Leading off today: Kudos to the state's two leading newspaper-operated high school sports sites for continuing to produce interesting reading over the summer.

   The Journal News and Newsday have set the bar very high for online-news competitors in the last year, upgrading their sites with technology and content. On Wednesday, each came through with good basketball-related reading.

   The Journal News reported on the Mount Vernon boys' preparation for an 11-day tour of China. They'll spend time in Beijing and Shanghai, play three exhibitions and visit the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

   Bob Cimmino, who has coached Mount Vernon to four state titles, started thinking about the trip a decade ago. The trip will cost $59,600, with the cash raised through fundraisers and private donations.

   Meanwhile, Newsday profiled Our Savior New American High School in Centereach, one of the most successful independent athletic programs in New York.

   OSNA is a private parochial school largely limited to the prep school circuit in basketball, having lost its Friends and Neighbors status with Section XI. That essentially shuts out OSNA from playing any New York public schools, but

allows coach and headmaster Ron Stelzer to otherwise play when and where he wants.

   The summertime blues: The New York Post reported this week on a new trend in basketball -- private schools getting raided for players by other schools looking to beef up their programs.

   According to the story, a PSAL crackdown on transfers from other PSAL schools that began two years ago has made the private-school players more desirable.

   "It's a small number that actually do go," said Xaverian coach Jack Alesi, who points the finger at the outside influences that surround players during the offseason. "But it's frustrating to even have to deal with it, and I'm not going to sell out and give in to anyone's demands."

   Extra points: Oneonta's school board approved the hiring of former Unatego teacher and varsity football coach John Mushtare. He is expected to serve as a football assistant at Oneonta, which opens against Unatego on Aug. 31. . . . The rumor mill reports some sentiment in Section 5 for revising the transfer policy in a way that will make it more difficult for families to cite "religious reasons" in their transfer applications. Look for an upcoming surge in the number of students citing the unavailability on theology classes in their public schools.

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