Leading off today: More to come on this tomorrow, especially since I intended this to be a basketball-only blog. However, Alex Hatz of Fayetteville-Manlius recorded a 4:05.50 mile today in Boston to move to No. 3 all-time on the U.S. boys indoor list.

   Emily Lipari of Roslyn was also competing at the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Reggie Lewis Center and won in 4:42.64, the fourth-fastest time ever by a U.S. girl.

   Hatz's performance, torching the 1986 state record of Monroe-Woodbury ace John Trautmann, will renew talk that he could break four minutes outdoors this spring.

   OK, now on to hoops: Thirty-nine berths in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys and girls basketball semifinals were decided over the weekend.

   The 40th berth belongs to the John A. Coleman girls, who were advanced directly to the Class D semifinals -- even though there were eight sections in the tournament this year -- necessitating a play-in between Harrisville and Westport for a spot in the quarterfinals.

   There was a similar situation in the spring, when S.S. Seward and Livingston Manor got the free path to the softball and baseball semifinals respectively after winning sectionals in a class in which Section 11 did not field a representative.

   I realize there are logistical issues, but it hardly seems fair that a section with half a dozen Class D schools can win a state title with two post-sectional wins while a team saddled with the a pre-quarterfinal would have to win four.

   If anyone deserves the bye it would be a team from Sections 3, 4 or 5. They each have more than two dozen teams, which could result in having to win five postseason games just to reach the state tournament.

   OK, that's enough preaching. Now, on to the highlights in each class for yesterday.

   Boys Class AA: Marcus Henderon made a long three-pointer with 1:38 to go, giving Newburgh Free Academy breathing room en route to a 62-53 win over Mount Vernon at West Point.

Winter season bonus links Boys hoops: Road to Glens Falls, your all-purpose destination Boys hoops: Sectional tourney scores and NYSPHSAA brackets Girls hoops: NYSPHSAA brackets Boys hockey: NYSPHSAA brackets - D-I | D-II Wrestling: Final NYSPHSAA results - D-I | D-II

   A year ago, Newburgh ousted Mount Vernon with a 55-foot buzzer-beater. This time, Henderson's shot broke the momentum after Mount Vernon had cut a 15-point deficit to four.

   "It bothered me that people said we couldn't do this," Henderson told The Times Herald-Record. "We talked about it before the game. Everybody got together and said, 'They said this was a fluke. We have to get it together and prove them wrong.' That's what we did."

   In the other downstate clash, Tobias Harris (19 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocks) and junior Tavon Sledge (19 points, seven assists), the transfer by way of Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's Prep, were dominating for No. 1 Half Hollow Hills West in a 63-50 victory over Uniondale in front of about 5,000 fans at Hofstra University.

   Boys Class A: Red Hook had to work overtime to improve to 23-0, edging Johnson City 70-62 to reach Glens Falls for the first time since 1996, setting up a clash with two-time defending champion Jamesville-DeWitt.

   Dan Totten scored six of his 21 points in OT after Johnson City tied the game with three free throws with :02.8 left in regulation after Ronald Teekasingh (16 points) was fouled beyond the arc. Cody Mauch added 16 points, including four in overtime, for Red Hook.

   In another quarterfinal, Westbury's Sheldon Hagigal scored 33 points -- the last two on a buzzer-beating 12-footer -- to beat Harborfields 58-56 at Hofstra. The Green Dragons (18-4) advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 1996.

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