Thursday, April 7, 2016: West Islip earns 9-7 lacrosse win vs. Ward Melville

   Leading off today: Here's an early indication that we might be in for "that" kind of season in Long Island boys lacrosse.

   On March 26, Chaminade downed West Islip 11-6.

   On April 2, Ward Melville beat Chaminade 9-8.

   And on Wednesday, West Islip completed the circle with a 9-7 victory over Ward Melville.

   "It's definitely huge for us," senior attack Mike Lombardi told MSG Varsity after his team's third straight win. "Obviously it's a big rivalry. Every time we play each other it's going to be a good game."

   Lombardi had three goals, C.J. Scharf had two goals and two assists and Trevor Wills added two goals. Lions goalie Brendon Engel made 16 saves.

   "Chaminade was a non-league game and it was a challenging team, but this is a league game and it's really a boost for our team," Wills said.

   Girls lacrosse: Indian River junior midfielder Brynne LaFave scored a career-high nine goals in a 20-1 victory over Thousand Islands. LaFave also contributed two assists.

   Through three games this season, LaFave has 15 goals -- half her total for the entire 2015 season.

   Prep-bound: Jamesville-DeWitt senior basketball player Jimmy Boeheim will attend prep school next year in hopes it can lead to Division I college opportunities, Syracuse.com reported.

   Boeheim, the 17-year-old son of the SU coach, said he will probably enroll at New Hampton (N.H.) Prep School, where Syracuse freshman star Tyler Lydon played a year ago.

   Boeheim averaged 23.3 points a game this season for the Red Rams.

   Change in ADs: Tom Heinzelman will serve as interim director of physical education, health and athletics at South Glens Falls for the remainder of the school year following the departure of Edward Cook earlier this week, the school district announced Monday.

   Heinzelman served as Hudson Falls' AD and football coach for 25 years before retiring in 2008. He later served as an interim AD at Columbia High and Goshen.

   "Board of education policy does not allow school officials to comment publicly on personnel matters therefore we cannot discuss details regarding this action," Superintendent Michael Patton said in a letter to district residents. "We can say that there was no illegal activity, and no students were directly impacted."

   Cook joined the district in August from Carmel, where he'd held similar responsibilities since 2013. He'd previously worked in a similar capacity at Beekmantown for eight years before budget cuts reduced the position to part-time.

   Stuff like this still happens? An Oregon high school softball team filed a Title IX lawsuit against the school district this week after allegedly being told its facilities would not be brought up to par with the baseball team until it "wins a state championship."

   The lawsuit on behalf of 10 players says the Lake Oswego softball team hasn't been given the same benefits

and treatment baseball players receive and lists extensive difference between the programs.

   The complaint says the baseball team has an on-campus, enclosed batting cage but plans for a similar setup for softball were scrapped in February despite a large private donation earmarked for the project. The school district said, "the hitting facility would not be constructed unless or until the Lake Oswego High School softball team 'wins a state championship,'" the suit says. The players allege the donation was then used for another sport.

   The baseball team plays on artificial turf on campus. The softball diamond is a dirt field at the junior high that has drainage problems, which has led to the cancellation of practices and games, according to the lawsuit.

   The school district released a statement saying it has been working on plans to improve practice and playing conditions. "Additional planning, coordination and equipment are required to further improve conditions and the district expects those will be in place within the next several weeks."