Leading off today: Defending Federation Class AA champion Christ The King is picking up some significant help for the upcoming boys basketball season as 6-foot-7 forward Chris Ortiz has decided to return to the Queens school.

   "He’s the missing piece, I feel,” coach Joe Arbitello told The New York Post. “We needed a big presence inside and we got it. He’s really, really improved his game. I feel our chances were good to be successful this year and they’re even better now with the addition of Chris.”

   Ortiz was asked to leave Christ The King last December for disciplinary reasons. He enrolled at Abraham Lincoln but was not cleared to play by the PSAL because he appeared on the Royals' roster and participated in scrimmages.

   Arbitello said Ortiz restored hi good standing at CTK by maintaining his grades and meeting other conditions set by the school when he left.

   Ortiz played for the Puerto Rico National Team at the FIBA Under-18 World Championships this summer.

   Coaching change: Ray Gaston has been promoted to head coach at Catholic Central following the resignation this week of Carm Audino, the Troy school confirmed.

   The Times Union and The Record reported the story this week, but neither was able to contact Audino or get an explanation regarding the reason for the change.

   "It came out of nowhere,” Gaston told The Record. “Carm had a personal situation where he resigned. It’s a great loss. He’s a great coach, a great person and a great friend. We’re all missing him and we’re going to miss him.

   Gaston had spent 13 years as a youth league head coach before joining the Catholic Central staff four years ago. Catholic Central, 2-6 a year ago and 16-55 since 2001, has not played in the Section 2 tournament since 1989.

   Schedule change: Section 4 has made a late move to fill byes in the schedule created by Corning's late decision to consolidate into one team and Southern Springs' announcement that it has dropped football:

   Week 1 -- Owego at Corning, Vestal at Waverly, Susquehanna Valley at Moravia.

   Week 2 -- Norwich at Chenango Forks.

   Week 3 -- Norwich at Vestal, Owego at Trumansburg.

   Week 4 -- Elmira Free Academy at Dryden.

   Week 5 -- Elmira Southside at Johnson City.

   Week 6 -- Waverly at Elmira Southside, Johnson City at Norwich.

RoadToSyracuse.com Football Site

   Week 7 -- Maine-Endwell at Owego.

   Policy change: Utica's board of education is considering no longer allowing athletes from other school districts from playing on some Proctor High teams, The Observer-Dispatch reported.

   The proposal was discussed at Tuesday's board meeting and would affect the hockey and gymnastics teams.

   “It’s just out there and in a discussion stage right now,” Proctor AD Marty Nemecek told the paper, adding that athletes already in the pipeline would be allowed to finish their scholastic careers.

   Based on details in the story, it does not appear that outsiders are squeezing Proctor students out from participating. It was not clear how much money (in any) Proctor receives from school districts who send players there.

   Mission accomplished: Kudos to the Norwich golf team for achieving its season-long goal of qualifying for the Section 4 team championships.

   Sorry, I couldn't resist.

   The Tornados suffered a 188-192 loss to Seton Catholic yesterday at Ely Park Golf Club, but their score was eight strokes under the cut for qualifying for the tournament, which will be held in the spring to align with the schedule adhered to by most leagues and sections in New York.

   So, to summarize: They qualified for sectionals despite losing, and they did so nearly nine months before that championship is contested -- not to mention more than a week before school starts.

   There had to be several government agencies involved in the design and execution of that plan.