Here is the Potter and Perrone Top 10 for the week of November 29….
- For the third time Westhill girls volleyball won the state Class B championship in Glens Falls. After losing the first match of pool play the Wolf Pack rallied to win the next two and then, against Rochester’s Charles G. Finney in the state final, prevailed in a three-set sweep to atone for defeats in the 2023 and 2024 state finals. And Westhill brings back nearly every key player for the 2026 season too..
- Even more dramatic was J-D boys volleyball winning its third state Division II title in four years in Rochester. The Red Rams beat seven other teams in an expanded field culminating with a state final where it twice trailed defending champion Eastport-South Manor but twice rallied and ultimately won in five sets to add to take back the crown it won in 2022 and 2023…
- Two other area volleyball teams made it to state championship weekend. Weedsport’s girls did so in Class D at Glens Falls yet could not make it out of pool play as Section V’s York went on to the state title. And in boys Division I C-NS went 1-2 against three opponents in pool play and just missed reaching the state semifinals in a tournament ultimately won by Long Island’s Massapequa.
- CBA football salvaged an otherwise rough weekend for Section III’s quintet of 11-man champions. The Brothers got away from Elmira in the late stages of the Class AA regional final with 28 unanswered points to win 42-7 over the Express and set up a state semifinal at C-NS’s Bragman Stadium against Buffalo’s Bennett, the same team it beat in the 2023 semifinals on the way to the state title..
- Eight-man football will crown a regional champion this weekend when Morrisville-Eaton takes on Section IX’s Eldred. The Mavericks dominated its first state playoff game against Taconic Hills winning 56-21 as Gavin Baker got three touchdowns on a reception, interception return and fumble. M-E and Eldred will play Sunday after snowy weather on Friday forced a postponement…
- Every other Section III football team lost in the regional round. Whitesboro in Class A fell to Union-Endicott 46-22, New Hartford in Class B made a late comeback against Owego only to fall 36-34 on a last-second field goal, General Brown in Class C ran into mighty Chenango Forks and lost 47-24 and Lowville in Class D was turned aside by Tioga in a 28-14 decision…
- At the girls swimming state meet at Webster Aquatic Center Liverpool’s June Piorkowski had the best finish of any Section III athlete rising all the way to third place in diving competition. As to the swimmers the best finish came from Marcellus sophomore Sophia Pilon who just missed out on the 100 freestyle final but still finished ninth and is determined to get a podium finish next year…
- Basketball has started. At the Zebra Classic Utica Notre Dame’s girls made quite an opening statement routing Liverpool behind 31 points from Ella Trinkaus, who already has close to 1,900 career points. In the boys edition Liverpool opened with a victory over CBA. Bishop Ludden-Grimes opens against University Prep and next Tuesday a dynamite opener has Marcellus taking on Westhill…..
- Ice hockey is underway, too. Skaneateles, the three-time defending Division II champions with a new head coach in Jeff Bobbett, opened with a 6-4 win over Canandaigua. Next for the Lakers is the Wildcat Classic against reigning Division I sectional champion West Genesee, who began its season blanking Mohawk Valley 6-0 as it comes off back-to-back state finals appearances in 2024 and 2025..
- One of the most accomplished high school coaches in Central New York announced his retirement. F-M girls tennis coach Phil Rudolph led the Hornets for more than 40 years earning more than 30 sectional team titles and building up once a 329-match win streak over a 20-year span while sending a steady stream of top singles and doubles players to state tournaments during his tenure….
