Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012: Kelly, Lombardi, Ferreira earn top football honors

   Leading off today: Clemson-bound quarterback Chad Kelly of Buffalo St. Joe's has been selected Class AA football player of the year by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

   The NYSSWA announced its players of the year and all-state teams in Class AA and A Wednesday afternoon.

   In Class A, player of the year honors were shared by Aquinas junior running back Billy Lombardi and Sayville senior quarterback Steven Ferreira.

   Kelly was 201-for-330 for 3,050 yards through the air with 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed 113 times for 991 yards and another 14 scores.

   Lombardi ran for 2,146 yards and 26 touchdowns to help Aquinas to its sixth straight Section 5 Class A championship. Ferreira guided the Golden Flashes to a 12-0 record and the Long Island Class III Championship in November as Sayville defeated Lawrence 78-61 in the wildest title game in state history. He set Long Island career records of 6,407 passing yards and 73 touchdown passes.

   A few links related to the all-state football team announcement:
• 2011 Class AA all-state team
• 2011 Class A all-state team
• 2011 Class B all-state team
• 2011 Class C all-state team
• 2011 Class D all-state team
• Recent NYSSWA players of the year
• Final 2011 AA-A state rankings
• Final 2011 B-C-D state rankings

   Big clash tonight: Bishop Kearney is at Aquinas on Wednesday night in the first of their two highly anticipated boys basketball games this season. Aquinas enters the sold-out contest ranked fourth in the state in Class AA, and Kearney is No. 2 in Class A.

   Kearney likely will be minus 6-foot-9 Chinonso Obokoh, who is recovering from a strained ligament in his foot, Kings coach Jon Boon told the Democrat and Chronicle. Obokoh landed awkwardly in practice Friday, though X-rays did not reveal a fracture.

   "There's no reason why he should play if he's not 100 percent," Boon said. "It's a meaningful game, but in terms of the grand scheme, it's not going to make or break our season.''

   Speaking of injuries: Long Island Lutheran guard Paige Kriftcher injured a knee in Sunday's win over Archbishop Wood and MRI results showed she has a Grade 1 tear of the MCL, Newsday reported. Kriftcher, a key to the defending Federation Class B champions' 11-1 start this winter, will be evaluated again in two weeks.

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   More from the court: St. Joe's played a non-leaguer on Tuesday. It fact, it was a non-hemisphere clash on the basketball court. Reggie Agbeko scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed 19 rebounds as St. Joe's beat the touring Shanghai Nanyang squad from China 68-45.

   Kingston, ranked No. 2 in Class AA this week, defeated Newburgh for the first down since 2006 by putting up a 76-68 victory Tuesday. Jovan Coffey tallied 19 points and 16 rebounds before an SRO crowd at Kate Walton Fieldhouse. Hundreds of fans were turned away at the door, The Times Herald-Record reported.

   Junior point guard Justin Robinson scored 26 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds.

   Hockey highlights: John Connors scored the go-ahead goal 2:20 into the third period and McQuaid went on to a 3-2 victory over Pittsford, ranked No. 3 in state Division I hockey.

   In Division II, No. 4 Brockport and No. 10 Churchville-Chili played to a 3-3 tie. Anthony Bertolani scored twice for C-C, which rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period.