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Here are the top 10 topics for the January 19 edition of the Inside High School Sports show.
1. In that highly-anticipated boys basketball game between two state-ranked Class AA teams undefeated at the time, Corcoran pulled it out, 67-64, over West Genesee, helped by Will Amica fouling out but getting a big night from De’Jour Reavele, who had most of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and OT. Then West Genesee lost again in OT to Henninger later in the week, while Corcoran beat Baldwinsville to improve to 12-0. Besides Rome Free Academy, the other main challengers in AA could be C-NS, who has put together a six-game win streak and, this week, gets shots at home against West Genesee and Corcoran, plus Liverpool, who has won six of eight since an 0-5 start.
2. So much will be learned Tuesday night in boys basketball when 10-0 Central Square hosts 11-1 J-D, the biggest Redhawks home game in years. The Red Rams seems to have endured the loss of Teleak Robinson well, going 2-1 without him, but its loss came to fellow contender Whitesboro. Don’t forget about the Warriors, who are 10-2 and, last Friday, had Tommy Morealle score 46 points (breaking 1,000 for his career) in a double-OT win over Auburn. Then there’s Bishop Grimes, carrying its own six-game win streak that last weekend included handing CBA and then Johnson City in the Zebra Classic, where also LaFayette beat Pulaski and Bishop Ludden again defeated CBA in their latest “Holy War”.
3. One thing Bishop Ludden could do in boys basketball is spoil the dreams of a Skaneateles undefeated season. Impressive wins last week over Mexico and Solvay got the Lakers to 12-0, and it must deal with Jordan-Elbridge and Cazenovia this week. Then there’s Cooperstown, still sitting at no. 2 in the state Class C rankings, who start this week 14-0 after getting a scare last Thursday from Herkimer, but winning it 71-61. The Hawkeyes play Friday against Waterville as Weedsport, with just one loss this season, has to deal with Onondaga after getting a sweet win over playoff nemesis Tully late last week. When two state-ranked Class D top 10 teams met last week, LaFargeville got past Lyme 73-68.
4. Given the gap between these two teams and everyone else in Class AA girls basketball, you know that West Genesee against C-NS Tuesday night is really important. The Wildcats made two comebacks to beat the Northstars in overtime in December, but C-NS didn’t have Juila Rowe, as it will for the rematch. Speaking of West Genesee, Madison Smith passed 1,000 career points last Friday against Henninger and, the same night, Aurora Deshaies did so for Bishop Ludden in a win over Homer. The Gaelic Knights have won six in a row, including last Sunday’s victory over CBA in the Zebra Classic, and may have emerged, with New Hartford, as the chief challengers to J-D in the Class A ranks.
5. Slowly, a top tier of Class B girls basketball contenders have emerged, with perennial powers Westhill and South Jefferson rolling, the Spartans having knocked off Section IV power Susquehanna Valley last week. Rivals Oneida and VVS are there, too, but the Indians just completed a regular-season sweep of the Red Devils and have an intriguing game with Marcellus this week. In Class C, Weedsport, well-rested, takes a 13-0 record into games this week against Port Byron and Cato-Meridian, while another top contender, Thousand Islands, took a damaging loss last week to Copenhagen, the Gold Knights proving that it’s on the short list of top Class D sides with Madison and Brookfield, among others.
6. A packed house at Meachem Rink last Friday night saw the Syracuse Cougars reaffirm its place atop Division I ice hockey, beating West Genesee 6-3 as the Cougars bolted out to a 5-0 lead and absorbed a furious Wildcats comeback, Philip Zollo scoring a hat trick. Syracuse is still no. 3 in the state Division I rankings, with challengers including C-NS, who got an impressive 4-1 win last Friday over Baldwinsville. The top two-ranked state Division II teams, Skaneateles and Cortland-Homer, had a rematch snowed out last week after they tied 6-6 in December. But the Lakers must deal with archrival Auburn Tuesday and New Hartford Thursday, a chance to avenge their 2018 sectional playoff defeat to the Spartans.
7. This is a big week for wrestling as, on Saturday, the Section III Dual Meets take place. Unlike years past when it was all held at C-NS, they’ve moved Division I to Indian River and Division II to Central Valley Academy. Only five teams entered in Division I, with 17-3 Fulton the top seed and C-NS the no. 2 seed. It’s a far deeper field in Division II, where CVA, still no. 2 in the state small-school rankings, top seed out of 10 as Camden owns the no. 2 seed and General Brown the no. 3 seed. The winners of these tournaments go to SRC Arena on January 26 to take part in the NYSPHSAA Dual Meet, the second edition of this event that brings together champions of similar sectional dual meets from across the state.
8. In the meantime, plenty of large-scale wrestling meets took place last weekend. There was the Phoenix Mid-Winter Classic where General Brown finished on top over J-D/CBA, C-NS and Liverpool, while at VVS there was the Red Devil Invitational, with Camden finishing third behind Warrensburg and Windsor and Beaver River was sixth. The Cazenovia Invitational was a thriller, with Rome Free Academy holding on to finish on top by 1.5 points over Indian River, Some top wrestlers went to the massive Eastern States Classic at Sullivan CC, where Central Valley finished 18th and Fulton 23rd, and Phoenix’s terrific Ross McFarland was the lone local champion, prevailing at 170 pounds.
9. It was a busy weekned of indoor track and field again. Going back to individual competition, at the Fred Kirschenheiter Invitational at SRC Arena Baldwinsville beat C-NS in the boys division despite Jeremiah Willis winning three times for the Northstars, though the C-NS girls did win on its side. In the afternoon session, it was F-M’s girls, led by Phoebe White, and Liverpool’s boys claiming the team titles. All of this followed the Mohawk Valley ITA meet the previous night where Central Square won the boys division and Rome Free Academy the girls division. There should be one more round of regular-season meets this weekend in those same venues, if the weather holds up.
10. In boys swimming, a clash of undefeated teams that took place last Saturday had Liverpool defeating Watertown 99-81. All of the SCAC swimmers, go to Nottingham this Friday for the league championship meet. Then there’s bowling, where early last week Baldwinsville’s Tanner Rozycko claimed the first 300 game of his career in a win over F-M that included a 776 series. In winter girls volleyball, New Hartford, Chittenango and Carthage continue undefeated seasons, as does Mount Markham, who got to 11-0 by beating Sherburne-Earlville early this week. And Cazenovia football coach Jay Steinhorst made his retirement official. After decades as an assistant, Steinhorst led the Lakers to the 2015 state Class B title.
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