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Saturday, March 15, 2014: Mr. Basketball, Miss Basketball awards revealed

   Leading off today: Abraham Lincoln's Isaiah Whitehead and Oneonta's Mariah Ruff have been selected Mr. Basketball and Miss Basketball, respectively, as the state's top senior players, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York announced Saturday.

   Whitehead averaged 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists a game for the Railsplitters. The career 2,000-point scorer has committed to play at Seton Hall next season.

   Ruff averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists this winter for Oneonta, where she was also the state Class B player of the year in soccer. She has signed to play at St. Bonaventure next winter.

   Last year's awards recipients were Jon Severe of Christ the King and Saniya Chong of Ossining.

   The Mr. Basketball and Miss Basketball awards are voted on by BCANY members at the high school and college levels and via committee deliberations.

   Sec. 2 star charged: State Police charged highly accomplished high school athlete Devon Willis with sending inappropriate digital photos and video to an underage person over the past several months, Albany-area media reported Saturday.

   Willis, 18, a Schalmont senior who has signed with the University of Albany to run track, faces a felony charge of disseminating indecent material to a minor. He was arraigned Thursday in Duanesburg Town Court and released on his own recognizance.

   Trooper Mark Cepiel, a spokesman for the State Police, said the victim is under the age of 16. He declined to say whether Willis sent images of himself or of others.

   Cepiel told The Times Union there was no accusation of illegal sexual contact with the person.

   A running back on the Sabres football team and the program's career rushing leader, Willis was first-team all-state in Class B aas a sophomore and junior and then a second-team selection last fall. In track, he finished second in the triple jump at the indoor state meet this season and outdoor states last spring; he was a previous champion in the triple jump and 55-meter hurdles.

   A Schalmont schools spokeswoman said it was unclear if Willis' eligibility for spring sports might be affected.

   Fixing a mistake: Remember how I posted "final" hockey rankings earlier this week? Well, they weren't as final as they should have been. As a couple of readers pointed out, I really shortchanged Suffern, an error I've gone back to clean up.

  
More N.Y. postseason coverage
All sports
NYSSWA site for brackets of tournaments from the past and present seasons.
RoadToGlensFalls.com Boys basketball
Road to Glens Falls for scores and stats.
NYSPHSAA tourney brackets
Current state rankings.
Girls basketball
Road to Troy for scores and stats.
NYSPHSAA tourney brackets
Current state rankings.
Ice hockey
NYSSWA site for tournament brackets.
Current state rankings.
Wrestling
NYSPHSAA Div. I | Div. II

   In my haste, I made the mistake of not going back to look at some head-to-head scores once the state finals were completed. Had I done so, either the two wins over Massena or the sweep of games vs. two ranked Section 2 opponents would have been enough to keep Suffern in the top 10. Taken together they're justification for moving Suffern back up to No. 6 despite the sectional loss to Scarsdale.

   My apologies to the folks down in Section 1 for the error.

   Knock it down? Portions of the $60 million Allen, Texas, high school football stadium that opened just two years ago may have to be demolished and rebuilt after a consultant's report said cracks found may be caused by substandard concrete work and improper structural design of reinforcing steel.

   The firm told Allen school district officials concrete samples from the 18,000-seat stadium showed dark paste that's typical of poorly cured concrete. Officials closed the stadium last month after discovering the cracks in the concourse.

   The report by Nelson Forensics said water had seeped into an elevated floor joist system, making it weaker. It suggests the possible causes include improper concrete placement, finishing or curing and improper structural design of reinforcing steel. The firm suggests replacing concrete slabs and performing additional work to the floor joist system -- which would be costly and take months.

   District officials say it's possible the stadium will remain closed next school year.


  
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