For the last couple years more than a few of you asked how Westchester County and its parks department could sponsor a tournament that treated girls teams like second citizens. I cannot validate whether your voices were heard or not. But what I can report is that your wish has, to a degree, been granted.

The 2009 Slam Dunk tournament at the County Center will play host to four more girls teams and four more girls games, thanks, in part, to a schedule expanded from three days to four. The girls — and now the boys — will be divided into two four-team tournaments with semifinals, finals and consolation rounds. The event will still include one non-tournament challenge game as well.

The Slam Dunk will not include the Class AA (Mount Vernon) or A winners (Albertus Magnus). However, it will feature several of the area’s top teams. One of the tournaments has an entirely local flavor. The other will include Section 9 power Kingston and Section 5’s Greece Athena.

One bracket hosts semifinals between Lourdes and Dobbs Ferry as well as Class B champ Nanuet and New Rochelle. The other draw will include Ursuline against Kingston in one semi and Greece Athena vs. Irvington in the other.

Good Counsel will meet Kennedy in the challenge game.

Here is the complete schedule:

Saturday, Dec. 26 —
Challenge game: Kennedy vs. Good Counsel, 12 p.m.
Semifinal 1: Lourdes vs. Dobbs Ferry, 2 p.m.
Semifinal 2: New Rochelle vs. Nanuet, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 27 —
Consolation game: the semifinal losers, 2 p.m.
Championship game: the semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 28 —
Semifinal 1: Ursuline vs. Kingston, 2 p.m.
Semifinal 2: Irvington vs. Greece-Athena, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 29 —
Consolation game: the semifinal losers, 2 p.m.
Championship game: the semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

I have a few things to report, but first up is this: The sixth annual Metro Classic will be played on Sunday at 2 at Christ the King in Queens.

Five Section 1 players were selected for The Burbs, which take on The Boros, a team that consists of players from New York’s five boroughs. Felicia DaCruz (Albertus Magnus), Brittany Horne (Carmel), Tori Jarosz (Lakeland), Lillian McCabe (Rye) and Taneka Whittaker (Lourdes) will compete for The Burbs, which has won the last three meetings.

That group of locals will be joined by two of this region’s top seniors: Stefanie Dolson of Minisink (UConn) and Bria Hartley of North Babylon (uncommitted). One thing of particular note: Of the local players who made the team, only Jarosz is a senior.

If you’re interested in checking out the game (the boys follow at 4), you can log on to the Metro Classic website here. Tickets are available for $10.

A quick post: We have a story today about former Ursuline and Georgia star Cori Chambers, who will join the staff at Marist this fall.

Chambers was named the director of basketball operations under Brian Giorgis.

For details of what her new role will be, check out the story here.

The Sixth Annual Howie Frajberg Metro Classic will be held on Sunday, Oct. 25th at Island Garden on Long Island. John Reilly of the Lady Knicks will coach “The Burbs” for the girls.

The tryout dates for the team have been announced. They are open to players of any age in high school (freshmen-seniors). The first tryout is Sept. 19 from 8-10 p.m. The final tryout will be Sept. 26 from 8-10 as well. Both tryouts are at Island Garden.

For more information, you can check the Metro Classic website here.

A little news: Veronica Roman, a guard who played at Rye Country Day the last two seasons, has transferred to White Plains. She will join her sister, Sofia, there; Sofia started last season as a freshman.

The elder Roman averaged 8.5 PPG as a freshman and a little under 7 PPG as a sophomore. She played both guard positions both years, serving as both a playmaker and a shooter.

Roman, a junior, will join an already-developing backcourt with her sister and Kim Hanlon. The younger Roman and Hanlon started last year as freshmen for the Tigers, who went 7-13 and missed the playoffs by a game.

Former Woodlands star Porsha Postell has been dismissed from the team at the University of Kentucky for a violation of team rules. Postell is home in Greenburgh and will not attend the university this fall.

You can find the complete story here.

Former Journal News Westchester/Putnam all-star Meagan Wood pled guilty in court today on felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. The 24-year-old former Carmel High School star was indicted after a drunk-driving crash last year killed Lisa Moray, a former basketball player at Ketcham.

In exchange for her plea, Wood will receive a reduced sentence that is yet to be determined.

For more on the case, you can read our story here.

I just wanted to pass along a link to a story in today’s paper about Ramapo senior-to-be Allissa Basquiat (right). She’s playing in the USA Junior Nationals International Sports Festival next week.

Basquiat told our reporter, Peter Ferraro, that she hoped the competition (to be held in Champaign, Ill.) would help her land a college scholarship.

Basquiat had averaged double digits each of the last two years for the Gryphons. Here’s her stats from 2007-08. And here’s a look at her numbers from this past season.

A couple quick notes here that I will follow up on later in the week:

Angelei Aguirre will transfer to UCSB. The 2008 Journal News player of the year has, indeed, left Cal. She has transferred to Cal-Santa Barbara, where she will play for former Cal assistant Lindsay Gottlieb. Of course, Gottlieb played at Scarsdale, but she also recruited Aguirre to Cal, so there’s a comfort level there. Gottlieb led UCSB to a Big West championship and into the big dance. (Aguirre also used to tell me she preferred good weather. I can tell you firsthand: it doesn’t get better than the weather in Santa Barbara.)

After playing very little as a freshman at Cal, Aguirre will have to sit out the coming season. She will be eligible to play again in 2010-11. (Contrary to popular belief, Aguirre was on scholarship.)

Kim Adams has returned to Penn. Not that she ever left the school, but the 2007 player of the year left the team at Penn last December. She has returned to the program after new coach, Mike McLaughlin, reached out to her. Adams has already begun working with the Quakers this offseason.