New York City & New Jersey High Hoops

5/18/03 Class A New York State basketball -- first team: Tyler Relph, Sebastian Telfair, Chris Taft, Louie McCroskey and Shagari Alleyne. second team: Japhet McNeil, Greg Paulus, Marty O'Sullivan, Mamadou Diakhate, Gary Forbes. 3rd: Antoine Aguidio, Ed Berrios, Rashon Clark. 4th: Mitchell Beauford, Cameron Tyler, Dexter Gray, Brian Laing. 5th: Nick Carter, Josh Wright, Quentin Martin. 6th: Darren Johnson, LeMichael Allen. 7th: Marlon Smith, Tim Wall, Keith Benjamin. 8th: Sundiatta Gaines. 9th: Russell Robinson, Lennox Matthews. 10th: Brian Geffen, Ra Chase. 11th: Ronald Ramon, Jonathan Mitchell, Arturo Dubois. 12th Stew Graddick.

Class B New York State basketball -- first team: Mike Van Schick, AJ Price, Dan Nawrocki, Don Juan Tyson, Kenny Jones. 2nd Nigel Morris, Garfield Johns, Etienne Brower. 4th: Richard Payton, Dom Cuzzi. 6th: Chris Bernard. 8th: Glenn Martin. 9th: Stefan Bumpers. 10th: Jeff Martin.

Class C New York State basketball -- first team: Micole Parker, Erik Roberson, Kyle Neptune, Jamal Webb, George Skrelja. 2nd: Will Scott, Joachim Noah. 3rd: Jamal Womack. 5th: Sean McCloskey, Bobby Marcoux. 6th: Chris Mizel, Brad Wierzbicki. 8th: Steve Harney, Liam Biesty, Sean Sprauve. 9th: Brett Levine. 10th: Wesley Diehl.

Class D New York State basketball -- first team: Michael Hoyte, Mike Fernandez, Greg Cerillo, Steve Metzler, Kevin Stark. 4th: Rob Dominick.

3/21/03 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'The Archdiocese of New York consists of the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Thus St. Peter's, Monsignor Farrell, Moore Catholic, and St. Joseph's By The Sea all play in the Archdiocese of New York league and not the Diocese of Brooklyn-Queens league. In regards to basketball, the borough of Staten Island is unique in that there is borough league with both PSAL and CHSAA teams competing. The Staten Island post-season tournament in early February is a tremendous event that most of us outside of Staten Island are unaware of. It is a well-run event with competitive games held mostly at one site, such as Monsignor Farrell. This event is certainly worth marking on your calendar.

Because of this borough league the Catholic Staten Island teams cannot participate in regular season CHSAA league play. They would go over the limit of 24 games if they participated in both leagues. The system use to allow them to participate in the CHSAA playoffs is simple - first place goes "A", second and third place go "B", and fourth place goes "C". Note that there are some restrictions in regards to the size of each school. This past year St. Peter's went "A", Farrell and Moore went "B", and St Joseph's went "C".

This is the format that the CHSAA uses as of now. I hope this clears it up bit.'

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 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'Let me provide some information so that people can better understand the format that we used this year for the "A" playoffs. The Federation allows one spot for the New York state public school champion, the state private school champion, the New York City public school champion, and the New York state Catholic school champion. The Catholic school champion can come from any of the four dioceses in New York state: New York City, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Buffalo. The Diocese of Buffalo does not have any "A" teams and thus does not have a representative in the "A" playoffs. Thus, only one Catholic school can go to Glens Falls.

It was the "A" coaches who thought that both the winnners of the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn should have a shot at the state Catholic title, along with St. Mary's, the representative of Long Island. Remember, before there is a city-wide "A" playoff there are the CHSAA diocesean playoffs, also known as the sectional playoffs. It is here that St. Raymond's defeated Rice and Christ the King defeated Xaverian. This model is somewhat similiar to the one used by the CHSAA in soccer.

If someone else besides St. Raymond's or Christ the King had won the CHSAA city-wide playoffs, also known as the intersectionals, they too would have participated with St. Mary's, St. Raymond's, and Christ the King for the right to play in Glens Falls. That would have proven interesting. Of course, St. Raymond's could have played Christ the King again, even in a four-team format.

This format certainly gives more importance and excitement to the sectional tournaments, which has been missing lately. If St. Mary's had defeated Christ the King, I do not believe the critique would be as harsh. Certainly, St. Mary's was quite capable of beating both these teams.

I hope this clears up some of the misunderstandings. Tomorrow it is up to Glens Falls for me to root for Cathedral and Christ the King (and maybe even Chaminade).'

3/19/03 Newsday: The boys and girls state Federation tournaments will take place Friday and Saturday in Glens Falls.

3/18/03 Keith Mason: 'I was kind of hoping Christ the King would win the so called State Catholic School championship (eventhough my alma mater is St. Raymond) just to prove how dumb this system was this year. The reason many people didn't make a big fuss about it was it was a forgone conclussion that St. Ray's would beat CK in the city championship, then CK would lose to St. Mary's, and St. Ray's and St. Mary's would meet for the official downstate championship. But its funny how things turn out. Now New York City has the city runner-up representing the league in the state championship tournament. The one thing the leauge didn't want to happen and really didn't think would happen has happened. I wish Christ the King luck, as they have a had a great season to this point and will look to end with a state title.

I also don't believe the State Tournament should be in Glens Falls, it may be a geographic middle point but it's definitely not a middle point as far basketball talent is concerned. When was the last time a city team wasn't in the championship game? When was the last time an upstate team actually won the A leage title? I know I can't remember. The last time a team up north from the city won the title was Mt. Vernon in Ben Gordon's junior season, and Mt. Vernon is harldy considered upstate. The last 3 B league champs are from Long Island, not sure about the C and D, but their clearly not the leagues that bring in the money. The Girls division is dominated just as much by the city as the Boys, Christ the King had a streak of 10 straight state titles snapped a few years back, but then won it the next year, and Murry Bergtraum is dominated girls hoops. The point of this is to show the City teams and the surrounding areas (Westchester county and Long Island) should be rewarded for their dominance, and have the State tournament closer to home. If not in the Garden, then somewhere else that is capable of fielding such an important event. Attendance would be much better, I guarantee the schools upstate travel a lot better than the schools in the city, and the city fans will show up.'

3/17/03 BooksNball: 'CHSAA has to change this fiasco! Lets get this straight. St.Rays gets a solid win during the season against CTK. Beats them again for all the marbles in "official" CHSAA "City" Championship & then beats the highly ranked & well coached St. Mary's of LI team in the downstate Championship a few days later & then meets CTK again a few days later for the ? What championship? and loses before a 1/2 empty Fordham Univ.. & CTK goes to the upstate Championship to play...the ?upstate Catholic/Pvt. Champions? Duh who thought this up? St. Ray's wins 2 of 3 this year against CTK & they stay home. I know this was in the books this year & Bob Oliva & his CTK team will represent the city well, but come on does this make any sense or sound "common sense" fair to anyone? If anything, the winner of the offiical city championship between Brooklyn/Queens & Manhattan/Bronx Diocesian reps should automatically go up-state. Let the runner up play the LI CHSAA & then have the two downstate teams go up & play the upstate Pvt/Catholic "A" Champs & the ultimate winner play the winner of the PSAL vs PHSAA Champions for the real state title. This gave me a headache......have to go read how the NCAA selection committie screwed the Big East (especially Pitt!) to calm down! Whew..this is real March Madness! When is opening day in baseball? Enjoy, its only a game.'

3/17/03 Democrat and Chronicle: McQuaid captures state Class A championship.

3/17/03 Padre4ever: 'Glens Falls: The #2 team in the country and #1 team in NYS, Rochester McQuaid beat Mt. Vernon today in the class "A" finals in Glens Falls 57-50. Great game with both being undefeated going in. Mr. Basketball Tyler Relph (West Virginia) contolled the tempo of the game and kept it a halfcourt one which favored the western NY team.

McQuaid's two big kids controlled the glass as best could be expected against Mt. Vernons glass-cleaning team. Marty O'Sullivan (Fairfield) and Ryan Pettinella (Penn) combined for 20+ rebounds, but the real star of the game was Jack Leasure. The junior guard had 16 big points and none bigger than his deep "3" with 4 minutes to play and McQuaid down 48-41.

Keith Benjamin and freshman sensation Jonathon Mitchell really competed for Mt, Vernon, but the missing piece was 6' 5"center Dexter Gray. Gray who had 26 pts. and 12 rebounds against Walt Whitman in the semi-finals, did nothing in this game because of self-infflicted foul trouble. He got two fouls in the games first 30 seconds and it almost seemed like he was starting a fight with Ryan Pettinella from the outset!?

Mt. Vernon struggled against McQuaids zone for much of the game, but opened up their lead behind a suffocating full-court press in the early part of the final quarter, but McQuaid ended the game on a 16-2 run over the final 5 minutes and the Mt. Vernon dream was over.

This McQuaid team is not much to look at, but they beat Rice, White Station (Tn), Seton Hall Prep and few more legitimate contenders along the way and took care of a tough CBA (Syr.) and an undefeated perennial power in Mt. Vernon. They will not get blown out by anyone, and they'll stay in any game, count on it.

PS -- Keep your heads up Mt. Vernon, you're the odds on favorite to win it all next year with 3 legitimate D-1 players all returning. I'm sure your coach will remind you of how this loss felt and make you use it a s a motivating tool in your drive for next years crown.'

3/12/03 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'I believe that for any team to be ranked #1 in New York state they have to win in Glens Falls. It is extremely difficult to win a state title. Teams like Mount Vernon, Amityville, St. Mary's, Long Island Lutheran, Turner-Carroll, Peekskill, JFK, and McQuaid are certainly evidence of that. If you want to be considered the best team in the state, you have to win the Federation tournament in Glens Falls. Sometimes the teams with the best record do not win the state. An example of that is the All Hallows team of 1985. That is the beauty of the tournament.

My point about "afterthought" is simple - there are times when a team expends some much energy in their regional championships that when they get to the next level they are mentally and emotionally drained. If a team sets their league championship as its goal, it can be very difficult for a coach to get his or her players motivated as they continue in the playoffs. Remember, they are kids. All they have heard and talked about is winning a city title. I have witnessed this at times in the CHSAA and PSAL.

The state tournament winners clearly have the right to proclaim themselves the best in the state! That is why I always want NYC CHSAA teams to go upstate "hungry." Unfortunately, being kids, they sometimes do not understand the sigificance of a state title until after they lost it. I have heard both coaches and players bemoan this fact. What I found of interest is the approach of these people when they get a second chance. They truly understand that to play in the state title games is both a great accomplishment and opportunity.'

3/12/03 Coach Lloyd Desvigne: 'Food for thought - The city title is the event for ballplayers and coaches in the city. For many years the city PSAL and CHSAA winners were not even permitted to play in the state tourney. Staten Island (St. Peters etc..) is part of NYC. The state system is set up with alphabet soup for clssifying schools. A, B, C, ... is meaningless in terms of the level of play. Example LI'S Amityville is "B" and they have beaten (Suffolk Championship) the Long Island "A" Team, Whittman which goes on to play in the states. The current Catholic "A" league plays a league season and a playoff to decide the Catholic "A" City Champ. The state tournament permits any and all "A" teams to participate. LI's only "A" rep is St. Mary's. You do the math and come up with a solution.'

3/12/03 Louis Xifaras: 'St. Peters is an A school, St. Mary's is a B school. That's why St. Mary's can't be in the CHSAA A playoffs. There are many different intangibles that St. Mary's has and they can't just all of a sudden become an A school. The game is very meaningful because whoever wins is the champion of the best high school basketball league in the country. The CHSAA may even mean more than the state championship to some. There are no meaningless games when it comes to CHSAA basketball.'

3/12/03 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'Let me make two quick points. First, to think that the state title game should be played at a place like Madison Square Garden is ethnocentric. Glens Falls is close to being a geographic middle point for New York State. Remember, there are boys and girls championships in "A", "B", and "C". Besides that, the people of Glens Falls do a great job running the tournament. Simply put, nobody could do it better. They have created a great tradition for the championships.

Second, the flavor of the playoffs is always enhanced by the games between the traditional rivals. How much of that is lost by moving a team from its own league to another for the playoffs?

There will be three state catholic championship games at Fordham University on Sunday. They all should be good games.'

3/12/03 Coach Tom Fraher, Mount St. Michael: 'Kevin Pigott is right on with his assessment of tonight's CHSAA "A" final. Keith Mason, and anyone else who feels the game is somewhat meaningless, are, well, clueless and really don't understand the priorities of winning when it comes to the CHSAA basketball players! Tonight's game means a lot more than any trip to Glens Falls!'

3/12/03 Miguel Rodriguez: 'I have to give my thoughts on why the state title should have just as much or more importance. Winning the CHSAA crown in 1 division is great! Not too many teams have won a title. But if you look at the reason why the state title is an afterthought look no further than the game being played in Glens Falls. Has everyone here been there? I remember watching one of the greatest CHSAA games in history back in 1991 when St.Raymonds won their first CHSAA crown. They then went to Glens Falls and faced Mt.Vernon who at the time was undefeated at 26-0. The Ravens lost a 19 point lead and the Knights won and went on to win the state title as they ran the table at 28-0. I was one of maybe 10 Ravens fans at the game. Everyone's excuse? We wait to see if they win and then drive up on Saturday? Wow loyal fans in the Metro Area.

Just as there were changes in schedule from 22 to 24 games. I believe that maybe the state championship would bring more satisfaction to fans, coaches, and the like in a new venue like the Garden. I can't believe that a league that prides itself as being the best can't get the Federation to change their location to the Garden. If you win the city that's great you do it in front of all your peers, co-workers, other coaches. I think if the game were played in our own backyard and all the papers talked about it, fans would talk about it for decades, and maybe it would be televised on MSG or Yes.

Then maybe at that point it would be of some significance to those who claim that the City is all they strive or want to achieve in a season. If that's the case then stop it at city championship level like J.V. or Freshmen and give the title away to the rest of the field.'

3/12/03 Keith Mason: 'I was saying it's a somewhat meaningless game in that it's not a do or die game, the loser's season is not over. Of course the two teams want to be crowned New York City champs, but knowing if you lose you still have a chance to get a ring kind of taints what that means. There should be no second chance for the team that loses a championship game. I do understand why the CHSAA did this, to give St. Mary's a tougher road to the state title. I have a better solution why not just add St. Mary's to the A league playoffs? St. Peter's doesn't play anybody from the city all year long and then plays in the sectional and intersectional playoffs so why not do the same with St. Mary's? The Gaels aren't far from the city so the travel isn't much of a hassle.'

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!'

3/11/03 Keith Mason: 'Tomorrow night St. Raymond and Christ the King will meet in what has turned out to be a somewhat meaningless title game, considering both teams will still have a chance to win the state title. But the real prize for the winner is that they will not have to play Long Island power St. Mary's.

As for the game I think it will be the most one sided game since Rice surprisingly beat Christ the King pretty easily 5 years ago, led by Philadelphia 76er Kenny Satterfield. St. Ray's is just too strong inside with 6'6 Gavin Grant, and 6'4 Brian Laing, and too big on the perimeter with 6'4 Louie McCroskey and 6'3 Tariq Atkins. If none of St. Ray's players get into foul trouble the game could get ugly. In the team's lone meeting this year St. Ray's won 77-68 at Christ the King, and outscored the Royals 47-29 in the second half. Look for that to happen in the first half.'

03/9/03 Journal News: State championships: Results, schedule.

3/9/03 Steve Grandin: NYSPHSAA Tournament Results - Class A First Round Kingston 66, Southside (Elmira) 37, Quarterfinals - Mount Vernon 86, Kingston 70, Walt Whitman (Huntington) 48, Uniondale 34, McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester) 48, Niagara Falls 44, CBA (Syracuse) 69, LaSalle (Troy) 60. Semifinals (Glens Falls Civic Center) Mount Vernon (25-0) vs. Walt Whitman (Huntington) (21-3), Saturday, 1:30 pm, McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester) (25-0) vs. CBA (Syracuse) (20-5), Saturday, 3:15 pm, Final (Glens Falls Civic Center) Semifinal winners, March 16, 3:00 pm

Class B First Round Red Hook 56, Oneonta 46, Glens Falls 81, Saranac 67, Jamesville-DeWitt 65, Ogdensburg Free Academy 43, Quarterfinals Beacon 74, Red Hook 61, Amityville 51, West Hempstead 47, Olean 64, Mendon (Pittsford) 60 (OT). Glens Falls 51, Jamesville-DeWitt 48, Semifinals (Glens Falls Civic Center) Beacon (20-4) vs. Amityville (21-2), Saturday, 10:00 am, Glens Falls (26-0) vs. Olean (23-2), Saturday, 11:45 am, Final (Glens Falls Civic Center) Semifinal winners, March 16, 1:00 pm

Class C First Round Fallsburg 51, Tuckahoe 47, East Rockaway 64, Port Jefferson 51, Potsdam 62, Schuylerville 48, Quarterfinals Fallsburg 65, East Rockaway 47, City Honors (Buffalo) 63, Lyons 58, Potsdam 70, Northern Adirondack (Ellenberg) 39, Cooperstown 61, Seton Catholic (Binghamton) 58 (OT). Semifinals (Glens Falls Civic Center) Fallsburg (17-5) vs. City Honors (Buffalo) (20-4), Friday, 7:00 pm, Potsdam (25-1) vs. Cooperstown (25-0), Friday, 8:45 pm Final (Glens Falls Civic Center) Semifinal winners, Saturday, 9:00 pm

Class D First Round Seward (Florida) 80, Mercy (Riverhead) 58, Sharon Springs 71, Lisbon 58, Quartefinals Seward (Florida) 60, Leake & Watts (Yonkers) 58, Ellicottville 40, Genesee Valley 37, Moriah 60, Sharon Springs 56, Faith Heritage (Syracuse) def. Downsville. Semifinals (Glens Falls Civic Center) Seward (Florida) (20-3) vs. Ellicottville (19-4), Friday, 1:00 pm, Moriah (19-6) vs. Faith Heritage (Syracuse) (15-10), Friday, 2:45 pm, Final (Glens Falls Civic Center) Semifinal winners, Saturday, 7:00 pm.'

PSAL A Division Semifinals Banneker 63, Boys & Girls 52, Lincoln 88, Cardozo 61. Final (March 16) Banneker (26-6) vs. Lincoln (28-4).

B Division Semifinals (Sunday) Monroe (18-7) vs. Jane Addams (17-8), Julia Richman vs. Wings (22-6). Final (Thursday)

NYSCHSAA Class A New York City Quarterfinals Xaverian 61, All Hallows 39, St. Raymond's 77, Bishop Loughlin 61, Christ the King 65, St. Francis Prep 42, Archbishop Molloy 72, Rice 68. Semifinals (Sunday) Xaverian (19-8) vs. St. Raymond's (24-3), Christ the King (22-7) vs. Archbishop Molloy (17-10). Final (Wednesday).

Semifinal winners State Semifinal (Friday) St. Mary's (25-1) vs. NYC runnerup Final (March 16). NYC champion vs. semifinal winner

Class B Downstate Semifinals St. Edmund 60, Fordham Prep 57, Cardinal Hayes 48, St. John's Prep 45. Final St. Edmund 61, Cardinal Hayes 56

Long Island Semifinals St. Mary's 88, St. John the Baptist 58, Chaminade 58, St. Dominic 50, Final St. Mary's 64, Chaminade 37 (St. Mary's advances to Class A semifinal, Chaminade advances to Class B semifinal).

Upstate Semifinals St. Joseph 66, Bishop Timon 38, Turner-Carroll 55, St. Francis 53, Final Turner-Carroll 55, St. Joseph 54. State Semifinal (Sunday) Chaminade (20-6) vs. Turner-Carroll (21-5) Final (Saturday) St. Edmund Prep (20-7) vs. semifinal winner.

Class C Downstate Semifinals Monsignor Scanlon 70, Regis 66, Cathedral Prep 74, St. Joseph by the Sea 72. Downstate Final Cathedral Prep 71, Monsignor Scanlon 60. Upstate Final Archbishop Walsh 52, St. Mary's 47, State Final (Saturday) Archbishop Walsh (17-9) vs. Cathedral Prep (18-7)

NYSAIS Federation Semifinals Horace Mann 51, Lawrence-Woodmere 49, Brooklyn Friends 71, Poly Prep 64. Final Brooklyn Friends 62, Horace Mann 54

Independent Semifinals Packer 62, Friends Seminary 52, Fieldston def. Birch-Wathen-Lenox. Final Packer 54, Fieldston 46. State Final Brooklyn Friends 46, Packer 44.

Federation Tournament (All games at Glens Falls Civic Center) Class A Semifinals NYSPHSAA vs. PSAL, March 21, 6:45 pm. NYSCHSAA vs. NYSAIS, March 21, 8:30. Final Semifinal winners, March 22, 5:00 pm

Class B Final NYSPHSAA vs. NYSCHSAA, March 22, 6:45 pm,

Class C Semifinals NYSCHSAA vs. Brooklyn Friends (NYSAIS), March 21, 3:15 pm NYSPHSAA vs. PSAL, March 21, 5:00 pm Final Semifinal winners, March 22, 8:30 pm'

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 3/22/2003 @ 1:30 where the Knights will face the winner of section 8 Uniondale or 9 Walt Whitman.'

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