Leading off today: Mother Nature is making her power known in Western New York this weekend, forcing the postponement of several New York State Public High School Athletic Association basketball games scheduled in the Buffalo area.

   Friday night's Class A game between Buffalo East and Pittsford Sutherland was moved to Sunday at Buffalo State, and Saturday's tripleheader will also be moved to Sunday because additional heavy snow is expected Saturday.

   Sunday's new schedule at Buffalo State calls for a quadrupleheader beginning at noon. The Class D game was played on Friday, with Northstar Christian defeating Pine Valley, 48-45, to earn a berth in Glens Falls.

   Charges in Dansville: A West Sparta woman accused of stealing about $35,000 from the Dansville All Sports Booster Club, was scheduled for arraignment today in Livingston County Court.

   Laurie J. Perry, 48, was charged Wednesday with one count of third-degree grand larceny and 25 counts of first-degree falsifying business records, all felonies, Livingston County Assistant District Attorney Eric Schiener said.

   The alleged thefts took place over a four-year period, when Perry served as the treasurer for the booster club that assisted athletic teams at Dansville High School, Schiener said. Perry formerly worked at the high school as the secretary to the school’s athletic department, Schiener said.

   If convicted, Perry faces up to seven years in state prison.

   Oooooops: The nation's No. 1 girls basketball recruit will have to tie up some loose ends to protect her eligibility before her college career starts. Elena DelleDonne, a 6-foot-4 guard from Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Del., has signed to play at UConn next season. A video on a recruiting-service site shows her and her father, Ernie, promoting the service. At one point in the video, DelleDonne says, "If you want to go to the next level, go to mybasketballprofile.com."

   According to the NCAA manual, "Subsequent to becoming a student-athlete, an individual shall not be eligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics if the individual accepts any remuneration for or permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind."

   NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson told USA Today by e-mail, "Prior to enrollment in college, an individual is permitted to promote a commercial entity as long as they take steps upon becoming a student-athlete to retract permission for that commercial entity to use their name and they cease receipt of any payment for the arrangement."

   So, all in all, DelleDonne doesn't seem to be facing serious NCAA trouble. But here's my question:

Winter tournament brackets NYSPHSAA boys basketball NYSPHSAA girls basketball NYSPHSAA boys ice hockey

   What is the nation's No. 1 recruit doing getting involved with the recruiting service, which offers packages ranging in cost from $30 to $550 for recruits hoping to get noticed by colleges? She has post-player size with shooting-guard ball skills and a deft shooting touch. Everyone who matters in the sport has been saying for three years that she was going to have her choice of colleges.

   Recruiting services may be worthwhile for certain athletes, but that qualified as way over the top for her.

   Lights, camera, dumb idea: Two Spartanburg (S.C.) politicians want to require referees to use TV replays to resolve close plays at high school football and basketball playoff games after their hometown high school had a potential game-winning shot disallowed at a state title game last week.

   Rep. Harold Mitchell told the Herald-Journal in Spartanburg he filed the bill after Spartanburg lost the boys Class 4A final to Summerville 50-48. Spartanburg's Zycorrian Robinson hit a 60-foot shot at the buzzer that would have won the game, but the referees waived it off after huddling for a minute. They did not review a TV replay.

   So who's going to foot the bill for this if it's signed into law? Most games are not televised and a lot of video shot from the sidelines is going to be inconclusive. TV stations (rightfully so) are not going to want to get in the middle of disputes by sharing their footage.

   Chalk it up to politicians having too much time on their hands now that they've rescued the country from a recession, taken all the illegal handguns off the streets, won the war on drugs, firmed up the exit strategy and timetable for pulling our troops out of Iraq and stamped out illiteracy and poverty in our cities.

   Police blotter: Former Gloversville High basketball star Joshua Tesi is in trouble after police said they found half a kilo of cocaine in his vehicle Wednesday.

   Amsterdam city police Lt. Thomas DiMezza said officers stopped his car on state Route 5 because the vehicle had illegally tinted windows. During a subsequent search, they discovered the cocaine, which they said is worth about $18,000 on the street.

   Tesi was charged with felony counts of possession of more than 4 ounces of cocaine and third-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. He was arraigned in Amsterdam City Court and sent to the Montgomery County jail without bail.

   The Gloversville High basketball team was 21-3 in 1998-99 in Tesi's senior season, losing to Glens Falls in a sectional final.

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