Section IX Boys Basketball All-Star Team To compete In The Summer Hoops Festival
Boys Try-outs are June 5 and 11th
Relayed by RICHARD A. ROSS
REGION–The Basketball Coaches Association of New York is again stepping up with a Statewide Summer Basketball Festival to take the place of the Empire State Games. The 2nd Annual BCANY Summer Hoops Festival will be held in Johnson City (near Binghamton) from August 3-5.
There will be nine regions representing New York State (up from the ESG’s traditional six) by both Boys and Girls Teams. The regions include: New York City, Long Island, Buffalo, Rochester, Central, Hudson Valley, Capital District, Mid-Hudson and Southern Tier.
The Mid-Hudson Team will be made up of Section IX Boys All-Stars. Our Section IX Boys try-outs will be: Tuesday (June 5) and Monday (June 11) from 7 to 9 pm at SS Seward High School in Florida, New York.
Contact information for the Boys try-out is: rgravelle@floridaufsd.org
The Boys coaching staff will include Rob Gravelle and Sal Mineo from SS Seward HS, Mike Salvia from Liberty HS and Brendan LoBrutto from Pine Plains HS.
In order to participate, you must fill out the Hoops Festival application form and waiver form. You cannot try out unless you have both forms filled out. Players are expected to make both try-out dates. You can see your own Varsity coach for try-outs paperwork or contact Coach Rob Gravelle via e-mail.
BCANY created this event to give kids that lost the chance with the elimination of the Empire Games the opportunity to showcase their skills in a format that would allow College coaches to come see them play in one setting.
BCANY also carefully selected these dates to avoid potential conflicts with national AAU tournaments. Therefore, this statewide tournament will attract the higher level basketball players that have traditionally been unavailable for the Empire Games. Last year, many College coaches from
Division I, 2 and 3 were in attendance watching the best players from around New York State competing against each other.
Print this page and fill out the following application.
BCANY Section IX Summer Hoops Festival Player Application
Name ________________________________ High School __________________________
Address_______________________________ Ht. _________ Wt. _________
______________________________________ Grade as of 9/12 __________________
Cell Phone # __________________________ Coach’s Name ______________________
E-mail _________________________________ Coach’s Phone # ______________
I give permission for my son __________________________ to participate in the
try-outs for the BCANY Summer Hoops Festival. Trying out for this team does not
guarantee my son a spot on the Section IX all-star team. I understand that I am
responsible for transporting my son to and from each try-out.
______________________________________ _______________
Parent’s Signature Date
Please mail this form by May 31st
to:
Rob Gravelle
SS Seward High School
53 North Main Street
Florida, New York 10921
Fourth Term
Livingston Manor Captures Its Fourth Consecutive Benny Chesnick Tournament Title With Wins Over Monticello and Tri-Valley; Two-Time Defending State Champs Look Strong In Post-Diescher Era As Effective Pitching, Timely Hitting and Fielding Combine To Marshal Early Season Victories; Monties Beat T-V In Opener Of Annual SCSO Tourney Renamed For Dearly Departed Umpire; Sullivan West Sweeps Family In Liberty To Earn Share Of Tourney Title.
Monticello 11, Tri-Valley 6
Livingston Manor 10, Monticello 7
Livingston Manor 25, Tri-Valley 5
Sullivan West 15, Family 0
Sullivan West 7, Family 0
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Photos at: www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Scenes from the Benny Chesnick Memorial Softball Tournament Officiated by the Sullivan County Softball Officials (Clockwise): Monticello senior hurler Sam Cohn, Livingston Manor junior Samantha Scott, Monticello senior Emily Morey smacks a three run homer vs. Tri-Valley, Samantha Scott blasts a triple in the first inning vs. Monticello. Tri-Valley sophomore Emily DiToro gets the start in game one. The late Benny Chesnick, Sullivan West ace Hannah Schwatz, Sullivan West's Bethanii Padu lays down a bunt versus Family, Monticello senior Becca Wood fires a strike versus the Lady Bears.
GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—When it comes to annual events like the Benny Chesnick Memorial Softball Tournament, it is natural to hearken back to prior years in the context of trying to frame the current year’s proceedings.
Things do change from year to year but lately in terms of the Sullivan County Softball Official’s tournament which was renamed a few years back for the late Benny Chesnick, that iconic umpire who spent the lion share of his 80 year tenure on this earth behind the plate, it seems as if at least one thing has remained the same.
And that would be the dominance of Livingston Manor which with this year’s sweep of Monticello (last year’s co-champion by dint of its two wins versus Liberty) and host Tri-Valley, afforded the Lady Wildcats and their coaches Kevin Clifford and Charlie Hicks a chance to pose with the tournament trophy for the fourth consecutive year.
So what was different this year? Well for one thing the sky was bright blue and the weather balmy as opposed to last year’s chilly drizzle. But more importantly, the two-time defending Class D state champs were entering this tournament without the services of Marissa Diescher who is now hurling for Penn State.
Diescher’s high school legacy brought a state record 27 no hitters, 1,345 strike outs for fourth best in state history and last year’s stingy 0.14 ERA. Pitchers of that caliber come along once in a blue moon so for Manor, a new way of winning will have to evolve if the Lady Wildcats are to continue their storied success.
That said, when it comes to softball, pitching is still the name of the game. With her graduation, Diescher turned the ball over to Samantha Scott who was 3-0 in her three starts a year ago with an ERA of 1.65. Scott, a highly competitive junior is clearly enjoying her role as Manor’s number one starter.
She showed her mettle against Monticello by garnering the win and lacing four hits. She’d go on to score four runs in the second game. Her first at bat of the day evinced a booming triple and her second time up she blasted a three-run double.
As I was on call to emcee my 25th consecutive year at the Hortonville Talent Show, I had to leave the game after the third inning so how the game evolved from the 5-0 LM lead to the eventual 10-7 Lady Wildcats win will remain a mystery to me until someone fills in the gaps. (Facebook friends feel free to message me with your version!). Needless to say I wasn’t there for the Lady Wildcats second game wherein Manor eighth grader Kaitlin Rau got a win in her mound debut in the 25-5 landslide victory over the Lady Bears.
I was however present for the tourney opener as Tri-Valley hosted Monticello. But prior to running through the details of that first encounter, it is apropos to offer some words about the tournament itself and though I am not usually given to quoting my own prior writing of sporting events, I do make exceptions when I feel that what I’ve said before remains timely and thoughtful. So with that in mind I am paraphrasing from last year’s article on this tournament , entitled “Wonders Never Cease.”
That piece reiterated an elegy to the man for whom the Sullivan County Softball Officials decided to name their longstanding tournament. The event which is held each spring serves as a training ground for their newest officials to better learn the ropes in overseeing the games.
Umpiring is an art form unto itself and no one in local history was more of an artisan of the craft than Benny Chesnick. I often think about him as I sometimes find myself standing under the blazing sun in the sweltering heat. I used to marvel at his ability to stand in behind that plate for hours on end and never utter a word of complaint. He did that right up to the ripe age of 80.
Chesnick was a beloved icon and an embodiment of Americana itself. Starting out at age ten playing baseball, seventy years later he was still around the plate. For 45 years he umpired games, an arbiter of calls and strikes, an unwavering local ambassador of America’s pastime. I felt privileged to make his acquaintance, to listen to him recall iconic moments from that storehouse of memories he had from so many years around the game.
Benny’s life wasn’t an easy one. But he had his love of umpiring , and to him that was both a blessing and a raison d’ ètre (French for a reason to be).
Chesnick is gone now, but the game he embraced so reverently goes forward each year with new ranks of players to follow behind the legions who have gone before them. Chesnick would have smiled broadly to see such an array of talent, enthusiasm and competiveness being played in a tournament that will forever bear his name.
I like to think he continues to look down on these games, and unlike the rest of us limited by our mortal incapacity to be in more than one place at a time, able to hover over the two towns in which the tournament is unfolding simultaneously to revel in it all. As the fledgling umpires took their turns calling balls and strikes and ruling runners out or safe on the basepaths, they were following in the footsteps of one of the greats.
As promised now, the salient details of the opener which featured a pitching match up between Tri-Valley tenth grader Emily DiToro and Monticello senior Rebecca Wood. The Lady Monties wasted no time in getting on the board as they scored a trio of runs in the top of the first behind a three run jack from senior Emily Morey. The two-out blast scored Wood and Lacey Bray who had arrived on base via a walk and a single.
Tri-Valley got one of those runs back in the bottom of the stanza as Rachel Adriaans scored on a passed ball with Kayla Yager at the plate. An E-6 then loaded the bases but Wood got DiToro to ground out to prevent any further damage.
The second inning was Tri-Valley’s undoing as it allowed eight runs to cross the plate as the Monties batted around. It began with an E-6 that allowed sophomore Ashley Falu to arrive safely at first before DiToro plunked Yami Reyes and walked Wood to load the bases with no outs. An RBI single by Bray and an E-6 off the bat of Sam Cohn plated the first two runs. A passed ball sent another home. A walk to Paulina Pavese loaded them up again setting the table for an RBI single by Catitlin Radlein.
Falu’s stroke of the bat produced another error allowing two more runs in and a double by Reyes sent home two more. When the dust cleared, Monticello held an 11-1 lead. Tri-Valley went scoreless in the bottom of the second as did Monticello in the top of the third. Tri-Valley got its second run of the game in the third inning via an RBI single from Ashley Exner.
Wood drew a bases loaded walk and Cohn produced two runs on a fly out as Tri-Valley misplayed the ball sending it home instead of to third thereby failing to get the runner who tagged up from the hot corner and allowing a second run to score on a throwing error back to third. The Monties now led 14-2.
Neither team scored in the fifth and both added a run in the sixth. Monticello scored on an RBI single by Wood. Tri-Valley manufactured a run as Exner led off with a double, Nicole Bradley walked . Exner stole third and scored as DiToro hit into a double play.
Tri-Valley cut into Monticello’s 15-3 lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Erin Smith had an RBI single , a stolen base and an RBI single by Exner accounted for the final two runs.
Monticello Coach Shannon Dietrich was pleased with the win. “Rebecca is our number two pitcher. She came out and got ahead of batters. Unfortunately she got away from it a little bit and walked a few people. An error happens and that kind of took her out of it mentally. But overall she was able to come back and get the win. The second half of the game she definitely got better as the game went on and that was what I was glad to see. The run support is nice too,” she noted.
On the downside, “We have to work to do in execution. The effort is there. We’re trying and working hard but it’s the little things, the fundamentals that we’re not executing such as covering a base, fielding ground balls, calling for a ball. We missed a sign. Little things like that should be automatic at this level,” noted Dietrich.
“Thank goodness we were able to get the run support early,” she concluded. Dietrich planned on using a flex lineup in the second game as she prepared to send veteran Sam Cohn to the mound. Dietrich brought up freshman Brianna Bennet from the J.V and wanted to get her into the game as well.
Tri-Valley Coach Mary Feusner, now in her 35th year of coaching with 33 of those as head softball coach had this to say about the first game: “We came on hitting pretty decently towards the end of the game. Erin Smith did a great job running the bases effectively and communicating out there. We had first game jitters and our pitching wasn’ t as sharp as it needed to be and our miscues in the field meant we hurt ourselves more than Monticello hurt us,” she noted.
“That happens with the first game out and lots of kids not here during practice because of spring break,” she added.
Game two featured a pitching clash between Manor’s Samantha Scott and Monticello’s Sam Cohn. Cohn did allow the aforementioned triple to Scott in the top of the first but escaped damage by inducing an inning-ending pop up to first off the bat of Victoria Davis.
Scott issued three walks in the second inning but escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting Wood to ground out from short to second. After retiring the Monties in order in the top of the second, Livingston Manor scored five in the bottom of the frame as Cohn walked Jordan Miller and Jordyne Shaver before Nina Zheng dropped a perfect bunt down to load the bases . An RBI single by Jamie Sedlacek got the Lady Wildcats on the board. Magi Calo drew a bases loaded walk and Scott then cleared the bases with a a double.
So at the time of my departure, as I mentioned it was 5-0. When I get the details of what happened next I’ll come back and fill them in. As noted, Livingston Manor held on for the 10-7 win as Monticello fell to 2-2. The Lady Wildcats would improve to 3-1 over the as yet winless Lady Bears in the tourney finale.
According to T-V Coach Mary Feusner, “In the final contest of the day, Tri-Valley was plagued with the inability to throw strikes from the circle. Three different pitchers issued 18 walks in a shortened game due to the 15 run rule. It was 3-3 after the first frame and then Manor never looked back as they tallied 7 runs in the second, 8 runs in the fourth and 6 more runs in the fifth frame. Manor had 11 hits. The only extra base hit came from the bat of Megan Edwards. An RBI triple in the fifth. Manor’s pitcher Katie Rau, an eighth grader, picked up her first varsity win.
For the Lady Bears Rachel Adriaans scored twice. Adriaans, Amanda TerBush, Erin Smith, Kayla Yager, Jessica Kinney and Ashley Exner had one hit apiece. Exner’s double in the first plated two teammates.
T-V moves into division play this week with home contests versus Chester and Seward. The Lady Bears venture to Fallsburg on Friday.
Over in Liberty Sullivan West (2-2) beat Family School, 15-0 and won by forfeit 7-0. Hannah Schwatz tossed a no-hitter in the opener, striking out 14, and added two doubles, a triple and single. Katie Taylor went 3-for-4. Schwatz had two hits.
Nick Piatek took photos of one of the Sullivan West game and those pictures along with the albums of the Tri-Valley/Monticello and Monticello/Livingston Manor game (first three innings) can be viewed at www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Give And Take
Tri-Valley Lets Its First Half Lead Dissipate But Takes Game Back In Final 30-Second Heroics; Bears Improve To 2-0 As Family’s Late Mistakes Prove Fatal; Lady Bears Garner Season-Opening Win With Dominance of Lady Falcons
Girls: Tri-Valley 62, Family Foundation School 16
Boys-Tri-Valey 49, Family Foundation School 45
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Scenes from Tri-Valley's boys and girls wins over Family Foundation School (Clockwise) Tri-Valley junior Cody Exner scores after receiving a floor-length pass to give the Bears a 45-43 lead in the game's waning minutes. The Falcons would soon tie it up again but the Bears would have the last word. The Bears celebrate and show some love after the dramatic win. For a team that never reached .500 a year ago, being 2-0 is new and exciting territory. Family's Max Wilkey is guarded by T-V's James Pugh. Both would have key roles in the game. Wilkey scored a game-high 17 points; Pugh had 11 but also had a key steal of an inbounds pass which helped to seal the win. T-V senior Erin Smith scores two of her nine points in the Lady Bears' season opening win. They begin their quest to defend their Section Nine title. Greg Swarthout was questionable to play in this game but when he did it was huge , especially with this go-ahead shot to give his team the lead they would never again relinquish. Sabrena Smith fires away as part of her game-high 11 point output for the 1-0 Lady Bears.
GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—In the fast and furious world of basketball it’s a matter of give and take. You give everything you have in the way of offensive execution by running your sets, making the extra pass and working for the best shot.
Likewise, you try to use hustle, focus and smarts on defense to take away the other team’s best chances to score… and better yet, to force turnovers which can lead to fast transition buckets the other way. Teams that execute well in these phases of the game win more often than not, while those that falter in vital aspects minimize their chances for victory.
With his electrifying sister Jakki now gone and playing at college, it's James Pugh's turn to light it up and carry on the family tradition. Here he rises to the occasion with two of his 11 points on the night. He had six in the first quarter including this layup.
And so it was that Tri-Valley and Family went all out to try and deploy their best offensive and defensive verve in a non-league clash in the Bears’ den on December 16. The season is quite young, but wins for both teams are preciously sought in the shortened world of an 18-game season, so this figured to be a battle to the finish.
It was that and more.
It’s remarkable how many games of basketball come down to the final seconds. Coaches of course realize this as they watch their teams miss shots, commit costly fouls or lose possession of the rock during the course of games.
They understand that while those events pass by in a New York minute, that such miscues can come back to haunt a team in a game that is apt to be decided by a single basket or late second free throws.
That’s what time outs are for as coaches like Tri-Valley wizard Brian Tingley and visiting Family Coach Larry Patrisso tried to hurriedly school their players on ways to handle the coming minutes based on their savvy observations of what had worked and what hadn’t.
For the Class C Tri-Valley Bears, a team that wasn’t able to muster a .500 record last year, this home clash against the Class D Family Falcons would prove to be an opportunity to both give and take as they gave Family a healthy dose of speed and steals and in the fourth quarter even gave them the lead,before finally taking away the Falcon’s most sought-after prize, namely a late upset win.
That victory was there for the taking for either squad as Family had whittled down Tri-Valley’s 32-22 halftime lead in the third quarter by outscoring the Bears 13-8 in that stanza to trail by a mere five at 40-35 entering the final frame.
In that final eight minutes, the home fans looked on with apprehension as they watched the pitched battle that seemed to hinge on each and every possession.
Tri-Valley has some big players this year but all but one of them are new to the varsity realm. That means that bigs like Family's Max Wilkey are a threat. Big red had 17 in this one.
Here’s a quick blow by blow description of the game’s dramatic concluding minutes.. With a little over five minutes to go Family scored to make it 43-39. The Bears turned it over with an errant pass in the middle before Family’s Max Wilkey and T-V’s Greg Swarthout took turns missing close-in shots.
Then Family’s Lucas Maas buried one to cut the lead to 43-41 with 4:16 remaining. Another errant T-V pass gave the Falcons a chance to tie but a foul by Family’s Jon Jziguiedo gave the Bears the ball back with 3:45. A missed three by the Bears and a Falcon rebound. As T-V’s Cody Exner closely guarded Family’s Bryan Lehrman, he slipped and Lehrman went by him to score the tying bucket with 3:17 to go. The teams were now knotted at 43-all.
The Bears had a chance to go ahead from the stripe as Dave Donovan was fouled but he missed both and Family came down with the rebound. The clock now read 2:58 as Tingley called a time out to dial up a play.
Exner received a floor-length pass and scored easily to make it 45-43. Wilkey fired up a three that missed at the other end. Exner was nearly tied up on the floor and Tingley alertly called a time out to avoid the possession arrow which was pointed in the Falcons’ favor.
Family committed another foul to give the Bears the ball back but a quick steal of T-V’s inbounds pass led to a bucket by Maas as the Falcons tied it up again at 45-all with 1:34 to go.
In the crucible of moments like this, experience is a vital resource, something Family lacks with only two returning players, one of which hardly saw any time a year ago. To steal this win, Family was going to need to avoid any costly mistakes.
Hustle, flow and dive for a loose ball. That's the modus operandi for T-V's speedy and gritty Shatik Smith (left) and James Pugh as they tie up Family's Bryan Lehrman.
Family had fouls to give and Wilkey used one of them as the Bears then got set to inbound it again at 45-all. Greg Swarthout drove right through the lane for an electrifying bucket which gave the Bears a 47-45 lead with..
At the other end of the floor, the Falcons needed to deploy patience but a hurried Family trey missed the mark.
After the Bears missed a layup, Patrisso called a time out and the Falcons got set to inbound the ball with 42.9 seconds. Once again, inexperience proved costly as they committed a backcourt violation for the deadly turnover.
Swarthout was fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed , T-V got the rebound but promptly turned it right back to Family with 17.7 seconds to go. Family needed to come the length of the floor but Pugh stole the ball right out of the hands of Lehrman as he got set to inbound the rock.
A pair of free throws by James Pugh would ice the game at 49-45.
Dialing it back to the outset of the game, Wilkey won the opening tip against Conor Walsh. Family’s Jon Izguideo scored the first points of the game which would be part of Family’s nine-point output in the first quarter. They got a three-pointer from Lehrman and two points apiece from Wilkey and Tarek Mhich.
While the focus of this story is on the boys game, the girls were busy taking care of business early on. Here Mareena DiMilia scores two of her seven points in the season-opening win as the Lady Bears look to defend their Section Nine crown. DiMilia and company figure to be right in the mix despite the graduation of standout Jakki Pugh.
That wasn’t enough to keep pace with the amped-up Bears who posted 17 in the stanza including a pair of treys from Exner, one from Jesus Lozada and six points from Pugh. Sophomore tall tree Alex Brown added a bucket to the mix as the Bears led 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was far more even with the Bears outscoring Family 15-13 in the stanza. A trey by Pugh was added to buckets from Shatik Smith, Brown, Exner and Swarthout. Family profited from ten from Wilkey to go along with a bucket and a free throw from Mhich.
In the third quarter, it was Family’s turn to overpower their hosts as they outdistanced Tri-Valley 13-8 in the period to close within five at 40-35. To that end they got a trey from Wilkey and buckets from Mhich, Stepan Rudowicz and four points from Mdich.
Tri-Valley did not meet its pregame goal of committing ten turnovers or fewer. They had 15 on the night, including just four in the first half. They induced 24 on the part of Family. The Bears (2-0) were two-for-six from the stripe (33.3%), while Family was an impressive seven-for-eight (87.5%).
Wilkey led all scorers with 17. Mhich had 11 for Family. Exner led T-V with 16 points. He had four of T-V’s seven three-pointers on the night. Pugh posted 11 points including two from beyond the arc.
Patrisso knew his team had just given one away. “In the game’s situations, you’ve got to know what to do when the game is on the line.” This was the second game for the Family Foundation School. It lost its opener to Chapel Field.
“We played well but the end of the game situations like throwing the ball away with a few seconds left, or not knowing how to run a press breaker when they’re trying to trap you and not knowing what to do with a rebound right under the basket when the line is right open. Instead of dribbling it straight up the court, a pass is made instead. That’s unselfish, but unwise,” he noted.
Family has only one senior on the team and two players who return from a year ago, but neither of the two were starters. Consequently, there’s a lot of learning to do. We have no JV team and no summer league. We only get together as of November 14 and we have to put it all together as quickly as we can,” he added.
Tingley offered up his take on things thusly, “I thought the key to the game was the steals at the end,” thinking particularly about Pugh’s theft of the inbound pass right out of Lehrman’s hands. “We were trying to stop them and make them take some time off the clock. It helped having Greg (Swarthout) out there. A few days ago we didn’t know if he was going to be playing.”
A trio of weapons in the Bears' arsenal: If T-V is to keep up its winning ways and get to the sectionals, something they weren't able to do last year, they'll need James Pugh, Cody Exner and Conor Walsh to lead the charge. Thus far, they seem more than up to the task.
Tingley pointed to Swarthout’s court leadership which included allowing the team to score two but denying three when you’re up by three points without having to call a time out to do so.
Tingley noted that his team appeared a bit lethargic with its ten point halftime lead. That allowed Family to go ahead 34-33 in the third quarter before the Bears awoke and battled intensely. “It was anybody’s game. We do have big players this year but they’re all young,” he noted. “Alex Brown got a lot of big rebounds. We also have Devin Donnelly and Gavin DuBois. Gavin didn’t get in the game as much as he would have liked but in these nip and tuck games every possession is key,”he observed explaining why he would have to go with his more experienced players in crunch time.
“We lost the rebound wars but won the fast-break point battle. Our most experienced group has only one big man, he said referencing Conor Walsh.
Tri-Valley used a man defense in its win over Deposit but watched Chapel Field beat the Falcons using a zone, so Tingley decided to used a two-three zone this time out. With that season-opening 67-53 win over Deposit, it was the first time the Bears were over .500 in a year. That took some pressure off this game as the team couldn’t fall below .500 with a loss.
Tri-Valley hosts Chester, Chapel Field and Livingston Manor in the coming week. “I think we’re going to be fighting tooth and nail with everyone we play. Swarthout and Pugh are the captains this season.
The game followed a 62-16 win by the T-V girls over Family. It was the Lady Bears’ debut as they begin their quest to defend their Section Nine Class C title. Sabrena Smith led her team with 11. Erin Smith had nine.
For an album of photos, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
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