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Scholastic Roundup: PSAL Playoffs: Not the way it should end

March 22, 2024 Andy Furman

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If you’re waiting for the final score of the Public Schools Athletic League’s top-tier boys basketball championship games between Eagle Academy for Young Men II (Brooklyn) and Brooklyn’s South Shore High School – don’t hold your breath.

The game has been canceled, officials said. The game was scheduled for St. John’s University, last Friday.

In a statement, Schools Chancellor David Banks said that for the first time in four years, random eligibility audits were conducted.

And two sources told Scholastic Roundup, South Shore High School was using a 20-year-old player the entire season.

The audit discovered that South Shore Campus boys’ varsity — 13-1 won-loss record – had violated age eligibility rules. Brooklyn’s Thomas Jefferson Campus boys’ varsity team had violated academic eligibility rules.

Jefferson was disqualified from the 4A playoffs. The violation led to Jefferson’s semifinal game against South Shire being canceled and the quarterfinal game they won being replayed between Eagle for Young Men I (Bronx) and Stevenson. After its victory, Eagle Academy (Bronx) was disqualified from playing and South Shore then moved to the finals.

“In simple terms – adults put the long-term future of young people second for momentary high school glory on the court. These adults are not helping students. They are only helping themselves,” Banks said in the statement.

That same source said not only was one student too old to play, but an athletic director changed the grades of some players.

“We referred each case to the special commissioner of investigation, and we will not shy away from taking appropriate disciplinary action against any staff who chose to cheat in our athletic contests,” Banks said.

Top-seeded Eagle II (Brooklyn)_ advanced to the finals by defeating Brooklyn Collegiate, 55-46 (March 9th) at Queens College – that gave them a shot at repeating as PSAL champions.

South Shore, the No. 2 seed that defeated Eagle II for the title in 2022, defeated Boys and Girls High School and James Monroe Campus to reach its semifinal matchup against Eagle Academy (Bronx).

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Eagle Academy (Brooklyn) and the Vikings of South Shore met on January 6th with Eagle winning, 63-51. In that game, Jakai Sanders had 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds while Jeremiah Jacobs had 13 points and 22 rebounds.

Kevin Kearney and Asher Elson provided strong scoring threats from the perimeter; both are 6-6.

“Where are the ethics and integrity of a school’s athletic department, administration and coach?” one Brooklyn coach told Scholastic Roundup. “Is it win at all costs? This most likely wasn’t the first time that this has occurred,” he wrote.

In fact, that same coach claims that one high school has a ‘Coach’ on the bench without a teaching license.

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In the CHSAA, Nazareth Regional fell 66-51 in the ‘AA’ City Championship game to Archbishop Stepinac High School of White Plains, New York.

The game was played at Fordham’s Rose Hill gymnasium, last week.

The last city title won by the Nazareth Kingsmen was under the direction of coach Bill Burke in 1977. In the ’A’ division, Nazareth won city titles in 2013 and 2018 under Todd Jamison.

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Junior guard Halon Rawlins, a CHSAA All-League selection led the 21-7 Kingsmen – 14-2 in Brooklyn-Queens play –with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Tristan Rogers added 11 points with four rebounds. Elijah Witter, a senior guard had 10 points and five rebounds and junior forward Joseph Jennings had six rebounds and nine points.

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After seven season, Oklahoma State University will be looking for a new men’s basketball coach. Mike Boynton, the Bishop Loughlin star’s career with the Cowboys ended with a 77-62 loss to UCF in the Big 12 tournament. The Cowboys lost their final six games of the season to finish 12-20 overall and 4-14 in conference play.

In his seven seasons, Boynton guided Oklahoma State to one NCAA tournament appearance in 2021. Led by No. 1 recruit and eventual No. 1 NBA draft pick Cade Cunningham, the Cowboys went 21-9 and earned a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the second round to Oregon State.

That was the lone season Oklahoma State finished .500 or better in the Big 12 under Boynton. The Cowboys won 20 games in 2022-23 but were 8-10 in conference play.

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Boynton led Bishop Loughlin to the city semifinals and earned First Team All-New York City honors by averaging 15 points, four rebounds and 11 assists per game.

While a player for the University of South Carolina – 2000-2004 — Boynton made 129 three-pointers in 125 career games, finishing in the top 10 in three-pointers made and fourth in career games played with the Gamecocks. Boynton and the Gamecocks made the 2004 NCAA tournament.

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The St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn softball team concluded their participation at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic with wins over Alfred State College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 8-2 and 2-1, last week. Splitting their games in Florida, the Bears begin the season with a 3-3 record before the start of Skyline Conference play.

The St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn baseball team made their return to the win column earning a 13-9 triumph over Penn State University – Berks, last week. Senior catcher Nick Tapio went four-for-six with a pair of doubles and five RBI.

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Roy Kortmann began his career at LIU in 1994 – and has turned the softball program into a powerhouse.

The Sharks’ 4-0 win over Stonehill,. Saturday marked win No. 800 for the coach.

During his tenure, the LIU softball team has won 11 NEC championships resulting in in trips to the NCAA tournament. Last season the Sharks went to the Alabama regional and competed against the Crimson Tide and Central Arkansas. In 2010, LIU took down two ranked teams – No. 16 Ohio State and No. 21 Massachusetts – in the NCAA tournament. In 2009, LIU defeated their first-ever ranked team with an 11-6 win over No. 12 Northwestern. Long Island also knocked off eventual NCAA Super Regional participant Cal State State Fullerton in extra innings during the 2007 season.

LIU has been a force in the regular season under Kortmann, winning 12 regular-season titles (200-04, 2006-10, 2016, 2019), including a pair of five-year streaks. The accomplishments of Kortmann and his staff have led to LIU earning NEC Coaching Staff of the Year honors 10 times (1996, 1998, 2000-04, 2010,2016, 2019) and four players (Rosette Rough, Randi Gillespie, Blaire Porter and Bianca Mejia) being named All-Americans during his tenure.

Kortmann is currently top-30 all-time in NCAA softball career wins.

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Brooklyn College freshman outside hitter, Aaron Siu has been named CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Rookie of the Week for the sixth time in seven weeks.

In the conference matches played last week, the Brooklyn Tech grad racked up 45 kills and 28 digs. He started the week by puttying away 15 kills and coming up with seven digs in Brooklyn’s 3-0 win over Medgar Evers. He closed out the week with a career-high 24 kills and 14 digs against John Jay.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected]; Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR