Leading off today: New York's girls high school basketball season will commence late this month without one of its brightest stars. That's because Ossining sophomore Aubrey Griffin's year is already over due to
a torn ACL suffered last weekend, The Journal News reported.
The 6-foot forward was a first-team all-state selection in Class AA after helping the Pride to their fourth consecutive NYSPHSAA championship and first Federation title.
Griffin already has offers from Seton Hall, Louisville and Miami according to the paper. Ossining remains loaded with UConn commit Andra Espinoza-Hunter and a crew of talented underclassmen.
"It's a shame because this team has the possibility of being the most talented team we have had here," coach Dan Ricci told the paper. "Nobody has worked harder on their game in the offseason in my 25 years here than Aubrey and it kills me that she can't be out there with her teammates."
Girls soccer: Down by a goal with under eight minutes to play, Arlington stunned Elmira with two goals in a four-minute span en route to a 2-1 victory in a NYSPHSAA girls Class AA soccer tournament first=round game Wednesday.
Allie Coon scored following a corner kick with 7:39 to play and Meggie Buttinger connected on the game-winner with 3:59 left.
"We played with a ton of urgency but we didn't panic,: coach Kieran McIlvenny told Hudson Valley Sports Report. "I still felt we had time to score but under 10 minutes certainly you wondered if you would have an opportunity. But once we got that equalizer, I had a feeling we were going to get one more."
Arlington will meet Monroe-Woodbury on Saturday in the state quarterfinals with a chance to avenge a regular-season setback.
"We lost to them 2-0 and that was definitely the best team we played all season," McIlvenny said. "We have our work cut out for us."
Boys soccer: For the second time this postseason, Calhoun sophomore Ryan Hilke netted an overtime winner. The first one defeated Oceanside in the Section 8 Class AA quarterfinals. The second came 51 seconds into overtime to upset top-seeded Massapequa 1-0 for the championship.
In the 14 seasons since Calhoun last won a county title in 2001, Massapequa had won or shared nine championships.
"That was unbelievable," senior captain Joe Thomann told Newsday. "That kid is always in the right place at the right time. I just saw it bouncing around right to him, and he tapped it in. He did it in the Oceanside game, and it was amazing to see again. It was awesome."
