Leading off today: The idea behind throwing together a showcase event is to create great matchups that result in memorable contests. The folks behind the Coaches Choice USA New York-New Jersey Challenge at Holmdel (N.J.) High School hit a home run with four competitive girls basketball games and one epic Sunday.
UConn recruit Saniya Chong scored 24 of her 45 points after the end of regulation as Ossining topped the host state's St. John Vianney 106-100 in triple overtime. Jalay Knowles chipped in with 19 points for Ossining, the top-ranked Class AA team in New York.
“In the second overtime, I was really exhausted,” Chong told MSG Varsity. “Coming into the third (overtime), for some reason, I took a really deep breath and I didn’t think about it anymore. I zoned it out.”
Two patented Chong drives ended with dish-offs to freshman Shadeen Samuels for layups and a third ended with a bucket of her own. She produced eight points and two assist in the third OT to pull away from a 90-90 tie.
Chong made all 15 of her free throws -- including all six in the final 39 seconds -- in the overtimes and went 21-for-24 from the line for the game.
Rough and tumble: Darrien White's 3-pointer with 1:02 left broke open a close boys basketball game and sent Albany Academy to a 79-68 victory over Green Tech in the Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase on Sunday.
Albany Academy is ranked fifth in the state in Class A and Green Tech is No. 22 in Class AA.
White, who finished with 16 points, separated his left shoulder during baseball season and re-injured it at late in football season. He made his season debut in a 58-56 loss to Long Island Lutheran Dec. 21 and injured the shoulder again the next night against Syracuse Henninger.
"As a senior, I had to come through in the clutch somehow," he told The Times Union. "It is good to be back."
There were 16 lead changes and five ties in the first half of a rugged game that included six technical fouls. Albany Academy made 30 of 48 free-throw attempts; Green Tech was 18-for-25 from the line.
Another sectional record: Ticonderoga’s Jay Hebert broke the Section 7 record in the boys 55-meter hurdles for the third time this season, clocking 7.43 seconds over the weekend at the New Balance Games in New York.
Coaching change: Greg O'Connor is stepping down as football coach at Schuylerville to focus more attention on his family.
"There's too many demands on my time, with school and family, I'm being pulled in a lot of directions," the father of three told The Post-Star. "Someone's going to get shortchanged, whether it's your own kids, your football kids or your school kids. And I don't want to do that."
O'Connor, 48, was 60-28 in nine seasons, including a 4-5 season last fall highlighted by a 20-19 upset of top-seeded Lansingburgh in the first round of the Section 2 Class B tournament. He led Schuylerville to its only sectional titles -- Class C championships in 2004 and 2005.
