Basketball Teams Pull Off Playoff Upsets

The 18th seeded Harrison boys basketball team kept its season alive Wednesday with a 50-48 upset win over higher-seeded Walter Panas High School Wednesday in a Section I tournament outbracket game.

The Huskies came out of the gate firing, jumping out to a 17-4 lead thanks to a 15-0 run in the first quarter. Sophomore Coby Leftkowitz led Harrison with 19 points and senior Nick Pipitone added nine more in what became a defensive battle in the second half.

Harrison's Brian Lauro made a key play in the final seconds, grabbing a rebound from a missed foul shot and killing enough time to prevent Panas from setting up for a good look at the basket durng its final possession. Panas was able to toss up a desparation heave at the buzzer, but the shot wasn't close.

Zach Preuss led all scorers with 22 points in the loss and teammate Vaughn Dweck added 12 for the Panthers.

Harrison will take on third-seeded Eastchester in the tournament's first round Friday night at 4:30 p.m.

Yesterday’s Other Results:

Girls Basketball

Game: (19) Harrison at (14) Saunders

Score: Harrison Won 54-50

Highlights: Harrison senior Shawn Caparelli led Harrison with 20 points and seven blocks, as the Huskies upset Saunders on the road in an outbracket playoff game Wednesday night.

Kyle Lefowitz added 17 for Harrison, which overcame an early deficit and came back for the playoff victory.

Jessica Smith led Saunders with 16 in the loss, Amanda Smith scored 14.

Harrison will head to third-seeded Ardsley Friday at 5 p.m.

Boys Winter Track and Field

Game: Section 1 Class B Championships

Score: Full Results

Highlights: Pearl River came in first with 101 points and Rye finished second with 80.

Ben Konigsberg led fourth place Harrison with a win the 55-meter dash and a third place finish in the 300-meter.

Girls Winter Track and Field

 Game: Section 1 Class B Championships

Score: Full Results

Highlights: Pearl River won the championship and Nanuet and Harrison finished a distant second and third place in the contest.T he Husky relay team of Olivia Caparelli, Hannah Hochman, Ashley DelliPaoli and Rula Samad finished in first place in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:09.70.

Samadalso finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 34-10.5 and fourth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9:41.

Boys Swimming and Diving

Game: Section 1 Championship Finals

Score: Full Results

Highlights: Senior James Nagle finished second in the 50-yard freestlye with a time of 22.68 and Matthew Carducci came in second in the 100-yard butterfly and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke.

College Sports Notebook:

Tear it up

New York University’s Tear It Up! schedule continues Friday with a basketball doubleheader against University Athletic Association (UAA) foe University of Chicago.

The Tear It Up! is also the Violets’ Student Athlete Advisory Committee’s (SAAC) fifth annual Pink Zone event. SAAC will be raising money and awareness for breast cancer research, with all of the proceeds going to the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation. Last year, SAAC raised more than $2,500 through its Pink Zone event. The Tear It Up! and Pink Zone events start at 5:45 p.m. at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center at 181 Mercer Street.

The women’s basketball contest against the second-ranked Maroons tips off at 6 p.m., while the men’s squads tip off at 8 o’clock. The Violet women (10-12, 2-9) will be looking to end Chicago’s (22-0, 11-0) 40-game regular-season winning streak, the longest current in Division III. The NYU men (18-4,7-4) will be trying to stay in the hunt for the UAA crown. Max Wein of Purchase, a junior forward, is averaged 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds pergame for NYU, to go along with 45 assists and 31 steals. All NYU students in attendance will receive food and a T-shirt with a $5 donation to Miles of Hope.

Chargers bow in Mulligan Memorial

The Dominican College men's basketball team had a five-game winning streak snapped by the visiting Rams of Philadelphia University, 51-49, in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) play on Coach Baxter Court at the Hennessy Center in Orangeburg.

During halftime, Dominican College honored the memory of Bobby Mulligan and awarded the 25th annual Bobby Mulligan Memorial Scholarship to junior Preston Smith of Mays Landing, NJ. Senior Mike Calzonetti of Gloucester, NJ, gave Dominican a 24-21 lead at halftime, but despite three Chargers in double figures—led by Leon Porter of Laurel, MD, with 15 points—the Rams prevailed when a shot at the buzzer fell short for the host. Center Cory Quimby of Otisville scored 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season.

Dominican, which stands 14-8 overall and 7-7 in the CACC, visits Caldwell (NJ) Collegetonight at 8 p.m., and then hosts Holy Family University on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Weekly Sports Poll:

Earlier in the month the Baseball Hall of Fame started a drug education program for students and young adults. “Be A Superior Example” or “BASE” will work with the Taylor Hooton Foundation and the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society in an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle for athletes that is completely free of performance enhancing drugs.

"It is through the education programs that we are able to fulfill our mission of providing context to the issues that have faced our game, as a reflection of American history, throughout its history," Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson told the Associated Press.

In the upcoming months Idelson and the Hall of Fame are hoping to conduct a nationwide survey, hold a summit in Cooperstown and begin a national registry for people pledging to live a PED free lifestyle.

Since 1936 voting for the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, NY, has been an integral part in the Major League Baseball season. This year controversial figures like Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens will be appearing on the ballot for the first time. Should this trio of notorious superstars be allowed into baseball’s hallowed halls? Or should they be left out of Cooperstown like so many others?