Im headed to the double-header at Pace tonight: Pearl River vs. Cornwall girls in the A regional final, Peekskill vs. Oneonta in the boys A regional final. Winners go to the state final fours.

And Peekskill’s duo of coach Lou Panzanaro and Mookie Jones are on the verge of some serious, serious history.

Panzanaro, who already holds the record with five state titles as a coach, can add another, and become the second coach, joining Amityville’s  Jack Agostino, to win four in a row.
Jones can become the second player, unofficially, in state history with four state titles. Agostino told me today that Rich Payton was the only player who played on all four of Amityville’s championship teams.

And Peekskill will have to be undefeated if it wins the state title. I have come up with four local boys teams who have finished undefeated in the state tournament era—Mount Vernon in ‘78 (prior to the Federation event which follows the state tourney) and again in 1991 and 2000, when it won the Federations; and Hamilton in ‘88 (there was no Federation in Class D). Blind Brook went undefeated through the state championship in 2002, but lost in the Federation final. If anybody knows of others who went undefeated in the state tournament era, please let me know.

There are two interesting pieces of information on Panzanaro, too.

One, his step-daughter, Emily Casey, is playing for Cornwall today against Pearl River. So he will arrive early to see the first game.

Two, he has already decided to come back next year. Four years ago, Panzanaro was on the fence, and he decided to stick around and see Mookie through graduation. But this remarkable run has re-energized him, and he said he will coach next year. That means he will very likely become the third area coach—joining Mike DelVal and John Volpe—to reach 500 wins next season Panzanaro is at 485 going into tonight’s game.

Peekskill had been kind of figuring that it would have to go through either Albany Academy or Jamesville DeWitt to win its state title this year, two teams the Red Devils had defeated earlier in the season. But Albany Academy lost Wednesday to Bishop Gibbons. Massena and Gibbons play in the regional semifinal tonight, and the winner plays DeWitt tomorrow. If Peekskill wins tonight, it will play the winner of that game in the state semifinal next Saturday in Glens Falls.

Of the nine teams with gold balls as Section 1 champions, only two were eliminated in the first round of the regional tournament: White Plains’ girls in AA and Clark Academy boys in D.

The rest—Mount Vernon (AA), Peekskill (A), North Salem (B) and Tuckahoe© boys, and Pearl River (A), Briarcliff (B) and Haldane© girls are all one win away from the state final fours.

If you want to look way, way ahead, remember that the Federation Tournament of Champions is going to be played two weeks after the state public schools championships in Glens Falls and Troy, due to the Easter holiday. The T of C is held only in Classes AA, A and B because there are none of the smaller classes outside of the public schools. In many of the classes, there are only three champions competing, so one champion gets a bye into the championship game.

So here’s the T of C schedule:

Federation Tournament of Champions
At Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls

Friday, March 28
Girls Class B semifinal: PHSAA vs. AISAA, 11 a.m.
Boys Class B semifinal:  PSAL vs. CHSAA, 2:30 p.m.
Boys Class B semifinal:  PHSAA vs. AISAA, 4:25 p.m.
Boys Class A semifinal:  CHSAA vs. AISAA, 6 p.m.
Boys Class A semifinal: PHSAA vs. PSAL, 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 29
Girls Class B final: AISAA/PHSAA winner vs. PSAL, 10:30 a.m.
Girls Class A final: CHSAA/PSAL winner vs. PHSAA, 12:15 p.m.
Girls Class AA semifinal:  PHSAA vs. PSAL, 2 p.m.

Boys Class AA semifinal: PHSAA vs. PSAL, 3:45 p.m.
Boys Class B final:  5:45 p.m.
Boys Class A final: 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 30
Girls Class AA final:  PHSAA/PSAL winner vs. CHSAA, noon.
Boys Class AA final: PHSAA/PSAL winner vs. CHSAA, 2 p.m.

This is an up-to-date schedule of the state tournament, with some corrections to yesterday’s post:

State tournament schedule 2008

Regional semifinals

Monday, March 3
Boys Class B: North Salem 59, Red Hook (Section 9) 52, at SUNY New Paltz.

Tuesday, March 4
Boys Class D: Clark Academy vs. Greenport (Section 11) at Westchester County Center, 3 p.m.
Boys Class C: Tuckahoe vs. Millbrook (Section 9) at Westchester County Center, 4:45 p.m.
Boys Class AA: Mount Vernon vs. Minisink Valley (Section 9) at SUNY New Paltz, 7 p.m.

Girls Class AA: White Plains vs. Kingston (Section 9), at SUNY New Paltz, 5 p.m.
Girls Class B: Briarcliff vs. Burke Catholic (Section 9) at Westchester County Center, 8:15 p.m.
Girls Class C: Haldane vs. S.S. Seward (Section 9) at Westchester County Center, 6:30 p.m.

Regional finals

Thursday, March 6
Girls Class B: Briarcliff/Burke Catholic vs. Malverne (Section 8)/Hampton Bays (Section 11), at St. Joseph’s College (Sec. 11), 8 p.m.
Girls Class C: Haldane/S.S. Seward (Section 9) vs. East Rockaway (Section 8)/Stony Brook (Section 11), at St. Joseph’s College (Sec. 11), 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 7
Boys Class A: Peekskill vs. New Paltz (Section 9)/Oneonta (Section 4) at Pace, 8 p.m.
Girls Class A: Pearl River vs. Cornwall (Section 9)/Oneonta (Section 4), at Pace, 6 p.m.

Saturday, March 8
Boys Class AA: Mount Vernon/Minisink Valley (Section 9) vs. Binghamton (Section 4), at Cortland State, 2:45 p.m.
Boys Class B: North Salem vs. Section 8 /Section 11 winner at SUNY New Paltz, noon.
Boys Class C: Tuckahoe/Millbrook (Section 9) vs. Section 8/Section 11 winner at SUNY New Paltz, 2 p.m.
Boys Class D: Clark Academy/Greenport (Section 11) vs. John A. Coleman (Section 9), at SUNY New Paltz, 4 p.m.

Girls Class AA: White Plains/Kingston (Section 9) vs. Horseheads (Section 4), at Cortland State, 7:45 p.m.

State semifinals
At Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls

Friday, March 14
Boys Class D: Section 3/4 vs. Section 5/6, 10 a.m.
Boys Class D: Section 1/9/11 vs. Section 2/7/10, 11:45 a.m.
Boys Class C: Section 3/4 vs. Section 5/6, 1:30 p.m.
Boys Class C: Section 1/8/9/11 vs. Section 2/6, 5 p.m.

Boys Class B: Section 3/4 vs. Section 5/6, 6:45 p.m.
Boys Class B: Section 1/8/9/11 vs. Section 2/7/10, 8:30 p.m.

At Hudson Valley Community College, Troy

Friday, March 14
Girls Class B: Section 1/8/9/11 vs. Section 3/4, 10 a.m.
Girls Class B: Section 2/7/10 vs. Section 5/6, 11:45 a.m.
Girls Class A: Section 1/4/9 vs. Section 5/6, 1:30 p.m.
Girls Class A: Section 2/3/7/10 vs. Section 8/11, 3:15 p.m.
Girls Class AA: Section 1/4/9 vs. Section 5/6, 6:15 p.m.
Girls Class AA: Section 2/3/7/10 vs. Section 8/11, 8 p.m.

At Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls

Saturday, March 15
Boys Class A: Section 8/11 vs. Section 5/6, 9 a.m.
Boys Class A: Section 1/4/9 vs. 2/3/10,10:45 a.m.
Boys Class AA: Section 8/11 vs. Section 5/6, 12:30 p.m.
Boys Class AA: Section 1/4/9 vs. Section 2/3, 2:45 p.m.

At Hudson Valley Community College, Troy

Saturday, March 15
Girls Class C: Section 1/8/9/11 vs. Section 3/4, 12:30 p.m.
Girls Class C: Section 2/7/10 vs. Section 5/6, 2:15 p.m. State championship games
At Glens Falls Civic CenterSaturday, March 15
Boys Class D: 5:30 p.m.
Boys Class C: 7:15 p.m.
Boys Class B: 9 p.m.

At Hudson Valley Community College, Troy Saturday, March 15
Class B: 4 p.m.
Class A: 7 p.m.
Class AA: 8:45 p.m. State championship games
At Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens FallsSunday, March 16
Boys Class A: 1 p.m.
Boys Class AA: 2:45 p.m.

At Hudson Valley Community College, Troy

Sunday, March 16
Girls Class C: 1:45 p.m.
 

I was in New Paltz last night for North Salem’s Class B regional semifinal victory over Red Hook, a typically gritty victory by the Tigers, who by the way have won 23 in a row, a school record, since an opening-game loss to Greeley.

So the question with which I had to wrestle is this: Is this one of those magical runs, a Cinderella (will we ever again have a basketball postseason without a “Cinderella”?) run? Can a team that hasn’t lost in three months—since Dec. 9—be a surprise?

No. North Salem is feeling something, and perhaps it feels like magic, but their players expected to be here, and expect to keep going. That was my column in The Journal News and on LoHud.com today. You can read the column here.

The Tigers last night again got as big burst from some of their bench players, and clutch play from their big man, Marc Miller, but the star of the game was Josh O’Neill, who seems to have one emotion: Calm. You can read Kevin Devaney’s story about him, and the victory, here.

I just realized that the schedule I revised below has an apparent error in it. The girls and boys can’t both be playing at New Paltz Saturday at noon, 2 and 4. So I’ll try to find the right sites for the Saturday regional finals.

In the meantime, check LoHud.com and The Journal News for updated info. This stuff trickles in in pieces, and often we are told wrong sites or times. Eventually we figure it out.

We had a long, hard-to-read regional basketball schedule  in the paper and the on web site.

Here’s a more concise version:

State tournament schedule

Regional semifinals

Monday, March 3
Boys Class B: North Salem vs. Red Hook (Section 9) at SUNY New Paltz, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, March 4
Boys Class D: Clark Academy vs. Greenport (Section 11) at Westchester County Center, 3 p.m.
Boys Class C: Tuckahoe vs. Millbrook (Section 9) at Westchester County Center, 4:45 p.m.
Boys Class AA: Mount Vernon vs. Minisink Valley (Section 9) at SUNY New Paltz, 7 p.m.

Girls Class AA: White Plains vs. Kingston (Section 9), at SUNY New Paltz, 5 p.m.
Girls Class B: Briarcliff vs. Burke Catholic (Section 9) at Westchester County Center, 8:15 p.m.
Girls Class C: Haldane vs. S.S. Seward (Section 9) at Westchester County Center, 6:30 p.m.

Regional finals

Thursday, March 6
Girls Class B: Section 1/9 at Section 8/11, at St. Joseph’s College (Sec. 11), 8 p.m.
Girls Class C:: Section 1/9 at Section 8/11, at St. Joseph’s College (Sec. 11), 6 p.m

Friday, March 7
Boys Class A: Peekskill vs. Section 9/Section 4 winner at Pace, 8 p.m.
Girls Class A: Pearl River vs. Section 4/9 winner, at Pace, 6 p.m.

Saturday, March 8
Boys Class AA: at Cortland State, 7:45 p.m.
Boys Class B: at New Paltz, noon.
Boys Class C: at New Paltz, 2 p.m.
Boys Class D:  at New Paltz, 4 p.m.
Girls Class AA:  at Section 4 site.
Girls Class B: at New Paltz, noon.
Girls Class C: at New Paltz, 2 p.m.
Girls Class D: at New Paltz, 4 p.m.

I sure don’t know if it was. I didn’t see a lot of local basketball while I was doing hockey for a coupe of decades. I can only tell you that, since I returned to the local scene in 2002, I haven’t seen the type of one-player performance I saw today from Angelei Aguirre, who scored 16 of her teams’s first 18 points—at a time when her inexperience teammates were obviously struggling against a very strong, favored, 22-1, No. 1 seeded Mount Vernon.

Aguirre finished with 33 points in a 48-40 win as 10th-seed White Plains won a fourth, and extremely unlikely, fourth straight gold ball. And at the same time extended snake-bitten Mount Vernon’s drought, which goes back to 1983, and which includes a whole bunch of heart break since 2004.

After the first game of the year, when White Plains lost at home to Maria Regina, and with all those great players graduated and leaving only Aguirre with any experience at all, she said she expected to compete for the gold ball.

I told her today that, back then, I thought she was crazy.

“You thought I was crazy?” she asked. “Do you think I’m crazy now?”

Nope. I just think that she’s one of the best players anywhere, and one of the nicest kids you’d ever hope to meet. Of course, I already knew that.

You can read my column in The Journal News and on LoHud.com by clicking here.

The County Center, almost two hours before the heavyweight Section 1 basketball championships begin and still mostly empty, was nevertheless still abuzz over last night’s North Salem-Briarcliff game and the great crowd and atmosphere.

It was absolutely the best you could imagine. And a great game, to boot.

That was my column in The Journal News and on LoHud.com today. You can read it here.

In the meantime, there’s a lot of talk about what Joe Lombardi did at the end of the game, and all the insane, stupid—and in my opinion, cowardly—stuff being posted on the blogs overnight and today.

People need to get over themselves and realize these are high school kids. Lombardi made a mistake, a big, ugly mistake that looked worse than it was when he tried repeatedly to punch the ball out of Marc Miller’s arms. It was dangerous and dumb, and he should have been ejected from the gym. Yes, he did some showboating during the game. Most of that would have been forgotten if not for the uppercuts he threw at the ball, though. And don’t forget, the kid played a monster of a second half and nearly won the game.

I know that blogs are here to stay, and in large part they will help ensure that guys like me stay employed until we can start drawing our Social Security checks. But when stuff like this happens and people react as they did, you wish we could just shut these things down, or make people put their names to their comments.

Too bad we can’t do that.

There hadn’t been an overtime in five days worth of semifinals, 16 games in all.

And on the first day of championship games, the first three titles were decided in overtimes.

First Tuckahoe—school where comebacks are almost as common as study halls, in all sports, especially football and basketball—beat Keio Academy in come-from-behind fashioon for the Class C boys title, its second gold ball in three seasons. It would have been a truly remarkable story if Keio had won. Imagine, a team of foreign-born players winning a championship in basketball, in a basketball hotbed.

Then Haldane’s girls, who lost a streak of 14 consecutive championships to Blind Brook last year, got revenge and beat Blind Brook for the ‘08 title, 41-40 in overtime. Brittney Shields won her fifth gold ball, and called it the sweetest, because of the revenge, and because it’s her senior year and every game now can be her last.

The game of the day, of the week—perhaps the best game and best atmosphere in this building since New Rochelle-Mount Vernon in 2005—was the Class B title game between North Salem and Briarcliff. North Salem won that one in overtime, too, knocking off the defending champ and favorite (even though North Salem was the No. 1 seed). The place was almost full, and it was loud and rowdy and the kids at times lost their cool—especially Joe Lombardi at the end of the game. He tried to punch the ball out of the arms of Marc Miller, and threw three uppercuts at the ball. He should have been thrown out of the gym, but he got a technical foul and fouled out and Miller’s three free throws iced the title.

But overall, the atmosphere was phenomenal. Just phenomenal. And today the big schools come to the gym for four title games. Whether any can match the crowd, or the quality of the Briarcliff-North Salem game, is doubtful. But we wouldn’t miss it for the world, just in case.

Mookie Jones of Peekskill told me an amazing story last night, about how some of Peekskill’s players snuck down the block to Panas last week and played a series of pickup games against the team they would face in the Class A semifinal.

That was the topic of my column in The Journal News and LoHud.com today, along with the idea that Jones has become such a good player that he no longer needs to score to contribute (he had two points on 1 for 8 shooting in the lopsided victory Friday).

You can read the column here.