Just when you think you know…
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- March
- 23
you realize you don’t know. I say that because the two best LoHud teams that came here  Lakeland and the Mount Vernon boys  were both sent home from Glens Falls in a span of seven hours. And the two that moved on were Blessed Sacrament and Peekskill, the much less heralded but perhaps less tested, at least on this stage and on this night.
So you know what that shows? The Federation tournament is all about who you play and when you play them. Both Lakeland and Mount Vernon faced tough, tough teams tonight that were among the best in the state.
On the girls side, Kennedy probably ranks with anyone outside of Murry Bergtraum, Rush-Henrietta and maybe one or two catholic schools. We can debate anything you want  whether or not the Federation system is fair or how tough a schedule the Hornets faced  but I’ll tell you this: Lakeland proved it was the best Class A team in the state today. This game, a 47-44 loss, was further proof of how good the Hornets were, even in defeat.
Everyone here had questioned whether or not they could play a close game. I had coaches and fans wonder aloud if they were prepared to beat Pearl River, but they did just that. Then, the same people wondered if Lakeland could come from behind. Well, after being behind all game today and coming back to take a lead in the fourth quarter, I’d say that was proven as well.
In Class B action tonight, Jefferson of the PSAL and Notre Dame of the CHSAA won and both advanced to the championship tomorrow. You have to think Lakeland would’ve beat Jefferson (the PSAL’s real Class A champ) had that been the matchup, so it may be only the PSAL’s new system that prevented the Hornets from finishing the season 29-0  or at least prevented them from having the chance to.
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 7:50 pm by Josh Thomson. 
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting, Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University, where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in history.
JOSH,
I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU FEEL WE SHOULDN’T BE PLAYING TOMMOROW.THE TEAMS THAT ARE THEIR EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE THERE.
Sorry Peekskill…That’s not what I was going for. I love the Peekskill team. But you have to look at it like this; if Peekskill had to play nationally-ranked Boys and Girls instead of LI Lutheran, it would’ve been a much tougher road. The Kennedy girls are the equivalent of the Boys and Girls, which was the Class AA runner-up in the PSAL boys tourney. And obviously Rice is a national power.
I hope that makes more sense. But I didn’t mean any disrespect to Peekskill. I never thought they’d be back here, and they’ve had an unbelievable run in the playoffs.
THANK YOU JOSH AND YOU ARE NOT BY YOURSELF,AT THE START OF THE SEASON I NEVER THOUGHT WE WOULD BE HERE BUT OUR BOYS HAVE GUTS.EVERYTIME THERE WAS A TEAM WE THOUGHT WE WOULD HAVE TROUBLE WITH WE DIDN’T GET A CHANCE TO FACE THEM.)SPRING VALLEY AND JERRICO TO NAME TWO.)NO OFFENSE TAKEN,AND YOU AND KEVIN DO A SUPER JOB COVERING THESE GAMES.KEEP UP THE WONDERFUL WORK.
OK, now for my sour grapes…
...What is Kennedy of the Bronx a Champion of Josh? The Federation Tournament billed as the Tournament of “Champions” had Class A Lakeland, CHSAA Class A Champion Mary Louis, and PSAL AA RUNNER UP JFK of the Bronx? What did JFK win to be considered in the tournament of CHAMPIONS? Forget about those teams for a second and think of how the PSAL B Champion feels about being left out because the PSAL does whatever they please. How did the Federation allow this? A lot of passing the buck apparently happens with the Federation committee, how could they approve this? It is really wrong. But, that being said, you have done a wonderful job this season and thanks for the coverage.
Josh,
You provided a great recap of the Lakeland game; I wondered how long they could stay in man to man defense before switching to a zone.
Great column by Rick C on the PSAL shenanigans in trying to stack the deck in the Federation tournament.
And, to bring up an old pet peeve of mine, I must congratulate your print edition editor for publishing three courtside photos of Lakeland players—one of which is a great shot of a Lakeland player fighting off two Kennedy players to snare a rebound—and only one of them shows a Lakeland player crying after the defeat. I guess that is an improvement; how about next year we skip the crying shots altogether?
Johnny…Kennedy is a champion of nothing. In fact (and I’ll link to the story later), Kennedy is the only non-state champion at the Federation tournament this weekend.
To be honest, I had to catch myself a couple times yesterday to make sure I called them the PSAL representative – and not the PSAL champ.
I don’t know this for a fact, but I’d say the Federation committee has no say in this matter. This is a decision made by the PSAL, no doubt following the precident set by the CHSAA.
Timster…Hey, you know the answer to this. I’ve already told you…I don’t select the photos.
And you can’t question the defenses. Lakeland actually had great success in man – McMorris had just eight points at the half and only two made field goals – but the zone was more for rebounding and to stay out of foul trouble.