Troy boys, girls have sights set on state titles

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim Schiltz

Six Section II basketball teams will go after New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships this weekend, including the Troy boys and Fort Edward girls, each a first-time final-four participant.

The boys will compete at the Glens Falls Civic Center and the girls will play at Hudson Valley Community College today, Saturday and Sunday. Troy and Rochester’s Bishop Kearney will have a team vying for honors at each venue.

Boys’ teams from Argyle, Lake George and Watervliet will see semifinal action today and tonight before Troy (20-3) opens against Bishop Kearney (Section V, 15-7) Saturday in a 2:15 Class AA semifinal.

Troy’s winning streak reached seven games when 6-foot-9 Siena College-bound Javion Ogunyemi delivered 21 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in a 60-52 triumph over Henninger. Dyaire Holt had 15 points in the regional final, and 6-7 Jerrell Reid had 13 with a clutch late tip-in after Henninger cut a 15-point deficit down to three.

At No. 5, Troy is ranked the highest among the NYSPHSAA schools on the state sportswriters asociation poll. Flying Horses coach Rich Hurley previously guided two Bishop Maginn teams to the state final four, with his 2007 team finishing second and his 2008 squad capturing the Class AA title.

Bishop Kearney got 12 points and 19 rebounds from 6-10 Chinoso Obokoh and 12 points and 13 boards from 6-9 Thomas Bryant in a 53-41 regional win over Jamestown.

New Rochelle (Section I, 15-9) and Northport (Section XI, 22-2) meet in a 12:30 Class AA semifinal Saturday. Sunday’s championship game is set for 3:15.

Argyle (22-0) will be the first area team to compete today at 11:45 a.m. in a Class D semifinal opposite New York Mills (Section III, 20-3). Martin Luther King (Section I, 13-8) and University Prep (Section V, 19-3) meet beforehand at 10. The Class D title game is Saturday at 5:30.

Argyle knocked off Madrid-Waddington in its regional final, 77-59, when Joey Lufkin netted 24 points and Del Pryce had 22 points and nine rebounds for the state’s No. 1-ranked team. Lufkin moved into seventh place on the all-time Section II scoring list, boosting his points total to 2,087, and will have a chance to surpass Jason Mathias (Galway, Amsterdam, 2,103) for the sixth spot.

New York Mills beat Marathon in its last outing, 70-57, when Nick Comenale totaled 22 points, six rebounds and 10 steals. New York Mills won the state Class D flag in 2011.

returning group

Argyle made its last final-four appearance in 1991, the year Watervliet captured state and Federation Class C championships and went 28-0. Lake George made its last final four appearance in 2004.

Lake George (22-0) and Moravia (Section IV, 21-2) will play at 5, and Pine Plains (Section IX, 20-2) will go against Silver Creek (Section VI, 23-0) at 1:30, in today’s Class C semifinals. Saturday’s Class C title game is set for 7:15.

Super sophomore Joel Wincowski scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to lift Lake George past regional final foe AuSable Valley, 58-42. Dylan Powers scored nine of his 26 points in a 20-0 first-half run that sent Moravia past Beaver River, 65-42, in its regional final.

Watervliet (16-8, five forfeit losses) is looking to go the distance after beating Burke Catholic in last year’s Class B semifinals, 48-47, before losing to Bishop Ludden, 43-42.

The Cannoneers play Batavia (Section V, 18-3) tonight at 8:30, following the 6:45 Class B semifinal between Babylon (Section XI, 21-3) and Westhill (Section III, 20-2). Saturday night’s title game is at 9.

Tyler McLeod connected for 14 of his 28 points in a 24-8 fourth-quarter run as Watervliet overhauled Ogdensburg Free Academy, 73-58, in its regional final. The Cannoneers topped Beekmantown before that, 53-37, when Jordan Gleason piled up 19 points, 14 rebounds and six steals for the state’s No. 1-ranked team.

Batavia advanced with a 63-62 win over the state’s then-No. 1-ranked team in Olean. Jeff Redband, a late-season junior varsity call-up, nailed a three-point basket as time expired to cap the upset. Jalen Smith topped Batavia with 24 points.

Burke Catholic (Section IX,

18-4) and Bishop Ludden (Section III, 20-2) will both be part of the Class A field this weekend. Bishop Ludden ended Scotia-Glenville’s season with a 58-53 regional win Saturday.

girls

Troy (18-5) will take on Pittsford Mendon (Section V, 21-1) today in the second Class A semifinal at 3:15. Maine-Endwell (Section IV, 16-4) and Harborfields (Section XI, 20-2) meet in the first at 1:30. Saturday’s title game is set for 7.

Troy’s last final four appearance in 1989 ended with a state championship. Troy made it back by beating Jamesville-DeWitt, 49-43, and Massena, 62-45, behind Mary Pattison’s 26 points. Kristen Powers’ basket with three seconds left gave Pittsford Mendon a 39-37 win over Grand Island in its regional final.

Fort Edward (22-0) made it to the semifinals with a 64-45 victory over Hammond. The state’s No. 1-ranked Class D team got 25 points from Taylor Boucher, and 10 points, six assists and seven steals from Sam Godfrey.

Fort Edward and Batavia Notre Dame (Section V, 21-2) play Saturday morning at 10:45, while the other Class D semi matches Livingston Manor (Section IX, 8-10) and Oriskany (Section III, 21-0) at 9. Sunday’s title game is at 1:45.

howlan to hall

Legendary St. Mary’s Institute and Bishop Scully coach Francis “Dutch” Howlan will be posthumously inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame Sunday (10 a.m.) at the Glens Falls Civic Center’s Heritage Hall.

Howlan and eight others were selected for enshrinement by a committee from Basketball Coaches Association of New York. Howlan will join some of Section II’s elite high school basketball coaches including George Mardigan, Jim Zullo, Paul Lyons, Sig Makofski, Walt Przybylo, Mike Lilac, Ken Strube, Jack Dunlap and Don Landrio.

At the time of his retirement in 1987, Howlan’s 468 victories over three-plus decades ranked second on the all-time Section II list for boys’ coaches.

cadets in federation

The Albany Academy boys will compete in the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions a week from today at the Times Union Center as the

Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association Class A representative.

Albany Academy (14-4) earned an automatic Federation berth as the only Class A school in the AISAA. Long Island Lutheran (24-2) is the lone Class AA school in the AISAA, and also received an automatic invite to the season-ending tournament that includes NYSPHSAA, Catholic High School Athletic Association and Public School Athletic League representatives.

Albany Academy will play CHSAA rep Nazareth of Brooklyn (23-5) in a March 22 semifinal at 3:15, with the NYSPHSAA and PSAL teams meeting at 1:30. The March 23 title game will start at 5.

Albany Academy and Nazareth split two close games in December. Nazareth beat LaSalle, Xavier and Cardinal Spellman and Canisius in the CHSAA tournament to reach the Federation event.