New York State boys basketball championships preview

The New York State Sportswriters Association put together a nice preview for all of the games in this weekend's New York State boys high school basketball championships at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Follow this link to read on.

The NYSSWA favors Avon of Section V in its prediction, but remember, this is the same organization that referred to the Wildcats as hailing from "Maple Hills" for the first five or six weeks of the state rankings.

Tickets cost $10 per session and are available at the Civic Center box office.

Maple Hill's Trent Tibbitts, (21) has led the Wildcats to a regional title in their first ever appearnace in the regional round. The Wildcats return to Glens Falls, where they won their first Section II title since 1958, for a NYS semifinal against Onondaga on Friday night. (J.S. Carras - The Record).

I'll have a separate post all about the Maple Hill-Onondaga matchup very soon as well as a breakdown of the Hoosic Valley-Stony Brook girls game coming up Saturday afternoon at Hudson Valley Community College.

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Other than Schenectady’s New York State Class A titles in 1998 and 2001 and Bishop Maginn’s Class AA title a season ago, the NYS championship game has been a graveyard for Section II small school teams for nearly two decades.
The 1991 Watervliet team was the last Section II small school to win a state championship, a Class C title.

Here is the list of Section II small school teams that finished as NYS runners-up in the meantime:
Broadalbin-Perth (1993 C)
Amsterdam (1995 B)
Mechanicville (1996 C)
Watervliet (1998 C)
For t Ann (1999 D)
Mechanicville (2001 C)
Glens Falls (2003 B)
Fort Edward (2005 D)
Stillwater (2006 C)
Mechanicville (2008 C)

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Boys basketball

2008-09 NYSSWA rankings (through March 15)

Rank	Class AA	Record	Prev
=====	====================	=====	=====
1.	Niagara Falls-6	23-0	1.
2.	Bronx JFK-PSAL	26-2	3.
3.	Rice-CHSAA	23-3	5.
4.	Abraham Lincoln-PSAL	20-10	6.
5.	Newburgh Free Academy-9	18-4	8.
6.	Mount Vernon-1	20-4	4.
7.	Christ The King-CHSAA	25-4	7.
8.	Uniondale-8	20-2	10.
9.	Poughkeepsie-1	20-3	11.
10.	Greece Athena-5	20-5	21.
11.	Williamsville North-6	21-2	13.
12.	Gates Chili-5	19-5	9.
13.	Rush-Henrietta-5	20-3	12.
14.	Syracuse CBA-3	21-4	18.
15.	New Rochelle-1	16-6	14.
16.	Albany CBA-2	21-4	17.
17.	Albany Academy-2	22-2	2.
18.	Bishop Maginn-2	19-4	16.
19.	Thomas Jefferson-PSAL	21-11	19.
20,	Shenendehowa-2	21-2	20,
21.	North Rockland-1	20-3	22.
22.	McKee/Staten Island Tech-PSAL	25-6	23.
23.	Jamestown-6	17-5	24.
24.	Boys & Girls-PSAL	21-9	15.
25.	Syracuse Henninger-3	18-5	NR
	Class A	Record
=====	====================	=====	=====
1.	Jamesville-DeWitt-3	24-1	1.
2.	Peekskill-1	23-1	2.
3.	Iona Prep-CHSAA	27-1	3.
4.	Lutheran-AIS	17-8	5.
5.	East Hampton-11	23-2	8.
6.	Batavia-5	21-3	13.
7.	St. John the Baptist-CHSAA	25-3	4.
8.	Scotia-Glenville-2	21-3	6.
9.	Gloversville-2	20-3	7.
10.	Westinghouse-PSAL	18-4	NR
11.	Cornwall-9	19-4	11.
12.	Bedford Academy-PSAL	25-4	9.
13.	Buffalo McKinley-6	21-5	10.
14.	Norwich-4	20-4	12.
15.	Roslyn-8	16-7	14.
16.	Lakeland-1	17-5	15.
17.	Buffalo Nichols-CHSAA	24-3	16.
18.	Sweet Home-6	20-2	17.
19.	Bishop Ford-CHSAA	21-6	18.
20.	Rockville Centre South Side-8	18-4	19.
21.	Westbury-8	18-3	20,
22.	Depew-6	19-5	21.
23.	Pittsford Sutherland-5	18-6	22.
24.	Newark-5	20-3	23.
25-T	Mount St. Michael-CHSAA	19-5	24.
25-T	Utica Notre Dame-3	20-7	25.
	Class B	Record
=====	====================	=====	=====
1.	Collegiate-AIS	25-4	1.
2.	Bishop Kearney-5	21-3	2.
3.	Binghamton Seton-4	21-3	4.
4.	Malverne-8	12-10	5.
5.	Townsend Harris-PSAL	21-2	9.
6.	Hannibal-3	21-4	3.
7.	Burke Catholic-9	18-7	18.
8.	Olean-6	19-5	8.
9.	Westhill-3	20-4	7.
10.	Hackley School-AIS	20-7	10.
11.	Lawrence-Woodmere-AIS	23-3	12.
12.	Lincoln Hall-1	18-7	13.
13.	Akron-6	20-4	11.
14.	Mount Markham-3	21-2	14.
15.	Wellsville-5	19-4	15.
16..	Broadalbin-Perth-2	18-7	17.
17.	Ogdensburg Free-10	19-7	19.
18.	Albertus Magnus-1	18-4	16.
19.	Lancaster St. Mary's-CHSAA	17-10	NR
20-T	Northeastern Clinton-7	22-1	6.
20-T	Marcellus-3	19-4	20-T
	Class C	Record
=====	====================	=====	=====
1.	Avon-5	24-1	1.
2.	Maple Hill-2	24-1	3.
3.	Onondaga-3	17-9	9.
4.	Oyster Bay-8	13-8	NR
5.	Valhalla-1	20-5	4.
6.	Oxford-4	20-4	5.
7.	Randolph-6	21-3	2.
8.	Westfield-6	18-5	7.
9.	Frewsburg-6	18-5	8.
10.	Letchworth-5	18-5	10.
11.	Blind Brook-1	18-4	11.
12.	LaFayette-3	17-7	6.
13.	Groton-4	17-4	12.
14.	Lake George-2	19-4	14.
15-T	Port Jefferson-11	15-8	13.
15-T	Harley Allendale-Columbia-5	17-8	15.
	Class D	Record
=====	====================	=====	=====
1.	Maple Grove-6	21-3	1.
2.	Greenport-11	21-3	2.
3.	South Kortright-4	23-0	4.
4.	C.G. Finney-5	24-1	3.
5.	Chateaugay-10	22-4	7.
6.	Westport-7	19-2	5.
7.	Coleman Catholic-9	16-7	6.
8.	Prattsburgh-5	18-5	8.
9.	New York Mills-3	17-7	9.
10.	Genesee Valley-5	16-10	10.
11.	Seward-9	18-4	11.
12.	Sharon Springs-2	16-8	12.
13.	Hunter-Tannersville-4	18-6	13.
14.	Laurens-4	19-4	14.
15.	Sackets Harbor-3	14-9	15.