200303

3/31/03 PrepNation: Final 2002-03 National Prep Basketball Poll includes # 8. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (27-4) , top dog in N.J. by winning Tournament of Champions title, # 9. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln (31-4), first State Federation title since 1995, # 16. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (24-3) , N.J. Prep School state champ.

Northeast - 1. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 27-4, 2. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 31-4, 3. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 27-1, 4. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 24-3, 5. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 26-4, 6. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 30-2, 7. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic, 28-2, 8. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 26-1, 9. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King, 26-8, 10. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 24-4.

3/31/03 Inquirer: By the letters, a season review. Reviewing the 2002-03 scholastic boys' basketball season, ABC style.

3/30/03 Coach Tyrone Hester, Morris Brown Warriors: 'The Morris Brown Warriors won their game yesterday at Prostyle Y2K3 against All- Stars, Inc in OT. Caswell Blake had 21 points 10 ast. Lewis Sampson had 20 points for the Warriors. The final score was 74 to 72.'

3/30/03 In the first four games this Sunday Rock Steady took Next Level by 21, Abyssinian won 88 - 75 against First Presbyterian, the Jersey Jaguars rolled over the B'ballers 96 - 60 and Connect Talent stole the game against the Springfield Rifles 73 - 70. More details on the IS8 Nike Spring High School Classic, 2003 page.

3/30/03 Jim Carr: 'I am the assistant coach for Manor Junior College located in Philly. I am going to be the first to tell you go to the Playaz Spring Fling and see three of Philly's best players in Kyle Lowry, Shane Clark and Desean White who will be playing for Philly MJC. All of them also play for Cardinal Dougherty. I've seen Telfair play numerous times and Lowry is just as good as him just not nationally known till last summer. Shane Clark is just a sophomore and he is as athletic as any player in the country. Desean White has the most potential though as he sometimes just toys with his opponents and has tons of moves down low. All of these players are high major D1 players and all will be showcasing their skills at the Playaz Spring Fling.' Web note: Fling begins this Wednesday through Saturday.

3/30/03 Inquirer: Camden Catholic had the team and the coach -- Jim Crawford.

3/30/03 Booksnball: 'Fans of High School hoops can tune in Monday, March 31, 2003 at 8:00 p.m.(7 pm in Chicago) to catch a WEB internet Broadcast of the "Roundball High School All-Star Classic" from Chicago (Locals Chris Taft, Xavarian 6'9" Pitt & 6'10" Charlie Villanueva, Blair, NJ, Illinois, along with Lebron James will be playing) You can tune in by going to originalroundballclassic.com and signing on to receive the broadcast. Should be entertaining. Enjoy.

If you missed it, "Do you know where your student-athletes are?" Check it out. Keep your passes sharp & your pencils even sharper.'

3/30/03 Aaron Rivers: 'I coach Middletown (NY) Salvation Army 16-and-under boys basketball and am looking to travel to locations in southern New York and the city, Westchester, Rockland, north Jersey and northeastern Pa. We also have a homecourt. I can be reached at the Salvation Army 845-343-0821. Ask for Capt. Medina who will take a message.'

3/29/03 DJ Brown: 'Sports Visions website can now be reached at www.gametape.com (how appropriate!) We are still offering the a growing list of games to view and own which will be including the Young Athletes City Wide JHS Tournament next week at the Gauchos Gym, St and Sun starting at about 1pm.'

3/29/03 The IS8 Nike Spring High School Classic, 2003 begins today. There are 40 teams, five teams in eight division. Each team will play the other four teams in its division; that's 80 regular season games over the next six weeks. Weeknight games (Wednesday through Friday) are at 6:30 and 8:00. Weekend games will be played at 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 2:00 and 3:30. There are no games scheduled for 4/10, the Wheelchair Classic or Easter Sunday, 4/20. The playoffs begin on 5/5 with the top three teams from each division qualifying. The schedule and team list is on the IS8 Nike Spring High School Classic, 2003 page.

3/29/03 PIMPNFLYPAPI2003: 'How come Paramus Catholic's freshman Luis Guzman doesn't get any respect? He is the best freshman in north Jersey, starting point guard for the varsity. Now you tell me what you think. Tell me what other freshman besides Luis has averaged 16.9 points or better. Good rebounder, pure shooter, slasher. Plus he is 6-1 and plays with the Gauchos. He dropped 18 points on Bergen Catholic,19-points on Don Bosco,16 points on Teaneck, 22 points on Englewood, 21 points on Eastside and 20-points on Kennedy. He is only a freshmen! Come on show him a little recognition. He is being coached by Tony Campbell. True - the kid is good!'

3/29/03 NorthJersey: Max Schafer's on-court smarts drove DePaul to success.

3/29/03 Bryan Griffith, Big Apple Sports Inc: 'Usually this site is for information relating to high school student/athletes. In this one instance I would like to bend the "rule". I would like to report that a young man by the name of Obidiah Toppin has "verbally committed" to attend and play for Manhattan College in the fall 2003. Obidiah (through Big Apple Sports) attended JUCO at Eastern Oklahoma State College and transfered to Globe Tech in NYC, his game is exciting and skillful...Obidiah can shoot from the perimeter, and score in various ways, at 6'8" he is physical as well as smooth. This in my opinion is a smart move for both parties. Obidiah will continue to do well on the next level.'

3/29/03 GWilson1231@yahoo.com: 'I coach the NJ All Stars age 15, current freshman. Top players: Brian Zoubek, Blake wilson, Julius Ingram, Ahmad Nicholson, Kevin Gallagher, Ryn Thompson, Jeremy Kaminer.'

3/28/03 Eddie Oliver: Terrific Two Twenty High School Teams lists # 8. Saint Patrick's - Elizabeth, NJ, # 13. Abraham Lincoln - Brooklyn, NY, # 21. St. Raymond's - Bronx, NY, # 28. Christ The King - Middle Village, NY, # 31. Camden Catholic - Cherry Hill, NJ, # 37. St. Anthony - Jersey City, NJ, # 45. Mount Vernon - Mount Vernon, NY, # 47. St. Mary's - Manhasset, NY, # 64. Rice - Manhattan, NY, # 70. St. Anthony's - Jersey City, NJ (oops!), # 81. Seton Hall Prep - West Orange, NJ, # 103. Amityville - Amityville, NY, # 106. Bergen Catholic - Oradell, NJ, # 111. Banneker - Brooklyn, NY, # 112. Archbishop Molloy - Briarwood, NY, # 124. East Side - Newark, NJ, # 161. Paterson Catholic - Paterson, NJ, # 165. DePaul - DePaul, NJ, # 207. Bloomfield Tech - Bloomfield, NJ, and # 214. Linden - Linden, NJ.

3/27/03 Keith Mason: 'I read through the articles published in New York City newspapers about the McDonald's game, and I found it very dissapointing, that all they talked about was LeBron James. Did they not notice that 6'10 Charlie Villanueva who had 17 points, and was on the receiving end on about 4 of LeBron's 7 assists? Villanueva also had the #3 play of the night on Sportscenter, and he just happens to be a Queens native. I wasn't really surprised because as Rich Kosik pointed out a few weeks ago, the overall coverage of high school basketball was just way down this year by the local papers. Since I'm away at school I would read the articles hoping to get a good idea of what happened in a game, but all I would get was the leading scorers, and 1 or 2 key plays, never an in depth report. I hope next year the coverage gets better, because this year was just disgraceful.'

3/27/03 Roberto E. Diaz NYC Finest, - "Congratulations to Blair Academy Prep HS, NJ guard Roberto Felipe on making 1st Team All County along with Charlie Villanueva and Lou Deng. Roberto did also commit to NYU. NYU was chosen for being one of the top academic law schools in the country and that was his priority, education, over better division schools in basketball that showed interest."

3/27/03 Eddie Oliver - HoopsUSA: 'Only one state (Indiana) has not decided State Champions. Fans can review state final results in other states, the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, The HoopsUSA Consensus Top Teams (which will soon expand to the Top 100) and connections to everything they ever need in regard to basketball and other sports. I would like to thank the thousands of people who have visited my site and would ask all of you to forward my address to everyone on your email list so that they can enjoy the site as well. Please email with any comments or suggestions to HoopsUSA@sc.rr.com.

3/27/03 Courier News: James stars as East beats West in McDonald's All-American game.

3/27/03 Inquirer: Mustafa Shakur is solid; James stars in all-American showcase.

3/27/03 Journal News: McDonald's All American High School Game: MVP LeBron James scores 27.

3/27/03 Newsday: Start of the LeBron Age - High-school star dazzles fans, wins MVP trophy.

3/27/03 Love2Ref: 'Wheelchair Charities Inc. presents it's 30th. Annual Wheelchair Basketball Classic, at Long Island University. (Brooklyn Campus) We are now accepting advertisements, announcements, corporation ads, and "shout outs" to fill up the sports journal. One full page with graphics of your choice (no limit of amount of words) will cost $100.00 If you wish to have the front inside cover, or the back inside or outside cover of the journal, it will cost $150.00. The deadline for submission is April 2, 2003. If interested please submit your entry via fax to (718) 292-9109, or via email to Ms. Carmen Baker at CBaker919@a0l.com. All checks or money orders should be payable to "Wheelchair Charities Inc." and sent ASAP to Ms. Carmen Baker, 414 East 155th. Street, Apartment #1, Bronx, NY 10455. If you need to reach Ms. Baker her cell phone number is: (917) 699-0495. Remember the funds raised will help the less fortunate at Goldwater Memorial Hospital.'

3/26/03 Inquirer: No miracles for the Irish. Irish routed by St. Patrick 61 - 38. Five seniors leave the court without regrets. The Cangelosi twins and their classmates did nothing to besmirch their accomplishments. Except for first and last games, a magical season for the Irish.

3/26/03 NJ Hoops: St. Pat's takes title with a 61 - 38 victory over Camden Catholic.

3/26/03 Newsday's Final Top 10 Basketball Polls: Boys 1. Lincoln (31-4), 2. St. Raymond's (26-4), 3. Christ the King (26-8), 4. Xaverian (19-9), 5. Molloy (17-11), 6. Rice (19-8), 7. Banneker (27-7), 8. Cardozo (22-9), 9. Boys & Girls (22-8), 10. Brooklyn Friends (25-4).

3/26/03 Rich Kosik aka BooksNball: Do you know where your student-athletes are?

3/26/03 Coach Dwayne (Tiny) Morton: 'Can you post the next Brooklyn tryouts for the Wheelchair classic will be held at Micco Center, 110 West 9th Street, Between Clinton St & Henry St (718) 243 - 1528 Take F or G train to Smith & 9th St. station Time 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM.'

3/25/03 Norman A. Fisher, Jr., Secretary/Boys Basketball Coach, Long Island Trotters, Inc.: 'The Long Island Trotters will be having tryouts for our 4th Grade 10 and under team [born on or after September 01, 1992) and our 10 and under team (born on or after September 01, 1991). Every Tuesday & Friday starting, April 01, 2003. thru May 31, 2003, Coach Fisher will begin tryouts at 6:30pm. Tryouts will take place at The Dutch Broadway School 1880 Dutch Broadway, Elmont, NY 11003. For detailed information, go to our webpage at www.litrotters.com.

3/25/03 Bryan Griffith, N.I.K.E.-1 Big Apple Sports: 'Travis Billy is going to a JUCO, he has visits lined up for Arizona Western and a school in Georgia...He is 19y/o, HS Diploma recipient, 6'3" super scoring guard. Can do it all score, rebound and run the break when necessary. Aditionally he is extremely coachable. He will be on display at our (Big Apple Sports) JUCO showcase early next month. (April 12th).' Web note: Travis was this week's CYP Tournament MVP playing for the Gauchos.

3/25/03 Walter Dorrell: 'Englewood Raiders,14 and under -- Roster- Aaron Dorrell, Josh Faison, Samuel Griffin, Malcolm Harrell, James Williams, Shawn Parsons, Jermaine Emanuel, Jordan Theodore, Ramarr Pannell, Ricardo McLean and Troy Williams. Coaches- Jared Peterson, Walter Dorrell and Desmond Sighn. Players attend Janis Dismus Middle School and Dwight Morrow High School for Ramarr Pannell and Ricardo McLean. We are playing at Pro Style 2K3 -- current record 2-2.

3/25/03 USA Today Super 25 boys' basketball rankings lists # 12. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (26-4) Previous: 15. Beat Franklin 76-53 in Tournament of Champions semifinals. Beat Cardinal McCarrick (South Amboy) 86-65 to win Parochial B state championship. # 13. Lincoln, Brooklyn, N.Y. (31-4) Previous: Not ranked. Beat Christ the King (Middle Village) 75-73 in overtime to win the State Federation title. # 14. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (26-4) Previous: 12. Lost to Christ the King (Middle Village) 71-54 in New York State Catholic, Class A championship. # 23. Christ the King, Middle Village, N.Y. (26-8) Previous: Not ranked. Beat then-No. 12 St. Raymond (Bronx) 71-54 to win the Class A, Catholic state championship. Lost to No. 14 Lincoln (Brooklyn) 75-63 in overtime in State Federation final.

Game of the week: Tuesday, No. 12 St. Patrick (Elizabeth) plays Camden Catholic (Cherry Hill) in the Tournament of Champions final. St. Patrick (26-4) is making its second appearance in a TOC final and first since 1998 when Al Harrington of the Indiana Pacers led it to a 62-49 victory over Seton Hall Prep (West Orange).

East 1. McQuaid, Rochester, N.Y. (27-1), 2. Montrose Christian, Rockville, Md. (20-1), 3. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (26-4), 4. Lincoln, Brooklyn, N.Y. (31-4), 5. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (26-4), 6. St. Joseph’s Prep, Philadelphia (30-2), 7. Christ the King, Middle Village, N.Y. (26-8), 8. Gonzaga, Washington, D.C. (27-5), 9. Camden Catholic, Cherry Hills, N.J. (27-1), 10. St. Anthony, Jersey City, N.J. (21-5).

3/25/03 MSG Top 10 1. St. Patrick, NJ (25-4), 2. St. Raymond, NY (26-4), 3. Christ the King, NY (25-7), 4. Mount Vernon, NY (25-1), 5. Lincoln, NY (29-4), 6. St. Mary's, LI (24-2), 7. St. Anthony, NJ (20-5), 8. Trinity Catholic, CT (24-1), 9. Bergen Catholic, NJ (24-4), 10. Amityville, LI (23-2).

3/24/03 Shawn McCray: 'Newark Zoo Crew, AAU program -- our roster can be viewed on our website, eteamz.com/zoocrewbasketball. Upcoming tournaments inlcude Hoop City USA in Scranton, PA for sophmore's from April 4-6, Charlie Weber in DC for 17's and unsigned seniors April 25-27, and New Jersey State AAU tournament which begins April 24 thru May 8 for 15-u.'

3/24/03 National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 17 includes # 8. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln (31-4), first State Federation title since 1995, # 10. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (26-4), will face No. 21 Camden Catholic for N.J. Tournament of Champions title, # 21. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic (28-1), only loss to regionally ranked Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep.

Northeast 1. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 31-4, 2. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 26-4, 3. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 27-1, 4. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 24-3, 5. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic, 28-1, 6. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 26-4, 7. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 30-2, 8. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 26-1, 9. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King, 26-8, 10. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 24-4.

3/24/03 Brooklyn Scout: 'Final call for teams interested in participating in the 5th Annual Necelina McDonald Memorial Basketball Classic scheduled for April 21-27, 2003 at J.H.S. 275 and Hoopland in Brooklyn. There will be five age divisions: 13-under boys, 15-under boys, 17-under boys, 19-under boys and high school girls. The tournament will be conducted in a pool play format with a single-elimination playoff round. The $300 entry fee includes all referee fees and tournament uniforms (shirt and shorts) for twelve (12) players. For entry forms and further information, check our web site: www.eteamz.com/nmf.'

3/24/03 The current team page is for high school teams, but it will be changed to AAU teams within the next few weeks. Please send AAU team profiles to nycnjhoops@aol.com. Profiles should include coaches' names, rosters and tournaments sat the least.

The teams profiled last year were the Albany City Rocks, Baltimore Blue, Bayside Titans, Bronx Gauchos, Brooklyn All-Stars, Brooklyn Cyclone, Brooklyn Falcons, Brooklyn/Queens Warriors, Brooklyn Rams, C.A.S. Milbank Tigers, CAS (Childrens Aid Society) Warriors, Central Jersey Hawks, East New Yorkers, 80 Park aka NYC Panthers, Harlem Lions, Holy Cross Panthers, Hoop Street Gang, Jersey City Bondsmen, Jersey City Boys Club, Jersey Shore Cyclones, Jersey Shore Warriors, Juice All*Stars, Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, Long Island Panthers, Long Island Roadrunners, Long Island Trotters, LPAC (Latino Pastoral Athletic Center) Knights, Madison Broncos, Manhasset All Stars, Minute Man Press, Monmouth Magic, Monmouth Power, MSU Skyliners, Mt. Vernon Knights, Newark Rams, New Jersey All Stars, New Jersey Celtics, New Jersey Flames, New Jersey Hornets, New Jersey RAP, NJ Wildcats Basketball Club, New York City Jaguars, New York Ravens, NYC Finest Basketball, Penn Jersey Panthers, Queens RimRockers, Riverside Church, Running Rebels, Silver Bullets, SONDAY Express, Staten Island Lightning, St. Michael, T1T Playaz, T.K. Allstars, Warriors and Westchester Hawks.

3/24/03 Inquirer: Drew Rosenfeld -- Unheralded point guard keeps Irish eyes smiling. Eric Cangelosi - Camden Catholic star delivering when it counts.

3/24/03 Coach Oliver Antigua: 'Tryouts for the Bronx team of the Wheelchair Classic will be held at St Ray's today and tomorrow at 5 pm.'

3/24/03 Travis Berry, Riverbank State Park: 'We are having games on this Friday & Saturday. Friday night 8:30 p.m unlimited championship game, Saturday 10 am- 4pm junior high school kids.'

3/24/03 Coach Ali Deans, Morris Brown Warriors: 'The Morris Brown Warriors lost to Riverside Church basketball team on 3/22/03 at Prostyle 2K3. The Warriors lost because of too many turnovers in the 3rd. Lewis Sampson had 28 points and Sarfraz Hussain had 26 for the Warriors. The final score was 109 to 89.'

3/23/03 Rodrick C. Bussey - Brooklyn-Queens Warriors (Scholars Through Sports Foundation): 'Jamal Smith is an 11th grader out of LaSalle Academy in Manhattan. Jamal is coming off of a good year year at LaSalle (12 ppg, 5 rpg and 3 apg), but his best basketball will be this summer and next year. Jamal is a fearless competitor. Jamal's game continues to evolve. Jamal will play the 1 and 2 for me during the AAU season, but his future is at the 1. Jamal will be competing in local tournaments around the 5 boroughs and away tournaments such as the GymRat Challenge in May. Jamal is 6'1" and weighs about 180 pounds.'

3/23/03 JoAnn Arbitello: 'I am the head Women's Basketball Coach at Westchester Comunity College and would like you to post information on the Westco Classic Tournament for boys and girls teams ages 9, 10, 11, and 12 on May 4th and 5th. Four Games Guareenteed - For more information contact 914-785-7895 or 917-656-5457.'

3/23/03 D J Brown: 'I just got back in town from Glens Falls. Nice place! Long days! We taped all the games this weekend and there were some very exciting games. Lincoln vs. McQuaid, comes to mind. A masterful coaching job by Coach Morton, playing the slow down game with the clock, frustrating the two 6' 7"s and hats off to the Lincoln team for immaculate execution.( who's the real Mr. Basketball?) Bklyn Friends vs Buffalo City Honors another. Kyle (Mr. Everything) Neptune putting on a helluva show to a empty house in a horribly misofficiated game. So we have available the ladies-St Dominic vs. Poly Prep and Pine Valley vs. Grand St Campus in the D semis and Grand St and St Dominic in the chp,Molloy vs. South Seneca in the C chp, St John Villa vs. New Hyde Park in the B chp, Christ the King vs. Copiague in the A semis and Bergtraum vs. CTK in the A final. For the fellas, Bkln Friends vs. Cathedral Prep and Buffalo City Honors vs. James Madison Campus in the C semis with Bklyn Friends vs. Buffalo in the C chp, Amityville vs. Chaminade in the B Chp and Lincoln vs. McQuaid and CTK vs. LI Lutheran with Lincoln vs. CTK in the A chp. Now two of the games are to be televised on YES and good for them. We at Sports Visions are official and have a signed agreement and the legal rights to market and sell these games, so get at me! Some of these are truly games to be had! Info on acquiring them is at djbrown2320.tripod.com. So its finally over, but wait could there be more just around the corner...IS 8?...Rumble in the Bronx?...ABCD?...Oh yeah and Sports vision will be there!'

3/23/03 NJ.com: St. Patricks enforced its overall domination over Franklin and steadily built upon its lead toward last nights 76-53 victory in the semifinals of the NJSIAA/First Union Tournament of Champions before almost 5,000 at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway.

3/22/03 Inquirer: Irish convinced it's about control. Facing Bloomfield Tech in the T of C semis today, Camden Catholic prefers a slow game, low score.

3/22/03 Bryan Griffith, N.I.K.E.-1 Big Apple Sports: 'regarding freshman Anthony Stukes, I must second the notion that Anthony is clearly a player that has performed like a "seasoned' player for most of the entire season at Benjamin Banneker. His solid and consistent performance during the season and certainly in the semi-final and championship games of the PSAL playoffs should in my opinion qualify him for at least All-City consideration. In addition congratulations to Coach Saunders and the Banneker team for representing Bklyn III-A well. On a related note, Anthony's brother (Roberto) has been a solid player for San Bernadino Valley College in California where he led his team to the Final Four in the 2003 California Junior College Playoffs.'

3/22/03 Coach Tom Sampogna-Boys 15 & Under: 'The Connecticut Flame AAU Basketball Program is holding tryouts for boys in grades 6th through 11th today (3/22) at Stepinac High School in White Plains. The cost per player trying out for each team is $35. For more information please contact Ken Wirth at 203-661-9191 or Earvin Braun at 203-661-7764. All players and coaches are welcome at the tryouts.'

3/22/03 Coach Rock Eisenberg: 'I wanted to take this chance to congratulate Tilden High School Center Andre King for being honored at Madison Square Garden last Sunday as the PSAL's leading rebounder per game. Andre averaged over 20 boards a game for us and also scored over 18 points per game. I feel Andre was one of the two or three most improved players in the PSAL this season in only his first year of high school sports. Andre will play next at year at # 19 ranked Broward CC for Coach Bob Starkman and I believe will be a highly recruited player in the near future.'

3/21/03 Gcdc1: 'Point guard Sebastian Telfair had 15 points and six assists to lead Abraham Lincoln over McQuaid Jesuit 57-44 in the Class A semifinal Friday of the New York State Federation Basketball Tournament.'

3/21/03 Newsday: CK Hoping to Make the Most of Second Chance. Railsplitters' Roadblock - Lincoln faces McQuaid, No. 2 in U.S.

3/21/03 Edwin Morales: 'I'd like to thank Coach Pigott for taking the time to explain this years rather unorthodox playoff format. I personally have a better understanding thanks mainly to his explanation. I have but one question, St. Peter's of Staten Island is put into the "A"Sectionals yet they don't play an " A" schudule. Then why not do the same for St. Mary's and let them play themselves into CHSAA State Championship. Unlike St. Peter's you could put them in the Brooklyn/Queens bracket and they are more than capable of winning that bracket and eliminating all the fuss that this year has brought. It's just a thought that is both resonable and fair to all parties, yet gives all areas the opportunity to compete for the title.'

3/20/03 NJ.com: A benchmark performance by Bloomfield Tech reserves. Huge win for little Bloomfield Tech. A championship season is like a war of attrition. The team with a little gas in reserve is the one that will pull out the close games.

3/20/03 NorthJersey: Hoopsville, N.J.: From Biddy ball to the NBA, Teaneck trains a host of stars.

3/20/03 NJ Hoops: Franklin edged Roselle 63 - 61 in overtime in a thriller in the NJ State Tournament of Champions quarterfinals tonight at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth.

Bloomfield Tech came from behind to beat Teaneck 63 - 57 in a quarterfinal game of the NJ State Tournament of Champions tonight in Elizabeth.

3/20/03 Louis Xifaras, Director of Basketball Operations, Queens RimRockers Basketball, Inc: 'Queens RimRockers will be having tryouts for our 14 and under team (anyone born in 1989, 1990, 1991) on Friday, March 21st, 2003. Coach Jeffrey Rivera will begin tryouts at 6pm. Tryouts will take place at I.S. 141 gym (4th floor). For detailed information, go to our webpage at www.QueensRimRockers.com.'

3/19/03 NJ.com: Like a drummer, Kevin Bent establishes the rhythm and the rest of the Franklin group follows his lead.

3/19/03 Newsday's City Basketball Top 10 Polls - Boys - 1. Lincoln (29-4), 2. Christ the King (25-7), 3. St. Raymond's (26-4), 4. Xaverian (19-9), 5. Molloy (17-11), 6. Rice (19-8), 7. Banneker (27-7), 8. Cardozo (22-9), 9. Boys & Girls (22-8), 10. Brooklyn Friends (23-4).

3/19/03 PrepStars Top 25 Poll includes # 12. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) — (25-4) *15. Results: Beat Paterson Catholic, 76-64. Notes: Senior big man Grant Billmeier (Seton Hall) scored 14 points and grabbed 12 boards, but it was Jason Patterson’s three-point shooting that ended up being the difference against Paterson Catholic. Patterson finished with 22 in the title game. Losses: Oak Hill (Va.); Rice (N.Y.); Life Center (N.J.); Blair (N.J.) # 14. St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) — (24-3) *17. Results: Beat Winslow Township, 93-53; Edged Blair, 55-53, in the State Prep A title game; Beat Hun, 65-57, in the State Prep A semifinals. Next: Season over. Notes: Coach Dan Hurley and his club ended the season on a roll, knocking off Blair and pounding Winslow Township. Senior Aswan Minatee scored 17, Art Bowers (UMass) added 15 and junior Stanley Branch had 12 in the victory over Hun while junior J.R. Smith scored 18 of his 24 after the break against Blair, which was without Loul Deng (fractured leg). Losses: Hun (N.J.); Our Savior (N.Y.); St. Patrick (N.J.) # 23. St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.) — (26-4) *7. Results: Lost to Christ the King, 71-54, in the CHSAA State Class A title game; Beat Christ the King, 75-69, in the CHSAA New York City Class A title game. Next: Season over. Notes: Louis McCroskey, who was benched after punching a window during the previous game last week, was the MVP after scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 boards against CK in the city title game. Junior Brian Laing added 18 points and 14 rebounds. However, St. Ray’s couldn’t beat CK in the state title game. Losses: Mater Dei (Calif.); St. Patrick (N.J.); White Station (Tenn.); Christ the King.

On the Fence: Life Center (N.J.) — (27-6); Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) — (28-4); Our Savior New American (29-11); Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) — (25-7); St. Anthony’s (Jersey City, N.J.) — (21-5); Mt. Vernon (N.Y.) — (26-1).

3/18/03 WinstonKelly@GameBallMagazine: 'I'd like to offer a very special congratulations to Donna Chambers and her daughter Cori Chambers, 5'11/WF, Class of 2003 senior, Ursuline School, who has signed to attend the University of Georgia and play for Coach Andy Landers. Cori Chambers has been selected New York State Miss Basketball, McDonald's All-American Game participant and Parade Magazine All-American.'

3/18/03 CLJSchneider: 'I attended the Christ the King, St. Mary's game last Friday and I just wanted to take my hat off to both talented squads for an entertaining game. CK has the quickest, fastest guards I have ever seen on the high school level. They penetrate at will and when they start hitting from 3 land they are close to being unstoppable. They also have a trio of talented big men 6-5 to 6-7 to complement the guard play. Despite that I was very impressed with the play of senior point guard Tim Wall for the Gaels who handled the pressure as well as could be handled. St. Mary's should be very strong the next two years due to the emergence of what has to be the most talented duo of sophomores in NY State in 6-5 Danny Green Jr. (12 points per game) and 6-5 Tyson Johnson (14 points per game). Johnson was unstoppable against CK scoring at will in the second half while Green's potential in scary. The Gaels also have back next year guard John Ager (14 points per game as a junior) and 6-6 Bill Clark who needs to bulk up but who could give the Gaels one of the best front courts in the state next year.'

3/18/03 Roberto E. Diaz, NYC Finest - "Congratulations to John Bowne HS senior Derek Williams and Bayside HS freshman Raymond Furel for both winning the league scoring title and league MVP awards in the senior division and Junior Division in the BASE (Be A Community Educator) at Roy Wilkins, Jamaica, Queens."

3/18/03 MSG Top 10 Tri-State Boys' Basketball Poll 1. St. Patrick, NJ (25-4), 2. St. Raymond, NY (26-4), 3. Christ the King, NY (25-7), 4. Mount Vernon, NY (25-1), 5. Lincoln, NY (29-4), 6. St. Mary's, LI (24-2), 7. St. Anthony, NJ (20-5), 8. Trinity Catholic, CT (24-1), 9. Bergen Catholic, NJ (24-4), 10. Amityville, LI (23-2).

3/18/03 NJ.com: Bob Kanaby championed the Tournament of Champions cause.

3/18/03 Lonnie Webb: 'Congratulations Mt. Vernon (seniors: Bryan Browne, Chris Dozier, Dwaine Malcolm, Ernie Brown, juniors: Mike Watson, Dexter Gray, Keith Benjamin, Torian Kendall, Chris Bradley, Shanty Robinson, sophmores: John Smith, Chris Lowe, freshman: Jonathan Mitchell and 8th Grader: Mike Coburn) on a spectacular season. Hold your heads up high and walk tall. You held your own against the #2 team in the nation I take nothing from McQuaid they are definitely worthy of their ranking and played a great game. On that note, I just wanted to make one thing clear. With Dexter Gray on the bench for the entire 1st half (minus 49 seconds), Mt. Vernon nearly beat the 2nd best team in the nation. After the season Mt. Vernon had I know they should definitely be nationally ranked next season.'

3/17/03 Coach Kevin Hamilton: 'The NYC Jaguars tryouts for the 15 & under team will be held on Wednesday March 19th 5:30 pm at Holy Cross High School which is located on Francis Lewis Blvd and 26th Avenue. The 18 & under tryouts will also be held on Wednesday at 7:15 pm at Holy Cross. All returning high school players and first year prep schoolers may attend this tryout. Those players invited back will again try out at Holy Cross on Sunday March 23rd. 15 & under starting at 6:00 pm and the returning high school players / prep players at 7:30 pm. Any questions please call coach Hamilton at 917 887-1528 or coach Lewis at 917 335-7157 after 4 pm.'

3/17/03 Coach Jake Edwards: 'The second day of the Brooklyn Beasts tryout is Sat. March 22 at 12 noon at Tilden High School. Please enter through the East 59th Street side door. Thank you. If you have any questions e-mail me at coachjake01@msn.com.'

3/17/03 PrepNation: National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 16 includes # 15. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (25-4) , Parochial B state champ, # 16. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (26-4) , lost to NE No. 9 Christ the King in Catholic state finals a week after beating them in city final, # 19. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (24-3) , N.J. Prep School state champ, # 24. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic (27-1) , winner of 27 straight and Parochial A state title.

Northeast 1. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 27-0, 2. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 25-4, 3. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 26-4, 4. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 24-3, 5. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic, 27-1, 6. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 29-4, 7. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 30-2, 8. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 26-1, 9. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King, 24-7, 10. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 24-4.

3/17/03 Ed McEntee: This is and open letter to Paul Gilvary the head of N.Y CHSAA and Chris Hardardt the head of the Nassau Suffolk CHSAA. Paul, are the City Catholic Schools avoiding the Long Island Catholic Schools during the regular season? Is there nothing to gain by playing the Long Island schools? And everything to lose? Why aren't Molloy, CTK, Rice, Xaverian and St.Raymond's playing these Catholic schools which are right next door? The only two quality teams that played during the regular season were St.Mary's and Rice. That is a disgrace. To Chris Hardardt, are the Long Island Catholic schools intentionally avoiding scheduling the city schools for fear of being embarassed? Are they ducking tough competition to pad their schedule with patsies? Is there any reason why these two groups can not come together and schedule games? As a high school basketball fan from New York I think it would be fantastic to have these two groups schedule regular season games each and every year.'

3/17/03 Charlie Weber, www.charlieweberbasketball.com: 'I'd appreciate it if you would remind your readers that my April 25-26-27 event in DC (the Charlie Weber Capitol Invitational) is sanctioned for D1 college coaches. I still have a limited number of openings in both the 16s and 17s. Games will be played at George Washington Univ., Georgetown Univ., American Univ., and Gallaudet College. I also have openings at my Villanova event Easter weekend, Apriul 18-19-20 in both the 16s and 17s. For both events, I also allow unsigned seniors to participate. I appreciate your help.'

3/17/03 Reggie Murray: 'Congratulations to Akeem Tucker and the Abraham Lincoln HS Railsplitters for defending their title and winning their second consecutive PSAL Championship at Madison Square Garden by defeating Benjamin Banneker HS. Along with winning his second PSAL Championship ring, Akeem Tucker also won the PSAL Scholar Athlete of the Year Award for the 2nd year in a row. Akeem exemplifies the term "student-athlete". Good luck to the Railsplitters in the State Tournament.'

3/17/03 Roberto E. Diaz, NYC Finest - "Congratulations to senior guard Richard Forbes from Far Rockaway HS for winning the PSAL 2002-03 scoring title while averaging 30 points per game, 7apg and carrying an 89% from the free throw line. He was a big part of the school making it to the playoffs along with seniors Warren McCallister Jr. and Sheldon Scott."

3/17/03 Journal News: Class A state championship: McQuaid of Rochester (Section 5) defeats Mount Vernon 57-50.

3/17/03 Daily News: Royals, Lincoln crown glory. Telfair leads in repeat as city champs. Japhet McNeil's 27 show way to state title.

3/17/03 NJ.com: Parochial B - St. Patrick's soars. Parocchial A - Camden Catholic edges Bergen Catholic 45-44. Group 1 Courtney Nelson lifts Bloomfield Tech. to first title. Group 2 final Jesse Holley powers Roselle. Group 3 final Mitchell Brown, Kevin Bent provide the spark for Franklin. Group 4 final Jermaine Nicholas provided the spark when Teaneck needed it most.

3/15/03 NY Post: Mitchell Beauford Powere CTK. Christ the King 78 - St. Mary's 74.

3/15/03 NJ Hoops: Parochial A Preview - Camdedn Catholic vs. Begen Catholic.

3/15/03 NJ.com: Parochial A - Bergen Catholic prepared to face the unknown.

3/15/03 Reggie Murry: 'The Brooklyn Rams will be holding more tryouts for 9th and 10th grade players only; on Wednesday, March 19th @ 6:00pm at John Pershing JHS 220, 4812 9th Avenue. Check the website www.eteamz.com/brooklynrams for further information or e-mail brooklynrams@hotmail.com.'

3/14/03 Galen Smith, Cyclones Basketball Director: 'Congrats to 6 Jersey Cyclones who became state champions this week. Jason Wilson, Casein Drummond, Dashawn Dwight & Dasean Butler – Bloomfield Tech – North Jersey Group 1 State Champs. Eugene Harris – Neptune High School – South Jersey Group 4. Devon Moffatt – St. Patrick’s. North Jersey Parochial B. Get the full story at www.cyclonesbasketball.com.'

3/14/03 Jason Curry: 'I am the President/Director of Operations for Big Apple Basketball, Inc. I wanted to drop you a line to notify you of the Big Apple Basketball HS Expo at Baruch College on Saturday, April 12. We're having the top 40 boys unsigned seniors from the NYC metro area, who were academically eligible during the season, are on target to be academic quailifiers as college freshmen, and inviting college and prep school coaches nationwide to this event. The day will be comprised of 2 sessions of stations/drills (10am-2pm...open only to the college and prep school coaches) and 2 games (3pm & 4:30pm...open to public). Tryouts begin Saturday, March 22 at Baruch College 10am - noon...registration begins at 9:30am. The tryout dates are March 22, 23, 29, 30, April 5 & 6. We will be gradually be making cuts until April 6. All of the tryout times are 10am-noon. We stress the student-athletes be on time and bring their transcripts.'

3/14/03 NJ.com: The opening minutes of a basketball game don't always dictate its flow, but they certainly did last night, when Teaneck moved into the NJSIAA/First Union Group 4 final with a 61-54 victory over Elizabeth at the Dunn Center.

Senior forward Russell Carter scored 30 points and connected on 18 of 19 foul shots to lead Paulsboro to a 70-54 victory over Piscataway Tech in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA/First Union Group 1 tournament last night in Pennsauken.

Kevin Bent scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter to cap a second- half comeback that sent Franklin, No. 17 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 62-55 victory over Camden in the NJSIAA/First Union Group 3 semifinals yesterday in Winslow Township.

3/14/03 Daily News: Monroe gets helping hand from freshman, Michael Glover.

3/14/03 Newsday: No. 1 Lincoln Tough to Beat. Nana Saunderson's back on track. And Gary Forbes Looks to Refresh His Game for Big Game.

3/14/03 Rodney Johnson - Exodus NYC - "Senior Day, Friday, Mar. 14," Our Savior New American H.S. Vs Redemption Christian @ JV Game 6:30 Varsity Game 8pm. @ Our Savior in Centereach,LI - This is the last game of the season..... College coaches take note, there are six Division 1 Seniors on Our Savior Roster. Four have not committed yet: 6'3 G Walter Murray, 6'5 SW Genc Selemi, 6'4 CG Derrick Smith, PG 5' 10 Hans Stelzer, 6'10 -Konimba Diarra heading to South Florida (CUSA), and 6'7 Umarre Sylla to Valporasio. Our Savior Game Info: 631-588-2757 or Exodus Office: 212-781-8210."

3/13/03 Daily News: The little Bronx basketball team that could has busted out of its corral. The Monroe College Mustangs, who don't even have their own home court for games, will gallop off to the junior college national championship tournament next week

3/13/03 There were many High Hoops contributors at last night's game. From left to right, top to bottom they included Artie Cox, Bob Leckie, Craig Kat Keyes, Doug Jones, Jose Modesto, Keith Mason, Kevin Pigott, Lloyd Desvigne, Louis Xifaras, Tom Fraher and Willie Negron.

3/13/03 Journal News: Surging to the forefront - Mount Vernon's juniors Keith Benjamin, Dexter Gray attracting attention from major colleges.

3/13/03 PrepStars Top 20 Poll includes # 7. St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.) (25-3) *9 Results: Defeated Xaverian, 76-56, in the CHSAA `A’ semifinals; Beat Bishop Loughlin, 77-61, in the quarterfinals. Next: Wednesday vs. Christ the King in the city title game Notes: Louis McCroskey was benched after punching a window during the previous game, so Gavin Grant once again stepped up, finishing with 19 points and 9 boards in the win over Bishop Loughlin. McCroskey returned for the win over Xaverian and scored a team-high 14 points. Losses: Mater Dei (Calif.); St. Patrick (N.J.); White Station (Tenn.) # 15. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) (23-4) *16 Results: Defeated St. Anthony, 50-46, in the NJSIAA Parochial B semifinals; Defeated Newark Academy, 93-37, in the quarterfinals; Beat Linden, 68-62, in the Union County Tournament title game. Next: Wednesday vs. Paterson Catholic in the NJSIAA Parochial B finals. Notes: Senior point guard Michael Nardi (Villanova) scored 22 of his 26 points after the break and senior center Grant Billmeier (Seton Hall) added 16 points and 17 boards in the win over Linden, which gave St. Pat’s its eighth crown in the last 11 years. Nardi scored 15 of his 18 in the second half against St. Anthony’s. Freshman Derrick Caracter has left the school and transferred closer to home. Losses: Oak Hill (Va.); Rice (N.Y.); Life Center (N.J.); Blair (N.J.) # 17. St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) (24-3) *19 Results: Beat Winslow Township, 93-53; Edged Blair, 55-53, in the State Prep A title game; Beat Hun, 65-57, in the State Prep A semifinals. Next: Season over. Notes: Coach Dan Hurley and his club ended the season on a roll, knocking off Blair and pounding Winslow Township. Senior Aswan Minatee scored 17, Art Bowers (UMass) added 15 and junior Stanley Branch had 12 in the victory over Hun while junior J.R. Smith scored 18 of his 24 after the break against Blair, which was without Loul Deng (fractured leg) Losses: Hun (N.J.); Our Savior (N.Y.); St. Patrick (N.J.) On the Fence -- Life Center (N.J.) (27-6); Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (28-4); Our Savior New American (29-11); Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) (23-6), St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (21-5); Mt. Vernon (N.Y.) (25-0).

3/13/03 Edwin Morales: St Rays, CK - This game turned out to be a very good game. I didn't think so for the first 12 minutes, then CK showed why they were rated all season in all those publications. Behind Beauford and Brian Williams they made a valiant comeback but fell short at the end. I also see why so many people are impressed with soph Chris Martin. Tthis kid has great potential as long as he contiues the right path. The depth of St.Rays is unbeliveable. They have won the Freshmen, J.V. and now the Varsity Titles. I for one don't think that has ever been done before, not to mention the Varsity "B" Title. The Future looks very Bright for St.Rays Basketball.'

3/13/03 Keith Mason: 'In what turned out to be a very exciting game, St. Ray's prevailed for a 4 point victory over a very resilient Christ the King. Both teams started out slowly both missing their first 5 shots and first 2 free throw attempts, but then St. Ray's kicked it into gear bursting out to a 12-0 lead. A lay-up by 6'5 PF Brian Williams finally stopped the bleeding, and for the rest of the quarter the teams would trade baskets with the Royals getting the advantage to close the first quarter down 18-11. With the score 22-14, 6'4 PF Brian Laing re-entered the game and St. Ray's promptly went on a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 32-14. At that point Laing picked up his 3rd and went back to the bench, but St. Ray's would extend the lead to 39-18. At that moment the Royals finally woke up going on an 11-0 run to end the half, making it a contest.

5'10 Mitchell Beauford started the second half with a nice driving lay-up to bring the Royals within 8 at 39-31. CK would keep chipping away at the lead behind strong inside play from Williams and 6'6 C Justin Marshall. Trailing 47-45 Beauford hit a 3 from the wing to give Christ the King their first lead. Laing would come right come back and hit a 15 foot jumper to give the Ravens the lead. The lead would change hands 4 more times before the 4th quarter with St. Ray's taking a 53-52 lead. 6'6 Gavin Grant started the 4th quarter with a 3 that put the Ravens up 4, and behind big shots from 6'4 Louie McCroskey St. Ray's would be able to keep the lead in the 4th quarter. But CK never folded, never letting the lead grow more than 5 points for much of the quarter, but they would never get closer then 2 after the beginning of the quarter. The difference between St. Ray's dominance early as they opened up a 21 point lead and the rest of the game, was rebounding. Early on St. Ray's got every rebound on the offensive and defensive ends. As the Royals came back they began to control the boards, and they also turned up the defensive pressure getting plenty of steals.

CK may get another chance at St. Ray's on Sunday if they can get by St. Mary's on Friday. So even with the loss Christ the King can still be crowned the New York State Catholic School champs. With the win St. Ray's capped an unbelievable season for the program, as they won the city championship in all 4 divisions, Freshman, JV, Vars "B" and now they add the Varsity "A" title. The Ravens mission is not over, as they now will eye their second state title in the last 3 years.

Louie McCroskey was named the tournament MVP, while his teammates Gavin Grant and Brian Laing made the all-tournament team. 6'0 PG Japhet McNeil who had a terrible game for Christ the King but I'm sure he will more then make up for it on Friday, 6'0 PG Marlon Smith and 6'9 C Chris Taft also were named to the all-tourney team. The only problem I have with the team is I feel Brian Laing should've been the Tournament MVP considering Louie McCroskey was suspended for the Bishop Loughlin game. But McCroskey had a great season, and will have a great career at Syracuse.'

3/12/03 Louis Xifaras: Whoever thought that Wednesday nights CHSAA 'A' Intersectional Championship was meaningless and stayed home, missed a fantastic game. Fordham University was electric as arguably the top two teams in the state squared off. I'm not going to go into details because I'm sure many others will, but I have to say that Christ the King showed a lot of heart, coaches included. After being down 21 early in the game, CTK really battled back. St. Raymond is just too deep for any high school team I have seen in the last 4 years. St Raymond has now run the CHSAA table this year: Varsity 'A', Varsity 'B', Junior Varsity, and Freshmen. Congratulations. It was also great to see the many faces that came out to support the event.'

3/12/03 John Malone: 'St. Ray's Hangs On By A Thread....Tonight in front of a juiced crowd at Rose Hill who spent the 15 minutes before gametime having a shake-off, St. Ray's built 20 point lead in the second quarter at 39-19, behind a ferocious attack of the boards by McCroskey, Atkins and Laing. CTK closed the lead to 10 with a 10-0 run in the final 201 of the half to make it respectable. CTK continued their run in the third quarter outscoring the Ravens 23-14, and cutting the lead to 53-52 after taking their first brief lead of the game at 48-47. St. Ray's maintained a 2-5 point lead throughout the final quarter and sealed the win with free throws down the stretch , particularly, Tariq Aktins who finished 11-14 from the line. Lou McCroskey led St. Ray's with 20 points and 13 boards. Brian Laing had 14 points and 12 boards. CTK got a great game from Mitchell Beauford who had 23 points. Japhet McNeil had a horrible game. He shot 0-12 from the field. He had 8 assists, but he needs to score for them.'

3/12/03 The St Raymond Ravens are the CHSAA city champs beating Christ the King 75 - 69 tonight at Fordham University. They began the game scoring the first twelve points and led at the end of each quarter. But Mitch Beauford hit a corner trey with 2:30 left in the third quarter to give the Royals a short lived 48 - 47 lead and CK stayed within three until the final two minutes. That's when Gavin Grant hit a trey for the 66 62 lead and Tarik Atkins followed with a steal and two foul shots. Tournament MVP Louie McCroskey had 20 points as junior teammate Brian Laing had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Grant, Laing and McCroskey made all tournament as did CK's backcourt of Japhet McNeil and Mitch Beauford and Xaverian's Chris Taft. More later.

3/12/03 Chris Schneider: 'There is no question the NYC CHSAA league is the toughest high school league on the planet and therefore its title game would and should "feel" like a State Championship game to some. So whoever wins tonight's game should be very proud of a tremendous accomplishment. However, for some city coaches and fans to dismiss Glens Falls as an afterthought as was suggested previously is very shallow thinking and also disrespectful to teams like Mt. Vernon, McQuaid, Schenectady, St. Mary's and other NY state teams who look forward every year to testing their skills against the cities best. One should not be so arrogant as to suggest that the NYC CHSAA title game is the State Championship game. It may "feel" like it, but the bottom line is if you don't win the title in Glens Falls you are not the best team in NY State. Period. End of story. Furthermore I for one give Keith Mason props for calling it like it is and for also predicting the finalists in tonight's game.'

3/12/03 Steve Grandin: 'From what I've read, St. Mary's vs. the NYC CHSAA runnerup is the NYSCHSAA semifinal; the winner plays the NYC CHSAA champion for the NYSCHSAA Federation berth. This, however, could leave the NYSCHSAA with the NYC CHSAA LOSER representing the state association in the Federation; it also makes the NYC CHSAA championship game kind of anticlimatic because there is a pretty good chance they will play again a few days later for the Federation berth.'

3/12/03 Roberto E. Diaz, NYC Finest - 'Congratulations to PG freshman Haron Hargrave from Sullivan Community College who was named for the 2002-03 NJCAA Region XV All-Star Second Team.'

3/12/03 Miguel Rodriguez: 'I have to give my thoughts on why the state title should have just as much or more importance.' Miguel and coaches Kevin Pigott, Louis Xifaras, Lloyd Desvigne and Tom Fraher on the New York State 2003 page.

3/12/03 Web note: This is email Keith Mason sent last October. It has been on the team page under the Christ the King profile since then. 10/18/02 Keith Mason:'I think the two best teams in the city are St. Raymond and Christ the King. Both teams are in similar positions, in that they are returning basically all their key players from last year's solid teams. Christ the King only lost 1 key player Eric Martin. Their 3 key players will be Japhet McNeil, Mitchell Beauford and Justin Marshall. I think Marshall will surprise a lot of people and will be one of the better players in the CHSAA. But the player that will help this team the most is sophomore Chris Martin. He will be the best 6th man in the CHSAA and the team will have no dropoff when Japhet goes out the game, in fact they will look better at times with Chris running the team. I'm predicting a St. Raymond, Christ the King final in the CHSAA.'

3/12/03 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'Keith Mason is completely wrong in his assessment about tonight's game between Christ the King and St. Raymond's. The city championship has much more importance than the state championship - just ask the coaches and the players. In fact, I have known coaches who have won the city championship only to find the federation playoffs to be an afterthought. This goes for CHSAA and PSAL. It is the nature of the beast.

Two factors play a role here. First, there is just so much more tradition to this game. Second, the kids are rivals from the regular season, the off-season (e.g., AAU) and the neighborhoods. You will not find this type of intensity in the Federation playoffs, unless there are area teams involved. You will not find this intensity even when two city teams (i.e., PSAL vs. CHSAA) are playing against each other up in Glens Falls. No matter what the outcome, the atmosphere will be electric at Rose Hill tonight!'

Courtney Nelson scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, hitting five of six shots from the foul line, as Bloomfield Tech, No. 15 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, broke away from a see-saw match in the final 2:16 to defeat Cedar Grove, 51-42, for the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 championship last night in Millburn.

Teaneck put it all together in a big second quarter and went on to beat Passaic Tech, 76-64, in the NJSIAA/First Union, North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 final yesterday at Passaic Tech in Wayne.

3/12/03 Lloyd Desvigne, jv coach at Holy Cross: 'Try-outs for the Queens team that will participate in the 30th Anniversary Wheelchair High School Basketball Classic will be held 5:30pm on Thursday March 13 at Holy Cross HS, 26-20 Francis Lewis Blvd., Flushing, NY. This try-out is for current juniors and seniors only. The Wheelchair Classic is the premier NYC event started by Hank Carter with all proceeds going to support and enhance the quality of life for wheelchair patients at Goldwater Memorial Hospital.'

3/11/03 USA Today Super 25 boys' basketball rankings include # 12. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (25-3). Previous: 12. Beat Xaverian (Brooklyn) 76-56 in the CHSAA A intersectional semifinals. Beat Bishop Loughlin (Brooklyn) 77-61 in quarterfinals. # 15. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (22-4). Previous: 15. Beat Newark Academy (Livingston) 97-37 in North Jersey, Parochial B quarterfinals. # 21. St. Anthony, Jersey City, N.J. (21-4). Previous: 23. Beat Montclair (N.J.) Kimberley Academy 74-34 in North Jersey, Parochial B quarterfinals.

3/11/03 MSG Top 10 Tri-State Boy's Basketball Poll: 1. St. Raymond, NY (25-3), 2. St. Patrick, NJ (22-4), 3. Mt. Vernon, NY (25-0), 4. St. Mary’s LI, (24-1), 5. Christ the King, NY (23-6), 6. St. Anthony, NJ (20-4), 7. Lincoln, NY (28-4), 8. Bergen Catholic, NJ (23-3), 9. DePaul, NJ (25-0), 10. Trinity Catholic, CT (22-1).

3/11/03 NJ.com: It's the waiting game. Final score: St. Augustine 78, CBA 76.

St. Augustine, in the completion of the NJSIAA/First Union South Jersey, Parochial A semifinal game that had been suspended Saturday in overtime, got a layup from Anthony Farmer and two free throws from Mark Petrongola and held off Christian Brothers, 78-76, yesterday in Manahawkin.

Marques Alston scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Neptune to the NJSIAA/First Union Central Jersey, Group 2 championship with a 72-41 victory over Colts Neck yesterday in South Brunswick.

The NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 final between Passaic Tech and Teaneck was suspended last night at Wayne Valley in Wayne after Willie Irick, Teanecks 6-6, 220-pound center, shattered the backboard with a dunk.

Mike Nardi, as usual, scored many of the big points in the clutch, but he credited Grant Billmeier for his spirited defensive play in the paint as the source behind St. Patricks 50-46 victory over two-time and defending state champion St. Anthony in the semifinals of the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Parochial B tournament before 2,000 at St. Peters Yanitelli Center in Jersey City.

St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley readily admits that St. Patricks went into last nights game as the better team.

3/11/03 Dave Greiner: 'The Westchester County Coaches Association will hold their annual senior all star games on Saturday March, 22 at 6:00 & 8:00 pm at Yorktown High School. The Applebees All County Classic will feature such players as Jamal Webb (Tuckahoe), George Skrelja (Hastings), Mike DePaoli (North Salem), Mike Kach (Carmel), Tom Fazio (Lakeland), Daren Johnson (Lincoln) and many more. For more information please call Dave Greiner (914)588-5373.

It's great to see Rock Eisenberg on the site. As a young coach I was very lucky to meet Rock at Fran Fraschilla's Manhattan summer camp. He went out of his way to make me feel welcomed. My lasting impression of Rock is seeing him or having him drape that big arm around your shoulder and giving you some words of wisdom or telling you a great joke. Keep it up Rock our profession needs guys like you now more than ever.'

3/11/03 Coach Ted Gustus: 'Try-outs for the Brooklyn Team in the Wheelchair Classic 30th Anniversary will be held on Thursday, March 13, 2003 at the PAL Brownsville Beacon Center located at 985 Rockaway Avenue off Linden Blvd. Brooklyn. Registration for try-outs starts at 6:30 P.M. for juniors and seniors only. Contact: 718 485-2719 for additional information and directions to the center. This year's Brooklyn coaches will be Wheelchair Classic alumni, Dwayne (Tiny) Morton of Lincoln H.S. and Wendell Saunders of Benjamin Banneker. Congratulations to both coaches for making it to the Garden for the championship game. The PSAL championship game is on Sunday, March 16, 2003 at 1P.M., it will be an exciting and entertaining game, with two well coached teams.'

3/10/03 T.R. Barrera: 'I think Keith Mason's comments questioning Marlon Smith's desire were severely off base. Perhaps he didn't always play to Mason's expectations (and who exactly is he anyway in the scheme of things! ), however he still had a year to be proud of and even when the team lost several tight games vs very tough teams, he never packed it in. I've seen many of his games and he always played his heart out. Now we have someone named Mason, after it's all done, questioning his desire! Ridiculous. In fact, Mason says the CTK loss was the first time he'd seen Marlon play like he didn't want to lose, which is quite amazing since the game preceding the CTK game Marlon was terrific when they defeated Rice scoring 28. A very short memory, perhaps. By all accounts, those who've seen Marlon over the season and those who play and coach him have never questioned his desire to win and will regard Mason's comments that Smith played like he didn't care if he won or lost as pure nonsense from some absolute nobody named Keith Mason seeking recognition at the season's end. It really isn't something which needs to be discussed anymore or given credibility. Mason, who apparently wants to be viewed as some "expert analyst", has been virtually invisible on this site since early January and his site was last updated on 1/10/03, as the season started to kick into gear, so it's even odder to see those comments re: Marlon as well as his "prediction" of the NYCHSAA finalists at this point in time. We'll have to take his word on the "prediction" since it doesn't seem to appear anywhere on this board or his site. The only things which even resemble predictions were that "with Robinson Rice is one of the best teams in the nation" and when Merrit of St Ray's was hurt that it "opened up the CHSAA race a bit" , and that "Blair Academy might be the best team in the nation this year…there is only one team who can be considered better than them and that's St Pat's.." You missed a great season, Keith Mason!'

3/10/03 National Prep Basketball Poll for Week of March 10 lists # 6. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (25-3) , features standout juniors Gavin Grant and Brian Laing, # 19. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (24-3) , N.J. Prep School state champ # 20. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (22-4) , frosh sensation Derrick Caracter left team after academic suspension.

Northeast 1. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 25-0, 2. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 25-3, 3. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 24-3, 4. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 22-4, 5. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 28-1, 6. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 28-4, 7. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic, 24-1, 8. Manhasset, N.Y., St. Mary's, 25-1, 9. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 25-0, 10. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 24-3.

3/10/03 Phil Diasparra -Westchester Hawks final tryout for boys 17u select team will be this Friday at 7:30 pm at the Brewster Sports Center. Get directions at our site www.brewstersportscenter.com, or email me at dassoc@aol.com or call Lou Demello at 845-278-2040.

3/9/03 Keith Mason: 'On Wednesday at 7:30pm the CHSAA Championship will feature the two teams I predicted would be playing in the final prior to the start of the season, St.Raymond and Christ the King. Christ the King won a thriller by 1 point in overtime over Molloy. Trailing by 2 with under 20 seconds left in overtime 6'0 PG Marlon Smith drove to the basket but missed, the two teams battled for the loose ball before 6'6 PF Ivan Marnika came up with it but the missed the shot, and Smith got the ball back and was fouled with 2 tenths of a second left. Smith stepped to the line, and missed the first, so he had to miss the second and hope for a tip in. But he accidentally made the shot and there was nothing the Stanners could do. Christ the King advanced with a 60-59 victory. In the overtime 5'11 SG Mitchell Beauford and 6'0 PG Japhet McNeil controlled the game for the Royals. The thing that stood out most to me in this game, was this was the first time where I actually saw Marlon Smith playing and he looked like he wasn't going to leave the court without a win. All the other times I saw him play, he was just playing the game, and it looked like it didn't matter to him whether they won or lost. But today it was a lot different, and he showed some of the talent that made him one of the 5 best freshman in the nation 3 years ago. Smith is still one of the most talented players in the country, but it seems at Molloy he lost some of his desire to be the best. But I think at the next level, you will see the Marlon Smith that everyone expected would make child's play out of the CHSAA.

The other semifinal game featured St. Raymond and Xaverian. After the Molloy vs. Christ the King game this was very anticlimatic, St. Ray's rolled to a 76-56 victory. The difference in this game was 6'4 PF Brian Laing, St. Ray's jumped out an 11-2 lead with Laing scoring the first 5 points, but then he picked up 2 quick fouls and would sit for the rest of the half, from then on the two teams would trade baskets and the Ravens would hold a 32-25 lead at halftime. But with the start of the second half meant Brian Laing would be back in the game, and he promptly started the half with an alley oop dunk. Then on the next possesion got an and 1. That was followed by a 3 pointer from 6'4 SG Louie McCroskey which put St. Ray's up 40-25 and put the game away. St. Ray's will now have the opportunity to win their 3rd city title in 4 years and 2nd state title in 3 years.'

3/9/03 Coach Rock Eisenberg: 'I wanted to take this chance to announce the first annual Tilden/South Shore High School "One Love" Basketball awards Dinner to be held on Monday, March 10th 2003, at 4;30 pm at Massimo's Restaurant located at 2147 Mill Ave. in Mill Basin Brooklyn. This event will bring together the players and coaches of South Shore and Tilden High Schools for an evening of food, fun and togetherness. It will also serve to let our student athletes know that you can compete on the court and still love and respect each other off the court. I would like to thank first year South Shore coach Brett Toil for all his help in putting this great event together.'

3/9/03 Coach Will Stasiuk: 'With the PSAL playoffs winding down, its time to start thinking about post-season all-star teams. There's just five days left for you the fan to vote for your choices at www.psalhoops.com. We will be announcing this year's PSALHOOPS 2nd Annual Fans All-City Team on Saturday March 15th, one day before the 'A' league championship between Banneker and Lincoln at MSG!'

3/9/03 Chuck Vance, Asst. Coach Springfield Gardens HS, Bistate Python Executive Director. 'Bistate Pythons Basketball is having their tryouts for 14 & 15 year olds (Junior Varsity 1983 -84). 16 year olds,( must be current High School Varsity). JV registration is at 5PM followed by a try-out at 6 PM. High School registration is from 7 PM, followed by try-out at 8 PM at PAL Foster-Laurie 199-10 112th Ave. in Saint Albans. PAL registration is $5, copy of your birth certificate, and 2 photo's for ID card. This team will be attending the Gym Rat Challenge Memorial day weekend in Albany NY. as well as Charlie Weber at Penn State University June 21-23.'

3/9/03 Newsday: It's Not All About Telfair for Lincoln. Teammates make up for star's foul trouble in 'A' semi. And Banneker Advances in 'A'.

3/9/03 NJ.com: Senior forward Sean Banks, reinstated Friday after serving a three-game suspension, scored 14 points and blocked seven shots to help Bergen Catholic, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, overpower its smaller opponent, No. 8 Seton Hall, 56-46, yesterday in the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Parochial A semifinals in West Orange.

Camden Catholic 55, St. Josephs 40: Senior guard Nick Cangelosi scored 11 of his 20 points in the first half, when Camden Catholic opened a 27-15 lead in a South Jersey, Parochial A semifinal in Cherry Hill.

Sophomore Terence Grier continued his brilliant play with a 31-point effort that enabled Cranford to overcome Jefferson, 64-60, in the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 semifinals yesterday in Jefferson.

03/9/03 tbone: 'When you update the class of 2005 include Terence Grier of Cranford HS. Averaged 23 pts a game this year for Cranford. Plays AAU with the MSU Skyliners AAU Program and possibly the NJ Roadrunners, and after this summer, will most likely be a TT Playaz, NJ All Star. Has ups and range. Came into his game real nice this season.. Will jump from ranked #71 in the state of NJ in the sophomore class to around # 6.'

3/9/03 Coach Rock Eisenberg: 'Just a short note to sing the praises of the best young coach in the city Brian Mullen of St.Edmunds Prep. Yes, I am prejudiced as Brian played for me in 1988 at N. Y. U. and was my asst. at Tilden for two great years. However it is no accident that his teams always play hard, tough and smart! Because that was how Brian and his brother Greg always were taught to play by their dad retired NYC fire Capt. Bernie Mullen. Brian coaches his team with respect for his players, opponents and officials at all times. His teams are always solid in the way they play and he makes great adjustments during the game. In short he is a first class coach who helps his players improve on and off the court each and every day and is at true gentlemen at all times.'

3/8/03 Lonnie Webb: 'Mt. Vernon advances to the New York State Semi-Final by defeating Kingston 86 - 70 in the Regional Championship @ Pace University. It is on to the New York State Final Four @ Glen Falls, New York 3/8/2003 @ 1:30 where the Knights will face the winner of section 8 Uniondale or 9 Walt Whitman.'

3/8/03 The junior class of 2004 page has been updated. With nine pictures it may load slowly.

3/8/03 Courier News: Shagari Alleyne still plans to attend Rutgers despite reports.

3/8/03 Reginald Murray 'The Brooklyn Rams are holding tryouts for their 8th, 9th, 10th, & 11th grade AAU teams on Wednesday, March 12th @ 6:00pm at John Pershing JHS 220, 4812 9th Avenue. Check the website eteamz.com/brooklynrams for further information or e-mail brooklynrams@hotmail.com.'

John Kelly, a 6-11 center, scored his 1,000th career point last night and DePaul, No. 10 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, turned a close game into a runaway in a 71-42 victory over Hudson Catholic in the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Parochial A quarterfinals in Wayne.

No. 5 Paterson Catholic received 23 points, seven boards and nine assists from Marquis Webb and 15 points, 13 rebounds, 11 blocks and four steals from Darryl Watkins in the quarterfinals of the North Jersey, Parochial B tourney in Paterson.

3/8/03 NY Post: Molloy Takes the high road - CHSAA 'A', Molloy 72 - Rice 68.

3/8/03 Daily News: Stanners shock Rice in quarters. And Cathedral twins - Bradd & Brett Wierzbicki - are two much.

Walter Murray scored 18 points for top-seeded Our Savior New American in its 67-60 win over No. 4 Southern Maryland Christian Academy in Friday's NACA National boys basketball tournament semifinal at Dayton, Tenn.

3/8/03 Journal News: Class A state quarterfinal scouting report: Mount Vernon vs. Middletown (Section 9).

3/7/03 Coach Jake Edwards and Coach Rock Eisenberg would like to invite student athletes to come and try out for the Brooklyn Beasts 18 & over AAU team. Tryouts will be held at Samuel J. Tilden HS on Sat. March 15th at 12noon. Please enter on the East 59th Street side. If you don't enter through that side you will not get in. If you need further info e-mail me at coachjake01@msn.com.'

3/7/03 Coach Brian Ott: 'Kenny McBrien and Tommy Scholmeier play at St. Francis Prep. I was their freshmen basketball coach.'

3/7/03 Drew Adderly, IYB: 'Due to coaches requests, we are going to have the March tourney on the 21-23rd. To take 2 weekends of your teams schedule seemed to be a bit much. We extend an invitation to the first 35 teams that would like to participate in the 10u, 12u, 14, 18u boys and girls. The tourney is again at North Bergen Rec. center. Please contact me ASAP at (201) 317-6630 or aadderly@utendahl.com to reserve your teams spot. Tourney Info: Double-elimination Tourney 10u, 12u, 14u, 18u, boys and girls teams. Cost: $200 IYB Member $250 Non-IYB Member, $100 Deposit needed to secure spot by March 14th.'

3/7/03 These are 27 notable freshmen from the class of 2006 who we're still looking to match to schools: Dan Betteridge, Jonathan Brit, Andrew Cialino, Kevin Cook, Willard Crews, Marco Cuoco, William Gahan, Eric Gilbert, Marques Harron, Shaun Hines, James Inge, Charles Jenkins, Michael Locasio, Brian Mahon, Greg Mandese, Kenny McBrien, Matt McFadden, John McMichael, Courtney Mitchell, Gary Oliver, Christian Quinonex, Jamel Reed, Jacor Riddick, John Sanchez, Tommy Scholmeier, Keith Strickland Jr. Ryan Thompson. Send information to nycnjhoops@aol.com.

3/7/03 Courier News: Scotch Plains' Caracter withdraws from St. Patrick, could return permanently to home.

3/7/03 NJ.com: Arnaud Dahi scored 27 points and Darryl Gladden added 18 as Life Center began pool play in the National Christian Invitational with a 74-61 triumph over Riverdale Baptist last night in Erie, Pa.

3/7/03 SchoolSports lists # 10. St. Raymond’s (Bronx, N.Y.) – (24-3) *10. With CHSAA Player of the Year Louie McCroskey benched for disciplinary reasons, St. Ray’s got a team effort to help beat Bishop Loughlin, 77-61, in the CHSAA ‘A’ quarterfinals. St. Ray’s also beat previously nationally ranked Rice last week. # 21. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) – (21-4) *21. St. Pat’s held off Linden, 68-62, in the Union County Tournament championship game and will play in the Parochial B playoffs this weekend. But no matter how St. Pat’s finishes the year, the team will stay behind No. 20 Oak Hill (Va.) in the rankings after losing to Oak Hill earlier in the season.

3/6/03 Jordan Capital Classic is on Thursday, April 17, 2003. Participants include Luol Deng, Shagari Alleyne, Obie Nwadike and Gary Forbes.

3/6/03 Peter J. Goyco: 'Due to the weather today's CHSAA games that were scheduled at Iona College have been postponed and the site has been changed. The "B" Varsity Intersectional Championship (8:00PM) and "C" Varsity City Championship (6:00PM) will be tomorrow Friday, March 7, 2003, at Iona College. The CHSAA "A" Intersectional Playoffs will resume on Friday, March 7, 2003. The games are at Holy Cross HS. 6:00 PM Rice HS. vs. Archbishop Molloy HS. 8:00 PM Christ the King vs. St. Francis Prep The CHSAA "A" Varsity Intersectional Semi Finals will be on Sunday, March 12, 2003, at Fordham University at 1:00 and 3:00PM.

The CHSAA "A" Varsity Intersectional Semi Finals will be on Sunday, March 9th, 2003, at Fordham University at 1:00 and 3:00PM The CHSAA "A" Varsity Insectional Finals will be Wednsday March 12th, 2003.'

3/6/03 NorthJersey.com: Court case done, BC's Sean Banks gets OK to play.

3/6/03 Coach Bill McNally: The Ivy Prep League concluded with Poly Prep and Horace Mann as co-champions. This was Poly Prep's sixth consecutive conference championship. Both schools finished 13-1 in league play and split wins during the season. All league first team selections were: Will Scott - Collegiate, Joakim Noah - Poly Prep, Liam Biesty - Poly Prep, Charlie Parker - Poly Prep, Chris Mizel - Horace Mann, Roger Ramirez - Horace Mann and Brett Levine - Horace Mann.'

3/6/03 Coach Jim Hart: 'The Albany City Rocks will hold tryouts for the upcoming AAU season this weekend March 8 & 9 at Siena College in Loudonville, NY. For current 8th graders 8:45 AM, for current 9th graders 9:45 AM, for current 10th graders 10:45 AM and for current 11th graders 12:45 PM. Contact names are as follows. 8th grade Tom Alexander 518 272 9917. 9th grade Eric Medved 518 331 2406. 10th grade Ralph Tucker 518 316 1052. 11th grade Anthony Marino 518 487 2280 or Steve Treffeletti 518 209 6938.'

Web note: Be advised that Loudenville is significantly north of the IRT # 1 train's last stop, the 242 Street and Broadway station.

Senior Marques Alston erupted for 28 points, including 10 in the third quarter, to lead Neptune, No. 7 in the Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 65-46 victory over Rumson in the NJSIAA/First Union Central Jersey, Group 2 quarterfinals last night in Neptune.

Jesse Holley delivered 34 points, six rebounds, six assists and eight steals to lead Roselle, No. 16 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 68-47 triumph over Gov. Livingston in the quarterfinal round of NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 yesterday in Roselle.

Dave McSwain reached 1,000 career points in the first quarter, but scored his most important baskets in the fourth to help defending-champion East Side, No. 7 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, pull away for a 54-39 victory over Montclair yesterday in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 tournament in Newark.

3/6/03 PSAL.org: Boys 'A' Final Four Preview -- Saturday Mar. 8th, at St. John's University, # 3 Boys & Girls vs. #2 Banneker (4:00 p.m.), # 5 Cardozo vs. # 1 Lincoln (6:00 p.m.).

3/6/03 Louis Xifaras, Director of Basketball Operations, Queens RimRockers Basketball, Inc: 'Queens RimRockers will be having tryouts for our 14 and under team (anyone born in 1989, 1990, 1991) on Friday, March 7th, 2003. Coach Jeffrey Rivera will begin tryouts at 6pm. Tryouts will take place at I.S. 141 gym (4th floor). For detailed information, go to our webpage at www.QueensRimRockers.com.'

3/5/03 The U.S. All-Star roster for the 3rd Annual Marine Corps Charm City Challenge presented by Converse is set. Participation on the U.S. Team include Karron Clarke, 6-6, The Winchendon School/Winchendon, MA First-team All-City selection at Lincoln HS (Brooklyn, NY) as junior … attending University of Miami. Gary Ervin, 5-11, Notre Dame Prep/Fitchburg, MA Earned New York City Player of the Year honors at Paul Robeson HS … committed to Mississippi St. Mike Nardi, 6-0, St. Patrick’s High School/Elizabeth, NJ N.J. Player of Year honors … attending Villanova University. The Challenge takes place on Sunday, April 13 at the Towson Center on the campus of Towson University. The preliminary game, City vs. Suburban All-Stars, begins at 4 PM with the U.S. vs. Baltimore All-Star game to follow at 6 PM.

3/5/03 JSHUTTLESWURTH (John Cano): 'Many can tell you that I am a close friend of Sean Banks and hence I didn't want to respond to all the bad press he received during this time until the case was done. Which has happened today and the charge against Sean has been dropped. Now the real story. Sean was in a car with 3 friends who were taking him home. The kid driving the car had a suspended license and him being a fool started to act up on the road and a cop car put on his siren and lights in an attempt to pull them over. The driver being scared decided to run off and eventually ran into a pile of snow where he and 2 other passengers decided to run but not Sean. Go check the police report and the video that records everything from the police car and that is why the one charge against him was dropped today. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Now this is partially Sean's fault because he needs to understand that as a basketball star he will be in the limelight even more and his mistakes will be headline news. Also he must learn to separate himself from people who will bring him harm and bad influences but hey you only start realizing that when you get away from people for a while. That is exactly what college is for - to get away and experience new things and make new friends. Maturity sets in and he will eventually establish his friends and support group from then on. He is in the wrong place at the wrong time and all of sudden he is in danger of robbing your house? Come on now there have been many bball stars from around this area that had friends of worse criminal elements that eventually grow out of it and become successful people. Tell them this in their high school days and they will rebel like no you don't know a thing those are my friends. That is called being a KID. People should realize that when they start reporting things or bashing the kid's life without knowing the full story sometimes. That goes out to Jason McIntyre from the Bergen Record that reported the wrong story and Mike Quick from MSG for also reporting the wrong story. Learn your facts before writing the story and saying Sean ran out the car and that he is a so-called gangbanger. Also to McIntyre who first of all is only 24-years old and is looking for his break into bigger sports and instead of writing into the car incident he digs deeper into Sean's life and reports on his family life. When the article appeared it talked on how Sean's father left when he was young and his mother isn't around that much and not too much on the incident. Then for the next four days he wrote something on Sean trying to stir something up. He even went around asking Bergen County hoop players what they felt about the Sean incident and they all said Sean was a good kid and no gangbanger but for some reason I didn't see one of those quotes in the paper. Instead this guy wanted to destroy a kid to benefit his own career. Not a professional athlete but a high school athlete. Mike Quick on the other hand is not even a real reporter he is just an actor and takes what other people say and he talks about them on his show. Not once did he call the police for a report or even call Sean to see if he had anything to say maybe I'm wrong but isn't that what a reporter should do and look for all angles on the story but like I said he is just an actor on TV so why even take him serious. I mean forget the fact that he wasn't selling drugs, drinking alcohol, stealing, robbing, or even killing someone but lets all bash this KID and put him down. Fine if you want to say he needs to grow up and find better influences because I tell him that sometimes but I don't give up on him cause he is a kid and he needs mentoring just as much as the next kid who is not a bball star. Basketball doesn't make you mistake free but I guess to the public eye it should.' Web note: The original NorthJersey.com story was BC star Banks arrested. The Sunday editorial was Banks trusting future to wrong man.

3/5/03 Inquirer: Villanova getting a good point guard in New Jersey star Michael Nardi.

Tyrell Biggs scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Trevoy Chambers scored 11 points and had seven rebounds to lead Don Bosco past Bishop Francis, 55-48, last night in the opening round of the NJSIAA/First Union North Jersey, Parochial A tournament in Ramsey.

3/5/03 Journal News: CHSAA Division B semifinal: St. Edmund defeats Fordham Prep 60-57.

3/5/03 Newsday: Lavar Colston's Time Is 4th Quarter. Gets 10 at end for Cardinal Hayes.

Gaels Are Ready for Next Step. St. Mary's takes NSCHSAA crown, moves to 'A' states.

3/4/03 Phil Diasparra: 'Westchester Hawks Boys 17u tryouts will be held this Sunday, 3/9 @6:30 pm at the new home of the Hawks, Brewstersportscenter.com. If you have any questions please email at, Dassoc@aol.com, or call Lou Demello at 845-278-2040.

3/4/03 Coach Jason Salamanca: 'I just wanted to give FDA coach Pat Mangan credit for doing an excellent job on Sunday versus powerhouse Lincoln, he slowed the game up given his team the only chance of beating them and they came up a couple of shots short but it was very entertaining. If you looked at Lincoln you would think that they were losing, they were frustrated but sometimes the talent margin is too much to overcome. In the other matchup. Cardozo scrapped their way into the semi's, beating a big Gompers team, I think any coach would take the guards over the big men and that was the difference. Lincoln will be heavy favorites versus Cardozo but cannot afford another poor showing, I have a feeling Coach Naclerio won't slow it up. It could be a dandy if Cameron steps up and provides a matchup between the 2 best guards in the PSAL.'

3/4/03 Coach John Sce, New Utrecht: 'I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jack Ringel on an outstanding coaching career in the PSAL. His 450+ wins, 3 PSAL Titles and State Championship do not come close to measuring up to the type of leadership and guidance he provided to the student/athletes @Grady over the years. I am very proud to say that he is a good friend of mine and a great asset to the coaching profession. I want to wish him good luck and health in his retirement. He will be sorely missed.'

3/4/03 USA Today Super 25 boys' basketball rankings includes # 12. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (23-3). Previous: 12. Beat then-No. 24 Rice (Manhattan) 72-64 to win the Archdiocese of New York championship. # 15. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (21-4). Previous: 16. Beat Linden 68-62 in Union County Tournament final, clinching its eighth title in 11 years. Beat Roselle 74-47 in semifinals. # 23. St. Anthony, Jersey City, N.J. (20-4). Previous: 25. Beat St. Joseph Regional (Montvale) 53-41 and Our Savior New American (Centereach, N.Y.) 62-50. Dropped out: No. 24 Rice (New York, N.Y.) lost to No. 12 St. Raymond's 72-64 in Archdiocese of New York final. Base lines: George Johnson, a former NBA player and college coach, is coaching Julia Richman (Manhattan). Richman beat Art & Design (Manhattan) 57-45, advancing to Sunday's Public School Athletic League B semifinals against defending champion Wings Academy (Bronx). Retirement: Veteran coach Jack Ringel of Grady (Brooklyn, N.Y.) retired after a 68-66 loss to Banneker (Brooklyn) in the PSAL A quarterfinals. Ringel, who won three PSAL titles in 26 seasons, guided Grady to a 20-10 finish this season.

East: 1. McQuaid, Rochester, N.Y. (23-0), 2. Montrose Christian, Rockville, Md. (19-1), 3. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (23-3), 4. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (21-4), 5. St. Anthony, Jersey City, N.J. (20-4), 6. St. Joseph’s Prep, Philadelphia (26-1), 7. Rice, New York, N.Y. (19-7), 8. Lincoln, Brooklyn, N.Y. (26-4), 9. Christ the King, Middle Village, N.Y. (21-6), 10. Gonzaga, Washington, D.C. (25-5).

3/4/03 MSG Top Ten Poll: 1- St. Raymond, NY (23-3), 2- St. Patrick, NJ (21-4), 3- Mt. Vernon, NY (24-0), 4- St. Mary's, LI (23-1), 5- Christ the King, NY (21-6), 6- St. Anthony, NJ (19-4), 7- Lincoln, NY (27-4), 8- Rice, NY (19-7), 9- Bergen Catholic, NJ (21-3), 10- DePaul, NJ (23-0)

Neptune, No. 13 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, received 16 points apiece from Marques Alston and Eugene Harris during a dominating first-round effort in the NJSIAA/First Union Central Jersey, Group 2 tournament with a 94-46 victory over Freehold Borough last night in Neptune.

3/4/03 NY Post: Kyle Neptune Finds a Way to Help His Friends -- Brooklyn Friends 46 - Packer 44.

3/3/03 NorthJersey: Boys State Tournament Preview: Seasoned boys pool among strongest in years.

3/3/03 National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 14 lists # 6. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (23-3) , won Archdiocesan title over Rice, # 20. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (24-3) , N.J. Prep School state champ, # 22. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (21-4) , won eighth Union County title in 11 years.

Northeast -- 1. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 23-0, 2. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 23-3, 3. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 24-3, 4. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 21-4, 5. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 27-4, 6. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 26-1, 7. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic, 23-1, 8. Manhasset, N.Y., St. Mary's, 24-1, 9. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 24-0, 10. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 22-3.

3/3/03 Peter J. Goyco, Bishop Ford: 'CHSAA Playoff Basketball -- Tuesday 3/4 At Mount St. Michael "B" Varsity Intersectional Playoffs 6:00 PM Cardinal Hayes vs St. John's Prep and 8:00 PM St. Edmund Prep vs Fordham Prep. Wednesday 3/5 At Iona College "A" Varsity Intersectional Playoffs 6:30PM Xaverian vs All Hallows, 8:00PM St. Raymond's vs Bishop Loughlin, Thursday 3/6 At Iona College "A" Varsity Intersectional Playoffs 6:30PM Rice vs Archbishop Molloy, 8:00PM Christ the King vs St. Francis Prep, Friday 3/7 At Iona College 6:00PM "C" Varsity Championship Cathedral Prep vs Scanlan. 7:00PM "B" Varsity Intersectional Championship Sunday 3/9 At Fordham University "A" Varsity Intersectional Semi-Finals 1:00 & 3:00PM.'

3/3/03 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'There will be two semifinal CHSAA "B" games at Mount St. Michael in the Bronx on Tuesday, March 4. At 6 PM, #2 seed Cardinal Hayes vs. 3# seed St. John's Prep. At 8:00 PM, #1 seed St. Edmund's Prep vs. #5 seed Fordham Preparatory School.'

3/3/03 NY Post: St. Francis Prep's Bryan Geffen stole the show during yesterday's intersectional CHSAA "A" playoff game against St. Peter's at Iona College. And 'Splitters Too Tough in the End.

3/3/03 Journal News: Section 1 championships: Scene & Heard at the Westchester County Center.

3/2/03 80 Park completed an IS8 hat trick beating the Gauchos 49 - 45 in the biddie division, Abyssinian Church 64 - 62 in the midget division and SONDAY Express 68 - 53 in the the junior division. William Williiams (17) was the biddy MVP while the 'chos Kevin Perron (16) won the Sportsmanship award. Point guard Malik Boothe (pictured) led the midget squad. JJ Garvin had 22 and the midgets' MVP as Malcolm Pope (19) got the Sportsmanship trophy. Ahmed Allen, Juma's brother, had 13 for SONDAY and got the Sportsmanship trophy. Yet SONDAY's key man was Adam Walker. He had 14 but picked up his fourth foul with 4:17 left in the third. A close 30 - 27 halftime game then turned into a rout for MVP Chris Martin (21) and friends. Details and pictures on the IS8 Nike Winter league page.

3/2/03 Vincent Kabus for Paul "Doc" Nicelli: 'The Student Athletes Inc.Bronco,s are having more tryouts on the following days;fridays March 7,14,21,28 6-9pm + Satuardays March 8,15,22,29 11am -4pm. The following is a list of national tournaments that the Broncos will be competing in 1] the 12th Annual Adidas Hoop Challenge Sacred Heart Unv. Conn. 2] The Hoop Group Tournament April 11,12,13 Providence R.I 3] T.B.A April 18,19,20 4] 6th Annual Breakout Tournament April 25,26,27 R.I c.c R.I 5] Eagles Hoop Shootout May #,4 Sullivan c.c NYS 6] Northeast Hoops Festival May 10 ,11 Unv.of Albany, NYS 7] 5th Annual Five Star Hoop Classic May 16,17 18 Northeatern Unv.,Mass. 8] T B A May 23,24,25 9] Hoop City Tournament May 30,June 1 Hoopcity Dunmore Pa. 10] N H A Peak 5th Annual Shootout June 7,8 Yale Unv Conn. 11] Charlie Webber Tournament June 13,14,15 Penn State Unv. 12] Adidas Student Athletes Summer League June 20 -August 10. 13] Three Strips Adidas Tournament July 11,12 13 Hofstra Unv. 14] Adidas "Bigtime" Tournament [364 teams] July 21-25,Las Vegas.- Pump and Run Tournament [164 teams] July 26-30 California. Six more Tournaments will be listed for the month of September and October. Please note, any players who consider themselves college material must get the exposure against the competition that a national level can supply. If you have any questions please call "Doc" Nicelli at [718] 3924527 or cell at 646 2461130

3/2/03 Newsday: St. Ray's Sparked by Gavin Grant. Despite win, there's concern for star player Louie McCroskey.

West Hempstead Wins First 'B' Title Since '57. Etienne Brower scored 21 points last night as top-seeded West Hempstead beat No. 2 Locust Valley, 61-28, for the Nassau Class B title at SUNY- Old Westbury's Clark Center.

3/2/03 NJO: 23-0 DePaul jars No. 2 Paterson Catholic for first Passaic County Tournament title.

Yesterday, facing a 13-point deficit with just over a minute left in the third, Newark East Side imposed its vise-grip will upon Seton Hall Prep and rallied to a 53-47 victory in the final of the Essex County Tournament.

DaShawn Dwight scored 18 points to reach 1,000 for his career and steer Bloomfield Tech, No. 15 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 71-51 victory over North 13th Street Tech yesterday in West Caldwell.

3/2/03 NJ Hoops: Newark Eastside went on a major 18 - 0 run to beat #4 Seton Hall Prep 53 - 47 for the Essex County championship.

3/2/03 Humberto Corredor Jr: 'The freshmen chip was very exciting game where a lot of people stepped up their games to the next level. St. Rays pulled out a 62-61 victory over Molloy. St Rays came out with a crew and some kids to keep an eye on: Torrence McGill, Tyrek Coleman, Quintin Redfern. Molloy was led by super freshmen Milan Prodanovic who put up 38pts (I kept track myself.) It was one of those games that came down to the wire. Molloy was down by 8, with about 50 sec to go. Molloy went on a 9-0 run and was up by 1 with 15sec. Off a missed shot, John Gener caught the offensive rebound and put it right back up and took the led for St Rays which would win the game.'

3/2/03 Louis Xifaras: Congratulations to Milan Prodanovic, Victor Rosario, and the entire Archbishop Molloy freshman team for putting on a great effort vs St. Raymond in the CHSAA 'A' Freshman Championship game, held at Holy Cross High School Saturday night. Milan put together a tremendous effort in scoring by putting up 38 points and playing good off-the-ball defense while in foul trouble. St. Ray's was a little too strong down the end, winning by 2 points, but the story of the night was clearly Prodanovic. Before, during, and after the game everyone in the gym knew who the best player on the floor was, and he still could not be stopped. He will definitely be a top player to watch in the next 3 years at Molloy for Jack Curran. Before the season began, nobody was talking about Molloy's freshmen team, but they turned out to represent Brooklyn/Queens strongly in the Championship Game. Can't take nothing away from St. Ray's though, they played hard the entire game, are very well coached, and have great fan support. Another notable thing was the support of the JV and Varsity teams showing up for St. Ray's. It seems like their entire school was in the building last night, which shows a lot about what St. Ray's stands for. Good job by both teams.'

3/2/03 Louis Xifaras, Director of Basketball Operations, Queens RimRockers Basketball, Inc: 'Queens RimRockers will be having tryouts for our 14 and under team (anyone born in 1989, 1990, 1991) on Friday, March 7th, 2003. Coach Jeffrey Rivera will begin tryouts at 6pm. Tryouts will take place at I.S. 141 gym (4th floor). For detailed information, go to our webpage at www.QueensRimRockers.com.'

3/2/03 Bryan Griffith, N.I.K.E.-1 Big Apple Sports: 'NIKE-1 lost in the Championship game of the 2003 NYC Parks and Recreation Dept. Millenium Tournament (17-19)held at St. Johns Recreation Center. NIKE-1 failed to put 5 men on the court after Jerome Richardson fouled out at the 1:16 mark. Nike-1 was paced by Iquan Glover (22pts) and Travis Billy (21pts), Onyedika Chuke (O.C.) had 10 points and 10 rebounds'

3/1/03 Coach Will Stasiuk: 'Here are the results from today's PSAL 'A' and 'B' quarterfinals at Lehman College. A: # 2 Banneker 68 - # 10 Grady 66 (OT), # 3 Boys & Girls 54 - # 22 Sheepshead Bay 50...........B: # 7 Monroe 47 - # 15 Health Professions 43, # 3 Jane Addams 50 - # 6 Clara Barton 44...... For all the scores and future matchups in the PSAL playoffs please see www.psalhoops.com.'

3/1/03 80 Park has a team in each division of tomorrow's IS8 finals - the biddies against the Gauchos, the midgets against Abyssinian and the juniors vs. SONDAY Express. Details on the IS8 Nike Winter league page.

3/1/03 Lonnie Webb: 'Congratulations to Mt. Vernon who won the Section One Class A Championship over White Plains in front of a packed house @ the Westchester County Center to remain undefeated at 24 - 0. This makes the 4th consecutive Section One Championship (Gold Ball) for the Knights. Hats off to the Knights and in my opinion, one of the best high school basketball coaches in the country, Bob Cimmino.'

3/1/03 Newsday: CK Solves Chris Taft. Xaverian big man shows up late. And Friends Stuns Poly, Plays Mann for Title. Kyle Neptune had 26 points, going 16-for-23 from the free-throw line.

3/1/03 NJO: Senior point guard Joe Sandberg sparked Bergen Catholic, No. 4 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, in the fourth quarter when it sealed a 49-39 victory over 17th-ranked Hackensack in the Bergen County Jamboree championship game last night at the Rothman Center in Hackensack.

3/1/03 PrepStars: McDonald's Team Picked. Why don’t they just announce the McDonald’s All-American teams upon the conclusion of the summer? That’s when it’s all decided, anyway.

3/1/03 Times Herald-Record: Haron Hargrave points Sullivan County Community College toward title. The undersized Queens freshman has gone from No. 18 on the depth chart in August to starting point guard on the two-time defending Region XV champs.

News Teams Players Links