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Monday, Aug. 1, 2016: Rosters set for this weekend's Summer Hoops Fest

   Leading off today: Rosters are firmed up and teams are ready to go for the BCANY Summer Hoops Fest, which runs Friday through Sunday in Johnson City, just west of Binghamton.

   The Basketball Coaches Association of New York has posted information about the sixth annual tournament for regional boys and girls teams on its website:

   Boys rosters
   Girls rosters
   Schedules

   A brief scan of rosters saw a lot of familiar names, including numerous all-state selections. The Buffalo Region roster includes 6-foot-5 Cheektowaga rising senior Dominick Welch, who was a first-team pick in Class A last season plus a trio of third-team selections: James Rojas (Jamestown, Class AA), Greg Dolan (Williamsville South, A) and Tavien Kemp (Archbishop Walsh, B). In addition, Willard Anderson was a fifth-team pick in Class C out of Buffalo East.

   The Rochester Region also brings some top-end depth in the form of Aquinas senior Jalen Pickett (Class AA second team), Early College senior Tajmin Holt (Class C third team) and one of the best crops of underclassmen talent the area has had in several years -- 6-7 McQuaid sophomore Isaiah Stewart, 6-7 UPrep junior Jeenathan Williams and 6-5 Bishop Kearney sophomore Patrick Thomas.

   Stewart is arguably the most coveted sophomore in the state.

   There's plenty of balance in the girls field, with Jamesville-DeWitt junior Meg Hair, co-player of the year in Class A last season, highlighting the Central roster.

   Rochester, Hudson Valley and the Southern Tier all have three players apiece who finished fifth-team all-state or better.

   Back in the game: Bob Zeh, who retired in 2010 after a lengthy and successful run coaching basketball at Oneonta, is slated to be appointed as girls coach at Unatego at Monday's school board meeting, The Daily Star tweeted over the weekend.

   The pending appointment appears on the meeting agenda posted on the Unatego district website.

   Zeh has been a women's assistant at Hartwick College since leaving Oneonta with a 161-63 mark (45-5 over the final two years) in 10 seasons running the girls program. Prior to that, the state basketball Hall of Fame inductee was 366-214 as the Oneonta boys coach.

   You can't spell effort without 2 F's: US Youth Soccer, which bills itself as the largest youth sports organization in America, took a no-nonsense approach to a situation indirectly involving a Syracuse-area team last week.

   The organization released a statement announcing that a review had led it to fine teams from Carlsbad, Calif., and Cleveland undisclosed amounts for what it deemed play "disrespectful" to the sport, Syracuse.com reported.

   The measure stemmed from an obviously anemic effort by the two under-18 teams in a scoreless tie Thursday during their national tournament in Dallas. The result allowed both teams to advance to the semifinals, freezing out a Syracuse squad (which went 1-1-1 in pool play) that would have advanced had Carlsbad won by three or more goals.

  
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   "After meeting with both teams, the committee found the teams were disrespectful to the game, the competition and US Youth Soccer," the organization said in a statement. "The integrity of the National Championships Series Competition is predicated on fair play and sportsmanship by all participants and those ideals were compromised."

   Tennessee decision: New York isn't the only state wrestling with playoff issues. The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association called a special meeting last week to approve the addition of a ninth playoff class in football.

   A year after a ruling that any independent school opting to give financial aid must compete in Division II, the board voted to add one classification to the division for the 2017 postseason tournament in anticipation that most of the independents in the public school-dominated Division I will move to D-II.

   As a result, Tennessee will crown six champs in Division I and three in Division II.

   Too late in responding: It's hard to fault the Syracuse University football staff for an awkward development Monday.

   Damone Drew, a running back from Virginia, wrote on Twitter that he had committed to the Orange. He subsequently deleted the tweet, and Syracuse.com reported it was the result of the Orange staff declining his commitment.

   SU had shown interest in Drew earlier this year and offered him in March, but contact recently had been minimal at best since Syracuse now appears set at running back as far as the current senior class is concerned.

   Perhaps the SU coaches could have communicated the situation to Drew more clearly, but the player didn't do anyone any favors by not reaching out to the SU staff before tweeting.

   Extra points: Megan Collins, who played for predecessor Doug Rowe, is the new girls lacrosse coach at Baldwinsville. Collins, 24, was a volunteer assistant with the Bees' modified program in 2015 and co-coached the Auburn modified team last spring. Rowe left after 26 seasons and will run the Rome Free Academy program this season.

   Recent Shenendehowa graduate Ian Anderson, picked third overall by the Atlanta Braves in the June MLB draft, is off to a flying start in the Gulf Coast League. After a four-inning outing Saturday, Anderson has allowed just two runs (both unearned) in 15 innings over four appearances. He's fanned 14 batters, walked four and allowed just 11 hits.


  
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