Patrick Newell

Again, I must thank the late Tom Schwan for his diligence in keeping historical records of area basketball teams. Last weekend, Bainbridge-Guilford beat Sidney 41-35 in a Midstate Athletic Conference boys’ basketball game. B-G head coach, Greg Warren, said it’s been a long, long time since the Bobcats defeated the Warriors. He wasn’t sure when that last B-G win came, but posited it may have been in the 1970s. I keep the majority of my historical records (dating to the 1995-1996) in-house, and I looked back over my records. Nope, the Bobcats had not beaten Sidney in my tenure. I e-mailed Greg with my research results, and resolved to dig deeper. Thursday morning, it occurred to me that Schwan’s basketball records – from 1970 to 1995 – were kept in a spiral notebook in a box at the base of my computer station. How could I forget? I rifled through each meticulously-kept season. Tom kept standings and game results for just about every conference in Section IV – STAC, Susquenango Association, Tri-Valley League – and even Section III’s Center State Conference and Central Counties League. If those details were not enough, he also kept up-to-date junior varsity results for the STAC and the Sus leagues. Each season was divided and stapled, It took a little bit of digging, but I found that elusive B-G win over Sidney. The opening game of the 1990-1991 season, B-G edged Sidney, 53-50. I let Warren know, and again, my heartfelt thanks to the late, great Mr. Schwan.

Sherburne-Earlville’s boys’ basketball team became the first area team to earn league honors when it clinched the Center State Conference Division I title last weekend. This week, S-E won its ninth and 10th league games to complete an unbeaten run in the CSC. I have seen the Marauders play three times this season, and I like to compare them to Norwich. Each team is extremely deep – nine or 10 players see plenty of action – and each club banks on its defense and contributions from many different players. The Marauders do not score as much as Norwich – about 55 points per game – but give up just 47 points per game. S-E has held its last eight opponents under 50 points, and it has the unique distinction of bringing its leading scorer off the bench. Eighteen area players average double figures scoring, and S-E sophomore, Austin Jasper, at 11.75 points tops his club and is 12th in overall scoring. In my recollection, I cannot recall a team with a record similar to S-E’s (13-3) that had its top scorer coming off the bench.

The most meaningful wrestling matches of the season begin this weekend with the Class B, C, and D tournaments. Top-four finishers in each weight class earn automatic bids to the Section IV Division II tournament next weekend at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. In case you’re interested in attending any of this weekend’s tournaments, be prepared to fill your gas tank. The Class B tourney, featuring local clubs B-G/A and Norwich, is at Waverly; the Class C tournament is at Lansing; and the Class D tournament is at Odessa-Montour. If you’re a Section III fan, particularly Sherburne-Earlville, the Marauders host the Class C tournament Saturday.

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Patrick Newell

The past week, I have been asked countless times, “who do you like in the Super Bowl?” I like – and prefer – the Giants, but my head tells me New England settles the score from its 2008 loss to the G-Men. The talking heads have analyzed the matchup to death. Will the Giants’ defensive line pressure Tom Brady? Will Rob Gronkowski’s gimpy ankle hold up? Is Bill Belichick masterminding another fool-proof game plan? I have nothing much new to add. Both teams will throw – and complete – a lot of passes. My feeling is that the team that better establishes its running game will have the advantage. New England has had a sneaky running game. Brady will hit a bunch of passes, and then running backs Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Stevan Ridley or Danny Woodhead pop a couple of nice gains. I have seen it dozens of times, especially with my Buffalo Bills taking beating after beating from the Patriots over the past decade. With a strong offensive line and complementary backs – Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw – one would think the Giants have the ability to run effectively. Not so at all. The Giants ran for just under 90 yards per game this season, and averaged only 3.5 yards per carry. Meanwhile, the seemingly pass-centric Patriots averaged more than 20 yards rushing per game than New York, and a respectable 4.0 yards per carry. Statistics aside, I have my own statistical theory on who will win, and why. The Patriots won all three of their Super Bowls under Belichick by three points. They also lost their only Super Bowl (with Belichick) by three points to the Giants. In 2008, the year the Giants won the big one, 17-14, New England defeated the Giants in the regular season, 38-35 – three points again. Fast forward four years, and the AFC East is again playing the NFC East in its interconference games. Earlier this year, the Patriots and Giants met with New York emerging with a four-point win, 24-20. That was New England’s last loss, and the Patriots are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak. Some interesting parallels between the last Super Bowl meeting between these two clubs: In 2007, the Giants lost their 14th game of the season to the Redskins, 22-10, and in the process looked anything but Super Bowl ready. In 2011, the Giants looked listless in game 14, again losing to the Redskins by a near identical score, 23-10. Too, in 2007, the Giants had to win three NFC playoff games to reach the Super Bowl, the last of which – each time – an overtime victory (Green Bay in 2007-2008 and San Francisco two weeks ago). New England’s game results are not as similar other than the fact that it has had a double-digit winning streak entering the Super Bowl. Remember those 1972-1973 Dolphins, they of the only perfect season, wishing for New England’s unbeaten season to come to an end? New England had an unblemished season incur a large pimple in the form of a Giants upset victory. I say New England finds the Clearasil to erase that pimple, and wins Sunday’s game by…three points.

* One quick edition, during the Giants’ current five-game winning streak, they have picked up their rushing attack averaging 114.6 yards per game, up about 25 yards from their regular season average. The Patriots, too, have elevated their running game picking up 128 yards per game over their last five. Of course, big days against the Denver defense helped the Pats.

Patrick Newell

hen you report basketball games night in and night out, you often notice trends. What is “trending” now is abysmal foul shooting amongst the eight Chenango County-area clubs that we cover. Doing the math, there are five starters per team and 16 total teams between the boys and girls for a total of 80 starting players. Can you guess how many total players average 70 percent from the foul line or better? How about 65 percent? Keep reading, and I’ll reveal my numbers at the end. Another trend that caught my eye was the poor foul shooting of athletes who were either named all-stars in their league or to our postseason All-Evening Sun team a season ago. Take a gander at these shoddy foul shooting percentages: 36.1, 42.8, 43.1, 47.1, 50.0, and 51.4. These are free throw shooting percentages (with a minimum of 20 attempts) of excellent players, many of whom do not hesitate to fire up three-pointers from the 20-foot range. Yet, give them a straight-on, unguarded 15-footer – and 10 seconds to shoot the freebie – and they struggle. To be fair, I should point out our most distinguished free throw shooters. The list is fairly short. On the girls’ side, Sherburne-Earlville senior, Cassie Beaver, is shooting a remarkable 81.6 percent from the stripe. Beaver’s rate is nine percent higher than the next-best girls free throw shooter, Jordan Anderson of Unadilla Valley (72.7 percent). On the boys’ side, Norwich’s Dennis Oralls tops our list (again, only those with at least 20 free throws qualify). The Norwich senior is hitting 79.7 percent this season, and his percentage is probably well over 80 percent during the fourth quarter. Oxford’s Ryan Moore, who attempts just under two free throws per game, was next at 77.2 percent from the foul line. And now, the most revealing statistic: All told, out of the 80 starting players, only 11 average 70 percent or better from the charity stripe. That is roughly one out of eight players that can be counted on to make free throws. It doesn’t get any better as we drop our expectations with just 14 players eclipsing the 65 percent mark. Free throw shooting is a staple of every basketball practice, and has been for as long as I can remember. So why do we have more Shaquille O’Neal-like foul shooters than Ray Allens? Perhaps players are spending too much time polishing individual moves that are long on flash, but short on substance.

Congratulations to the Sherburne-Earlville boys’ basketball team, who clinched the Center State Conference Division One title Thursday night at Mount Markham. Winning teams have become more common at S-E over the past several years, but division titles have remained quite elusive. Head coach Kevin Vibbard said the division title was just the second for the Marauders over the past 25 years.

Today we unveiled a promotional ad touting new outdoors columnist, George Franke. George will tell you himself that no one can replace the late Bob McNitt, but he has told me he hopes to continue the tradition of fine outdoors reporting established by McNitt over the previous 34 years. Franke’s first column will appear this coming Thursday, Feb. 2

I can’t spill the beans on our athlete of the week, but he is most deserving. During my discussion with the head coach, he gave me one of the best quotes I’ve heard in years. Perhaps it is a budding cliche that this coach borrowed from someone else, but I thought it was a message that all high school athletes should heed. Check it out in Friday’s edition.

Follow me on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

One thing we in the media have a hard time ignoring is a state ranking. In high school sports, a state ranking is nothing more than bragging rights, but it is also fodder for discussion. And, truth be told, touting a team’s state ranking has stretched out many a story in this reporter’s career. No, the state ranking does not guarantee any type of higher seeding or favorable playoff matchup. The subjectivity on this level of sports is far more significant than collegiate or professional sports, so it’s hard to truly assess every team. Nonetheless, we will still point out that Norwich’s girls basketball team was ranked number 16 in last week’s Class B poll. The Tornado were scheduled to play at number 12 ranked Oneonta last Friday in a matchup of the highest ranking Section IV Class B schools in New York State. Inclement weather postponed that contest, and the reschedule date is tentatively slated for Monday, Feb. 6. Also ranked in the Class B poll is Seton Catholic Central at number 19. Norwich suffered an opening-game loss to the Saints on Nov. 25, but have since won 10 out of 11 games. On the boys’ side, Norwich stands at 10-2 overall and is ranked number 20 in Class B. The rankings, through Jan. 8 games, do not include NHS’s victories last week over Oneonta and Chenango Valley, and Tuesday’s victory over Chenango Forks.

Perhaps you have noticed a couple of wrestling photos in the past week that were taken by Oxford graduate, Keith Lanfear. Lanfear is an avid photographer, and with sports, his primary focus is local wrestling. We greatly appreciate his contributions, and if you’re interested in contacting him to about photos, his website is www.momentcaptured.smugmug.com.

I promised some more information on our new outdoors writer, George Franke, who plans to begin his weekly column Thursday, Feb. 2. In his biography, Franke said he began his love affair with the outdoors at age eight as a fisherman, and began to hunt at age 14. “Who can forget their first fish?” Franke said. “My love of the outdoors sports continues to grow, even after catching that first first back in 1967.” Franke’s interests range from hunting and fishing, and extend to hiking, camping, snowshoeing, skiing, bicycling, trapping, and natural history. He has gone beyond that to foraging for mushrooms, birdwatching, fly tying, fishing rod building, ammo reloading, trap, skeet, and target shooting, wildlife restoration and volunteering to help promote various causes all associated with the great outdoors. Franke is currently a Patron Life Member in the NRA, and Life Member in Safari Club International, Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Society, and NY Bowhunters, Inc.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

It’s been nearly three weeks since my last blog, and I have a bunch of quick hitters to throw out there:

* Looking through the season records of local wrestlers, only two have yet to lose a match – Oxford sophomore Joe Nelson, and Greene junior Mike Beckwith. A handful of grapplers have just one setback. Those one-loss wrestlers include Kyle Stanton and Keegan Cerwinski of Greene; Frank Garcia, Tristan Rifanburg, and Kegan Levesque of Norwich; and Spencer Franklin of Sherburne-Earlville. There are other wrestlers with either unbeaten records or just one loss, but those wrestlers have less than 10 matches this season.

* Norwich’s boys’ basketball team improved to 9-2 Wednesday night beating Chenango Valley on the road. The Tornado are a perfect 4-0 as the visitor, and have played especially well in all of those games. “The kids have been up against a lot this season, and have shown themselves to be resilient,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “I think that maybe they aren’t as nervous playing on the road. (Playing on the road) bands them together and has made them tighter.”

* More from Norwich basketball: If you have been to a game this year, you’ll notice that Tom Collier often steps aside during timeouts, and instead relies on his son Brian, an assistant coach, to draw up plays and discuss strategy with the players. The Norwich coaching staff also includes Section IV Hall-of-Famer Tom Dixon, who amassed over 400 career wins as a varsity basketball coach – most of those at New Berlin. “Our coaching staff is a lot like our team,” Tom Collier said. “Everyone is working toward the same goal. One guy adds this, another guy adds this…we all have experience and expertise in different areas.”

* It’s been several years since Bainbridge-Guilford’s boys basketball team has been a factor in the Midstate Athletic Conference. With four wins in a row, B-G is putting itself in position to make the top four in the season-ending conference tournament. During the current win streak, B-G is allowing less than 40 points per game, and that includes holding Hancock to just 39 points. As a basis for comparison, Hancock scored 84 points against Unadilla Valley last week, and 66 against Greene, a 75-point average. Over the last four games, Ryan Porter is averaging 17.5 points per game, and Brooks Harmon 13.

* Some three-point shooting facts: Norwich’s boys have 59 three balls in 11 games to lead the area, but Unadilla Valley’s boys lead in three-pointers per game at 5.6 per contest. The Storm have 50 trifectas in just nine contests. On the girls’ side, Greene is the clear leader with 38 in 10 games. No other team has as many as 20 three balls this season. Greene guard Kaitlin Gorton, whose six threes Wednesday gave her 25 on the season, has eight more than the next highest team – G-MU with 17.

* Sherburne-Earlville senior Briana Vibbard has spent three-plus seasons on the varsity basketball team. Until last week, she had one career double figures scoring game. The last three she amassed career-high games of 18 and 22 points, and followed that up Thursday evening with an 11-point game against DeRuyter in about half a game’s playing time. Vibbard is a tremendous on-the-ball defender, and has created a number of scoring opportunities out of her defense. She is also finding more success with her dribble penetration. “She’s someone who still looks to pass first,” said S-E coach Karen Mulligan. “I see her in practice every day, so I’m not surprised by this.”

* It’s been nearly three months since we lost our longtime outdoors writer, Bob McNitt. He spent 34 years writing for us, and was a staple of our Thursday sports section. No one will ever quite fill Bob’s shoes, but we are pleased to have George Franke stepping in as Bob’s successor. George, like Bob, is a lifetime outdoors enthusiast, hunter, fisherman, conservationist, and lobbyist for outdoors issues. We’ll have more on George in coming weeks, and look for his column next month.

* My growth in Twitter followers is edging up with glacier-like speed. For me, the gist of this social networking site is to provide links to stories, and add some on-site updates from where I am reporting. No, I will not give the 411 on what I am eating for dinner or when I plan to brush my teeth. I am, however, receptive to any sport-related “tweeting” ideas. You can join my small cast of followers @evesunpat.

Patrick Newell

Note: The complete playbook article will appear in the Friday, Dec. 23 edition of The Evening Sun.

* Most of Norwich’s varsity sports teams are enjoying a nice streak: The girls’ basketball team has won six straight and is 6-1 overall; the boys’ basketball team, coming off a win over Owego Wednesday, is 4-1; the varsity boys swimming team is sporting a nifty 5-1 record; and the wrestling team won its seventh straight dual meet beating Susquehanna Valley Wednesday evening . Speaking of the swimmers, they are led this season by NHS graduate Kevin Diefenbacher. Diefenbacher swam for Norwich during his high school days for legendary NHS coach and teacher, George Echentile. As recently as two years ago, Diefenbacher was heading up the B-G/Afton swimming team before the school dropped its swimming programs. It’s nice to see a familiar face with longtime Norwich ties at the helm.

* More from Otselic Valley senior forward, Gideon Schena: We noted the recent hot streak of Schena in our previous entry in which he was averaging 18 points and nearly 16 rebounds over his previous four games. Earlier this week against George Junior Republic, Schena one-upped those numbers, and nearly had a triple-double. Schena scored 26 points, pulled down 18 rebounds, and he pocketed nine steals. Schena’s five-game stretch over the past three weeks has produced the best combined scoring and rebounding numbers in my 16 years of covering local basketball.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

Note: The complete playbook appears in today’s Evening Sun

* Norwich coach Tom Collier had nothing but kind words for Johnson City and its current head coach, Colin Lasher. Lasher stepped in this season for Mark Woitach, who suffered a stroke this past summer, and is recovering from the effects of that near tragedy. Woitach has coached in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference for more than two decades, and he guided the Wildcats to three wins in four meetings last season against Norwich. Collier was not only impressed with Johnson City’s overall talent saying that the Wildcats possess the most athletic team in the division, but with the way Lasher is honoring Woitach. “He is the ultimate class act,” Collier said. “He lists himself only as the ‘interim coach,’ and is saving the job for coach Woitach if ever returns to coaching again. When we were at the STAC coaches meeting, Colin made sure to tell everyone that he was just the interim coach. I really respected that.”

* B-G/Afton wrestling coach, Brandon MacNaught, has never shied away from tough competition. He typically enters his team in the toughest possible tournaments all season long, and the wins and losses do not matter as much as developing his wrestlers for the postseason. At Burnt Hills last weekend, among the teams the Bears faced were Longwood, a Section XI power from Suffolk County that includes potential state title contenders Malik Rasheed and Corey Rasheed. Also on the slate was Northern Adirondack of Section VII, and Beekmantown from the Plattsburgh area. The Bears won two out of five matches, and also had the opportunity to see some great wrestling squads from all over the state. “This was very good for us,” MacNaught said. “It was not a bad performance, but definitely something to build upon. We just have to be a team, stick together, and the coaching staff believes we can be successful.”

Patrick Newell

– After nine days to stew on its first loss of the season, Norwich (2-1) entertains Johnson City Friday night at Jack Jones Gymnasium. The Wildcats beat Norwich three out of four times last season, and were more impressive with each ensuing victory. The Wildcats show 6-foot-6 senior Ryan Clark, lanky forward Grant Vicks, and sharp-shooting guard, Cody Arvanitakis as holdovers from last year’s club. “Clark can score inside and out, and he had over 20 against us two years ago,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “He shoots the ball well for a 6-foot-6 guy.” Vicks scored 14 in JC’s sectional playoff win over Norwich, and has a nice inside-outside game, Collier said. Arvanitakis, while not the focus of last year’s team, was good in transition, and hit some key buckets. He is now one of the club’s prime scoring threats. Add to the mix a pretty good group of JV newcomers, and Norwich has its hands full with the Wildcats. “Once again, we are undersized in this one,” Collier said. “I have scouted all of the teams in our division, and any team can beat anyone on any given night. We look for all of our division games to be close, and hopefully having the home court advantage in this one will give us the edge. It should be another nail-biter.”

– The past two years, UV’s boys’ basketball team has not performed close to the level that brought it back-to-back MAC titles in the late part of the previous decade. The past two years, I have only witnessed one UV game, and that was Tuesday night against Walton. Let’s be frank: The Storm were a less-than-exceptional team the past two years, but early-season results have led me to believe that fortunes over at UV are changing. Tuesday was also a chance to take a look at junior guard Justin Hofer, our area’s second leading scorer last season and a second team all-Evening Sun selection. Hofer did not disappoint this observer in any way. In fact, his 36-point night was the best scoring performance I have personally witnessed in over a decade. Jon Foulds scored 35 for Norwich last season in a blowout win over Greene. Hofer’s points – every last one – were needed. In the first half, Hofer scored 23 points, 21 of those coming on 7-for-9 shooting behind the three-point arc. In the second half, he found the basket with his ability to penetrate and finish at the rim. A tremendous leaper, Hofer had several easy lay-ins for deuces, and his steal and layup with eight seconds left in regulation sealed UV’s first win over Walton in several seasons.

– Speaking of UV basketball, the girls’ team has a modest two-game winning streak after beating Walton Wednesday evening. A two-game winning streak doesn’t seem like much, but it has been quite a while since the Storm actually won back-to-back games. Head coach Brandi Backus said as much in her phone interview Wednesday, so I back-tracked through my statistics the past few years to locate the last two-game winning streak for UV. It occurred at the end of the 2007-2008 season when UV wound up with a 10-11 record. This year’s Storm group has a nice mix of offensive talent with three players – Amanda Off, Jordan Anderson, and Taylor Davis – that I expect to average 10 or more points per game. With that type of scoring, UV should be in position to win a lot of ballgames.

– For the first time in my tenure, The Evening Sun and The Stadium will sponsor a College Bowl Game Football Contest. Sports contests are pretty popular around here with the Evening Sun Football Contest in the fall, the Super Bowl Contest during the winter, and our March Madness Contest in the spring. Now we are adding one more contest to the list, and I hope it’s a keeper. It’s an opportunity to win $100, so why not give it a shot?

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

One has to envision continued success for Norwich basketball – the boys and girls – for at least the next two to three years if not well beyond that. While Norwich’s varsity team was sewing up its third straight Pennysaver girls title this past Saturday night, the junior varsity improved to 4-0 on the season. All four wins have come by double digits, and the JV club does not have a sophomore on its roster. In fact, two eighth-graders start, and two seventh-graders see plenty of minutes as well. As for the varsity team, it starts one sophomore, and has two other sophomores in the playing rotation. Over on the boys’ side, head coach Tom Collier kept three sophomores on his varsity club, and all three are in the prime playing rotation. Meanwhile, the boys’ JV team, coached by Phil Curley, counts two freshmen among its top three scorers. Just like the girls, the Tornado’s junior club is unbeaten and has four straight victories by double-digit points.

Unless you have missed your lunch or dinner, making a visit to the concession stand before the game or halftime is an impulse purchase. It’s akin to that must-have item while waiting in the grocery store line. Ever had a sudden need for Carmex? Hey, It’s winter, the season of dry lips. Anyway, my point is that we all have succumbed to that urgent need to purchase something we really don’t need. Now that we’re in my busiest season of games, I consequently attend more games than the fall and spring seasons. I also make far more trips to the concession line to feed my face with Skittles and Tootsie Pops. My itinerary has me in every corner of Chenango County, but my most frequent stop is at Norwich High School. Of the 15 to 20 varsity basketball games played at Norwich each year, I may miss one or two games, and most of the time, I make my concession purchases before the start of the varsity game. After dispensing with some loose change and a couple of dollar bills this season, I have decided I prefer the girls’ stand. Why would I prefer one over the other when each concession stand offers nearly the exact same items? Lower prices. Yes, the profits of the concession stand benefit the basketball program. And yes, I understand there must be some sort of mark-up on the actual price. Still, I am a consumer, and who wouldn’t want the same item for less money? Too, I am bit perplexed by the three-for-a-dollar Tootsie Pop price at the boys’ concession station. I don’t know about you, but I do not purchase my lollipops in bulk – unless my kids are in tow. One or two will suffice, so when I bought “just” one the other night, I chuckled to myself when the volunteer accepting my money said, “33 cents.” I dug through my pockets searching for extra pennies to get the right change. Fortunately, I was the only one in line, and expediency in completing the transaction was not a problem. I plopped my quarter, nickel, and three pennies down on the counter, and headed to my seat. In this case, the transaction time was fairly quick. I do consider it my rite of passage at a store to make the correct change for any type of purchase. I almost always have multiple pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in my pocket. Still, not everyone carries a weighty jingle in their jeans due to excessive change hording. Most people head to the concession stand – especially kids – with their dollar bills and perhaps a quarter or two. Get in, get out, that is the objective in any concession stand purchase. I do get satisfaction making the right change, but I take umbrage when finding the correct change cuts into my Skittles consumption time.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

From time to time this season, we’ll have the opportunity to preview some basketball games. Norwich first-year head coach, Tom Collier, is well known among the local coaching brethren for his detailed scouting reports. He shared some of his thoughts on Wednesday’s opponent, Susquehanna Valley. “You can call this ‘David versus Goliath,” Collier said. The Sabers have four players at least 6-foot-6, and that includes three-year starting center, Trenton Benton at 6-foot-6, and 6-foot-7 skywalker Brendan Normile. Also on the SV roster are Nick Coddington, who is 6-foot-8, and Aaron Cornish, a 6-foot-7 center. Norwich, meanwhile, lists its tallest starter, Dennis Oralls, at 6-foot-3. “They have Colin Manchester, who is one of the top three-point shooting guards in the league,” Collier said. “Benton is deadly around the basket, and Normile is one of most agile big man around who can leap out of the gym. All three are college-bound recruits. The combination of outside shooting and size makes Susquehanna Valley the odds-on favorite to win the Central Division (our division) in STAC.” One advantage the Tornado may have is the two games it played last weekend, while Wednesday’s game at Norwich will be the Sabers’ season-opener.

The 49th Clyde Cole team title was easily won by Pennsylvania prep school, Wyoming Seminary last weekend in Oxford. The Blue Raiders brought 10 wrestlers last year, and claimed the team title racking up 280.5 point to outdistance runner-up Queensbury by 75 1/2 points. This year, with a full lineup in tow, WS piled up eight individual titles and 366 team points. Check out this statistic: If you added together the point totals of second-place Queensbury and third-place Greene, “Sem” would still maintain a 13-point advantage. Sem is off to the prestigious Ironman tournament this weekend, and later on, the Beast of the East.

I am not a fan of the Schwan basketball tournament schedule, hosted by Norwich. This coming weekend is the annual Norwich Pennysaver girls’ basketball tournament, and the girls’ schedule mimics that of the boys. Until the last three years or so, Norwich’s annual boys tip-off basketball tournament had varsity games scheduled at 6 and 7:45 p.m. Running concurrently were the JV games at the Norwich Middle School gym. Games were scheduled so that the JV time was opposite the respective boys’ varsity team. It allowed fans of their school to move from one gym to the next upon completion of the first game. The new and “not improved” version of the tournament invokes the quadruple-header-at-one-gym schedule. Four straight games are played with the capper beginning in the 9 p.m. range (and last year it was closer to 9:15 p.m.). Back-track about one hour and 45 minutes for each game to the opener – around 4 p.m. Remember, this schedule follows a school day in which kids are up early in the morning and taking classes all day. I ask, how many JV games on school days start at 4 p.m.? None. How many varsity games start at 9 p.m. or later? None, unless the JV prelim has a wild four- or five-overtime finish. Those aren’t even my strongest arguments against the schedule. Visiting schools in the JV games are needlessly delayed an hour and a half to two hours while they wait for their varsity team to play. Also, based on my observations the past two years – at the boys’ and girls’ tournaments – basketball games that start at 9 p.m. or later do not draw as many fans as games that start in the 7:45 p.m. range. For some people, a basketball game starting after 9 p.m. is just too late! A Friday night basketball game at Norwich High School used to be a can’t-miss event for sports fans. Not only was this the season opener for a solid Norwich team, but the Tornado were playing longtime local rival, Oxford, who brought a fan base of its own. With the stage set for a capacity crowd ready the rock the building’s pillars, seats were readily available in every section aside from the Norwich student section. Something seems amiss to me. Before the Norwich gymnasium was remodeled to bring it up to date with building safety codes, the Norwich gym’s seating capacity was in the neighborhood of 1,000. Now, a full house at Norwich is about one-third less the previous maximum occupancy, and Norwich still cannot fill the stands. For Saturday’s consolation and championship games, I would make just one adjustment: Flip the order so that the JV championship game precedes the varsity consolation game. Saturday, Greene’s varsity team played Oxford in the varsity consolation game. That contest served as a warmup for the Greene JV team’s title game against Norwich. It just doesn’t sit right with me when a JV team is higher on the marquee than its varsity squad. Isn’t it the aspiration of a junior varsity player to ascend to varsity? I ask that the Norwich school consider a schedule change for next year. Friday’s original schedule allowed for a seamless, time-efficient transition from a respective school’s junior varsity to varsity game. For Saturdays, I consider it a lack of respect for a varsity program – and the varsity players and coaches – by having it play second fiddle to the junior varsity. A varsity sports team, regardless of the sport, is that sport’s preeminent team. It is the best combination of players to represent a school in interscholastic sports at the highest level of competitive varsity sports. I think some people have lost sight of that.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat