Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013: No. 3 Hayes rolls past No. 1 Christ the King

   Leading off today: There'll be a new No. 1 boys basketball team in Class AA when the season's second set of rankings is unveiled early next week.

   Mustafa Jones, Shavar Newkirk and Nathan Ekwu scored 14 points apiece to pace third-ranked Cardinal Hayes past No. 1 Christ the King 49-48 on Friday. Chris Robinson added 11 points in the win in Middle Village.

   Sophomore forward Rawle Alkins scored 18 points to lead the Royals, the defending Federation champions in Class AA.

   "I haven't personally beaten them in high school, so this is a huge mark for us as a team," Jones told MSG Varsity. "It's a reality check to see where we stand."

   Christ the King was without point guard Andre Walker, who Royals coach Joe Arbitello said remains a member of a team. Arbitello said his team put up a lackadaisical effort.

   "We were completely rattled on offense. I was surprised with the effort," he said. "That's a problem with a young team. We start two sophomores, a junior and two seniors."

   League streak ends: Senior Andre Gulley finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds as Wheatland-Chili ended Batavia Notre Dame's 70-game winning streak in the Genesee Region league with a 56-42 verdict. Notre Dame is ranked third in the state in Class D, and the last Fighting Irish league loss came to Oakfield-Alabama in January 2009.

   Wheatland-Chili junior guard Tyler Roberts finished with 18 points and 10 assists to help his team improve to 6-0.

   Milestone: Jordan Beers reached 2,000 career points in the second quarter and got to work on her next thousand. The Franklin senior poured in 39 points in a 56-44 victory over Milford in Section 4's Tri-Valley League and stands at 2,027 for her career.

   "She's been the face of Franklin basketball for the last (six) years," Franklin coach Mike Dutcher told The Daily Star. "As good a basketball player as she is, she's 10 times better as a person. She's just a great teammate. She makes people around her better."

   Beers plans to play basketball at Ithaca College next season.

   Early showdown in Section 2: Fort Ann went on a 17-2 run in the third quarter on the way to a 44-40 Adirondack League girls basketball win over Fort Edward, the No. 3-ranked Class D team in the state.

   The sixth-ranked Cardinals had trailed 16-8 at halftime before running up a 21-12 margin in the third quarter. Kaleigh Foran went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line down the stretch to seal victory. Molly Bailey and Kayla Prosser each scored 10 points in the win.

   New coach appointed: Defensive coordinator Rory Boice was appointed head football coach at Wallkill on Thursday, replacing Brian Vegliando, who stepped down after five seasons.

   "I guess you can say I'm intense," Boice told the Times Herald-Record. "I want my players to be like that, too. But I don't want them to play out of control. I just have the desire to be the best and I'm emotional. That's how I've always been."

   Vegliando went 36-15 in five seasons, winning the Section 9 Class A title in 2010. The Panthers played in four other sectional finals under him.

   Vindication: Former Rye girls basketball coach Brian Lavelle was awarded a $125,000 settlement and written apology from the district last month, The Journal News reported.

   Lavelle, 52, spent three years trying to clear his name from allegations that he stole credit cards and cash from one of his players. Now, he wants to get his coaching career back on track following the Nov. 7 settlement of his defamation suit against the district, which had falsely asserted surveillance video showed him stealing two credit cards and $30 from a student's backpack, the paper reported.

   "Brian Lavelle should not have been terminated. The school district apologizes to Mr. Lavelle," the statement says, adding it would "welcome the opportunity to consider Mr. Lavelle for another coaching position."

   Lavelle has been out of coaching since being fired at Rye in December 2010, early in his first season. He is working this year as an unpaid assistant women's basketball coach at Dowling College on Long Island.

   Documents from the case reveal that the district reported to Rye police that surveillance video of the high school gymnasium showed only Lavelle going into the backpack in question on Nov. 23, 2010. In fact, the video, which the district refused to show Lavelle until under court order five months later, shows three people, including Lavelle, going into it that night, the paper reported. Lavelle said he went into it to determine its owner -- who refused to press charges.

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   Court records also reveal that the district erased additional gym video.

   In its apology statement, the district characterized its investigation as "incomplete."

   "As soon as the season ends, I promise you my resume will be upgraded and I'll be looking for any opportunity," Lavelle told the paper. "I hope it opens doors again to coach in the Westchester/Rockland/Putnam area. ... That's probably more what I'd love than anything in the world -- the opportunity to coach. That's something that was taken away from me."

   Lawsuit of the week: A heterosexual gym teacher at a private New York City school was fired because his lesbian supervisor disapproved of his "traditional family status," a lawsuit filed in Manhattan asserts.

   Gregory Kenney, 50, taught gym at the Trinity School for 16 years before he was let go in June 2012, The New York Post reported. Kenney, who lives with his wife and three young children, says he was a well-liked employee at the school until AD Pat Krieger took over in 2009. Krieger allegedly forced him to coach three sports, even though his contract only required him to handle two teams, according to his reverse discrimination suit.

   After Kenney told Krieger that he couldn't keep working nights and weekends, the suit says, she reported him to the headmaster "while a single, female teacher faced no scrutiny when she refused to coach a third season." Kenney claims the AD "routinely favored other single, younger females without children and discriminated against [him] because of his gender, sexual orientation, 'traditional family status,' and age."

   Kenney coached soccer, basketball and golf at Trinity, where tuition costs as much as $41,370 a year.

   News from the mascot front: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has signed into law a bill making it tougher for those who object to race-based mascots and sports team names to force a change at their school district, Reuters reported.

   The law requires at least 10 percent of district residents to sign a complaint which would be reviewed by the Department of Public Instruction, with hearings in front of an administrative law judge.

   The use of race-based team names and mascots such as Redskins and Braves has come under new scrutiny because of the debate surrounding the Washington Redskins of the NFL.

   Under the previous Wisconsin law enacted in 2010, a single school district resident opposed to a mascot, nickname, logo or team name could file a complaint with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, which would decide whether to take action against the district.

   The new law also places the burden on those who file a complaint to prove that a race-based mascot or team name promotes discrimination, harassment or stereotyping. Under the old law, the burden of proof was on the school district and districts refusing to follow state-ordered changes could have faced daily fines of up to $1,000.

   Thirty of Wisconsin's 424 school districts have mascots and names depicting Native Americans. Since 1991, 35 others have changed their mascots.