Just a few tweaks here and there to the Top 10 and to the other rankings below. Teams are busy this week, so expect much more moving and shaking next Monday.
TOP 10
1. Mount Vernon (11-2) — Just like it did last season in Hawaii, Mount Vernon went on the road to a national tournament and came home with some positives and negatives. The Knights did well to win two games down in Montverde, especially Saturday’s consolation-game victory. But they also suffered a blowout loss and will have plenty of evidence to remain humble.
2. Stepinac (9-8) — The Crusaders earned an easy win over Spellman on Senior Day Sunday. But they now face a tougher finish to the regular season than any team in the area. By far, too. Hayes, Loughlin, Mount, Long Island Lutheran and Burke Catholic all remain on the schedule.
3. Tappan Zee (14-0) — Yes, TZ has four more games to play, but Saturday’s matchup with Byram seems all that separates this team from an unbeaten regular season.
4. Iona Prep (13-2) — The Gaels have a busy week with LaSalle, Xavier and New Rochelle. The last may attract the most attention, but they’ll need to win the other two to keep pace in their league.
5. Albertus Magnus (11-2) — The physicality of Tappan Zee has worn down Albertus twice, but the Falcons don’t drop in my mind. Their only
6. New Rochelle (8-5) — The Huguenots have now clearly established themselves as the league’s second-best team. They may end up as Class AA’s second best come playoff time. Now they just need to find some consistency.
7. Kennedy (9-4) — The Gaels have a huge week, with Peekskill Tuesday and Poughkeepsie Saturday.
8. Byram Hills (9-3) — Byram still has a tough road ahead with six games on the schedule, including Greeley, Rye and TZ.
9. Tuckahoe (13-0) — The Tigers have five games left. Realistically, only Saunders on Saturday can prevent them from an unbeaten regular season.
10. Fox Lane (10-2) — The Foxes proved a lot on Friday in beating South. Their size will be a major factor come playoff time, especially if the guards are knocking down perimeter shots. That opens up the floor and gives Will Trawick and Dylan Peretz some space to operate.
On the bubble: White Plains, Peekskill, Clarkstown South, Mahopac, Carmel, Woodlands, Dobbs Ferry.
Small-school Top 10
1. Albertus Magnus
2. Tuckahoe
3. Woodlands
4. Dobbs Ferry
5. Pleasantville
6. Croton-Harmon
7. Briarcliff
8. Rye Country Day
9. Sacred Heart
10. Blind Brook
CLASS AA
1. Mount Vernon
2. New Rochelle
3. White Plains
4. Fox Lane
5. Clarkstown South
6. Mahopac
7. Carmel
8. Arlington
9. North Rockland
10. Mamaroneck
CLASS A
1. Tappan Zee
2. Kennedy
3. Byram Hills
4. Peekskill
5. Pearl River
6. Beacon
7. Poughkeepsie
8. Brewster
9. Pelham
10. Somers
CLASS B
1. Albertus Magnus
2. Woodlands
3. Dobbs Ferry
4. Pleasantville
5. Croton-Harmon
6. Briarcliff
7. Blind Brook
8. Bronxville
9. Valhalla
10. Rye Neck
CLASS C/D
1. Tuckahoe
2. Hamilton
3. Children’s Village
4. Greenburgh Academy
5. Keio
CHSAA/Privates
1. Stepinac
2. Iona Prep
3. Rye Country Day
4. Sacred Heart
5. Salesian
Rockland
1. Tappan Zee
2. Albertus Magnus
3. Pearl River
4. Clarkstown South
5. North Rockland
57 Comments
HRs.
As far as the Fed, I think the easier road does make a difference. Think about it, two years ago Loughlin w/ Pinkston beat Boys and Lincoln in the regular season – yet Loughlin was only the #3 CHSAA team behind CTK and Rice. Loughlin doesn’t get the Fed having to get through the other two top CHSAA teams. If Loughlin plays in the PSAL that year hypothetically (which that year was weaker than it is this year) they probably win the PSAL and have a shot at the Fed.
As far as winning the Fed, I think the key is getting to the Feds. The more appearances in the Feds, the more wins a team is likely to have. The easier the road to the Feds, the more appearances are likely to have. I looked on the NYSWWA website to try to find a record of all the teams appearing in the Fed since 2000 and could only find the champ. Overal, it sure looks like Rice 6x, MV 5x and Lincoln 4x are all pretty close, followed by CTK and St Rays 2x each. If you look at the the 5 teams with multiple Fed titles, I think we can probably agree those are likely the top 5 programs in the state. Of those 5, 3 are CHSAA teams. Meaning to get through the CHSAA to the Fed, one team had to beat at least two of the other Top 5 programs in the state…or three of the Top 5 programs in the state if we’re talking about a Loughlin with Pinkston, Xaverien with Fields and Chris Taft or Holy Cross with Sylvan Landesberg. Rice is now gone sadly, but it sure looks like Hayes is picking up right where Rice left off for now.
HRs,
Kenny Pretlow, Morton’s longtime assistant at Lincoln knows how to coach. He used to coach the JV at Loughlin, but left when Leckie left to St Peters and he didn’t get the head job I believe. I may have said this in a clumsy way, no one would accuse Morton of being an x’s and o’s genius of course…and I think his theatrics have been detrimental to his team often…but I think he does a decent job of running his program. he obviously recruits well and he’s gotten a bunch of his kids to qualify…unlike Boys & Girls who seem not to have had a full qualify from their basketball team since before the school went co-ed, back when it was just called Boys High. I’d also take Morton as a ‘coach’ any day over Lovelace.
As far as Gonzalez at Loughlin, I haven’t seen them yet this year. In all fairness to Gonzalez though, he’s playing 8 sophs and his 3 seniors ‘left’ right before the season started to Boys and Lincoln. I’m not sure if John Wooden himself could descend on Brooklyn and get those 8 sophs playing good, fundamental basketball this year. I think to judge him as a coach would be more fair to see what he does next year and the year after if the team stays intact for the most part. I did see Loughlin several times with Pinkston and I thought he did a decent job with that team – they ran some nice sets for Pinkston in the post at times and the team played relatively under control whenever I saw them.
Pac is starting to gel.3 in a row. Careful boy’s!
Basketball,
Brewster, Beacon and Pok are now 8,9 and 10 in bracketology. Going to be a great 2 week push to sectionals.
states,
That was a good one. Wonder when the conservatives will ask for the Brazilian birth certificate?
Thanks, hoops. They make their own rules and follow them when convenient for themselves. Self interest shows us the nasty side of ourselves.
FYI, Statesman, I do plan to be at both the John Jay-EF and Arlington games this week; not sure about the JFK game at New Ro. I hear Brazil is lovely this time of year…
Seriously, though, this does shape up to be an intriguing week for the Pioneers. I get the feeling that the Arlington game is going to be pretty intense, considering that it’s PK’s last regular season home game. Then, of course, there’s always the issue of payback, and you know what they say about that…