Leading off today: Senior midfielders Wes Finch and Alex Bramall, who helped Newburgh Free Academy to the NYSPHSAA Class AA championship last month, have been selected all-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

   Finch collected nine goals and 11 assists for Newburgh, which went 19-1-2 and became the first Section 9 team to win a game in the boys Class AA bracket, reeling off four straight wins to grab the title in Oneonta. Bramall finished with 17 goals and 11 assists.

   Four other New York boys made the All-America list: Brentwood defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste, and forwards Stephen Baker of McQuaid, Gino Corasaniti of Cicero-North Syracuse and Cody Farrier of Arlington. All are seniors.

   The seven female recipients of the award include senior forwards Carly Beyar and Crystal Dunn, who helped Rockville Centre South Side earn its 15th NYSPHSAA championship last month.

   The others are junior goalie Tatiana Saunders of Rye, senior midfielders Molly Popolizio of Shenendehowa and Kylie Strom of Union-Endicott, sophomore forward Lia Bellizzi of Rye and senior forward Brittany Kinmond of Spencerport.

   Another casualty: The list of injured girls basketball stars continues to grow.

   Earlier this week, I mentioned the season-ending knee injuries suffered by Ossining point guard Hayley Awerdick, Albertus Magnus junior forward Meghan Richards and Coleman Catholic guard Taylor Leonard.

   Now, Utica Proctor has likely lost junior point guard Brianna Kiesel for the remainder of the season due to a broken bone in her left wrist, suffered during a 54-53 victory vs. Albany over the weekend, The Observer-Dispatch reported.

   Kiesel scored 27 points in the game to pull within one of the school's career mark of 1,245 points. She was the Central New York Counties League National Division co-player of the year as a sophomore.

   Kiesel averaged 22.7 points as a freshman and 22.5 as a sophomore.

   By the way, defending boys Class C champion Avon is playing minus 6-foot-5 senior center Corey Upright, likely out for the year (as well as baseball season) following an Achilles injury suffered last month. The Braves were expected to build around Upright, who averaged four points and five rebounds as the sixth man a year ago.

   Upright was third-team all-state as a junior pitcher/shortstop last spring.

   Is she the one? Former Warwick Valley star Aislinn Ryan won the race in 2004 and placed third a year later, but no New York girl has fared that well at the Foot Locker National Cross COuntry Championships.

   Cornwall's Aisling Cuffe, coming off a 12th-place

Also available on the site RoadToSyracuse.com Football Site NYSPHSAA football playoff brackets NYSPHSAA boys soccer playoff brackets NYSPHSAA girls soccer playoff brackets NYSPHSAA field hockey playoff brackets

showing a year ago, could very well change that tomorrow in San Diego. The junior is one of four co-favorites for the title on the heels of multiple strong outings this fall.

   Oddly enough, she's won with such ease so many times this season that Cuffe admitted to The Times Herald-Record that she has some unexpected reservations in the fall-season finale.

   "I am a little nervous," Cuffe admits. "This is the one race where it could come down to the last 100 meters. I don't know if I have a kick — it's been a long time since I had to use one."

   College plans: Forest Hills 6-foot-7 junior swingman Maurice Harkless committed to UConn on Wednesday, The New York Post reported. Harkless, coming off a foot injury, scored 21 points in a loss to Wings Academy on Sunday and added 16 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Campus Magnet two days later. He averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore.

   Pittsford Mendon tight end Sean Fitzpatrick had already committed to play football at North Carolina next fall, but now he says he will enroll in January as a so-called gray-shirt to get a jump on his freshman season.

   Fitzpatrick expects to wrap up his high school graduation requirements on Jan. 4 and begin classes in Chapel Hill a week later. He'll formally sign his scholarship papers in February.

   Soccer tournament update: Section 9 officials have submitted a proposal to host the 2010 and 2011 boys state soccer final four at Middletown, The Times Herald-Record reported.

   The event was held in Oneonta the last nine seasons, but financial woes for the host National Soccer Hall of Fame make staying there highly unlikely.

   Section 9 boys soccer co-chairmen Pete Ferguson and Tony Martelli submitted the bid on Nov. 20 in Oneonta, and no one else has stepped forward yet although Sections 2, 3 and 5 could all do so before the final decision, which could come down next month.

   Extra points: Palmyra-Macedon boys basketball coach Chip Tatro, closing in on 400 wins, will retire in March at the conclusion of his 29th season, he told The Messenger in Canandaigua. "I talked to my father, who’s 86 years old, and he just said I’ve been around the game for a long time, and maybe it’s time to pass the torch onto someone else,” Tatro said. "He’s right, because I do think it’s time. I haven’t taken my wife out for a Friday fish fry in 30-something years.