I won’t be out at the County Center for tonight’s game. I have some plans with my wife and won’t be able to attend. My colleagues Mike Dougherty and Rob Cristino will have the coverage.
The consolation game will be interesting. It’ll be tough, but I think Kennedy can win. The Gaels play hard and they work hard. As you probably saw me say on Twitter, their big men really run the floor. That might really work against New Ro, which did not always get back last night and did not distinguish itself by its level of execution. Yet, having said that, New Rochelle’s Joe Clarke will give Kennedy all sorts of problems in the paint. That was the weakness of Kennedy’s defense, which applied great pressure but wasn’t great controlling the defensive glass or patrolling the paint.
It should be interesting. I’ll take New Ro close and Jamestown in the final.
Thursday’s schedule
At the County Center:
Consolation: New Rochelle vs. Kennedy, 6 p.m.
Championship: Jamestown vs. Kingston, 8 p.m.
GAME RECAPS
New Rochelle 56, Kennedy 55: The same Kirkland Ottey who committed a turnover in the final seconds that resulted in a loss to Kingston not even 24 hours earlier, hit a 3 with 6.7 seconds to play to lift the Huguenots. Kennedy had a five-point lead with 1:21 to go, but committed a pair of costly turnovers down the stretch.
Kingston 67, Jamestown 51: It was only close for a couple of minutes. Jovan Coffey led the Tigers with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Robinson picked up the MVP trophy after totaling 35 points in two games at the County Center. Tommy Campion had 26 points to lead the Red Raiders.
85 Comments
PeekFat,
Oh and btw since your so on top of things this year… BH lost to Briarcliff and Albertus, so that hasya bout 7th or somethin…hows that “new math” tratin ya? SON!
IonaPup,
OMG! Please stop with the Iona Prep updates til they are back in the AA…god willing…lol
Statesman,when do kingston and newburgh play?
Why are people responding to no way? Mt Vernon is the defending federation champs which made them the best team in the state last year. It was not their first.
CUSE,
WE RESPOND BECAUSE,WE ARE DEFENDING OUR HONOR,PLAIN AND SIMPLE,COME HARD OR GO HOME.
Wood,
1/10/11 at Kingston 7pm
2/8/11 at NFA 7pm
I like the staggered schedule. They’ll both be better teams after the first meeting and NFA has Pok in between.
STATESMAN,
THOSE GAMES SHOULD BE GREAT,I WAS AT THE COUNTY CENTER LAST NIGHT AND SAW NEW RO WIN AT THE END,THEY ARE A SHELL OF WHAT THEY WHERE THE LAST 3 YEARS,SAD TO SEE
Happy New Year to all contributors on the blog! By the way, I went HHHW/Harborfields the other day. You want to talk A schools, talk about this team. The Sect 1 rep is on a crash course to face this team. They are legit and have beat some good AA schools already. The PG Woodhouse is awesome. Such a knack for the game. Going to Longwood next year…a joy to watch. And by the way, Emile Brown from HHHW should be playing football, not hoops.
Hooped Up
Why are you worried about Iona if you are New Rochelle fan- BTW they will be in the AA next year- No need to respond if you are not interested – As long as they are ranked in Josh’s top 10 then Iona is relevant.
HRs,
Brackets aren’t out yet, but I don’t think Section 1 would play LI until the final. And don’t forget J-D is still there with both Cavanaugh and Coleman (for what seems like his 6th varsity season).
Wood,
They will be. Seems like those two are always on a collision course. I’ll try to make the one @ NFA. Both teams are good, too close for me to call now. It’s crazy playing at either venue so home/home split isn’t very far fetched. I know the Kingston fans will never be as reckless as they are at home in the burgh though lol
Warren Harborfields lost to Dewitt and has their minds on a rematch. That is why they ramped up the schedule. For a team locally to knock them off, they are going to have to play a special game. If you get a chance, watch them play. Their guards are complete, very well coached and tested. Personally I don’t see anyone beating Dewitt, but if a team can… it will be from LI. Although being a Sect 1 guy, I hope its our rep.
Article from the Daily Freeman regarding Kingston’s current boys’ hoops success:
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2011/12/31/sports/doc4efe4de49704a775617587.txt
CHRIST THE KING LOST BY 32 POINTS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP,MV LOST TO THE SAME TEAM WITH A CHANCE TO WIN WITH 5.5 SECONDS,AND THEY PLAYED WITHOUT A PLAYER THAT HAD A DOUBLE,DOUBLE LAST YEAR AGAINST THE SAME TEAM,”WOW”
Haywood,
this could have been one of the worst first round draws ever.. what were they thinking?
MV / NG would have been a classic final
SPACECADET,
I HAVE NO IDEA,BUT I’M VERY INTERESTED IN THE NY VS. PHILLY TORNAMENT ON SUNDAY,I AM GLAD THAT BOBBY C. DOES NOT GIVE HIS PLAYERS A CHANCE TO GET SELFISH,AND THERE WHERE MAJOR COLLEGE COACHES WATCHING,WOW
Not that it matters much..BUT…it seems odd that losing in the 1st round relegated MV to at best a 5th place finish. Meanwhile, Wings Academy and St. Aquinas, teams I believe MV handles pretty easily, wind up with the 3rd & 4th place respectively.
Bottom line is, as space cadet & haywood say, it’s about getting stronger and improving as the season progresses. Staying injury-free is a big plus as well. When all is said and done I fully expect to taking my annual drive up the Thruway/Northway to see MVHS up in Glens Falls vying for another State championship & Federation crown.
I am thinking of making T-shirts for the team that say 5th place for inspiration..lol
SPACECADET,
THAT WILL WORK,THEY DID THAT AT THE COUNTY CENTER ,ONE YEAR WHEN THEY WHERE 6 SEEDS,THEY HAD THE SHIRTS ON IN THE LAYUP LINE,AND THEN WON THE GOLD BALL,
NEXT GAME FOR MV IS IN NEW RO,IT’S GOING TO GET UGLY,I GOT MOUNT VERNON AND I’M GIVING 25.
Remember it well….
New Ro is always a problem at home..
Iona power:
don’t be so sure that iona prep is up next year. After watching all 3 levels vs. Fordham prep yesterday, im not sure that would be wise. And I don’t mean that with any disrespect. I just don’t think, as an entire program, they belong in the “aa” neither does fordham.
Always remember that high school team performances can fluctuate wildly…one game looking like they could compete with a college team and the next stink it up so bad, playing more like a j.v. squad.
Cimmino has been a the master at not letting the players get too ‘full of themselves’........and helping them remember that they are always a half court heave, [courtesy of NFA’s Will Bouton], away from heart break.
happy new year
If the CHSAA has the same structure then Iona will be moved up to the AA- As far as the lower levels I will say that Iona has 2 Sophomore son the varsity this year with 1 of them in Isiah Ice making a big impact- They already have 4 frosh playing on the JV with a very raw 6’8’’ kid-
Now I am not saying that Iona is on the level of CTK or St. Raymonds but Iona has demonstrated that they can be competitive with the middle of the pack AA teams- Also over the last 4 years Iona has beaten Stepinac in 7 of the last 8 games and they have beaten Mount in the last 4 years in 8 out of the 10 games they have played-
Iona power:
Now calculate all the times in the past 30 yrs mount and stepinac have beaten iona.
no offense but iona and fordham are not “aa” teams.
Enjoy the new year!
Ionap:
Iona had a great 3 yr run because of voelkel, but on a yr to yr basis they are not on the level of any of the “aa” teams. You barely got by fordham and beat spellman by 1, next year you lose your starting 5 with mediocore lower level teams. Get a grip. Not to mention you played s.h., blessed sacrament, and salesian.
Football yes, much respect. Basketball no where near it.
happy new year
30 years ago we could talk about Tolentine, Power Memorial , Mater Christi etc-
On the football side I could bring up St. Francis Prep who just 15 years ago was on e of the top football programs in the Metro area-
I am going by what I have seen in the last 5-10 years -The facts are that Iona has beaten two AA teams and will play All Hallows this week so they still have more to prove.
really?
I am not saying Iona is a upper tier CHSAA AA team – I am not delusional
During the Voelkel 3 year run they could compete with the best of the AAThey most likely would have maybe made it through the semifinals but would not have beaten CTK and Rice – At this point they could compete with the lower to middle tier of the AA- Molloy is a borderline AA middle tier team- All Hallows is a borderline middle tier AA team so lets see how they do on the road- I agree scheduling teams like Salesian, Sacred Heart etc was not helpful to the program and should not be done-In the B/Q division Iona is better than Molly and St. Francis Prep- They would be underdogs to CTK, Holy Cross, Xaverian and Loughlin-
In the NY division – They are better than Fordham- They would be underdogs to the rest of the division- I think they would be able to play Stepinac and Mount tough- I think they have a good shot at beating All Hallows-
I think these view points are not off base.
Agreed, but remember all 3 levels have to play “aa”
mount stepinac and iona are usually always good/hard fought games.
I attended stepinac/xaverian game. Place was packed and was a great varsity high school basketball game.
we will see what 2012 -2013 chsaa has in store? Maybe put all the teams in 1 league like the good old days!!
really?
The issue with the CHSAA is you have teams like CTK, St. Raymonds that have huge basketball budgets and are very aggressive in getting players- They have major footprints with AAU programs like New Heights, Guachos, etc- Then you have other programs like Hayes, Loughlin, Xaverian and Holy Cross that are in areas where great talent walks into the building- You can even make a case that Mount always has good talent walking into the building- Now you have schools like Stepinac and Iona that get good talent in that is relative to the Public schools in Westchester but is below the level at the upper echelon schools of the CHSAA AA- Now I will say that the Stepinac coach is doing a great job in trying to compete for players
Iona needs to be more aggressive(Now Iona on the football side is very aggressive whic is a story for another day)- That has been the main reason why the CHSAA has broken the league into different levels-Good points.
ill tell you this, stepinac has some serious talent on the way. Mutual friends with their coach. They are doing some really good things up there. Don’t be surprised if they end up in the top echelon of the “aa” the next couple of years.
Happy new year!
really?
The Stepinac coach works hard- I have heard they are very close to a big time player coming in next year that is an ACC level type – I heard it is between Stepinac and Blair Academy-
Dear NoWay-
Not only do you not know Section 1 basketball and the Mount Vernon Knights, but your comments clearly show your anatomy needs brushing up as well, since you don’t know your azz from your elbow.
Haywood, I’ll take the 25. How much?
I’m not betting you,you might be at the game and you know what I’m talking about.LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLL