Saturday, March 21, 2015: Hecklers out of bounds with jabs at coach's daughter

   Leading off today: In a blog earlier this month, I declared several other private schools had been taken off the hook for assorted misfires and transgressions thanks to Sacred Heart in Buffalo, whose administrators made the mind-boggling decision to tell Sister Maria Pares her services as basketball coach were no longer needed.

   Well, congratulations to Sacred Heart. You folks are off the hot seat now.

   Welcome to the frying pan, Albertus Magnus. That school apparently traveled very light to the NYSPHSAA girls basketball semifinals in Troy on Friday -- no adults, just juveniles.

   It's one thing to direct venom at Jim Boeheim, undeniably a public figure from the day he began as head basketball coach at Syracuse University and quite often (and recently) an easy target for some haterade.

   But taking it out on his daughter? A freshman? Really, Albertus Magnus?

   Jamesville-DeWitt ended Albertus Magnus' perfect season 56-33, and the Falcons' student section took it out on three freshmen players with pathetic behavior -- including Boeheim's daughter Jamie.

   "Where's the cheater?" they chanted when Boeheim checked into the game in the fourth quarter.

   The freshman told Syracuse.com she didn't hear the chant and that she understands the family name and business is going to make her a target.

   That, though, doesn't absolve the Albertus Magnus folks of blame. Where were the adults from the school to put a muzzle on crap like that? Or is the first statement on the school's website just there for show?

   "[T]he premier college preparatory school in Rockland County, New York, is a Catholic, co-educational community of faith in which our future leaders strive for academic excellence, seek Truth, and show respect for the dignity of each person."

   If my kid showed that sort of "respect for the dignity of each person," he or she would be walking home from Troy to Rochester.

   Tidying up: A couple of updates to recent blogs fodder:

   Friday's blog about the Kickoff Classic draws a five-yard flag for an illegal shift ... I left out one of the best games of the season. Canisius will play Monroe-Woodbury at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4.

   Also, the list of boys basketball winning streaks we started compiling last week as a nod to Scotia-Glenville reaching 50 in a row (now 51) is taking shape.    There's now a permanent page for the win streaks in our RoadToGlensFalls.com reference section.

   Calling all hoops helpers: The NYSSWA's Steve Grandin is assembling the 2015 edition of the boys all-state basketball team and has put out a final call to media members and league chairmen to participate.

   Please forward your all-area team, as well as any all-section, all-class or all-league teams to Steve, who is also seeking specific information (height, grade in school, statistics, honors) for leading players in each of the five state classes.

   Reporters are asked to nominate players by class, also ranking players within the class. As has been the case recently, we will not be choosing players by position since roles are often so fluid on the basketball court.

2015 NYSPHSAA boys basketball brackets 2015 NYSPHSAA girls basketball brackets 2015 NYSPHSAA boys hockey brackets N.Y. wrestling championships (PDF): Div. I | Div. II N.Y. indoor track championships: Boys | Girls

   Please forward info to Steve via email no later than this Sunday; if your all-area team has not been published yet, the NYSSWA will keep the picks confidential prior to publication.

   The girls all-state team will be edited by me (John Moriello) this spring. Media members and league chairmen should forward girls info to me via email by April 10.

   The Alkins situation: I don't doubt that there's truth to the story, but from 400 miles and change northwest of New York City, I'm admittedly still not clear on what the potential eligibility issue is with Rawle Alkins, the outstanding guard on the Christ the King boys basketball team.

   The Times Ledger and The Daily News have written stories in the past week saying Alkins may not be eligible next season because it would be his fifth varsity season. Alkins played an abbreviated varsity season as an eighth-grader in Florida before returning to New York and enrolling at Christ the King.

   I cannot find anything in New York State Education Department regulations that would preclude him from playing his fifth varsity season next winter since he'd still be within the "four years of eligibility upon entering ninth grade" rule.

   That leaves it as perhaps a Catholic High School Athletic Association rule. Again, though, I'd be hard-pressed to figure how the season in Florida could be held against Alkins.

   We get results: My post-Glens Falls/Troy wrapup blog a year ago made mention of the atrocious condition of Route 67, a popular shortcut to I-87 for drivers from the left side of the state exiting the Thruway in Amsterdam.

   Friday's trek to Glens Falls found long strips of Route 67 to be in much better shape this time around. I'd like to think my whining made a difference.

   More coaching notes: Jim Insley, who won one Section 5 boys basketball championship at Canaseraga and then two at Wellsville, stepped down following a loss to Rochester Leadership Academy in a state qualifier game last week.

   John Manion stepped down as the football coach at Hannibal after 20 seasons after earlier stints at Frankfort-Schuyler and Cardinal Mooney in Rochester. Wrestling coach Mike Kitts is expected to be his replacement.