Leading off today: I know that I've been spoiled by Section 5 over the years — first as a fan, then as a sportswriter and now as a blogger/observer.

   It's a rare day when things aren't done in a first-class fashion by the Rochester area's governing body for high school sports. Yeah, there was the time that they made hotel reservations for the wrong night at the state track meet in Buffalo, but things generally go smoothly here. And you absolutely, positively will not find a better-run boys basketball tournament than the one in Section 5 each winter. That committee could probably pull off hosting an NCAA tournament regional on about three days notice.

   So it's with a bit of distress that I read on Syracuse.com today that the Section 3 girls still do not know where they will play their sectional finals in less than three weeks. It's stunning that a decision of this magnitude is only supposed to be finalized tomorrow. Considering that the girls tournament is a meaningful money-maker in most sections, I would have expected the decision to have been made months ago.

   Neil Kerr's story said Cortland State and Jefferson Community College in Watertown are the leading candidates but other venues such as Onondaga Community College are also being considered.

   But the situation in Section 3 is certain to get worse before it gets better, according to Kerr's story. For instance, the sectional wrestling committee cannot use the Utica Auditorium this year because of a scheduling conflict, so the sport will conduct its finals in a high school gym for the first time in about four decades.

   Down the road a bit, Manley Field House on the Syracuse University campus will undergo renovations by 2010 that will permanently remove the basketball court, bleachers and indoor track. That will displace boys basketball and indoor track for both the regular season and sectionals.

   Football sectionals were crowded out of the Carrier Dome last year, and prospects for ever holding more than two weekends of sectional/state games there in the future are dim at best now that the building hosts SU women's

basketball games in addition to football and men's hoops.

   In the spring, the baseball tournament is at the mercy of the city's International League franchise when it comes to using Alliance Bank Stadium. The Chiefs will be on a homestand during sectional week, but the high schools might be able play state tournament games there — but a maximum of two games per day in order to protect the newly installed natural grass.

   JV coach suspended: A first-year girls basketball coach at Staten Island Moore Catholic was suspended for his actions on the court during a JV game Saturday against St. John Villa.

   Tom Regina allegedly grabbed player Jaclyn Tocco by the arm and screamed at her, leading her parents to file a police report.

   "At first he was just holding my arm pretty tight," the player told The Advance. "But then I tried to get away and he grabbed me really hard. It's not just that -- he was also screaming in my face."

   "If he can do this in front of 200 people what does he do behind closed doors?" asked Roseanne Tocco, the player's mother. "Even parents from the other team came over and said if that was their daughter they would have slapped him."

   Harassment qualifies as a violation. According to protocol, police cannot make an arrest for harassment unless they witness it, the paper reported. Typically a harassment report will remain on file and can be used in a civil suit.

   Regina has been banished from the sideline for the rest of the season pending an investigation into what happened, said Principal Douglas McManus. Assistant Diane Quinlan, will take over for the final two games.

   Regina did not return a call requesting comment, the paper said.

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