Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012: Skaneateles hit with discrimination allegation

   Leading off today: A Skaneateles senior alleges in a discrimination complaint to the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights office that he was cut from the varsity basketball team because he’s black, The Post-Standard reported Tuesday.

   Khiary Gayle and his mother filed the complaint, asking that he "be compensated for the harm done to him." Gayle was the only one of 13 students who tried out for the varsity basketball team to be cut in November by coach Karl Norris, Gayle's affidavit said. The other 12 students are white.

   Gayle, who transferred from Syracuse Corcoran last summer, said Norris told him that he preferred to rely upon players already in the program. "He said, 'You're already a senior and you didn't grow up here. This team is about home-grown players,'" Gayle's affidavit stated.

   School Board President Evan Dreyfuss said he could not comment on the complaint because he had not yet read it.

   Ford girls go on torrid run: Bishop Ford went on a 27-0 run in the second half and defeated Long Island Lutheran 58-42 at the Rose Classic Super Jam girls basketball event Monday at Bishop Ford. The Falcons held LuHi scoreless over a 12:16 span in the matchup of two of the best teams in the state.

   LuHi led 38-20 less than a minute into the second half and then didn't score again until 3:09 remained in the game.

   Aaliyah Lewis, who made 11 of 13 free throws, scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half and reeled off nine straight to give Ford the lead for good at 39-38. UTEP recruit Shanice Vaughan had 17 points.

   Outta here: Two significant names from the boys basketball scene dropped off the New York radar in the last two weeks. Junior Jermaine Lawrence, who would have been one of the state's prize seniors next season, bolted from Cardozo in the PSAL to enroll at Sparta, N.J., Pope John XXIII.

   The 6-foot-9 forward is commuting about an hour daily to his new school. He has offers from at least 17 schools, including St. John’s and Florida, according to The New York Post, and averaged 17 points and 15 rebounds per game in eight PSAL contests this winter.

   In Section 2, Daquan Johnson has left Albany High and enrolled in a school in Louisiana. The 5-11 guard played three games in his first week at Breaux Bridge, La., Christian Academy and is averaging 16 points and 9.5 assists through six games for the Knights, who are 44-1 (that's not a typo, by the way) this season.

   Johnson, who last played for Albany on Dec. 23, is being recruited by some Division I schools. But his mother expressed frustration with Albany officials over Johnson's academic situation there because the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) diploma he was on track to receive in June would leave him considerably short of the credits needed to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse.

   Johnson was averaging 26.4 points at Albany.

   Condolences: Condolences go out to our friend and longtime NYSPHSAA editor/treasurer Neil Kerr, whose mother Marguerite died Jan. 8 in Montour Falls at the age of 94.

   Her obituary refers to Neil as "the long time (and best ever) Syracuse Post Standard high school sports writer," a motion we can all second. In between traveling to his mother's bedside that weekend and handling the many responsibilities that go with such heartache, Neil returned home long enough to finish production and mailing of the weekly NYSSWA newsletter -- thus keeping intact his Ripken-esque streak of 45 years of near-weekly work.

   Kicker picks Syracuse: Two-time all-state kicker Ryan Norton of Garden City has committed to play for Syracuse University's football team next fall, Newsday reported.

   Norton could also compete for time as the Orange's punter, but he may be able to help right away on kickoffs. The Trojans' career leader in kicking points recorded 45 touchbacks in his senior season.

   By our count he is the 18th New York senior to commit to a BCS school (full list of the RoadToSyracuse.com home page) and the sixth to opt for Syracuse. The other SU commitments thus far are Pancho Barnwell (DE, Rochester East), Ben Barrett (OL, Syracuse CBA), Alvin Cornelius (WR, Tottenville), Devante McFarlane (RB, Half Hollow

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Hills West) and Omari Palmer (OL, Longwood).

   National signing day is Feb. 1, and New York will likely fall far short of the 34 recruits who signed with BCS schools last year. Erasmus Hall safety Wayne Morgan is the last key prize out there, though four to six others are definitely still major-college candidates.

   Merger-mania: Four Herkimer County school district boards voted last week to take the first step toward consolidating into a single entity that would certainly affect the look of Section 3 sports.

   The Observer-Dispatch reported that the boards of education from Frankfort-Schuyler (BEDS number of 292 this year), Herkimer (293), Ilion (400) and Mohawk (211) school districts all voted to move forward with the process. Next, a public straw vote will take place Thursday. If voters in the respective districts support the plan, the resolution would be sent to the state Department of Education for approval. It would then come back to a final voter by residents on Jan. 29, with the merger process beginning July 1 in OK'd.

   The projected BEDS number of the four schools combined would have given the proposed district the eighth-largest high school in Section III this year, though it's not clear if more than one building might house high school students. Ilion, the largest of the four, is the 39th-largest this year according to the NYSPHSAA.

   And this will not be the last merger discussed this winter and spring. For instance, Naples and Marcus Whitman officials disclosed last week they want to study consolidating some or all of the sports teams into a single program within Section 5.

   There are also numerous studies circulating about how certain counties might be reconfigured from eight or 10 school districts into four or five regional districts. Besides the obvious impact on sports, such restructuring might make more language or Advanced Placement courses available to students whose districts might not currently be large enough to offer those classes.

   Hobey Baker update: Every hockey-playing school -- boys and girls -- in the state is eligible to participate in the program -- each gets one award and there is no charge -- but the procedures have changes for the Hobey Baker High School Character Award, with details found on the official website.

   Online submissions are due from coaches Feb. 1.

   More to come: I'll hopefully be back Wednesday night with a few more newsworthy items as I try to catch up on a little bit more of what I've missed in the last week.