College Sports Notebook

 

Sayre blooms as rookie at Saint Rose

Freshman forward Tyler Sayre of Garnerville has said that his dad, Jim, an assistant basketball coach under Joe Clinton of Pearl River at Dominican College, continues to make an impact in his life.

Certainly, Jim the Elder — now in his sixth season with the Chargers following a long and successful run as the head coach at Suffern HS –obviously has had a hand in his son’s success on the court, with more on the way.

Sayre the Younger, who led Albertus Magnus HS to two Section 1 championships and was an all-state selection in his senior year, recently was named Northeast-10 Conference rookie of the week for his stellar play at The College of Saint Rose in Albany.

Young Sayre, who holds the Falcons’ career scoring record with 1,231 points, poured in a team-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor and pulled down six rebounds as the Golden Knights of St. Rose defeated New Haven, 83-69, in their season opener. The 6-foot-5 forward also had two assists and a steal.

Sayre followed that up with an 11-point, four-rebound, two-assist effort as the Golden Knights nipped NE-10 and Upstate Challenge rival Le Moyne, 68-66, in Syracuse on a shot at the buzzer by senior guard Andre Pope of White Plains.

The Golden Knights (4-0, 2-0 NE-10) travel across the river to Pleasantville in Westchester County to meet once-beaten Pace University on Dec. 1 at 3:30 p.m. St. Rose returns home on Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. to welcome unbeaten Assumption College of Worcester, Mass.

 

ANOTHER VALIANT PERFORMANCE – Senior co-captains Taylor Wilson of Pearl River and Jennifer McSharar of Garnerville helped lead the Manhattanville College women’s basketball team to another win against cross-town rival Purchase College, 63-35. The Valiants, fresh off a second-place showing at the UMass Tip-Off Classic in Boston, beat the Panthers for the 13th time in as many tries as Alyson Calazzo of Brooklyn scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to share game-high honors off the boards with McSharar, a one-time standout at North Rockland HS. Wilson, a guard, had a game-high seven steals to go along with 13 points and four rebounds. McSharar, a forward, added six points and the 11 rebounds lifted total to 45 on the season, second-best on the team.  Manhattanville, under the leadership of Coach Kate Vlahakis, hosts Misericordia University of Dallas, Pa., at Kennedy Gym in Purchase on Dec. 1 at 1 p.m., and then entertains NYU on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. The Panthers of Purchase, with Jessica Bullock of Thiells and Zakiya Jordan of Spring Valley playing both the guard and forward positions, visit The Sage College in Troy on Dec. 1 at 1 p.m., and then return home on Dec. 3 to welcome The College of Staten Island at 6 p.m.

POWERHOUSE WESLEY ROLLS ON: Once-beaten, nationally ranked Wesley College scored two defensive touchdowns in the game’s first three minutes and rolled pass SUNY Cortland, 56-6, at Dover, Del., in the NCAA Division III tournament. Defensive end Gabe Ostrow of Nanuet, a junior, had five tackles, including three solo, in the defeat. Ostrow had 44 sacks this season to lead the Red Dragons’ defensive effort. Wesley (10-1, sixth ranked) will face nationally second-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) in the national quarterfinals on Dec. 1. Cortland completes the season with a 9-2 mark. Wesley was coming off a 73-14 win over Mount Ida College, whose offense was anchored all season by senior center Matt Bonomolo of Pearl River.

 

Mortarboard musings

·      TOY DRIVE FOR SUPERSTORM VICTIMS: Superstorm Sandy, which devastated many areas in the Northeast, including the Piermont and Stony Point areas, among others in the county, has generated many relief efforts by concerned citizens and organizations that once again are coming through in the clutch. The Piermont PAL, under the direction of Police Chief Michael O’Shea and court clerk Joan Will, is holding its annual toy drive on Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Piermont Community Center (204 Hudson Terrace). A request for unwrapped toys remains the custom, but this year, gift cards to local stores (i.e.: ShopRite, Target, Home Depot, etc.) is also being sought. All items, along with holiday food baskets, will be distributed by Dec. 22 to the families that need assistance by the PAL’s team of elves. Will thanks everyone for their generosity, and asks that anyone who is unable to make the date but still wish to donate should contact her at [email protected].

·      Sophomore Iyoha Agho of New City, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Regional HS in Montvale, N.J., is a reserve guard on the men’s basketball team at New York University. The Violets (3-0) are home on Dec. 3 against New Jersey City University and again on Dec. 5 against The College at Old Westbury. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.

·      The men’s basketball team at Purchase College, which includes junior reserve guard Michael Braithwaite, a former two-sport star at Spring Valley HS, travels to the Bronx on Dec. 1 to meet SUNY Maritime at 2 p.m., and stays on the road for a game at Farmingdale State College on Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. Braithwaite, who was an all-Section 1 selection in basketball at Spring Valley, played at Rockland Community College before attending Purchase.

·      Maeve Parahaus of Albertus Magnus HS has signed a national letter of intent to play women’s basketball at Manhattan College.

·      Senior Tom Natoli of Suffern, who played junior hockey with the Philadelphia Little Flyers, is a reserve goalie on the men’s ice hockey team at Becker College in Worcester, Mass. The Hawks (3-3) host Wentworth College of Boston on Dec. 1 at 7:50 p.m. Andrew Moscardelli of Pearl River, a junior who played with Hartford in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League, is a backup rear guard at Wentworth. Becker is also at home on Dec. 8 to welcome Westfield (Mass.) State College at 5:30 p.m.

·      Sophomore Paul Fields of Clarkstown split four matches at 125 pounds as SUNY Cortland competed in the New York State Collegiate Wrestling Championships at Cornell University in Ithaca. Fields, an alum of Clarkstown North HS, is expected back in action on December 8 when the Red Dragons take on RIT in Rochester.

·      Pearl River HS alum Andrew McKeon (Class of 2009), a defensive end at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., has been named an NCAA Division III academic all-American. McKeon, a team captain and a three-year starter, led the team in sacks, and has a sterling 3.78 GPA with a dual major in Economics and Pre-Med. McKeon is a second generation Pearl River HS football player, following in the steps of his dad, Andy, who was graduated in 1974.

·      Junior forward KC Jentzen of Pearl River poured in a game-high 19 points and pulled down five rebounds as the Dominican College women’s basketball team defeated St. Thomas Aquinas College, 67-55, in a non-conference game played at Aquinas Hall in Sparkill.  Dominican (3-3) visits Holy Family University in Philadelphia on Dec. 1 at 1 p.m., and then entertains the University of the Sciences on Dec. 8, also at 1 p.m. STAC (2-3) hosts Dowling on Dec. 1 at 1 p.m., and then welcomes Lincoln (Pa.) on Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m.

·      The Dominican College men’s basketball team, which lifted its record to 4-2 following a 75-62 victory over the visiting Firebirds from the University of the District of Columbia, visits Holy Family University in Philadelphia on Dec. 1 at 3 p.m., and then hosts Bloomfield (N.J.) College on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. Freshman guard Joe Clinton of Pearl River has played in five games for the Chargers, averaging three points per game. UDC, which fell to 1-5 overall, is coached by former Iona College standouts Jeff Ruland, who went on to enjoy an illustrious pro career, and assistant Tony Iati.

·      Coming off three tough losses in Puerto Rico to UPR-Bayamon, the men’s basketball team at St. Thomas Aquinas College visits Takoma Park, Md., today (Nov. 29) to meet Washington Adventist before playing both their home and East Coast Conference opener just two days later, with a 3 p.m. start against Dowling College on Dec. 1 at Aquinas Hall in Sparkill.

·      Rockland Community College will host a basketball doubleheader on Dec. 4 when the men’s and women’s team square off against their counterparts from Sullivan CC. The women’s team, led in point    production by Erika Richards of Orangeburg (17 per game), Melissa Loughnane of Pearl River (14 ppg) and Nikki Saponaro of Nanuet (11 ppg), open the twinbill at the Hawks’ gym in Suffern at 5:30 p.m. The men play at 7:30 p.m., featuring Tommie Starkes, who is pouring in 23 points a game, and Jayson Quijada, who has a 20-point norm.

 

This & That

·      Matty McMorrow of Pearl River broke into the scoring column as the New York Apple Core upended the Connecticut Oilers, 5-4, in Eastern Junior A Hockey League action. John Redgate of Suffern also plays for the Apple Core, who will meet the Rochester Junior Stars for a two-game series in Brewster on December 1-2.

·      Manager Scott Kohn directed the Suffern Hawks 14U travel baseball team to victory at the Fall Cerbo Baseball Classic, beating Verom of Morris County, N.J., 6-3, in the title game. Leading the Hawks throughout were Danny Lynch, Dylan McCavitt, Ryan Levin, Dan Blake, Matt Bruton, Brad Perich, Johnny Juri, Nick Tomiello, Kevin Horowitz, Jeremy Solomon, Kryzstoff Salewski, and Justin Weisberg.

·      Early registration is open until December 7 for the Ramapo ASA Girls Softball spring season, for girls currently in kindergarten through ninth grade. Each division in ASA softball plays about 15 to 20 games from April though mid-June, with a large portion of games played at Camp Scuffy on Cherry Lane in Tallman. Visit www.ramapoasa.org, or email [email protected].

·      Rockland County American Legion Baseball for all county high school players is holding sign-ups for its 14U, 16U and 19U teams. Contact Rockland/[email protected].

·      Rockland Boulders team president Ken Lehner announced that the Can-Am League team, based at Provident Bank Park in Pomona, would not be extending an offer to Dave LaPoint to return as manager in the 2013 season. LaPoint, a former big-league hurler for several clubs, including the Yankees, served as manager in the Boulders’ first two seasons.