in Class D had a defensive struggle with Highland, but managed to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard as well in the low-scoring affair.

Arlington falls to Ramapo

RAMAPO – For the fifth time this season, the Arlington High School boys’ basketball team lost by just one possession.

Down one with the ball with 15 seconds remaining, the Admirals turned it over and lost to Ramapo, 56-54, in their season finale on Tuesday night.

Arlington finished the year at 4-14 and on an 11-game losing streak.

“We just didn’t find ways to win,” Arlington coach Matt Hoyt said. “We’ve been fortunate the last four, five years to pull out most of these tight games, but not this year.”

Julian Martinez led Arlington with 16 points as the Admirals nearly came all the way back from an 18-point deficit.

Rhinebeck boys avenge loss to Pine Plains

RHINEBECK – One loss avenged. Perhaps the other two will come in the Section Nine playoffs.

The Rhinebeck High School boys’ basketball team got a measure of revenge on Tuesday when it beat Pine Plains, 55-49, in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League crossover game.

The Hawks are now 14-3 overall while the Bombers dropped to 12-5.

“I thought we did a nice job of defending in the second half,” Rhinebeck coach Dave Aierstok said. “We switched some things up and the boys really responded.”

Ben Hoynes led a balanced attack for the Hawks with 11 points. Jacob Sopchak and Nick Sorel had 10 points each, and Reed Fox and Mark Scott had nine apiece.

Hoynes added nine rebounds and five assists, and Sopchak had eight blocks and seven boards.

Tyler Lydon had 18 points to lead Pine Plains, while Justin Cooper had 13 points.

Marlboro boys' and girls' hoops sweep Webutuck

MARLBORO – Both the Marlboro High School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams ended the Mid-Hudson Athletic League regular season on a high note Monday with victories over Webutuck.

At Marlboro, 10 different players scored as the Dukes doubled up the Warriors, 48-24. Nina DeFabio had eight points and eight rebounds, Nicole DeSantis scored eight points and Marissa Howlett had six points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks.

In the boys’ game, Matt Orszewski had 15 points to lead a balanced attack as Marlboro beat Webutuck, 82-25.

Mike Tamburri had 12 points for the Iron Dukes, Tyler Peck had 11 and Alex Smith added 10.

Marist makes it 19 in a row

POUGHKEEPSIE – Perhaps it was a bit tougher than it had to be, but that’s the way it’s going to be now.

If it wasn’t bad enough that the Marist College women’s basketball team had a bullseye on its jersey from five consecutive years of dominating the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and earning trips to the NCAA Tournament, now the Red Foxes are nationally ranked and the bullseye just became bigger.

“They hung tough through the whole thing,” Marist coach Brian Giorgis said after his team notched a 72-60 win Monday night over Canisius, the 19th consecutive win for the 24th-ranked Foxes. “You have to tip your hand to them because they played one of the best games I’ve seen them play.”

Senior guard Erica Allenspach (pictured) led Marist with 17 points and seven assists and was a steady floor leader late in the game when Canisius hung around and twice pulled to within eight in the final five minutes.

“We’ve played enough basketball here and we have enough upper classmen that we don’t get down on ourselves,” Allenspach said.

“I think the best thing is we’re getting challenged, and it’s what we need because the MAAC Tournament is survive and advance,” Giorgis said. “We’ve needed this type of thing where our kids have to play longer and play more minutes. We’re getting people’s best shots.”

Allenspach was one of four Red Foxes in double figures. Junior guard Corielle Yarde added 12 points, while sophomore Kate Oliver and junior Brandy Gang chipped in 11 and 10 respectively.

Allenspach added two steals and committed no turnovers to compliment her seven assists. As a team Marist (23-2, 14-0 MAAC) had 14 assists in the game. She shot 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Oliver notched a career-high five blocks and grabbed five rebounds. Yarde contributed two assists and shot 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range. She was a perfect 2-for-2 at the foul line. Senior guard Élise Caron grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, which equaled a career-high.

The Red Foxes held a 35-27 halftime advantage and opened the second half by scoring the first six points, which capped a 12-0 run. The stretch began with 1:26 to play in the first half, and capped at the 16:08 mark in the second stanza. Oliver made the last two baskets on the run, both jumpers.

The Red Foxes shot 50 percent (13-for-26) from the field in the first half and 46 percent (23-for-50) from the floor in the game. It was the first time in three games Marist shot better than 45 percent from the field. The Red Foxes also set a season-high in free throw attempts. Marist got to the line 30 times Monday night and converted on 22 of the 30 attempts. It was just the third time this season Marist attempted more than 25 free throws in a game.

Upton Lake wins title; Meier nets 1,000th point

CLINTON CORNERS – Andrew Meier scored 16 points, including the 1,000th point of his career (pictured above), and the Upton Lake Christian Academy boys’ basketball team beat Harmony, 40-28, to win the Mid Hudson Christian Athletic League championship.

This was the third meeting of the season between the two schools, and it was the rubber match – both teams had taken a victory from each other prior to the title game.

Meier, who came into the game needing five points for the milestone, also had 10 rebounds. Senior Elias Strickland added eight points and freshman Jacob Clark had a solid game defensively and handling the ball.

Basketball postseason about to begin; Red Hook-New Paltz square off for division title

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

The postseason is just about upon us for high school basketball.

With wrestling and gymnastics underway, getting ready to send a number of local athletes off to the state championships, hoops is just gearing up.

On Wednesday, the Section One boys’ and girls’ seedings and brackets will be announced.

The Mid-Hudson Athletic League will have its annual championship tournament this week. One more spot in both the boys’ and girls’ tourneys need to be filled and will be decided tonight. In boys’ basketball, Red Hook plays New Paltz, with the winner taking the Division II championship and advancing to Wednesday’s MHAL semifinal against Division I winner Wallkill at SUNY Ulster. Divisions III and IV winners Ellenville and Millbrook, respectively will square off in the other semifinal.

Also tonight, the Red Hook girls play New Paltz. If Red Hook wins, the Raiders go to the playoffs. If they lose, they could fall into a tie-breaker scenario with Marlboro, which takes on Webutuck tonight.

Wallkill awaits the winner in one semifinal on Tuesday at SUNY Ulster. Highland and Coleman will play in the other semi.

Both the boys’ and girls’ championships are Friday night at SUNY Ulster.

CONGRATS TO ARLINGTON, POUGHKEEPSIE – We would be remiss if we didn’t offer up congratulations to the Arlington girls’ basketball team and the Poughkeepsie boys.

Arlington has won 13 consecutive games and, with Friday’s victory over Poughkeepsie, completed an unbeaten Conference I, League A season at 10-0. With a 17-1 mark overall, the Admirals are looking at a top seed – if not THE top seed – in the Class AA tournament.

Same for the Poughkeepsie boys, who completed an unbeaten regular season at 18-0 by spotting Peekskill a 12-0 lead to start Saturday’s game before rallying for a 17-point victory over the Red Devils.

Simply perfect

Poughkeepsie caps unbeaten regular season with rally past Peekskill

NEW ROCHELLE – Well, this was different.

Usually it’s the Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball team sprinting to a big lead and forcing the opponent to play catch-up.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

But nothing, not even a 12-0 deficit, was going to keep Poughkeepsie from perfection. The Pioneers quickly rallied to take a 13-12 lead, and then roared back to beat the Red Devils, 75-56, to cap an unbeaten regular season with an 18-0 record. The game was part of the Queen City Classic Shootout at New Rochelle High School.

It’s likely the Pioneers will be given the No. 1 seed when the Section One, Class AA brackets are released on Wednesday.

“The kids worked hard,” Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin said. “They worked very hard for this.”

Elijah McLaurin led the Pioneers with 21 points as Poughkeepsie had five players in double figures. Jermar Dancy had 15 points, Basheem Bennett had 12 points, Ronell Epps had 11, and, in his return from missing two games to a knee injury, leading scorer Nate Gause had 14 points.

It was a tight game most of the way, with the Pioneers only up eight heading into the final period. But Poughkeepsie went on a 27-16 run to put the game away.

“We started to get some separation and in the fourth quarter made that big run,” Laffin said. “They had some guys who are pretty big on the boards and we finally started to get out in transition and make some buckets.”

Rhinebeck outlasts Saywers in OT

SAUGERTIES – The Rhinebeck High School boys’ basketball team was playing for the fourth time in five games on Saturday and, of course, as fate would have it, that last game of the streak was not only on the road but it went into overtime.

But the Hawks hung tough.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Hawks are now 13-3 overall.

“Four games in five days, that’s tough on NBA players, much less high school kids,” Rhinebeck coach Dave Aierstok said. “But these kids were outstanding. To go 3-1 in those four games? I’ll take it.”

Targia had 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including the triple with 11.1 seconds left to tie it and send it into OT squared at 62-all.

In the OT, Rhinebeck scored eight of its 11 points from the line – the Hawks were an amazing 27-for-32 overall – and held the Sawyers to just five points.

Jacob Sopchak led Rhinebeck with 19 points, eight blocks and eight rebounds. Ben Hoynes had 17 points and 11 boards, and Targia grabbed 13 rebounds.

Mark Whitaker had 20 points and J.T. Elemendorf 12 for Saugerties.

MILLBROOK – Back on top.

The Millbrook High School boys’ basketball team did what it had to do on Saturday afternoon, beating John A. Coleman Catholic 58-34 to clinch its first Mid-Hudson Athletic League Division IV title in three years.

The Blazers needed a victory to avoid a one-game playoff with Pine Plains for the division title and head to the MHAL championship tournament.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Instead, they went out and clinched it in convincing fashion, breaking to a 19-5 lead after one quarter and never letting the Statesmen get close.

“We tried to limit their post guys to one shot only and that really seemed to work for us,” Millbrook coach Adam Peek said. “This group we have is really playing well. I have to give them credit. Nobody has been giving them much credit and with this group of guys, between football and now basketball, they’re doing pretty well.”

Millbrook will square off against Division III champion Ellenville in one MHAL semifinal on Wednesday night. Wallkill will meet the winner of the Red Hook-New Paltz game, to be played on Monday, in the other semifinal.

Dan Blayney led the Blazers with 16 points, while Evan Hurley had 14, Tyler Dahlin had 12 and Peter Keenan added five points and six assists.

Ben Mesuda led Coleman with 16 points and Chris Chatelain added 12.

Nationally ranked Red Foxes drop Iona

NEW ROCHELLE – Call it sheer luck, fate or kismet, but the Marist College women’s basketball team’s first game since breaking into the national rankings earlier this week came Friday – on national television.

And that was no way the Red Foxes were letting that opportunity pass.

Corielle Yarde led a balanced attack with 15 points, and Marist – ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll – turned back Iona, 56-45, in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game.

It was Marist’s 18th consecutive victory overall as it improved to 22-2 overall and 13-0 in the MAAC. It was also the Foxes’ 24 win in a row over the Gaels.

Yarde was joined in double figures by senior Élise Caron, who matched a season-high with 13 points, while classmate Erica Allenspach added 12.

Caron also equaled a season-high with six rebounds and dished out three assists. She shot 4-for-5 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Allenspach grabbed five rebounds and had an assist and four steals.

The Red Foxes and Gaels exchanged short runs to open the game. Marist scored the first four points on layups by Allenspach and Caron. Iona responded with the next five points on a layup and three-point field goal by Diana Hubbard.

From there Marist used a 10-0 run over a span of 1:51 to reclaim the lead, at 14-5. Caron provided the spark on the run and scored the first six points on consecutive triples. She then assisted on the third basket, a layup from Kelsey Beynnon. Freshman Leanne Ockenden capped the spurt with a layup at the 11:58 mark.

Iona (9-16, 5-8 MAAC) cut the lead to four, 14-10, with 9:58 remaining in the opening stanza. Marist responded and grew the lead as large as 12 points, 29-17, with 5:21 to play in the period. The margin capped a 7-0 run. At halftime the Red Foxes held a nine-point lead, 33-24.

In the second half, Iona cut the deficit to as few as eight on two occasions. Anda Ivkovic made a free throw with 8:40 to go. The Gaels cut it back to eight points, 45-37, with 5:50 to go on a Tomica Bacic layup.

Allenspach gave Marist its largest lead of the game, a 13-point edge, 50-37 with 3:53 left. She hit a triple off a pass from junior Emily Stallings.

The Red Foxes went 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the final 52 seconds of the game to secure the victory. Stallings and Allenspach each hit a pair of foul shots.

Marist outscored Iona in the paint 32-12 and compiled nine steals on 16 Iona turnovers. The Red Foxes shot 21-for-54 (38.9 percent) from the field as opposed to Iona's 14-for-59 (23.7 percent) performance from the floor. In comparison, Marist hit 13 field goals in the first half.

Marist will return to action on Monday when it hosts Canisius in a MAAC game. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the McCann Center. The Marist Athletics Department will host its annual WBCA Pink Zone game and looks to raise money for Miles of Hope.

For ticket information call the Marist ticket office at 845-575-3553 or visit.

Reeling Marist men lose another game, another player

POUGHKEEPSIE – Another loss of a game, another loss of a player.

The reeling Marist College men’s basketball team got in another early hole, falling behind 11-0 in an eventual 66-54 loss to St. Peter’s in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at the James J. McCann Recreation Center.

Prior to the game, Marist announced it was shelving freshman forward Adam Kemp for the remainder of the season. Kemp fractured a bone in his hand in December and sat out for almost a month before returning. But he aggravated the injury and, according to Marist sports information director Mike Ferraro, “the decision was made to shut him down. If it heals right, he might be able to avoid surgery.”

It was another blow to a team that has already lost two players to academics, is riding a nine-game losing streak and is now 4-22 overall.

Marist never got closer than 12 in the second half. Ryan Bacon scored 13 points to lead four double-digit scorers for Saint Peter’s.

Saint Peter’s won the tip and started the game an 11-0 run, leading by 11 at the 16:24 mark. They then led 16-2 and then 20-5 with 13:22 to play in the first half. Marist then scored six straight to cut the deficit to nine at 20-11, but the Peacocks then used an 15-5 run to take a 35-16 lead at the 4:39 mark. Marist did draw to within 13 points at 37-24, but Saint Peter’s went into the break with a 41-26 advantage.

In a balanced attack in the first half, five Peacocks scored six points to lead the way. Saint Peter’s shot 59.4% from the field in the first half and held the Red Foxes to just 26.7%. The Peacocks outrebounded Marist 19-16 and committed seven turnovers, while forcing eight.

The second half was far from pretty, but the Peacocks held their advantage and never let Marist back into the game. The Red Foxes did get as close as 13 points at 62-49, but the Peacocks had an answer for ever Marist basket is the second frame.

Dorvell Carter scored 18 to lead Marist. Saint Peter’s shot 57.1% from the field and held Marist to just 31%.

“I thought we did some good things (in the second half).” Marist coach Chuck Martin told WKIP Radio after the game. “I was pleased with the effort.”

Arlington girls complete unbeaten league season

FREEDOM PLAINS – Maybe this was it.

Maybe this was the game that ended the winning streak, that put a chink in the armor of the Arlington High School girls’ basketball team.

Instead, the resilience of the Admirals came through once again.

Down six points after each of the first three quarters, Arlington exploded for a 24-10 advantage in the final period and knocked off Poughkeepsie, 51-43, to complete the Conference I, League A season undefeated and extend its winning streak to 13 games.

“Finishing 17-1 and going 10-0 in a competitive league is quite an accomplishment and we are so proud of the girls and how they did this together,” Arlington coach Kim Costello said. “This was just a great high school basketball game. Poughkeepsie came out strong in the first half and they were just on fire. We were getting good looks at the basket but just couldn’t get anything to drop. But, our defense is our identity and we really stepped it up in the fourth quarter.”

Nicole Lanteri led the comeback, scoring nine of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. Jocelyn Strack had a big game as well with nine of her 17 points in the final eight minutes, as well as a game-high 11 rebounds. TK Starzyk added 10 points.

Millbrook wins, can clinch today

AMENIA – And now it comes down to one game.

The Millbrook High School boys’ basketball team beat Webutuck on Friday night, 51-34, in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League game, setting u

BOYS' BASKETBALL

If the Blazers can beat John A. Coleman at home, they take the division crown and head to the MHAL championship tournament on Tuesday to play Ellenville.

If the Blazers lose, they fall into a tie with Pine Plains and would have to play the Bombers in a one-game playoff to determine the division champion on Monday.

“Hopefully, we can carry some of the momentum from this game into (today) and play well,” Millbrook coach Adam Peek said.

Evan Hurley led Millbrook with 19 points. Tyler Dahlin added 15 and Andrew Gartelman had 11 points.

Matt Mateo had 13 points for the Warriors.

Carlee's 27 puts a Hirt-in on Indians

WAPPINGERS FALLS – In the final regular-season game of the year, in what is arguably the best rivalry in the Hudson Valley, leave it to Carlee to put a Hirt-in on the Indians.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Jay finishes the regular season at 13-5 while RCK went 6-12; both teams are headed to the Section One, Double AA tournament next week.

“It was the same thing as last time we played them – we started slow and go down early,” Ketcham coach Kristie Worell said of her team, which fell into a 31-16 hole at halftime. “I thought we did a nice job of coming back and making it a respectful game.”

Kim Quiles led RCK with 12 points and Kayla Kruse had 10.

RCK finishes with win over Jay

WAPPINGERS FALLS – At just the right time, with the Section One playoffs set to begin on Thursday, the Roy C. Ketcham High School boys’ basketball team is peaking.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Indians won for the fourth time in their last seven games on Friday night, doing it in dramatic fashion as Steve Bizarro’s two free throws with eight seconds remaining were the difference in a 43-41 win over archrival John Jay.

RCK finishes the regular season at 7-11 overall and 5-5 in Conference I, League A play.

“I’ll take it,” Ketcham coach Matt Paino said with a laugh. “Going 5-5 in our league is pretty good given the competition.”

Bizarro and Devin Freeman had seven points each for RCK, and Roland Archie had a game-high 12 points.

Nick Segarra led a furious fourth-quarter rally for Jay, scoring 12 of his game-high 17 points in the final period as the Patriots rallied from a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 41-41 with 15 seconds left on Segarra’s up-and-under move.

Ketcham came right back down the court, and got the ball to Bizarro, who was fouled.

“Our confidence was shaken this week with losses to Poughkeepsie and Suffern,” Paino said, “but we got back to our identity tonight by doing what we do best, and that’s play defense.”

Hackett drops career-high 39 on Dover

PAWLING – Margo Hackett has certainly put up some impressive numbers during her Pawling High School girls’ basketball career.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Hackett scored a career-high 39 points on Wednesday night, and the Tigers beat archrival Dover, 61-31, in a Conference I, League C game.

Pawling is now 9-7 overall.

“I thought it was a good team win, even though Margo did the bulk of the scoring,” said her father, Pawling coach Jeff Hackett. “We were a little sloppy in the first half, but in the second half everybody really played well. I thought Brianna Esposito, especially, did a great job of stretching out Dover’s defense and forcing them to make decisions. Our big people were running some good backdoor screens for Margo.”

Hackett scored in every way imaginable – in transition, thanks to her five steals; from the perimeter, with four three-pointers; and at the foul line, where she was 7-for-8.

“They ran a diamond-and-one on her, a box-and-one, and a 3-2 zone that was shaded to her side,” Jeff Hackett said of Dover’s defense on his daughter. “But she did a great job of fighting through all of them.”

Finally, Arlington girls are ranked

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

Finally, in the last week of the regular season, with less than a week to go before the Section One seedings are announced, the Arlington High School girls’ basketball team earned a state ranking.

Took long enough.

Despite not having lost since December, and riding a 12-game winning streak, the Admirals were unranked the entire season until Wednesday. The latest New York State Sportswriters Association had Arlington cracking the polls in a tie for No. 25.

Admirals coach Kim Costello said she thought it might be the first time in program history that the girls’ basketball team at the school was state ranked.

“It certainly is a nice recognition for the girls,” Costello said. “They have worked hard for this.”

Arlington is 16-1 overall and is undefeated in Conference I, League A, which it has already clinched.

“Luckily the games are played on the court, not on paper, so we need to focus on continuing to play well together as team,” Costello said. “These girls are so special and so much fun to be around, I wouldn't think any less of them if we were 1-17.”

Haldane survives Dover rally

COLD SPRING – The bad news? Jackson Zuvic was in foul trouble again for the second straight game.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Will Hoffman had 17 points and the Blue Devils nipped Dover, 59-58, hanging on for dear life on Wednesday night in a Conference I, League C game.

Haldane was up 15 points going into the final quarter and Dover outscored the Blue Devils 19-5 in the fourth period. Jalen LaCourt and Daivon Lloyd had 18 points apiece to lead the Dragons’ comeback.

“We just sweated it out,” Haldane coach Joe Virgadamo said. “Our ball movement was really good at times.”

Jimmy Meekins and Zuvic scored 12 points each for the Devils.

Sopchak leads Hawks past RV

RHINEBECK – The Rhinebeck High School boys’ basketball team bounced back from a tough loss at Ellenville on Tuesday, zipping past Rondout Valley, 67-32, in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League game.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Hawks are now 11-3 overall.

“Rondout came out and played us hard, and we just could not score. We must have missed six or eight chippies,” Rhinebeck coach Dave Aierstok said. “But I told the boys to just keep defending, that defense was the key, and that the shots will fall.”

And they started falling. Jacob Sopchak had a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Reed Fox had 12 points and Ben Hoynes added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Ben DeForest led RV with 15 points.

Highland girls win

Alex Garcia had 15 points and eight rebounds on Tuesday night, and Highland High School improved to 9-3 with a key 53-39 victory over Spackenkill in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League Division III game.

Courtney Pinero added 10 points, and Jen Porter and Shannon Ward had nine each to lead Highland’s balanced attack.

Cat Thompson led Spackenkill with 10 points.

Marist women break into ESPN/USA Today

POUGHKEEPSIE – One day after it broke into the Associated Press Top 25, the Marist College women's basketball team is ranked 24th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.

The Red Foxes are in the poll for the first time this season and seventh time in program history. It is the sixth in-season raking for Marist in the coaches' poll. The Red Foxes are ahead of No. 25 St. John's, who Marist faced in the first game of the season on Nov. 12.

On Monday, the Red Foxes broke into the Associated Press Top 25 after they began receiving votes in the poll in December. With the ranking of 25th, it was the eighth time in program history Marist was ranked in the AP Poll and seventh in-season ranking.

Most recently, junior guard Corielle Yarde hit the game-winning layup with 27.7 seconds remaining as Marist erased an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the Fairfield Stags 54-52 on Sunday at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Yarde led the way for Marist with 18 points and senior guard Erica Allenspach added 13 on 6-for-12 shooting.

The Red Foxes highest ranking in the coaches' poll came on March 4, 2008 when Marist was ranked 20th. The ranking came following a perfect 18-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) season and prior to the conference tournament.

Marist will return to action on Friday, Feb. 11 at the Hynes Athletic Center in New Rochelle, N.Y. The Red Foxes will take on the Iona Gaels in a MAAC matchup. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

Marist All-Time ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll Rankings
Feb. 8, 2011 - #24
Final 2007-08 Poll - #23
March 11, 2008 - #21
March 4, 2008 - #20
Feb. 26, 2008 - #21
Feb. 19, 2008 - #23
Feb. 12, 2008 - #25

Ellenville takes out Rhinebeck

ELLENVILLE – Home court proved to be the difference.

Ellenville High School put up 31 points in the final quarter on Tuesday, and the Blue Devils prevented Rhinebeck from all but clinching the Mid-Hudson Athletic League’s Division III with a 77-69 victory.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

“They took the lead on some fast-break, transition stuff that we didn’t react to,” Rhinebeck coach Dave Aierstok said. “We didn’t rebound well in the second half and we didn’t stop penetration well.”

Adam Echols led Ellenville with 27 points and John Paulsen added 19.

WALLKILL 80, RONDOUT 43 – Kevin Sheehan and Hunter Andrews had 18 points each to lead the visiting Panthers to the MHAL win.

“They hit their shots,” Rondout coach Pete Colomer said. “It was real disheartening for us because I thought we could jump out early on them.”

Wallkill got off to a 24-14 start.

Ben DeForest and Erik Johansen both had 16 points for the Ganders.

LINCOLN HALL 76, HALDANE 73 – Will Hoffman poured in 31 points as fellow big man and Haldane leading scorer Jackson Zuvic struggled with foul trouble, and the host Blue Devils dropped a tight one to Lincoln Hall in Conference I, League C.

Zuvic finished with 16 points before fouling out; Jimmy Meekins had 10 points.

“I still think if we put it all together we’re going to be dangerous in the sectionals,” Haldane coach Joe Virgadamo said of his 10-6 team.

Segarra ties career high with 26 points as John Jay downs Lourdes

WICCOPEE – Having a point guard who knows how to distribute is a gift. Having one that can also score is a luxury. Having one who knows the difference is priceless.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

That’s John Jay High School point man Nick Segarra, who tied a career-high 26 points on Tuesday night as the Patriots rolled past Our Lady of Lourdes, 67-46, in a Conference I, League A game.

“He played great tonight,” John Jay coach Matt Hayes said. “You can’t say enough positive things about him. He shoots when he’s supposed to shoot but he also finds the open man. The ball is in his hands a lot. We rely on him, and the kids look for him, but they don’t over-rely on him.”

Segarra distributed enough that Jay hit a season-high 10 three-pointers, including three by Zach Gindes to account for all nine of his points.

Antonio Hinton added 11 for the Patriots.

Nick Makris led OLL with 12 points and Grant Thomas was held to eight.

“We definitely keyed on Grant Thomas and Nick Makris. Grant is one of the better shooters in the area so we always made sure we had someone deny him the ball or chase him in the zone,” Hayes said. “Makris is a good player. I told the kids we don’t have a most improved player in the league but I would vote for Nick if we did. They’ve clearly started to look to get him the ball. We tried to double down on him early.”

Nationally ranked!

Marist women check in at No. 25 in AP

POUGHKEEPSIE – After receiving votes since it won the Duel in the Desert Tournament in December, the Marist College women's basketball team has cracked into the top-25 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll on Monday.

The Red Foxes are ranked 25th in the nation, and it marks the eighth time the team is ranked in the poll in program history and seventh time the squad has garnered an in-season ranking.

Marist is riding the nation's second longest winning streak, a 17-game stretch, which is also the second longest streak in program history. Last week the Red Foxes went 3-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action and posted wins over Siena, Niagara and a come-from-behind victory at Fairfield on Sunday. Marist stands atop the MAAC with an overall record of 21-2 and a 12-0 mark in conference play.

Most recently, junior guard Corielle Yarde (pictured) hit the game-winning layup with 27.7 seconds remaining as Marist erased an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the Fairfield Stags 54-52 on Sunday at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Yarde led the way for Marist with 18 points and senior guard Erica Allenspach added 13 on 6-for-12 shooting.

The Red Foxes have climbed as high as No. 20 in the AP Poll. Marist was ranked 20th on Jan. 19, 2009 after it broke into the poll two weeks prior on Jan. 5.

The Red Foxes will next be in action on Friday, Feb. 11 for a MAAC contest at Iona. Tip-off at the Hynes Athletic Center is slated for 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

Marist's All-Time AP Top 25 Rankings
Feb. 7, 2011 - #25
Jan. 19, 2009 - #20
Jan. 12, 2009 - #21
Jan. 5, 2009 - #25
Final 2007-08 - #22
March 11, 2008 - #22
March 4, 2008 - #24
Feb. 26, 2008 - #25

Whittaker paces OLL

BEACON – Teneka Whittaker, who didn’t play in the second half of Our Lady of Lourdes’ last game, scored 12 points on Monday to help the Warriors take a 40-26 road win at Beacon High School in a Conference I, League A game.

Brittani Romanelli had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs.

“We played well defensively and that was our goal,” Beacon coach Christina Dahl said. “We had trouble scoring and especially couldn’t make our foul shots.”

The Bulldogs were 12-for-28 from the foul line.

LaCourt scores 1,00th in Dover's win over Pawling

DOVER PLAINS – Go ahead, Jalen LaCourt. Take a big drink out of that Harlem Valley Cup – you deserve it.

LaCourt scored 26 points Monday night, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Dover High School boys’ basketball team to a 69-44 win over archrival Pawling for the Harlem Valley Cup.

The Dragons are now 7-6 overall.

LaCourt needed 14 points to reach the milestone coming into the game, and he got it on a free throw in the second quarter.

“It’s a very nice milestone and he deserves it,” Dover coach Adam Repinz said. “He’s been with me for four years. He works hard at his game and he’s obviously our team leader.”

Daivon Lloyd added 18 points for the Dragons and Ryan Dowd had eight. Cameron Thomas had 13 points to lead the Tigers, and Matt Morrison added 10.

Same old, same old

Red Fox men lose again

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY – Again forced to play catch-up, the Marist College men’s basketball team couldn’t catch up.

Sophomore Dorvell Carter scored a career-high 20 points, but the Red Foxes lost to Niagara by the score of 77-60 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game on Sunday at the Gallagher Center.

Carter (pictured) and freshman forward Adam Kemp tied for the team lead with five rebounds apiece. Sophomore guards Sam Prescott and Candon Rusin added 13 and 10 points, respectively, to give the Red Foxes three scorers in double digits. Prescott led the Red Foxes with six assists, which set a career high.

Niagara's Marvin Jordan led all scorers with 27 points. Jordan shot 9-for-14 from the field, 7-for-10 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Jordan scored 21 of his points in the first half. Anthony Nelson had a triple-double with 10 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds to go along with five steals. Four Purple Eagles scored in double digits, as Skylar Jones added 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Kashief Edwards scored 14.

Niagara shot .492 (29-for-59) from the field and .520 (13-for-25) from three-point range.

Marist took an early lead as sophomore guard Devin Price (Inglewood, Calif.) drained a three-pointer to give the Red Foxes a 7-4 lead with 17:11 left in the first half. However, Niagara took the lead for good on the strength of a 15-1 run over the next 5:21. The Purple Eagles hit five consecutive three-pointers in the run, with three coming from Jones and two coming from Jordan.
Marist answered with a 9-0 run of its own to cut Niagara's lead to two. The Purple Eagles outscored the Red Foxes 13-5 over the final 4:24 of the first half to take a 42-29 halftime lead. Marist never came any closer in the second half.

The Red Foxes fell to 4-21 overall and 3-10 in conference play; the Purple Eagles are now 5-20 overall and 2-11 in the MAAC.

Marist will return to action on Friday, when the Red Foxes host Saint Peter's at the McCann Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Marist women nip Fairfield, win 17th straight

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The streak lives.

Junior guard Corielle Yarde hit a left-handed layup with 27.7 seconds left to propel the Marist College women's basketball team to a 54-52 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) win over the Fairfield Stags on Sunday afternoon at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.

Yarde led all scorers with 18 points in the game and helped the Red Foxes erase an eight-point halftime deficit. Senior guard Erica Allenspach joined Yarde in double figures with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

Marist has now won 17 consecutive games to improve to 21-2 overall.

In a game which featured five ties and six lead changes, Fairfield had two opportunities to win it following Yarde’s basket, but three-point attempts by Brittany MacFarlane and Katelyn Linney were off the mark. After Brandy Gang collected the rebound, she missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Taryn Johnson threw up a desperation heave from around half court as time expired.

Marist (21-2, 12-0 MAAC) led in the opening minutes of the first half. With the score 6-5 in favor of the Red Foxes, Linney hit a triple for Fairfield to give the Stags an 8-6 lead with 11:13 to play. However, Emily Stallings answered with a layup to level the score at eight a piece.

The Red Foxes kept the game within as little as four points and tied the score at 16 a piece with 6:11 to play in the period. Yarde and Kate Oliver provided the baskets for Marist.

Fairfield (15-8, 8-4 MAAC) closed the half on a 10-4 run capped by a Joelle Nawrocki three-pointer with 26 seconds to play in the half. The Nawrocki make gave Fairfield its largest lead of the stanza, an eight-point advantage, 30-22, at halftime.
The Stags grew the lead to as large as nine, 40-31, with 13:55 to play in the second half after consecutive triples by Brittany MacFarlane. The Red Foxes responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:25 to level the score at 40-40 with 11:06 to play. During the run sophomore Kelsey Beynnon had four points Gang completed a three-point play.

After Johnson scored the next four points to give the Stags a 44-40 lead with 10:01 to go, Beynnon hit a left wing three to give Marist a 48-47 lead, its first advantage since it was 6-5.

Fairfield built the lead back to five points, 52-47, but Marist responded with a 5-0 run that capped with a Yarde jumper with 1:37 and tied the score at 52 all.

In the game, Marist was outrebounded 37-32. Fairfield shot 38.9 percent from the field and the Red Foxes shot 38.2 percent. Marist shot 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the game and made its first 10 attempts from the line.

Johnson paced the Stags with 15 points and 12 rebounds. MacFarlane contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. The loss snapped five-game MAAC winning streak.

Marist will next be in action on Friday for a MAAC contest at Iona. Tip-off at the Hynes Athletic Center is slated for 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

WAPPINGERS FALLS – League champions !

The Arlington High School girls’ basketball team used a torrid fourth quarter to put away Roy C. Ketcham on Friday night, beating the Indians 49-35 to capture the Conference I, League A championship outright.

Arlington is now 8-0 in the league with a three-game lead on John Jay with two to play. The Admirals are 15-1 overall.

It’s Arlington’s second league title in program history, and its first since 1998 – coach Kim Costello’s junior season.

“This is special,” Costello said. “This was our goal as a team from day one, so achieving it is very rewarding. These 13 young ladies are a true team, in every sense of the word. They have worked extremely hard on the court, during film sessions, and in the weight room since the day last season ended, and they really deserve this. I couldn't pick a better group to share this distinction with. (Assistant) coach (Sarah) Mesuch and myself are very proud of them.”

The route to the league title was certainly circuitous. Arlington opened the game with a 14-4 burst, but the Indians roared back in the middle quarters to square things even at 29-29 heading into the final period.

But the Admirals used a 20-6 run in the fourth quarter to put it away, led in part by the play of Stevi Sala.

“Stevi really stepped up her defense and we really had trouble even getting into a play to start the fourth quarter,” Ketcham coach Kristie Worell said.

Sala finished with six assists, six steals, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

“We really did play great defense in the fourth and we were able to capitalize on a lot of fast break points,” Costello said.

Nicole Lanteri led Arlington by scoring 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half. Jocelyn Strack had 10 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, and Jackie Rywalt added 10 points.

“Our passing was excellent tonight,” Costello said. “This team is so unselfish and it really is a pleasure to watch them work together.”

Allison Ginter led RCK with 11 points.

Rondout upsets Saugerties

SAUGERTIES – All season long, Rondout Valley High School boys’ basketball coach Pete Colomer has been stressing to his team to keep the faith.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

To their credit, however, the Ganders have never given up, and Friday night was a night that faith paid off.

Ben DeForest’s left-handed layup with eight seconds left in overtime gave Rondout a stunning 51-50 upset of Saugerties in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League game.

“My team never gave up in this tough season. There were several times that we could have packed it in and said ‘I quit,’ but we never did,” Colomer said. “It was a great job by everyone on the team.”

The Sawyers led by seven at the half before Rondout came roaring back. Erik Johansen scored eight of his 11 points in the third period and the Ganders held Saugerties without a field goal for an 11-minute span in the third into the fourth. Rondout took a six-point lead with three minutes left, but the Sawyers battled back behind three-pointers from Scott Melville and Lucas Veltrie to send the game into overtime.

Saugerties jumped out to a four-point lead, 50-46, in the extra session but RV battled back. Freshman Keith Malak drained a three-pointer with 78 seconds left – on his 14th birthday no less – that pulled the Ganders to within one, setting up DeForest’s heroics.

“He literally and figuratively grew up tonight,” Colomer said of Malak.

DeForest finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Second-ranked Poughkeepsie jumps on Jay to clinch title

WICCOPEE – The No. 2-ranked Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball team is going to press opposing teams.

That’s a given.

The Pioneers start pressing when they get off the bus, during warm-ups, in the lockerroom … basically whenever and wherever they can.

You know it’s coming.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

You just can’t stop it.

“We’ve played them three times, we’ve lost three times, and all three times we couldn’t get through the first quarter,” John Jay coach Matt Hayes said after his team lost to the Pioneers, 69-54, in a Conference I, League A game on Friday night that clinched the league championship for Poughkeepsie.

Poughkeepsie, ranked second in the state in Class AA, jumped out to a 24-4 lead after one period by forcing 13 turnovers.

“The first thing we wrote on our whiteboard was ‘survive the first quarter, play with composure, play with confidence,’ ” said Hayes, who had his starting five on offense practice against seven defensive players to try to simulate Poughkeepsie’s press. “We knew what their press could do. But we had all those turnovers and that was extremely frustrating and discouraging. What I love about how we played after that was, I think a lot of teams would have folded after that. Our kids didn’t. We won the last three quarters by five points.”

Nate Gause led Poughkeepsie with 25 points, while Elijah McLaurin added 14 and Ronell Epps added 12.

Brandon Schneider had 11 points for the Patriots, while Nick Segarra and Antonio Hinton had nine each.

Rhinebeck blitzes Spackenkill

RHINEBECK – There was no way Dave Aierstok was calling a timeout.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

So when the Hawks started out Friday night’s game against Spackenkill in a 9-0 hole, Aierstok kept them on the court instead of in a huddle.

Nice call.

Rhinebeck scored 17 consecutive points and 42 of the next 57, and ran past the Spartans 73-63 in a Mid-Hudson Athletic League game.

Mark Scott led the way for the Hawks with 23 points. Jacob Sopchak had 17 points, eight rebound and seven blocked shots, Ben Hoynes had 13 points and Reed Fox had nine assists.

Steve Gugumuck had 21 points to pace the Spartans and Tyler Lipscomb added 17.

“I thought if we could just break their pressure that we would be all right, and that’s what happened,” Aierstok said. “We got into a groove and we just kept the throttle down.”

Rhinebeck, unbeaten at 4-0 in MHAL’s Division III, travels to 3-1 Ellenville on Tuesday in a critical game.

MILLBROOK 49, PINE PLAINS 45 – Big win for the Blazers as they go on the road and stop the Bombers to remain unbeaten at 4-0 in the MHAL’s Division IV.

Evan Hurley and Tyler Dahlin had 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead Millbrook.

“Millbrook played good defense tonight,” Pine Plains coach Brendan LoBrutto said. “You’re not going to win many games shooting 16-51 (31%) from the field.”

Rob Lamont had 14 points for the Bombers and Marquis VanDeWater added 12.

Beacon boys down OLL

POUGHKEEPSIE – Typical Lourdes-Beacon high school boys’ basketball game.

Down to the wire.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Warriors cut a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to one with 51 seconds left Friday night, but the Bulldogs were able to close it out with a big three-point play and some free throws, and Beacon topped Our Lady of Lourdes, 63-53, in a Conference I, League A matchup.

“It was a tough loss for us, but not a bad loss,” Lourdes coach Jim Santoro said.

Grant Thomas (22) and Nick Makris (20) had 42 of OLL’s 53 points, and Makris had half his points in the fourth period.

Down by one, Lourdes sent Beacon to the free throw line with 51 seconds left. Marquise Brown missed the front of a 1-and-1, but his brother Jarell Brown grabbed the rebound, put it up and in, got fouled and completed the three-point play to put the Bulldogs up by four.

Kohut's 16 points give Millbrook girls 2nd win

MILLBROOK – A little goes a long way.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Millbrook is now 2-12 overall.

“The girls played great team defense, and that was the key,” Millbrook coach Heather Ianucci said. “But it was the little things, too. We chased down loose balls, we rebounded, we shot well, we got great contributions off the bench … It was truly a team effort and they needed to see that little things will get you the win.”

Ally Kohut paced Millbrook with 16 points, while Roni Peterson had eight and Bryce McKenna added five.

Deanna Strang led the Bombers with six points.

WALLKILL 50, ROOSEVELT 28 – Kristen Lundy had 14 points to lead the visiting Panthers to the MHAL win.

Kaitlyn Ponesse and Raven Pentz each added nine points for Wallkill, while Jenna Thomas had eight points for FDR.

HIGHLAND 46, ELLENVILLE 38 – The road was also kind to the Huskies on this night as they went into Ellenville and knocked off the Blue Devils in a MHAL game.

Alex Garcia scored 12 points and Shannon Ward added 11 for Highland.

Regina Steele had 14 points and a whopping 22 rebounds to help keep Ellenville close.

Jay's Lee chooses Marist

Dylan Lee is staying close to home.

The John Jay High School boys’ soccer standout has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer in the fall for Marist College.

Described by coach Rob Seipp as “one of the most dynamic and talented players to come through John Jay,” Lee has been on the Patriots’ program since he was in eighth grade and was a starter as a freshman.

Lee will be joining John Jay’s girls’ soccer coach, Darryl Sullivan, who stepped down last month to take an assistant coaching position with the men’s team at Marist.

Zuvic nets 34, but JFK nets win

KATONAH – Jackson Zuvic scored 34 points Friday night, but it wasn’t enough as John F. Kennedy Catholic High School downed Haldane, 74-62, in a Conference I, League C game.

“It was their senior night and we kept it as close as we could,” Haldane coach Joe Virgadamo said. “We were down 10 at the half and then they blew it open in the third quarter.”

JFK led by 21 points, though Haldane cut it to as close as nine.

Matt Forlow added 12 points for the Blue Devils.

Gause gets 1,000th point, No. 2 Pioneers throttle Arlington

POUGHKEEPSIE – The whispers on the bench started late in the game.

Poughkeepsie High School basketball star Nate Gause was nearing 1,000 points for his career, and his teammates were buzzing.

“Once it trickled down during the game that he needed about eight points, his teammates wanted to get him the ball so he could do it at home,” Pioneers coach Brian Laffin said.

And so, with 5:30 remaining in Poughkeepsie eventual 93-50 win over Arlington on Thursday, Gause pulled up from the foul line extended and buried a jump shot, giving him the milestone points.

Gause finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds as the Pioneers – who moved up to No. 2 in the New York State, Class AA rankings on Wednesday – remained unbeaten at 14-0.

“It was senior day, so it was a nice celebration,” Laffin said of his team’s final regular-season home game. “Nate didn’t know what he needed. He knew he was close, but to his credit he only asked me one time if he was close. He’s been focused more on what the team has been doing.”

Basheem Bennett and Ronell Epps added 17 points apiece for Poughkeepsie, Elijah McLaurin had 11 points and six assists, and Jermar Dancy had eight points and five assists.

Josh Wright led Arlington with 18 points.

RCK's Morgenstern to sign with Colgate

Roy C. Ketcham High School football star Aaron Morgenstern has verbally committed to play at Colgate University in the fall, Indians coach Pat Keevins said.

The standout running back will join one of the top Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) programs in the northeast. The Big Red have won six Patriot League championships since 1997.

Morgenstern will make it official on Monday in a ceremony at the school.

Gullo leads Jay over Beacon

WICCOPEE – All seven seniors saw action in their final home game on Thursday, and the John Jay High School girls’ basketball team beat Beacon, 59-40, in a Conference I, League A game.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

“We came out a little bit flat in the first half, but I thought we did a nice job of picking it up in the second half,” Jay coach Larry Brooks said.

The Patriots went on an 18-6 run in the third quarter to turn a tight game into a rout.

Maggie Gallagher added 12 points for the winners and Carlee Hirt had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Brittany Romanelli had 15 points for the Bulldogs while Brooke Dennin added 10.

Thomas drops 24 in OLL victory

WAPPINGERS FALLS – Three days after beating archrival John Jay, the intensity just wasn’t there for the Roy C. Ketcham High School boys’ basketball team.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Grant Thomas had 24 points and Nick Makris added 19, as Our Lady of Lourdes led from start to finish in a 58-47 win over RCK in a Conference I, League A game on Thursday night.

“Lourdes came out real sharp and played with intensity, and we came out real flat and didn’t match it,” Ketcham coach Matt Paino said. “That’s the disappointing part. We were hoping the great momentum from beating John Jay on the road (on Monday) would carry over.”

Earl Snead led RCK with 10 points.

“Earl was our one bright spot,” Paino said. “We just didn’t respond and one person couldn’t do it all.”

Two-week break? No problem for Pine Plains

PINE PLAINS – Playing for the first time in two weeks sure didn’t bother Pine Plains.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Lydon also had 10 rebounds and four assists.

“I think my guys did a good job of knocking off the rust,” Pine Plains coach Brendan LoBrutto said. “Our bench really stepped it up tonight and played their best game of the season. It's nice when you can have guys come off the bench and contribute on both ends of the floor.”

Alejandro Ayala, playing in his first varsity game after being called up earlier in the day from jayvee, chipped in with nine points and 10 rebounds for Pine Plains.

Nick Occhi led Onteora with 21 points.

Marist men to host UNH in bracket-buster game

POUGHKEEPSIE – The Marist College men’s basketball team learned on Monday it will host New Hampshire in an ESPNU BracketBusters non-televised game on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the McCann Center at 7:30 p.m. This marks the sixth season the Red Foxes have participated in the BracketBusters series.

The Red Foxes are 2-3 in BracketBusters play, but have won both of their match-ups at home. Marist defeated Colgate in 2007 and Hartford in 2009 at the McCann Center. The Red Foxes fell at Old Dominion in 2006, Cleveland State in 2008 and UC Irvine in 2010.

New Hampshire enters Monday with a 9-12 overall record and a 3-6 mark in America East competition. The Wildcats are led in scoring by senior guard Tyrone Conley, who averages 14.9 points per game.

This year will mark the third consecutive year Marist will play New Hampshire. The Red Foxes prevailed by a score of 63-61 on Nov. 29, 2008, in what was Head Coach Chuck Martin’s first career victory at the McCann Center. The Wildcats then defeated the Red Foxes 72-58 on Nov. 28, 2009.

As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Marist will make a return trip to New Hampshire at a date to be determined.

Marist will return to action on Friday, when the Red Foxes take on Canisius at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. In the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 5, the Red Foxes earned a 74-64 triumph.

OLL outlasts Arlington in OT

Makris goes for 30 and 10 in road victory

FREEDOM PLAINS – Nick Makris was a man among boys Monday night.

The Our Lady of Lourdes High School big man powered his way to 30 points and 10 rebounds on Monday night, helping the Warriors to a thrilling 71-68 overtime road win at Arlington in a Conference I, League A game.

The Admirals did a heck of a job in rallying from a 16-point second-half deficit to put the game into OT as Brian Brocker led a balanced attack with 14 points.

“We battled. I’m real happy with the way we played,” Admirals coach Matt Hoyt said.

“Arlington did a great job capitalizing on some of our mistakes in a three minute stretch,” OLL coach Jim Santoro said. “The momentum clearly swung in their direction, but when the game went into overtime, I thought we were better positioned to take (control) because of the player foul situation.”

Arlington was whistled for 21 fouls in the second half, Hoyt said, compared to 12 for the Warriors. Lourdes took a whopping 47 free throws in the game.

“That’s a lot,” Hoyt said. “It’s always tough to play when the opposition is going to the line that many times.”

Makris was 14-for-20 from the line.
“In games like this, it’s always a great win, but a tougher loss,” Santoro said. “Coach Hoyt pushed all the right buttons to put his team in position to win. They just didn't close it out. It just happens that way sometimes. A win on the road is always a great win, especially given the parity of the teams in our league – with Poughkeepsie, of course, being the exception.”

Gullo leads balanced attack as Jay knocks off RCK on "Pink Out" Night

WICCOPEE – Brittney Gullo had 11 points Monday night, and the John Jay High School girls’ basketball team beat rival Roy C. Ketcham, 64-29, in a Conference I, League A game.

The contest drew a big crowd, not only for the rivalry but for the “Pink Out” night to raise awareness for breast cancer and the Miles of Hope Foundation

“I thought we played a complete game for 32 minutes,” Jay coach Larry Brooks said. “We finished plays on both ends and I thought we did a nice job of defending them in the halfcourt.”

Shannon Spring had 10 points and five assists for the Patriots, and Calli Balfour pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

Fox goes on lock-down again

RHINEBECK – The defensive stopper did it again.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Time for Reed Fox.

Fox held Penetto to just four points in the second half, and Rhinebeck went on to a 61-44 Mid-Hudson Athletic League victory over the Panthers.

“That’s Reed,” Aierstok said. “He loves it. That really set the tone for us defensively.”

With Fox holding down Penetto, Rhinebeck went on a 24-4 run in the third quarter to turn a 30-25 halftime deficit into a 49-34 advantage.

Ben Hoynes led Rhinebeck with 19 points and seven boards, Mark Scott had 14 points and Jacob Sopchak had a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 blocks.

Thompson's double-double leads Spackenkill girls

POUGHKEEPSIE – Cat Thompson had 18 points, 10 rebounds and six steals, as the Spackenkill High School girls’ basketball team beat Rondout Valley, 57-28, in a Mid-Hudson

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Spartans are now 9-3 overall.

“I thought we did a really nice job with our defensive pressure,” Spackenkill coach Don Niese said. “We were aggressive going to the basket on the offensive end and that led to us getting to the free throw line. We had balanced scoring again, which is good for us.”

Seventh-grader Nina Hartenfels had a career high 13 points and six rebounds for Spackenkill, and Anna Thompson had seven points and four assists.

State-ranked JFK tops Dover

KATONAH – The Dover High School boys’ basketball team was right there with John F. Kennedy Catholic on Monday night, trailing by just six points at halftime.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

JFK doubled up the Dragons in the third quarter, 28-18, en route to an 82-56 Conference I, League C victory.

Dover dropped to 6-6 overall with the loss.

“They took it right away from us with that third quarter,” Dragons coach Adam Repinz said. “We just couldn’t keep up. They started hitting their shots and we started missing ours. It was a whole bunch of different things.”

Dover’s Jalen LaCourt led all scorers with 27 points, and Daivon Lloyd had 21.

Dan Healy led the Gaels, ranked No. 8 in Class A, with 24 points. Ryan Hickey added 16.

RCK puts it all together, knocks off archrival John Jay by three

WICCOPEE – This might have been the best game the Roy C. Ketcham High School boys’ basketball team has played all season.

Steve Bizarro scored 19 points Monday night and teamm

BOYS' BASKETBALL

ate Roland Archie added 14, and the Indians knocked off archrival John Jay on the road, 59-56, in a Conference I, League A game.

“This is as well as I’ve seen them play,” Jay coach Matt Hayes said. “They did a great job in the halfcourt defensively. We had about 25 turnovers and we struggled on offense, in part due to their defense and in part due to our poor decision-making.”

Nick Segarra led John Jay with 17 points and sophomore Brandon Schneider had a career-high 14 off the ench.