Tired Highland set for Irvington

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   The entire Irvington High School girls’ basketball team made the trip to New Paltz on Sunday for the Section Nine, Class B championship to see who they would play tonight in the first round of the state playoffs.

Marlboro names Army's Ward as new head football coach

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   Marlboro High School has a new football coach.

   Rich Ward, a Marlboro graduate who was the defensive coordinator on Cornwall’s state finalist football team in 2006 and a longtime coach of Army’s sprint football program at West Point, will be taking over the Iron Dukes.

   Ward was appointed by the Board of Education last month. He takes over for Bob Koonz, who was told his contract wasn’t being renewed after a 2-7 mark in 2009.

   “I’m happy to be back,” Ward said. “It does mean a little more, coming back to your old high school. You never really leave it. They’re giving me an opportunity so I’m going to run with it.”

   Ward will remain a physical education teacher at Cornwall High School, where he also lives and has close ties. He originally started as an assistant coach at the school in 1990, and in 1992 went to Army to coach with the sprint football team. Sprint football is for players 172 pounds and under.

   He rose to offensive coordinator when he left to go back to Cornwall and coach again with the football program there. After 2006’s success, Ward then went back to Army to left the sagging spring team, serving as defensive coordinator from 2007 through this past season, when the Cadets went 6-0 before losing to Navy, 7-6, in the league title game.

   “Cornwall is in good hands, Army is in good hands, and I was ready to expand and be a head coach,” Ward said.

   In two-plus weeks he has already had a staff meeting, player meeting, parent meeting, and encouraged 45 players to participate in off-season weight training.

   “There’s a lot of pride in Marlboro and we’re going to put out a good product,” he said. “We’re not going to promise any championships, just a blue-collar work ethic.”

   Ward said he doesn’t know yet what kind of system he wants the Iron Dukes to run.

   “The kids asked the same thing and I was like, ‘Let’s get to know each other before we make any decisions,’ ” he said, “My philosophy is to make the system work for the kids, not fit the kids into the system. The one thing we will do is, the game is still about physicality, so we’re going to be physical.”

Bolduc, Garcia lead Highland girls to Section Nine, Class B crown

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   NEW PALTZ – At 6-foot, with graceful hands and good footwork, Highland High School’s Monasia Bolduc is tough enough to stop around the basket.

   When she’s stepping outside and making three-pointers? Forget it.

   Highland, now 15-6, will take on Section One champion Irvington on Tuesday in a first round state playoff game at Vassar College.

   Bolduc’s triple was part of a 17-5 Highland surge in the third period that turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 33-22 lead heading into the final quarter.

   “It was open, the girl didn’t want to guard me as close, so I took it and it went in,” Bolduc said with a laugh.

   Bolduc had six of her 19 during that third quarter, but it was Garcia who started it all. After the Eagles came out of halftime and hit a pair of free throws to make it 19-16, Garcia quickly tied it with a three of her own. She later added three free throws in the quarter and opened the fourth period with a jumper in the lane to make it 35-22.

   “Alex Garcia played a great game,” Highland coach Jim Delmar said. “We’ve talked about having three players contribute offensively, and it doesn’t matter who it is. This game, Garcia stepped up and did it and became our third scoring threat.”

   Delmar said there was no panic over a first half in which the Huskies shot just 6-for-20 from the floor and had 12 turnovers.

   “We just fell asleep a little bit, and they’re too good a team to do that against,” he said.
“We’ve been behind at halftime before by a lot more than one point, and the girls can adjust. We’ve been a second half team quite a bit the entire season. Being one point down didn’t intimidate us at all.”

   Highland came out in a 3-2 defense in the second half and held the Eagles to just one hoop in the third quarter.

   “We picked up the intensity more and we played better defense,” Bolduc said.

   Burke actually cut the lead from 12 to seven early in the fourth quarter, but Bolduc scored six straight points to get it back up to 43-30, and then Jess Dutka scored seven of her 11 points in the final four minutes to keep the Eagles at bay.

Totten's two late free throws give Red Hook boys the Class A trophy

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   NEW PALTZ – Poor Dan Totten.

   For some reason, his name was left out of the program for the Mid-Hudson Athletic League championships last month and, Sunday, there was no “No. 22, Dan Totten” listed in the program for the Section Nine basketball championships.

   “That’s OK,” the Red Hook High School student said. “It’s not like I do this for the notoriety. I just try to play the game.”

   It’s a good bet he won’t be forgotten any more.

   Totten scored all of his team-high 12 points in the second half, including a pair of free throws with 26.4 seconds left that gave the Red Raiders a 45-44 victory over Cornwall for the Section Nine, Class A championship at the Athletic and Wellness Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz.

   Red Hook, ranked second in the state and unbeaten at 21-0, will play Section One champion Tappan Zee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a first round state playoff game at Vassar College.

   This is Red Hook’s sixth sectional title in the last 10 years.

   The victory avenged a 56-41 loss to Cornwall last year in the sectional final.

   Red Hook’s defense held Dragons leading scorer Kyle Bradley to seven points, 12 below his average.

   “I thought we played great defense the whole game,” Red Hook coach Rod Chando said. “They had to work for everything they had.”

   It was a frantic finish in the final two minutes after Cornwall took a 44-41 lead. Totten powered in a layup that cut the lead to one. The two teams then exchanged turnovers. With 54.6 seconds left, Brandon Flores missed. The Red Raiders came down and tried to set up their offense, but the Dragons pinched in and ended up trapping Totten in the corner.

   Totten tried to dribble out of it, and Cornwall was called for a reach-in foul. The Dragons’ coaching staff was incredulous, throwing its hands in the air at what seemed like a ticky-tack foul after the referees had let both schools bang for much of the game.

   Even Totten said “Personally, if I was the ref, I wouldn’t have called it. It was a bad move by me. I was dribbling all over the place. I tried to do a similar move the other time and the guy got a jump ball.”

   Nonetheless, it was a foul and Totten hit both free throws to make it 45-44.

   “The last couple of quarters I was air-balling everything,” he said. “I just felt like I owed it to people.”

   Cornwall came down looking for the last shot. Bradley split two defenders and was fouled with 5.1 seconds left, but Red Hook had one to give and the Dragons weren’t in the bonus yet. They inbounded the ball and again Bradley tried to split two defenders. This time, the Red Raiders tied him up and forced a jump ball, with the possession arrow pointing Red Hook’s way.

   Cornwall fouled with 2.6 seconds left and Red Hook missed, but the Red Raiders were able to survive a last-second miss off the rim by J.D. Hogan.

   “It was nice we pulled it out at the end because it was getting a little hairy there,” Chando said.

Dreams deferred for Marlboro, Wallkill

Panther girls fall to Cornwall

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   NEW PALTZ – For a team that had been so solid, so consistent during the year, the numbers – or lack thereof – are what jump out at you.

   Wallkill finished the season 16-3 while the Dragons, now 17-3, move on to play Section One champion Lakeland on Tuesday night at Vassar College in the first round of the state playoffs.

   It was an uncharacteristic performance by Panthers, who scored 12 points in the first half and 10 in the second. But they were undone by a plethora of turnovers after struggling against Cornwall’s fullcourt trap and its suffocating halfcourt defense.

   Kaitlyn Ponesse and Sara Bender had six points each to lead Wallkill; the duo usually average 23 points per game. Kelsey McDonald had 15 points and Alex Gagliano had 14 for the Dragons.

   Both teams started out tentative in the first half. Wallkill hit the first two buckets of the second quarter to turn a one-point deficit into a 9-6 lead, but the Panthers had difficulties from there with the turnovers and allowing the Dragons too many offensive rebounds.

   Cornwall went on a 16-3 run to close the quarter – nine of the points coming off offensive rebounds, seven following turnovers – and took command of the game. Gagliano hit two buckets to kick-start the run and McDonald had a pair of three-pointers, including a dagger with just six seconds left at the intermission.

   Wallkill committed 17 turnovers in the first half (to eight for Cornwall) and was out-rebounded on the offensive boards by a 16-8 margin. Essentially, that means the Panthers gave the Dragons 17 extra possessions in the first half, and Cornwall took 15 more shots.

   Down 22-12 at the half, , Wallkill opened the third quarter with a basket by Ponesse and then turnovers nine of its next 11 possessions, watching helplessly as the Dragons turned it into a 38-18 advantage.

Slow start dooms Iron Dukes in loss to Burke

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   NEW PALTZ – The crowd – clad in orange and black, of course – was electric. The chants were loud, the excitement was palpable.

   As usual, the town of Marlboro came out in full force to support one of its high school sports teams. But they barely had time to get comfortable in the bleachers at the Athletic and Wellness Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz when the game, for all intents and purposes, was ended right there in the first quarter.

   John S. Burke Catholic opened the Section Nine, Class B championship game with an 11-0 run, and the Eagles went on to a 67-50 win over the Iron Dukes for the title.

   Burke (17-3) moves on to the state playoffs against Section One champion Woodlands on Tuesday, while Marlboro ends the season at 15-5.

   This was Burke’s third sectional title in the last four years.

   Maxx Faircloth led the Dukes with 13 points while Joel Casil added nine.

   Burkes Brendan Miller led all scorers with 17 points, including an emphatic dunk at the buzzer. Teammate Brian Clarke had 16 and Dante Cowart had 10.

   Marlboro got off to a tentative start, and against a team like the Eagles – one of the most disciplined, smartest, crisp-passing, ball-hawking teams you will ever see – you simply can’t afford to do that.

   Clarke opened the game with a three-pointer, and Burke never trailed nor was tied again. The Iron Dukes went 0-for-8 from the field, 0-for-2 from the line and had two turnovers on their first nine possessions before Kyle Wimberly stopped the bleeding with a short jumper in the lane to make it 11-2.

   Marlboro made a mini-run in the second quarter to cut it to 18-10 on a three-point play by Casil, but Burke scored 10 of the next 13 points and ended up going into halftime up 29-17.

   Any hope of a second half rally was snuffed out quickly. The Eagles opened the third quarter on a 12-2 run and opened a 41-19 advantage, their biggest of the game.

   Marlboro drew to within 49-38 early in the fourth quarter, but Burke did it again – a run of 10 consecutive points to restore the lead to 21 points and wrap up the title.

Marist on brink of another title

Red Foxes play Fairfield today for fifth straight MAAC championship

   ALBANY – One newspaper columnist recently called Marist College “the Gonzaga of women’s basketball.”

Reports of Foxes' vulnerability

appear greatly exaggerated

   ALBANY – There’s been a buzz building all season long in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s basketball circles.

   Marist College isn’t as good this year.

   Marist is vulnerable.

   The Red Foxes can be beaten.

   To paraphrase Mark Twain, those rumors appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

   “I heard people say they’re not as good,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said on Friday after the Red Foxes made the Golden Griffins their first victim in this year’s tournament. “They’re 15-3 (in the regular season). They took Oklahoma, top 10 in the country, to overtime and Oklahoma had to make a desperation three to tie it to get it to overtime. So I’m not so sure they’re not as good.”

   Now there’s only one contender left to prove it, and that will be Fairfield today at Noon in the conference title game.

   The two teams split a pair of tight games this season, with Marist winning by seven in Poughkeepsie, and losing by a point in Fairfield.

   “You always would rather be the hunted than the hunter, but the important thing we’ve tried to do is have these guys play like the hunter,” Marist coach Brian Giorgis said. “… When you go at it with nothing to lose in attack mode, it’s fun. Everything always seems to be a comparison to the past, but this is a unique group of kids. When they work hard and they’re focused, we’re a real tough out.”

Rhinebeck's run ends in Section Nine final

   NEWBURGH — The run is over.

   The upset-minded Rhinebeck High School boys’ basketball team, which had already notched Section Nine, Class C victories over No. 2 Pine Plains and No. 3 Millbrook, was looking to take down the biggest dog in the fight on Saturday – top-seeded S.S. Seward – in the championship game.

   But it was not to be.

   Seward jumped out to a 9-0 advantage to start the game and never trailed, pulling away in the second half for a 65-42 win over the Hawks in the titlie game at Mount St. Mary College.

   Seward now moves on to play Section One champ Blind Brook in the first round of the state playoffs this week.

   Seward’s David Oliver had a game-high 21 points.

   Despite being down 9-0, Rhinebeck slowly chipped away at the lead and, with barely two minutes gone by in the third quarter, the Hawks’ Ben Hoyes buried a three-pointer to pull Rhinebeck to within 32-31.

   But two buckets by Oliver keyed another 9-0 run, and Seward regained a comfortable 41-31 advantage. The game was never closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Survive and advance

Marist women fight off Canisius, play today in MAAC semis

Stateswomen heading back to ... well, the states!

   NEWBURGH – This was sort of like Monopoly for the John A. Coleman High School girls’ basketball team, in more ways than one.

   Not only did the Stateswomen dominate Section Nine again, winning its second consecutive Class D title on Friday night with a 58-21 win over Eldred, but now Coleman gets to pass ‘Go’ and proceed directly to the state championships.

   Since Section Nine had a first-round bye, and Long Island did not field a Class D champion this year, Coleman’s next game will be in two weeks in the New York State Final Four in Troy.

   They did it by dominating the Yellow Jackets in the first of two games Friday at Mount St. Mary College.

   Eldred is best known for winning a state title in the late 1980s behind future WNBA standout Tammi Reiss, and the team would have needed one or two Tammi Reiss’s on this night.

   After jumping out to a 1-0 lead, Eldred watched as the Stateswomen scored 15 consecutive points en route to a 31-5 lead at halftime.

Coleman boys wear down Chapel Field

   NEWBURGH – This time around, the march to a sectional championship for the John A. Coleman Catholic High School boys’ basketball team was more of a marathon than a sprint.

   By that we mean, the Statesmen just sort of ran with the crowd for a while, wore everybody else down, and put on a major kick late.

   Coleman used a huge second half Friday night to win its fourth consecutive Section Nine, Class D crown with a 62-45 win over Chapel Field in a game played at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh.

   Coleman will now play Long Island champion Greenport on Wednesday night at Center Moriches High School in the first round of the state playoffs. The winner meets Section One champion Leake & Watts on Saturday, March 13 in the state quarterfinals at Westchester Community College.

   Coleman, top-seeded in Section Nine, fell behind 7-2 in the early-going and led only 22-20 at halftime. But it was all part of the master plan.

   “We just wanted to keep the pressure on and wear them down in the first half,” Coleman coach Alex Albany said. “They only go seven-deep and I just felt like if we could tire them out a little bit it would pay off.”

   It did.

   Coleman came out and switched from a man-to-man defense to a 1-2-2 zone, forced Chapel Field into shots it didn’t want to take, and used its transition game to score easy buckets at the other end. The Statesmen went on a 24-11 blitz and led 46-31 heading into the final period.

   Jacob Palmer had 23 points and 10 assists to lead Coleman, while teammate Chris Chatelain had 12 points and eight rebounds.

20-0!

Red Hook heads to Section Nine title game via defense

  RED HOOK – Offense might have been the Red Hook High School boys’ basketball team’s calling card all year, but defense wins championships.

   Or, at least on Thursday night, defense put the Red Raiders in the championship.

   Unbeaten Red Hook did a phenomenal defensive job on Saugerties’ two best players, and the second-seeded Raiders rolled to a 78-42 win over the No. 3 Sawyers in a Section Nine, Class A semifinal game.

   Red Hook, now 20-0 and ranked second in the state, will go for its sixth sectional title in the last eight years on Sunday when it plays top-seeded Cornwall.

   Cornwall was an equally convincing 68-33 winner over Rondout Valley in the other semifinal on Thursday.

   “I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, and that keyed everything else,” Red Hook coach Rod Chando said.

   He wasn’t kidding.

   Red Hook held Saugerties leading scorer Adam Lindhorst to six points, more than 14 below his average, and held Lucas Veltrie – who had 33 points in a quarterfinal win over Monticello – to eight.

   Spencer Dalzell guarded Veltrie in the man-to-man, while seniors Drew White and John Boland shared defensive duties on Lindhorst.

   Saugerties actually jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a pair of three-pointers, but the Red Raiders closed the first quarter with a 14-1 run to lead 14-7 after one, and then went up by 17 points.

   “If anything, I thought we were a little sloppy with our passing,” Chando said. “We weren’t consistent. We’d make a few great plays, and then we’d throw it away. It’s obviously something you can’t afford to do as you move down the line here.”

   Dalzell led Red Hook with 25 points, Ryan Dalton had 15 and Dan Totten had 11 points.

   Ray Wright also had eight points for Saugerties.

Giorgis: We're no lock this year

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   We all know the deal – the Marist College men’s basketball, which has played second fiddle to the women’s program for more than a half-decade now, are 1-28 and seeded 10th and last in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament heading into tonight’s 9:30 p.m. play-in game against Canisius.

   That doesn’t mean head coach Chuck Martin is there to see the sights of Albany or offer advice to embattled Gov. David Paterson.

   “We’re up here to try to win the game, there’s no doubt about that,” Martin said. “We’re not coming up here to try to lose the game. Let’s compete, let’s see if we can pull it off.”

   The Red Foxes have only pulled it off one time this year, a victory in January over Manhattan.

   They enter the game ranked 332nd out of 343 teams in Division I-A, and one of only three teams in the country with just a single victory.

   “The thing that people have to understand is the team that we have today is not the team that we had in September,” Martin said. “We had to make adjustments, we had to change, we started four freshmen and we’re still starting three of them. They’re playing minutes they shouldn’t be playing. But it’s going to pay off. It’s been a challenging year, a difficult year, but you can’t put a price tag on experience.”

Fitz adds to legacy

Earns third straight Player of the Year honor

   ALBANY – As she attempts to add to her legacy by leading Marist College to its fifth consecutive NCAA tournament, Rachele Fitz made some individual history on Thursday.

   Fitz has been named the 2010 Pepsi Max MAAC Women's Basketball Player of the Year, for the third consecutive season.

   Niagara University's Kayla Stroman was selected as the Rookie of the Year. Fairfield University's Stephanie Geehan earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and Ali Morris of Niagara claimed the Sixth Player of the Year award.

   Fitz, a 6-foot senior forward from Seven Hills, Ohio, is now the only player in MAAC women's basketball history to be named Player of the Year three times. Fitz led the conference in scoring (18 ppg) and field-goal percentage (56.7%).

   She ended the regular season as the fourth-leading rebounder with 8.2 boards per contest. Fitz also held the second highest free throw percentage (86.8%). She was selected as the MAAC Player of the Week three times during the year.  

   Stroman, a 5-5 guard from Syracuse, N.Y., was third in the conference with 4.4 assists per game and a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. She was seventh in the league with 2.1 steals per contest and also averaged 9.2 points per game. Stroman was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week three times this year.

   Geehan, a 6-2 senior forward from Braintree, Mass., became the first player in MAAC women's basketball history to block 100 shots in a season. She has now amassed 269 career blocks, the most all-time in the conference. Geehan led the league with 3.4 blocks and 11.6 rebounds per game, marks that are both top five in the nation. She was selected as the MAAC Player of the Week four times.

   Morris, a 5-8 sophomore guard from Parkersburg, W. Va., appeared in 29 games for the Purple Eagles, coming off the bench in 24 of them. She averaged 6.8 points (4th on the team), 2.1 assists (2nd), and 1.2 steals per game (3rd). Morris also grabbed 3.7 rebounds per contest. 

Poughkeepsie's dream ends

Mount Vernon blitz in middle quarters earns title

   WHITE PLAINS – It just wasn’t to be. Not on this night, not in front of a raucous crowd, and not with the way Jabarie Hinds was playing.

   The Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball team was frustrated on both ends of the court Wednesday night, particularly by Hinds, and the Pioneers lost to Mount Vernon, 69-57, in the Section One, Class AA championship game.

SECTION ONE, CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP

   Poughkeepsie ends the season at 20-2.

   Hinds, who has given a verbal commitment to Louisville, not only had a game-high 26  points, but his work defensively on Poughkeepsie star Dayvon Whitaker was also a key factor in a spectacularly decisive Mount Vernon run in the middle quarters.

   Poughkeepsie led 27-22 midway through the second quarter when Hinds and Damani Ashton sparked a run of 13 consecutive points to close the half and give Mount Vernon a stunning 35-27 lead at the break.

   “It really came down to the las three minutes of the second quarter,” Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin said. “We went totally out of character. They got physical and we didn’t take care of the ball. That, in a nutshell, set the tone, those three minutes.”

   Hinds had seven points during the run, and Ashton had six.

   The Knights made it 15 straight points when Brandon White grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. Poughkeepsie stopped the streak on a Tyrone Skinner putback to make it 37-29, but the Knights then went on a 13-2 run from there to break it wide open at 50-31 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

   All totaled, in about an eight-minute span, Mount Vernon outscored Poughkeepsie 28-4, using its transition game on offense and a variety of trapping defenses.

   “And they killed us on the glass,” Laffin said. “We did not do a great job of clearing out and making room.”

   The Pioneers pulled within 10 points with 53 seconds remaining, but that was as close as they would get.

   Whitaker had 19 points to lead Poughkeepsie.

Double whammy

Spackenkill boys, girls both lose semifinal games to Burke

  GOSHEN – The defense? That’s been there all year long.

   But the No. 3 Spackenkill High School girls’ basketball team lost its offense at the worst time, losing to second-seeded John S. Burke, 36-30, in a Section Nine, Class B semifinal on Wednesday.

   The Spartans, ranked fifth in the state in Class B coming into the game, finished at 16-4.

   Burke will play No. 1 seed Highland in Sunday’s Section Nine, Class B championship game at SUNY New Paltz.

   It was a rough one all around for the Spartans on this night. In the second game of a double-header at Burke, the Spackenkill boys were beaten 85-39 by the hosts in a Class B semifinal.

   Spackenkill girls’ coach Don Neise said his Spartans fell into an early 7-2 hole and, while that certainly isn’t an insurmountable deficit, could never really get going.

   “We were having a hard time,” Neise said. “Our shots weren’t falling, and we didn’t get good spacing in the floor. They did a nice job of double-teaming Cat and Yuni when they had the ball.”

   Cat Thompson led Spackenkill with 12 points and six rebounds, Yuni Sher had 10 points and seven boards, and Mackenzie Hoffman added five points and five rebounds.

   “I thought we started to put a little pressure on them late and got back in it with some free throws,” Neise said of his team, which cut the deficit to three late in the game. “It’s just unfortunate that the baskets didn’t fall.”

Highland girls beat Ellenville, advance to championship

   HIGHLAND – Old school, baby.

   Highland High School girls’ basketball coach Jim Delmar noticed on game film that Ellenville likes to bring a player to the high post on offense. So the Huskies countered with an old-fashioned 2-1-2 zone defense, and rode it to a 44-41 win over the Blue Devils on Wednesday night in a Section Nine, Class B semifinal game.

   The top-seeded Huskies, now 14-6, will play for the sectional championship on Sunday at SUNY New Paltz against No. 2 John S. Burke.

   “I don’t think I’ve played a 2-1-2 in years,” Delmar said with a laugh. “It used to be the staple defense until teams started going more 2-3 and 3-2. But we used it tonight, mixed it in with a little man-to-man, and it seemed to work for us against their three primary big players.”

   Highland was able to shut down Regina Steele and the Wilson sisters, but Zoraida Castillo (13 points) and Alyssa Ellis (nine points) led Ellenville to a great comeback, including a 12-0 run from the third quarter into the fourth that gave the visitors a 39-38 lead late in the game.

   But Kelly Murphy’s bucket put Highland back on top by a point, and the Huskies closed it out with free throws down the stretch.

   “Kelly played a marvelous game,” Delmar said of Murphy, who had 10 points and six rebounds. “She played great defense as well.”

   Monasia Bolduc led Highland with 15 points, and teammate Jess Dutka added 13.

Rhinebeck, Millbrook girls fall

   GRAHAMSVILLE – The journey ended Wednesday night for the Rhinebeck and Millbrook High School girls’ basketball teams.

   Playing in the Section Nine, Class C semifinals, No. 4 Rhinebeck fell behind early and lost to top-seeded Tri-Valley, 46-38. Jakki Pugh had 14 points for the winners, while Kelly Vonderleith led the Hawks with 12 points.

   No. 3 Millbrook fell into an even deeper hole on the road and lost to No. 2 Tuxedo, 67-36, in the other semifinal.

   Trish McGrath finished with 13 points for Millbrook, Nicole Battistoni had eight points and Chrissy Robertson added four.

   “We just got down early and could never close the gap,” Millbrook coach Heather Ianucci said of her team, which trailed 19-6 in the first quarter. “If you give points for heart, my team would have scored a ton. Their gym is great. It’s a great atmosphere and a tough place to play.”

Rhinebeck boys notch another upset

   MILLBROOK – Just call them the Road Warriors.

   The Rhinebeck High School boys’ basketball team continued its upset-laden journey through the Section Nine, Class C playoffs on Wednesday night, stunning No. 3 Millbrook, 49-48, in a semifinal game.

   The seventh-seeded Hawks – who went on the road Monday and upset No. 2 Pine Plains in the quarterfinals – will take on top-seeded S.S. Seward on Saturday night at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh for the Section Nine championship.

   Seward defeated No. 4 Chester in the other semifinal.

Pioneers ready to earn title

   I was chatting with Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball coach Brian Laffin the other day after his team’s come-from-behind win over North Rockland on Sunday, a win that gave the Pioneers the right to play Mount Vernon tonight for the Section One, Class AA championship.

   They say that among the most stressful things in life are a move, having a baby and the death of a loved one, among other things.

   Well, Laffin moved into a new house earlier this year, his wife is pregnant with their second child and his beloved father, Mort, passed away two weeks ago. That’s on top of the emotions and stress of coaching his state-ranked, once-beaten team in the win-or-go-home tournament.

   “Brian,” I said, half-laughing, half-serious, “at this point you deserve to win the sectional title.”

   He stopped me cold.

   “No way,” he said. “I don’t want to deserve anything. The team doesn’t want to deserve anything. We want to earn it.”

   It reminded me of a moment nearly 14 years ago, when I was working for the Poughkeepsie Journal at the time and covering the New York Yankees’ run to the world championship that October. After the decisive Game 6 victory over the Braves at Yankee Stadium, Hudson Valley Renegades owner Marvin Goldklang – also a minority partner with the Yankees – helped snag me a one-on-one interview in the tunnel with reliever John Wetteland, who was just coming off the field after earning his Most Valuable Player award and headed back to the clubhouse.

   I said to Wetteland, “John, with everything that happened this year – Joe Torre’s brother receiving the heart transplant, Doc Gooden making it all the way back and throwing a no-hitter during the season, the kid reaching over the fence in the ALCS to grab a home run against Baltimore – do you feel like it was destiny that you rode it all the way to winning the World Series?”

   Wetteland looked at me like I just shot his dog.

   “To say it was destiny would be to imply that we didn’t work hard to get here,” he said. “We worked hard. Real hard. We earned this.”

   So when the Pioneers take the floor tonight at the Westchester County Center at 6 o’clock to play the Knights, know one thing. They might deserve to be there after their fabulous season, but they’ll earn the victory if they can somehow knock off mighty Mount Vernon.

   These two teams are certainly familiar with each other, with this being the third consecutive year they’ve met in the Section One finals, and the Poughkeepsie players are more than familiar with Louisville-bound Jabarie Hinds.

   “He’s tough,” Laffin said. “We need to understand that he is a special player but be aggressive and step up to the challenge he presents. However, they have some really good players across the board. Regardless of who is out there we need to understand that everyone needs to play team defense.”

   Mount Vernon – like Newburgh, which handed Poughkeepsie its only loss this year – is one of the few teams that have the ability to get up and down the floor with the Pioneers.

   So Laffin has spoken to his team about “driving the speed limit.”

   “We need to run the floor under control, fill the lanes, and not over-dribble,” he said. “We saw what happens when we do that against NFA. I think those lessons will help.”

   Poughkeepsie will be ready this time. Whether that translates into a win remains to be seen, but the Pioneers will be ready.

   Laffin had a good point – other than maybe the New York City Public School Athletic League tournament finals at Madison Square Garden, there might not be another area in the state with more quality teams across the board and the venue to play it in.

   The last two years, “I think maybe our kids got a little caught up in the moment,” Laffin said.

   That won’t happen this year.

   And if they win it, they’ll earn it.

IF YOU GO: To get to the Westchester County Center, take the Taconic State Parkway south to the end. Merge onto the Bronx River Parkway south and follow that for three miles to White Plains. Get off at Exit 22; the County Center is immediately on the right side.

Coleman boys rock Livingston Manor

   TOWN OF ULSTER – It was double the pleasure, double the fun for the John A. Coleman High School boys’ basketball team on Tuesday night.

   One day after the girls earned a spot in Friday’s respective Section Nine, Class D championship game, the boys did the same as the top-seeded Statesmen ripped No. 4 Livingston Manor, 78-45, in the semifinals.

   Coleman will play No. 2 Chapel Field on Friday at 6:45 at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh. At the same venue, the No. 1 Coleman girls will take on No. 2 Eldred at 5 p.m.

   Jacob Palmer led a balanced Coleman attack with 17 points while Chris Chatelain added 16. Eleven Statesmen scored in the game.

   “It was a little rusty after one quarter,” Coleman coach Alex Albany said of his team, which hadn’t played since a Feb. 19 loss to Red Hook in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League championship game. “But I thought we picked it up in the second quarter.”

   Coleman outscored LM in that period, 29-10, after a 16-16 first quarter tie.

   “We just played good man-to-man, good help defense,” Albany said. “They were trying to drive the ball to the basket and we did a better job of defending.”

Haldane falls in title game

   WHITE PLAINS – This was their building, the Westchester County Center, the place where the Haldane High School girls’ basketball team had built its program and reputation.

   Sixteen times in the last 17 years the Blue Devils turned aside all questions and always found a way to win the Section One title.

   This year, they just didn’t have an answer for Danielle Fiacco.

   The 6-foot-7 center dominated on both ends Tuesday night, and North Salem beat Haldane for the third time this season with a 36-31 victory in the Section One, Class C championship game.

   North Salem moves on to play the Section Nine, Class C champion in a tripleheader on Tuesday at Vassar College in the first round of the state playoffs. The Class A, B and C games will be held at Walker FieldHouse.

   Fiacco earned tourney MVP honors with her performance against Haldane, scoring 14 points, grabbing 23 rebounds and blocking an amazing 15 shots.

   Haldane never led in the game, falling behind 8-2 to start the game, rallying to pull within 8-7. Haldane trailed 20-14 at the break and got to within a point twice late – first at at 30-29 with just under four minutes to play and then again at 32-31 with 100 seconds left in the game.

   North Salem hit four late free throws to ice the game.

   Liz Milner  and Victoria DesMarais both were named to the all-tournament team for Haldane.

   POUGHKEEPSIE – The team that many believe will win the Section Nine, Class B girls’ basketball championship – despite being seeded third – is off to a hot start.

   Cat Thompson scored 10 points in the first quarter as Spackenkill High School roared out to a 19-5 lead and beat No. 6 Marlboro, 58-32, Monday night.

   The Spartans, now 16-3 and ranked fifth in the state in Class B, will travel to No. 2 Burke Catholic on Wednesday night for a semifinal showdown.

   Marlboro finished the season with a 10-7 mark.

   “I thought we came out and played with a high level of intensity on the defensive end,” Spackenkill coach Don Neise said. “We also shot the ball well on the offensive end.”

   Thompson finished with a game-high 19 points and six rebounds. Yuni Sher added 13 points and six board, Mackenzie Hoffman had 13 points and seven assists, and Seana Tully added seven points.

   For Marlboro, Erin Cunningham had nine points and Krystal Ramirez had seven points.

Veltrie, Lindhorst lift Saugerties to win

   SAUGERTIES – Don’t foul Lucas Veltrie.

   Don’t foul Adam Lindhorst either, for that matter.

   The two Saugerties High School boys’ basketball players put on a clinic Monday night in a Section Nine, Class A quarterfinal game. Veltrie had 33 points, Lindhorst had 23, and the two combined to go 19-of-23 from the foul line – including 10-for-12 in the fourth quarter – lead the No. 3 Sawyers to an 80-74 win over No. 6 Monticello.

   Saugerties now draws No. 2 Red Hook on Thursday in a semifinal game.

   “It was a really good game, back and forth,” Saugerties coach Mike Tiano said. “Both teams played well considering. It was a little sloppy. Both teams pressed and got right up in the face of the other on defense.”

   Veltrie, who had six three-pointers, keyed a huge fourth quarter for the Sawyers. Saugerties scored 48 points through three periods and trailed by a point before exploding for 32 points in the final frame.

   John Hindes was a critical factor defensively, coming up with four of his six steals in the final quarter that led to some easy transition baskets for Saugerties.

Unbeaten Red Hook rolls

   RED HOOK – A couple of pick-up games over at Bard College, a scrimmage against Kingston, and the Red Hook High School boys’ basketball team was good to go.

   The unbeaten Red Raiders, ranked third in the state, needed just one quarter to knock the rust off after last week’s sporadic practice schedule due to the snow and whipped New Paltz for the third time this season, 74-47, on Monday in a Section Nine, Class A quarterfinal.

   Second-seeded Red Hook is now 19-0 and will host No. 3 Saugerties – also the third meeting between the two schools – on Thursday in a semifinal.

   “I like the way the kids responded,” Red Hook coach Rod Chando said. “There was some sloppiness, which we expected, but after the first quarter we looked pretty good.”

   The Raiders led just 15-13 after one period but put together a 19-4 run in the second quarter to pull away from the Huguenots.

   Dan Totten led four Red Hook players in double figures with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Spencer Dalzell had 13 points, Cody Mauch had 11 and Ryan Dalton had 10 points.

   Collin Glaser led New Paltz with 13 points.

Spackenkill boys dismantle Onteora

   BOICEVILLE – The third time was the charm for the Spackenkill High School boys’ basketball team.

   “I thought we came out and played with a chip on our shoulder after two disappointing losses to them during the regular season,” Spackenkill coach Terry Feeley said Monday night after his fifth-seeded Spartans went on the road and dismantled No. 4 Onteora, 67-42, in a Section Nine, Class B quarterfinal game.

   The Spartans will take on No. 1 Burke on Wednesday night in a semifinal game.

   Steve Gugumuck scored 10 of his 20 points in the decisive third quarter, when Spackenkill went on 28-8 run to turn a tenuous 28-22 halftime edge into a rout.

   Joe Marble had 10 rebounds and Mike Traudt added seven boards for the Spartans. Tyler Lipscomb had seven assists, two steals and two rebounds, but helped hold Onteora leading scorer Max Taylor to 20 points.

   “Ty was tremendous on the defensive end,” Feeley said. “We made Taylor work for every one of his points."

RV weathers Wallkill

   KYSERIKE – In the end, Rondout Valley High School boys’ basketball coach Pete Colomer said his team was able to “weather the storm.”

   Insert rim shot here.

   After a week of snow where power wasn’t restored to the Rondout gym until Saturday, the Ganders were able to jump out to a nice lead and then kept Wallkill at bay for a 53-41 victory Monday night in a Section Nine, Class A quarterfinal game.

   Rondout, now 8-10 and seeded fourth, travels to No. 1 Cornwall on Thursday for a semifinal game.

   The Panthers, who didn’t have power restored to their school until Sunday, finish 5-14.

   Nick Schwab had 16 points and four steals to pace the Ganders, while Ben DeForest had 13 points, Matt Hull had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Andrew DeForest had nine points and 10 boards.

   “You could tell both teams were real tired,” Colomer said. “But we had a nice spurt at the end of the first quarter and that carried us.”

   RV went on an 11-0 run late in the first period and into the second to build a 25-9 lead.

   Josiah Barnes led Wallkill with 10 points.

Rhinebeck completes sweep of Pine Plains

   PINE PLAINS – Oddly enough, the Rhinebeck High School boys’ basketball team has enjoyed playing Pine Plains this season.

   Three times the Indians have taken on the Bombers, and three times they have won – by three points, by five, and by nine on Monday night, 51-42, in a Section Nine, Class C quarterfinal game.

   Rhinebeck was seeded seventh and will travel to No. 3 Millbrook on Wednesday in a semifinal game.

   Second-seeded Pine Plains finishes the year at 10-9.

   “We were just undermanned, to be honest,” Pine Plains coach Jedd Sims said. “I thought the kids played as hard as they possible could. Rhinebeck did a good job of keeping the tempo up and did a good job with their 2-3 zone. They didn’t allow Lamont to get a lot of clean looks inside.”

   Pine Plains sophomore Robert Lamont, the team’s leading scorer, was held to 13 points. Marquis VanDeWater had a game-high 16 for the Bombers.

   Reed Fox led Rhinebeck with 11 points while Ben Hoynes added eight.

Millbrook blasts Tuxedo

   MILLBROOK – For a team that only got to practice on Sunday after a week of bad weather, Millbrook High School looked pretty good on Monday night.

   The third-seeded Blazers jumped out to a 37-11 lead and brought it home from there, dumping No. 6 Tuxedo, 74-32, in a Section Nine, Class C quarterfinal game.

   Millbrook, now 8-9 overall, gets another home game as it will host No. 7 Rhinebeck – an upset winner over No. 2 Pine Plains – in a semifinal game on Wednesday night.

   “We played pretty well,” Millbrook coach Adam Peek said. “It was a very good effort. I thought we rebounded the ball very well. We had the stronger team and we got on them in the first hald and did what we were supposed to do.”

   D. J. Cummings had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Blazers, and Mike Condon tallied 18. Evan Hurley added 11 points and Peter Keenan dished out six assists.

   Millbrook and Rhinebeck played twice during the regular season, with the Blazers winning both.

   “We swept, but it’s going to be a tough game on Wednesday,” Peek said. “That’s a good basketball team and I’m expecting a typical, tough game.”

Red Hook, Highland, Coleman girls  advance

   RED HOOK – The Red Hook High School girls’ basketball team didn’t make a single three-point shot on Monday night.

   Didn’t need to.

   The fourth-seeded Red Raiders did well enough from the field with their two-point shots, jumping out to a 10-point lead after one period and cruising to a 61-28 victory over No. 5 Saugerties in a Section Nine, Class A quarterfinal game.

   Red Hook will visit top-seeded Wallkill on Thursday night in a semifinal game.

   Sabrina Eggink had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Red Raiders, while Makenzie Burud had another of her terrific all-around games. Burud had 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Amanda Shaffer added 11 points.

   Red Hook led 12-2 after one period, and although Saugerties settled down and trailed by only eight at halftime, the Red Raiders came out and went on an 18-5 blitz in the third quarter to put it away.

   HIGHLAND 55, ONTEORA 39 – Monasia Bolduc scored 17 points to lead top-seeded Highland to the home victory in this Section Nine, Class B quarterfinal game.

   The Huskies will now host the winner of the Ellenville-James I. O’Neill game on Wednesday. Ellenville and O’Neill will square off tonight in a quarterfinal contest.

   Julia Hinchey led the Indians with 15 points.

   COLEMAN 50, CHAPEL FIELD 34 – Taylor Leonard continued her amazing comeback from a torn ACL injury, scoring 20 points in her third game back to lead the defending state champions into the Section Nine, Class D finals with this victory.

   Top-seeded Coleman will play No. 2 Eldred on Friday at Mount St. Mary :College for the sectional crown.

Pioneers back in the title game

Big fourth quarter earns another shot at Mount Vernon

 

   WHITE PLAINS – As Yogi Berra might say, it was deja vu all over again for the Poughkeepsie-North Rockland high school boys’ basketball game.

  

SECTION ONE, CLASS AA BOYS' BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

   This year?

   Same deal.

   Down 11-2 early, No. 3 Poughkeepsie pulled away at the beginning of the fourth quarter and then survived a North Rockland rally on Sunday afternoon, beating the second-seeded Raiders 71-65 at the Westchester County Center.

   Poughkeepsie, now 21-1, will play No. 4 Mount Vernon on Wednesday night back at the County Center for the sectional championship in a rematch of last year’s final. The Knights toppled No. 1 seed New Rochelle in the other semifinal.

   Dayvon Whitaker and Elijah McLaurin led the Pioneers with 19 points each against North Rockland, while Nate Gause had 13 before fouling out.

   Just as Pioneers coach Brian Laffin predicted after an eight-day layoff, Poughkeepsie came out sluggish and found itself behind by nine in the early going before rallying late in the first quarter and early in the second to trail by only three, 28-25, at halftime.

   “We mixed up our fullcourt and three-quarter-court defenses,” Laffin said. “They get very comfortable in their halfcourt sets (offensively) and we wanted them to pick it up, to shoot faster than they wanted.”

   The pace of the game picked up considerably after intermission as the two teams went back and forth in the third quarter. North Rockland appeared ready to take a slim one-point lead into the final period, but Whitaker raced down the court and buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Pioneers a 46-44 advantage.

   They opened that lead to 59-49 with just under four minutes remaining when the Red Raiders rallied to within three points with 30 seconds to go, but Tyree Coleman hit five of six free throws in the final 27 seconds to seal the victory.

   “He did a great job on their big guy, John Perez,” Laffin said of Coleman. “He came up with a lot of rebounds and a lot of loose balls.”

   So now it’s back to the County Center and back to a rematch with Mount Vernon.

   “We accept the challenge,” Laffin said. “We’re not just showing up to the party.”

Marist men fall to 1-28

   ALBANY – The nightmare is almost over.

   Despite a spirited first-half effort, the Marist College men’s basketball team concluded the 2010 regular season on Sunday with a 76-51 loss to Siena in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game at the Times Union Center.

   It was the school-record 17th consecutive loss for the Red Foxes, who are now 1-28 overall and 1-17 in the MAAC.

   Marist will play Canisius on Friday night at 9:30 p.m. in the first round of the MAAC Tournament.

   Junior forward Korey Bauer pulled down a game-high and career-high 16 rebounds and added eight points for Marist, which actually led 26-24 late in the first half.

   “Korey was phenomenal against one of the bigger teams in the league, one of the better rebounding teams in the league,” Marist coach Chuck Martin (pictured) told WKIP radio after the game.

   Bauer's rebound total was the highest for a Red Fox this season, and the most since Ryan Schneider pulled down 19 at Delaware on Dec. 23, 2008.

   Freshman guard Devin Price led Marist with 12 points. He also added five assists in the contest. Red-shirt junior guard Dejuan Goodwin added 11 points.

   Siena had four players in double figures. Poughkeepsie native Edwin Ubiles led all scorers with 21 points, while Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter chipped in 15 points apiece. Franklin grabbed 13 rebounds as well, while Rossiter had 11 rebounds. Clarence Jackson added 12 points for the Saints. Point guard Ronald Moore dished out 12 assists against just three turnovers.

   A competitive first half resulted in four ties and two lead changes. A three-pointer by Siena's Kyle Griffin gave the Saints a 23-17 lead with 8:54 left in the first half, but the Red Foxes responded by going on a 9-1 run. A jumper by freshman guard Candon Rusin gave the Red Foxes a 26-24 lead with 3:18 left in the half. However, the Saints scored the final eight points of the half to take a 32-26 lead to the locker room.

   With 18:47 to play, a jumper by freshman forward Rob Johnson brought the Red Foxes to within 34-31. However, that was as close as Marist would get, as Siena answered with a 13-1 run over the next 3:33 to pull away. The Red Foxes never got within nine the rest of the way, and the Saints closed the game with a 14-4 run over the final 6:59.
   “They’re really good, they’re at home, it was senior night … they’re good,” Martin said. “They’re an NCAA team. Best team in the league, by far.”

Siena shot .418 (28-for-67) for the game, while Marist shot .328 (19-for-58). The Red Foxes were just 5-for-22 (.227) from three-ponit range. The Saints held a 47-38 edge in rebounds, and committed just nine turnovers to the Red Foxes' 14.

   Siena, the MAAC regular-season champion, closes at 24-6 overall and 17-1 in conference.

Red Fox women lose regular-season finale at Manhattan

   NEW YORK – A late 6-2 run by Manhattan proved to be the difference Sunday at Draddy Gymnasium, as the Lady Jaspers defeated Marist, 65-62, in the regular-season finale for both teams.

   The Red Foxes close the regular season with a 23-7 record and 15-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Kristine Best (pictured) and Rachele Fitz  each scored 17 points to lead Marist.

   Best’s 17 points are a new career-high for the sophomore guard. She finished the game 7-of-10 from the field with three three-pointers. Fitz made 9-of-12 free throws and had seven rebounds. Kate Oliver scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shots from the field and had four rebounds. Erica Allenspach and Corielle Yarde each had eight points and five assists.

   Marist opened the game red-hot from the field, making eight of its first nine shots from the field. A Fitz layup with 12:31 to go in the half put the Red Foxes up nine 18-9. Manhattan (15-14, 10-8 MAAC) then got back-to-back three-pointers from Michelle Pacheco to make the deficit three, 18-15, with 11:46 remaining in the opening half. Fitz put the Red Foxes up by five at the 10:19 mark, as her layup made the score 22-17. Pacheco then ran off four straight points to get the Lady Jaspers within one, 22-21, with 8:32 left in the first.

   “Our bench did not have a good day today,” Marist coach Brian Giorgis told goredfoxes.com after the game. “We got out to the big lead and we put the bench in and they lost the lead. They have to do a better job in the tournament”

   Manhattan took its first lead of the game at the 6:26 mark when a Kerri White triple put the home team ahead 24-22. Marist tied the game up at 24-24 on a pair of Fitz free throws at the 5:43 mark. The Lady Jaspers took the lead back 21 seconds later on an Abby Wentworth three-pointer. The Red Foxes responded with four straight points from Fitz to take a 28-27 lead with 4:13 to go in the half. The lead changed hands twice more before the end of the half, with a pair of free throws by Nadia Peters giving Manhattan a 31-30 halftime lead.

   The Red Foxes took the lead right back to start the second half. Back-to-back threes by Best and Allenspach started a 14-2 run for Marist, giving them a 44-33 lead with 16:00 to go in the game. Manhattan answered the Red Foxes’ run with a 12-3 run of its own over the next 3:53. Pacheco scored the last five points of the run to cut the deficit to two, 47-45, with 12:07 left. Marist got the lead back up to five, 50-45, with 11:53 remaining on a Best three-pointer but Manhattan then scored the next seven points to take a 52-50 lead with 7:43 to go.

   The two teams then traded three-pointers with Best and Yarde matching Pacheco. Yarde’s three at the 5:40 mark put the Red Foxes ahead 56-55. Wentworth then split a pair of free throws to tie the game 56-56 with 5:20 to go. Oliver made a baseline jumper on Marist’s next possession to put the Red Foxes up 58-56. Manhattan took the lead back at the 4:04 mark as a Lindsey Loutsenhizer three-pointer made the score 59-58. After a pair of Oliver free throws gave Marist a 60-59 lead, Pacheco scored four straight points to put the Lady Jaspers ahead 63-60 with 43 seconds remaining. Best hit a jumper with 36 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 63-62. Marist had a chance to take the lead with 24 seconds left, but Allenspach’s free-throw line jumper rimmed out. Loutsenhizer made two free throws with six seconds left to make the score 65-62. The Red Foxes had one last chance to tie the game but could not connect on a corner three-pointer at the buzzer.

   The Red Foxes enter the 2010 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championship as the #1 seed. It will take on either Canisius or Saint Peter’s in the quarterfinals Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Times Union Center in Albany.

   Haldane coach Tyrone Searight was worried that after a lengthy layoff would affect his team – the Blue Devils last played on Feb. 17 and had missed several practices because of the snowstorms and school cancellations – and he was right.

   Haldane came out cold.

   But so did Valhalla.

   The two teams combined for just 18 points in the first 16 minutes, with the Blue Devils taking a 10-8 advantage into halftime.

   The two combined to score that many points in the third quarter alone as both warmed up after intermission. Haldane took a 20-16 lead into the final period, and Liz Milner scored on consecutive three-point plays to keep Valhalla at bay in the fourth.

   Milner finished with a game-high 16 points.

   The victory avenged a 52-42 loss to Valhalla back on January 13.

Pioneers ready to take on North Rockland

By Rich Thomaselli

HVSR

   Too long.

   The saving grace for the Poughkeepsie High School boys’ basketball team has been a last-minute rescheduled game against Schenectady last Saturday, Feb. 21. That was the only time the Pioneers have played since a Feb. 17, Section One, Class AA quarterfinal win over Lincoln.

   After 11 days, the No. 3 Pioneers take on No. 2 North Rockland today at 3:30 p.m. in the sectional semifinals at the Westchester County Center.

   “It’s too long,” Poughkeepsie coach Brian Laffin said. “It’s way too much time in between your quarterfinal game and semifinal game.”

   Even without the snow days, Poughkeepsie wasn’t scheduled to play for nine days in between the quarters and semis, partly because of the schedule with the County Center and partly because most Westchester schools were off last week.

   “A lot of that has to do with the stranglehold we have with the County Center and have to go by the schedule there,” Laffin said. “I love the County Center but if that’s the case maybe we need look at one of the colleges to host us. It was still going to be a 10-day break. I think Section One needs to look to revise things and not look at having it in one location.”

   As for the game, Laffin said he’s been trying to keep his once-beaten Pioneers – the only loss coming to defending state champion Newburgh – as active as possible.

   “You might see a little sloppy play early on due to lack of conditioning,” he said. “It’s never a pretty game at the County Center anyway. It’s a tough place to play.”

   Poughkeepsie is certainly familiar with the Red Raiders, having eliminated North Rockland last year in the semifinals with a come-from-behind win.

   “We were very fortunate to catch them in the last couple of minutes,” Laffin said. “They have a very experienced team, all five starters are back and they’re older and a year more experienced. It’s going to be a tough game for us. They’re disciplined and they run when they have to run, but they try to keep the game in the 50s. We like to go up and down the court, so it’s going to be interesting.”

Army basketball misses chance to break 24-year losing streak

   WEST POINT – With a chance to clinch its first winning record in 24 years, the Army men’s basketball team couldn’t get it done.

   The Black Knights ended their regular season with a 62-51 loss to Bucknell on Saturday night in a Patriot League game at Christl Arena, and will take a 14-14 mark into the conference playoffs next week.

   Army can still finish with a winning record, but it means winning its first two games in the tournament.

   The Black Knights could not overcome a 32.7 percent shooting night, including a 29.4 shooting percentage from three-point range.
    Senior Josh Miller was Army’s top scorer with 11 points, 10 of which came in the final 1:20 of the contest. Sophomore Julian Simmons also scored in double figures with 10 points. Seniors Cleveland Richard (pictured), Jon Sizemore and Tyrell Thompson all had a team-high three rebounds in their final home appearance.
   Darryl Shazier led all scorers with 19 points, while Bryan Cohen added 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
   Bucknell boasted a 39-26 rebounding edge to help overcome 19 turnovers that led to 24 Army points.
   Army has now lost 14 straight games when shooting 33.3 percent or less.
  The Bison outscored Army 20-9 over the first 11:33 of the second half to take their largest lead at 43-24 with 8:27 left. The Black Knights made just two of their 12 shots during that span. Army was able to close within 12 points following a 7-0 run that was capped by Simmons’ second three-pointer of the game.
   The Army defense held the Bison without a field goal for the final nine minutes, 14 seconds, but Bucknell scored its final 21 points from the free throw line. Bucknell stretched its lead to 17 points with 1:43 left, but Army had one final run. The Black Knights scored 10 of the next 12 points to pull within 57-48 with 46 seconds left, but the Bison iced the game at the free throw line, hitting five of their final six tries. Army made seven of its last 12 field goal tries.

   Army has now lost 14 of 15 games this season when allowing at least 60 points.
   The game marked the final Christl Arena appearance for Miller, Richard, Sizemore, Thompson, Eric Zastoupil, Marcus Nelson and Chris Walker.
   With Army’s loss and Lehigh’s victory, the Black Knights will travel to Bethlehem to take on the top-seeded Mountain Hawks on Wednesday night. Lehigh swept the regular-season series, but Army has ousted the Mountain Hawks from the postseason in the quarterfinals in each of the past three seasons, including two games at Stabler Arena.