Leading off today: I'm pressed for time, so today's blog is a bit more of a hit-and-run job than usual and skips two positively frightening stories out of Poughkeepsie and Warsaw that I'll try to catch up to on Friday.
Fires damages tribute to Heisman winner: The display honoring football legend Ernie Davis at an Elmira middle school bearing his name was heavily damaged by fire Wednesday in the early-morning hours.
The second-floor library at Ernie Davis Middle School was heavily damaged and will stay closed for the rest of the school year. Among the items damaged was the display honoring Davis, a local hero who went on to win the 1961 Heisman Trophy -- the first black player to do so -- while playing for Syracuse University. Photographs, game programs, charcoal drawings and other donated items were lost, school principal Derek Almy said.
A larger collection of photographs, jerseys, helmets and other memorabilia in another area of the school was not damaged.
The district hopes to reopen the school as scheduled on Jan. 3, Almy said.
Shocking forfeit: Add this to the list of events I'd never seen happen before in all my years on the high school sports beat.
Moore Catholic forfeited its final game at the KSA Classic in Orlando, Fla., because of what Moore girls basketball coach and AD Rich Postiglione termed a "violation of team rules."
Postiglione would not elaborate on the nature of the violation or number of players involved, but he told The Advance all of his players will be available Jan. 8 against North Hunterdon, N.J., for the school's next scheduled game.
Moore Catholic (6-1) had been scheduled to play Elizabethtown, Ky., High after having advanced with wins Monday and Tuesday.
Nike Tournament update: Speaking of things that simply do not happen in our neck of the woods, the Christ the King girls basketball team fell to 0-5 Wednesday with 78-69 loss to nationally ranked St. Mary's, a California school, at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona.
In other action at the 96-school event that draws many of the country's elite squads, Cicero-North Syracuse finally lost after opening with two significant wins in the 16-school bracket.
Breanna Stewart put up 33 points and 16 rebounds for C-NS in a 63-55 loss to Phoenix St. Mary's. C-NS went on a 17-2 run midway through the second half to cut its deficit to seven points, but it was not enough to overcome an early deluge of 3-pointers.
More girls hoops: Senior Kaitlyn Astel scored a game-high 24 points to help her break the school’s all-time scoring mark of 1,400 by Christina McDonnell set in 2006. She has 1,413 for her career now and netted the record-breaking 12th point on a turnaround jumper from the right block with 5:13 left in the third quarter.
Section 5 upset: Canandaigua piled up 30 points in the fourth quarter to break open a two-point game and upset
