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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • MARCH 25, 2010 • A19
HillSPORTS
BOYS BASKETBALL>> ALBANY 71, HILLS WEST 53
Colts Shoot For State Championships Team beats Rochester East, then falls short against Christian Brothers Academy in finals Photo by Felice Kristall
By Sara-Megan Walsh swalsh@longislandernews.com
After a nail-biting win at the buzzer in the semifinals, the Colts came up short in their attempt to win their school’s first basketball state championship. The Half Hollow Hills West boys basketball team traveled upstate to beat Rochester East High School, 59-57, in the Class AA quarterfinals to be outshot by the Christian Brothers Academy of Albany, 71-53, in the finals. The Colts were the No. 1 seed as they traveled up to Glen Falls to play in the quarterfinal rounds on Saturday. Hills West got off to a slow start as Rochester East took an early 10-5 lead in the first quarter. The second period, the Colts picked up their game as they began to fight, scoring 16 points to finish the first half down by two. Senior Tobias Harris led the Colts scoring 24 points over the course of the game, 6 from the foul line. Hills West came out with a vengeance outracing Rochester East on the hardwood in the third quarter, scoring 22 points to 16, to come from behind to take the lead. Junior Tyler Harris scored 15 points during the game, hot from outside with three 3pointers and two free throws. Many of
Hills East junior Tyler Harris contemplates his next play during the team’s win over Uniondale for the Long Island Class AA Championship. The team went all the way to the state finals. the Colts put figures on the board as Tavon Sledge scored 7 points, Emile Blackman scored 6, Aaron McCree scored 4 and Chris Cox nailed a 3-
pointer. The fourth quarter wound down in a nail biter as Rochester East wouldn’t go down without a fight. The upstate team
outscored the Colts, 18-16, but a last-second basket thrown at the buzzer catapulted Hills West into the finals with a shot of adrenaline, winning 59-57. The Colts faced the Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) of Albany in the State Class AA finals. Their goal of bringing home a championship title was not to be realized. Hills West found themselves evenly matched as the game got underway in the low-scoring first quarter, tied at 7. It took a while for CBA to find a way to infiltrate their tight defense, as the Albany team surged ahead by 8 points to take a 27-19 lead at the half. The Colts remained hopeful as Sledge found a hot streak, his quick breaks and high-jumping action leading to a seasonhigh 33 points for Hills West. Blackman and Tobias Harris scored 8 each. The Albany team still found a way in, outscoring their opponents 18-10 as the Colts ran into foul trouble. Over the course of the game, CBA managed to wrack up 27 points in free throws, compared to Hills West’s 12. The 15-point margin is almost equivalent to CBA’s margin of victory, winning 71-53. Overall, the Colts ended the season 242 claiming the Suffolk County Class AA title, Suffolk overall title and Long Island Class AA Championship title.
RUNNING
‘Hometown’ Park Hosts 50K Run Runners from across the country took top honors the Caumett 50K in Huntington this month. After Legislator Jon Cooper (D Huntington) welcomed runners to his “hometown” park and sounded the horn sending the 50K runners on their way. Perennial Caumsett 50K superstar Michael Wardian of Arlington, Va. did it again during the March 7 run, taking his third consecutive victory. Wardian covered the 10-loop, 31.07-mile course in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 50 seconds, a scant 40 seconds short of the race record that he set in 2008, but a solid 8 minutes ahead of runner-up Malcolm Campbell of Marietta, Ga. Scott Jaime of Highlands Ranch, Colo. finished third, and top Master Dan Verrington of Bradford, Mass. crossed the finish line in front of the Winter Cottage at Caumsett in fourth place overall. Yolanda Flamino of Hancock, N.H., the women’s winner of the Kings Park 15K several years ago, emerged as the women’s champion in the 50K, with a time of 3:34:26. That brought her to the finish line comfortably in front of runner-up and first-place female Master Annette Bednosky of Jefferson, N.C. Jill Perry of Manilus, N.Y., who was the second-place finisher in the women’s division in 2009, scored third this year.
The race served as the 2010 50Kilometer Championship for USA Track & Field, and both Wardian and Flamino qualified for a paid trip to the International Association of Ultrarunners World Trophy 50K Run in Galway, Ireland this fall. Marty Knapp took top honors in the accompanying 25-kilometer run, with a time of 1:37:48, followed by runner-up Jeffrey Votteler only 29 seconds later. Laura Brown, running for the Gubbins Running Ahead team, took top honors among the women with a time of 1:55:33, with Charlotte Johnson finishing second and Emma Riconda, of Northport, in third. A total of 89 runners completed the 25K. In addition to Riconda, several Town of Huntington athletes did well in the Caumsett runs. In the 50K, Stephen Uresk of Greenlawn scored 15th place overall in 3:45:44; while Amanda Goddard of Fort Salonga finished in 5:44:15; Peter Breen of Huntington Station finished in 5:46:08; and Geri O’Brien of Huntington scored in 5:46:35. In the 25K, Nick D’Anna of Huntington was the first local finisher, finishing seventh overall in 1:53:53, followed by: Emma Riconda of Northport (1:58:12), Harry Broere of Northport (2:03:00), John Greene of Dix Hills (2:04:1), Ron South of Huntington (2:12:20), Ralph
John Greene of Dix Hills paces himself in the Caumsett 25K. Haebich of Melville (2:25:54), John McGovern of Huntington (2:40:02) and Joe Sarro of East Northport (3:37:57). From a weather standpoint, Caumsett finally hit a great day with bright sunshine and temperatures that reached well into the 50s by early afternoon. Many remember that last year it was bitterly cold, and the last finishers completed the course just in time to escape the snowstorm that dropped a foot of snow on Long Island later that night and into the following morning. “Rookie” race director Amy Goldstein of the Greater Long Island Running Club
Three-time winner Michael Wardian crosses the finish line of the Caumsett 50K. organized the event with the support of a senior staff that included Coordinator of Volunteers Ric Diveglio, Logistics Coordinator Fred von der Heydt and USATF-Long Island representative Carl Grossbard.
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