Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017: Medina soph buries state-record 16 3-pointers

   Leading off today: Medina's Maddie Williams broke the presumed state record by making 16 3-point baskets Monday during an 82-23 girls basketball victory over Holley.

   The sophomore finished with a school-record 54 points, easily surpassing her previous career high of 22.

   The New York State Public High School Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations each credit Courtney Galuski of Cohoes with a state record of 15 three-pointers during a January 2008 game vs. Schalmont. The national mark is believed to be 17 in a game.

   With the game well in hand, Medina coach Ken Haak let Williams remain on the court. She connected for five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and registered a triple-double by also finishing with 10 rebounds and 11 steals.

   "When we became aware of what the state record was we let her try to get a line in the record book," Haak told The Buffalo News.

   Heuvelton's streak ends: Hammond snapped two-time defending state champion Heuvelton's 46-game winning streak with a 56-28 rout on Monday.

   Heuvelton entered the game No. 1 and Hammond No. 3 in the most recent NYSSWA Class D rankings.

   Alyson Crosby scored 15 of her 16 points in the first half as Hammond avenged its only loss of the season. Sierra Fleming chipped in with 14 points.

   "You credit Heuvelton for who they are and for what they have accomplished," Hammond coach Shawn Dack said. "Doing the things they have done in basketball is no joke. And we at Hammond respect that fully. Getting to their mentality was the key. Matching it. But, now we have to take care of business rest of season or this means nothing."

   Sisters Paige and Madison McCormick scored 10 points apiece for Heuvelton.

   NLOI Day: Wednesday is National Letter of Intent Day for football, soccer and men's water polo. Here's hoping there's some buzz about New York in soccer and water polo, because football is going to be a dud of near-historic proportions.

   When Poly Prep defensive end Ifeanyi Maijeh committed to Temple over the weekend he became only the 18th New York senior to align with a Football Bowl Subdivision school. It's likely there will be an addition or two to the list this week, but most of the highly regarded talent is spoken for and at least a couple of the remaining candidates are going to have to go the prep school or JuCo route.

   The most current list I've been able to come up with can be found here.

   Cross country honor: Liverpool senior Ty Brownlow has been selected Gatorade's New York boys cross country runner of the year.    The NYSPHSAA Class A and Nike Cross Nationals regional champion is the second consecutive Liverpool runner selected for the honor. Ben Petrella won the award following last season.

   Brownlow, a Georgetown recruit who set a course record en route to the state championship, was named the New York State Sportswriters Association runner of the year last month.

   On track for 3,500-plus? As The Times Union pointed out this weekend, Joseph Girard III is on pace to do the seemingly impossible. The Glens Falls star is within reach of 2,000 career points by the end of his sophomore season.

   Through 59 varsity games, including the team's 15-0 start this season, he stands at 1,784 points. Girard, who helped the football team to a NYSPHSAA championship in the fall, leads Section 2 in scoring (35.8 points per game) and 3-pointers (73) this winter.

   "It is crazy what he has done," Glens Falls coach Rob Girard said. "There are games when he shoots a lot, but there are other games when he doesn't shoot that much."

   Ponder this for a moment. If he avoids injuries, Girard could become the state's career scoring leader before he steps on the court for the first game of his senior season. Lance Stephenson concluded his career at Abraham Lincoln of the PSAL with 2,946 points. The NYSPHSAA record is 2,799 by Ryan Creighton of Greenport. (Full list here.)

    • Don't assume that Girard is on a trajectory that would put the career record out of reach in the same fashion Caryn Schoff did with the girls record more than two decades ago.

   That's because of prospects like Dior Johnson of Saugerties. The 5-foot-9 guard just turned 13 years old on Saturday, midway through a seventh-grade season, and is riding a streak of three straight 30-point games that has raised his average to 21.7 points a game.

   "His first basket was a 4-point play," Saugerties coach Mike Tiano told The Times Herald-Record. "That's his first high school basket! I still keep telling myself he's a seventh-grader. I'm expecting him to make mistakes, but he just plays such a solid game."

   Extra points: Evan Barczak is Monroe-Woodbury's all-time wins leader in wrestling after a first-place finish at the Ridgefield (Conn.) Challenge over the weekend. Barczak recorded his 209th win in a 160-pound semifinal to pass the Crusaders mark os 2008 state champ Jamie Franco.