Leading off today: A technicality has handed the top-ranked large Class AA boys basketball team a loss, but Half Hollow Hills West's season is not over.

   According to Newsday, athletic director Joe Pennacchio self-reported to Section 11 officials that Terry Harris, younger brother of Tobias and Tyler Harris, was ineligible for the game at Smithtown West on Feb. 12.

   HHHW used six JV call-ups in the 80-52 romp because of suspensions resulting from an on-court incident against Bellport four days earlier. As an eighth-grader, Terry Harris needed to be re-classified in order to appear in a varsity contest.

   The forfeit drops HHHW to 22-1 heading into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association quarterfinals next weekend.

   Going the extra mile: A couple of Section 2 boys basketball finals went to overtime yesterday.

   Front court bookends Zach Morton (29 points, 13 rebounds) and Jacob Meyers (six points, five rebounds) battled hard against 6-10 Tyler Hammett (18 points, 17 rebounds) and sparked Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (10-11) to a 55-49 shocker in OT over Lansingburgh in the Class A final.

   "We knew were a pretty talented team playing AA schools all year long," Burnt Hills coach George Dudas told The Times Union. "It is satisfying because like I have said all along, to see them succeed when, in the middle of the year, they dropped six in a row and to come back and regroup -- that's special."

   In Class C, Maple Hill's Christopher Despart fought through a 2-for-14 start from the field to nail two three-pointers in OT, the latter with :04 to go, for a 46-45 triumph against Hoosick Falls. Despart was just 3-for-20 from the field in the semifinals when Maple Hill rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Schoharie.

   "I had to keep shooting. Some of them would go in," Despart said after finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds.    Quinn Rasmus gave Hoosick Falls a 45-43 lead with one free throw with :19.7 left in overtime. Following a timeout, Despart connected following a pass from center Sean Danaher (10 points, 16 rebounds).

   Buzzer beater: Anthony DelCoro banked home a 25-foot shot at the buzzer to give No. 18 Cicero-North Syracuse (20-2) its first Section 3 boys title in the form of a 61-60 thriller over Utica Proctor in Class AA.

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   Proctor had held a six-point lead with under two minutes to play.

   "I can’t believe it,” Proctor guard Will Hawkins told The Observer-Dispatch. "We did everything exactly the way we wanted to do it. We did everything we could. ... He shot it from deep, too. I don’t know how it went in."

   J-D still untarnished: Sophomore center Dajuan Coleman finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds and three blocked shots as Class A No. 1 Jamesville-Dewitt, the two-time defending state champ, earned another Section 3 crown with a 68-50 win over Syracuse Nottingham at the Utica Auditorium.

   "This is the first step toward our major goal, which is the state championship," senior guard Lamar Kearse told The Post-Standard after scoring 18 points. "You can’t get there without winning this."

   After the game, the 6-foot-9 Coleman did his best to put to rest a rumor that he will transfer to national power Oak Hill Academy in Virginia this summer.

   "I’m not going to Oak Hill," Coleman said. "I’m staying right here."

   Changing demographics: The Times Union did a Page 1 story yesterday on the evolving makeup of the coaching ranks, taking note of the fact that four of the Suburban Council's 12 girls basketball teams were run by women this season.

   That may not sound like much, but it is part of the changing times in high school sports. Twelve of 27 coaches in Class AA and A in Section 2 this season were women. That figure was seven in 1990 and nine in 2000.

   "Athletic directors are looking at these women and see that they have a lot of energy," said former Saratoga coach Brenda Adams. "I hope the trend upward continues."