Thursday, March 10, 2016: Toussaint and Huerter snare basketball awards

   Leading off today: Christ the King senior standout Dominique Toussaint has picked up two statewide honors in 24 hours.

   On Wednesday, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) named her its 2016 Miss New York Basketball. On Thursday, Gatorade bestowed the honor of New York girls player of the year on the Royals' University of Virginia-bound star.

   The 5-foot-10 guard is averaging 19.7 points, 3.5 assists and 6.8 rebounds for Christ the King entering this weekend's CHSAA state Class AA semifinals.

   BCANY also announced its top male award recipient, selecting Kevin Huerter of Shenendehowa as Mr. New York Basketball.

   The Maryland recruit, who'll lead the Plainsmen into the NYSPHSAA Class AA semifinals Saturday in Glens Falls, is the first Section 2 recipient of the honor since Shen's Greg Koubek was a co-winner in 1987.

   Tuesday PSAL recap: South Shore and Francis Lewis are heading to the girls Class AA championship Saturday at Madison Square Garden, a rematch of the 2014 final in Brooklyn.

   Francis Lewis rallied from 10 points down in the first half and eeked out a 48-47 victory over Harry Truman. Taliyah Brisco lead the Patriots with 11 points and sophomore Sabrina Vitale scored seven of her 10 points in the fourth quarter for the Patriots.

   Truman, which held a 23-13 lead at halftime, received a game-high 19 points from sophomore guard D'yona Davis.

   The other semifinal was a mismatch from the star as defending champ South Shore crushed Grand Street Campus 68-38. Sisters Destiny and Selena Philoxy scored 16 points apiece, with Selena also pulling down 15 points.

   The Vikings took a 20-5 lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

   Coaching search completed: Ryan Baldock, the first-year head coach at Johnstown in Section 2, has been named Monroe-Woodbury's next football coach. The Section 9 school's board of education gave its approval Wednesday.

   Baldock, 34, was Liberty's defensive coordinator from 2009-2013. He coached special teams at Johnstown in 2014.

   The Crusaders will be entering their first season since 1986 without Jim Hintze, Pat D'Aliso or Bernie Connolly on staff.

   "There's no way I could fill the shoes of any of those men," Baldock told The Times Herald-Record. "I'm just going to try to do the best I can to continue to build upon the tradition and pride that they've built here."

2016 NYSPHSAA boys basketball brackets 2016 NYSPHSAA girls basketball brackets 2016 NYSPHSAA boys hockey brackets 2016 N.Y. complete wrestling brackets (PDF) 2016 N.Y. boys swim championships N.Y. indoor track championships: Boys | Girls

   Baldock will teach physical education. He will begin working with the team Thursday.

   Next week: The New York State Athletic Administrators Association meets March 16-18 in Saratoga Springs. One of the more interesting sessions figures to be the Thursday keynote address from Frank Cutinella, the father of Thomas Cutinella, the 16-year-old Shoreham-Wading River football player who died of injuries suffered in an October 2014 game.

   Frank Cutinella has become an advocate via the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation for making the game safer. His session -- "Tommy Tough -- How we can maintain safety in football without compromising the integrity of the game" -- will focus on changing the rules and strictly enforcing those rules.

   Fries to be honored: The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association has announced that veteran Section 5 figure Dennis Fries, the retired AD at Irondequoit, will be inducted into the 2016 class of the NIAAA Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., in December.

   Fries is a past president of both the NIAAA and the NYSAAA and currently serves as New York's liaison to the NIAAA. He was inducted into the NYSAAA Hall of Fame last year as the SUNY Cortland "C" Club Hall of Fame.