Leading off today: Hartford's Ethan Tyler made two contested buzzer-beaters Thursday and wasn't even the story of his team's
80-78 win in two overtimes vs. Warrensburg.
Warrensburg senior Shea Irish scored a career-high 60 points, which tied him for fourth in Section 2 history and made him the first boys basketball player in the state to reach 60 in four seasons. (See: Top single-game performances)
Irish made a contested 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer and then accounted for 17 of his team's 21 points after the fourth quarter ended in a 57-57 tie.
Tyler (19 points) hit his first half-court shot at the end of the first overtime to tie the game at 66. Warrensburg's Markus Moyer made one of two free throws with :02.6 left in the second OT -- only to have Tyler strike again from nearly the same spot.
"It was unbelievable," Warrensburg coach Bob Hummel said of the game. "As I said to Caleb (Sutliff, Hartford's coach), 'Not bad for a Thursday afternoon crossover game.'"
Milestone alert: Karissa Birthwright scored 27 points Thursday to become the 21st Section 5 girl to reach 2,000 career points. She capped her night with two free throws with :05.8 left to give Greece Odyssey a 49-27 win at Eastridge.
The sixth-year varsity player, who'll attend the College of St. Rose in the fall, added 19 rebounds.
More basketball: Gloversville ended its 46-game losing streak in girls basketball with a 50-33 win over Schuylerville in a Foothills Council crossover.
"People were crying and laughing. I can't really describe how excited the girls were to finally clinch that win," Gloversville coach Molly Swan said. "I can't even describe it. It feels so good."
Nyack beat Lakeland 61-57 in a triple-overtime opener to the Section 1 Class A boys tournament. E.J. Smith scored 28 points for Nyack, which squandered a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Lakeland's Mike Morelli tallied 29 points.
Following up: The Syracuse City School District's plan to consolidate its baseball, boys lacrosse and softball programs at five schools into single teams caught Section 3 off guard, Syracuse.com reported.
Section 3 Executive Director John Rathbun said he'd not received any of the paperwork necessary to initiate the process. District AD Chris Hodge said he'd notified the Central New York Counties League about the plans and that the documentation has been forwarded to district Superintendent Sharon Contreras.
If the CNYCL approves, league officials will still have to meet to revise schedules for the affected sports.
Schedule shakeup: I'm OK with canceling Christmas and suspending my lifetime complimentary pass to Golden Corral, but someone needs to look into this: Caledonia-Mumford and LeRoy, whose series began in 1900, are not scheduled to play each other in the 2015 regular season, putting one of the state's great football rivalries on hold.
With Bishop Kearney leaving the league and a Warsaw-Letchworth merger on the way, the Livingston County
