More leagues begin play this week, not a moment too soon…

Wednesday, Jan. 2: Albertus Magnus at Nanuet, 4:30 p.m. — The Golden Knights get another chance to defeat a Rockland rival.

Wednesday, Jan. 2: Woodlands at Pelham, 4:30 p.m. — League III-B should be one of the most competitive in Section 1 this season. I have no idea who is the favorite, but this game should help us learn about these two.

Thursday, Jan. 3: Lourdes at Mount Vernon, 4:15 p.m. — Two great backcourts go head-to-head for a teams with Class AA title aspirations.

Thursday, Jan. 3: White Plains at North Rockland, 6 p.m. — A rematch of one of the best regular-season games from last season, although the cast of characters has changed drastically.

Friday, Jan. 4: Mahopac at JJEF, 6 p.m. — Here is the Indians chance to prove their undefeated start isn’t just the product of a pretty soft schedule.

Class AA —
1. Mount Vernon
2. Ursuline
3. Our Lady of Lourdes

Class A —
1. Pearl River
2. Beacon
3. Tappan Zee

Class B —
1. Albertus Magnus
2. Briarcliff
3. Irvington

Class C/D —
1. Haldane
2. Blind Brook
3. Hamilton

Catholic/Private —
1. Maria Regina
2. Holy Child
3. Hackley

If you read my story today, you know Mount Vernon responded in the face of serious pressure from Jamestown. The Knights won their second Slam Dunk title in four years 82-69. Nadia Duncan and Kwinnyata Mercer combined for 51 points and 22 boards. Duncan was named MVP.

Jamestown was as advertised, pressing and firing 3’s for four quarters, Ossining-style. At first it didn’t look like Mount Vernon could handle it, but the Knights relaxed and refocused on breaking the press. Mercer did a solid job of grabbing rebounds and pushing the ball upcourt to open teammates. Whether it was Duncan, Carece Moore, or Taylor Palmer, MV’s players played tic-tac-toe, never letting the ball hit the ground in a breathtaking display of ball movement.

The Knights nearly went up by 20 early in the second quarter after a 20-2 run. Frankly, I thought they were going to run Jamestown out of the building. But Jamestown came back behind its two stars and it made for a competitive game throughout.

Afterward, I asked Duncan if her team saw its run end because it wore out from running up and down the court. “No,” she said, sounding a lot like someone who’s matured a great deal this season, “I think we just got lazy.”

The lead shrunk to as many as seven in the fourth quarter, but Mercer turned it back with back-to-back 3’s. That sequence didn’t end things, but gave MV enough cushion to win pretty comfortably.

To me, the other star at the County Center this week was the County Center itself. I loved the new setup, which included hundreds of added seats behind the stage-side basket. There are also a few more rows around the press table, which makes it harder for assorted clowns to both Kevin and I. (Honestly, I’m just kidding…)

Anyway, if you didn’t get a chance to see the new digs, you missed out. They’ll be on full display during Championship Week.

FINAL SLAM DUNK RECAP —

Thursday’s Girls Challenge Game:
LOURDES 62, BRIARCLIFF 49. MVP: Kim Dweck, Lourdes, 13 points 13 rebounds, six assists. Here’s Kristin Noonan’s story on the game.

Friday’s semifinals:
JAMESTOWN 75, NORTH ROCKLAND 69. Mary Abrams 23 points, 18 rebounds. Here’s Jake’s story on the game.

MOUNT VERNON 63, JAMESVILLE-DEWITT 36. Nadia Duncan 23 points, 12 rebounds; Taylor Palmer 18 points, three assists. Here’s my story on the game.

Saturday’s consolation:
JAMESVILLE-DEWITT 46, NORTH ROCKLAND 45. Abrams 23 points and 12 rebounds. (Note: Abrams left with a knee injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t return, but told me afterward she’d be OK.) Here’s Jake’s game story.

Championship:
MOUNT VERNON 82, JAMESTOWN 69. Duncan and Mercer 51 points, 22 rebounds. MVP: Duncan, 47 points and 25 rebounds in two games. Here’s my story on the game.

All-tournament team:
Duncan, MV (MVP)
Taylor Palmer, MV
Kwinnyata Mercer, MV
Nikki Frederickson, Jamestown
Erinne Cunningham, Jamestown
Brittany Cohen, Jamesville-DeWitt
Mary Abrams, North Rockland

A minor shakeup, but the top remains the same:

1. MOUNT VERNON (5-0): Going for second Slam Dunk championship in four years today.

2. URSULINE (3-1): Discount loss to Molloy, which would be the best team in Section 1 by a sizable margin.

3. OUR LADY OF LOURDES (2-0): I thought the Warriors may beat Briarcliff, but not like that. They have two very impressive wins so far, both driven by a terrific backcourt.

4. ALBERTUS MAGNUS (5-1): Win over red-hot Nanuet was the Falcons’ best of the year. Still, Greeley is hot on their tails after playing a tougher December schedule.

5. HORACE GREELEY (7-0): Strong resume of wins so far, including ones over Maria Regina, Beacon and Pearl River.

6. BRIARCLIFF (8-1): Despite loss, this team should head to playoffs at 19-1.

T7. MARIA REGINA (7-1) and T7. PEARL RIVER (4-2): Both are feisty and both gave Greeley a tough game before falling in the fourth quarter.

9. BEACON (9-1): Bulldogs go for 10-1 tonight.

10. OSSINING (6-3): Probably a little better than Class AA foes North Rockland and White Plains at this point.

On the bubble: White Plains (5-2), North Rockland (1-4), Irvington (7-1), Nanuet (6-1), Mahopac (6-0).

Here’s a quick look at what we had today in The Journal News:

SLAM DUNK:

— Behind 23 and 12 from its senior star, Mount Vernon blew past Jamesville-DeWitt 63-36.

— North Rockland showed some resiliency, but ultimately fell to Jamestown.

Mount Vernon and Jamestown play at 4:30 p.m. today for the championship.

NOTEBOOKS:

— In Northern Westchester, here’s a story about North Salem coach John Lauro, who was inducted into the state coaches HOF.

— In Central and Southern Westchester, I talk about Eastchester’s struggles with inexperience and injury.

— In Rockland, Jake has a story on Suffern sophomore Julie Jefferson.

Real quick: Mount Vernon beat Jamesville-DeWitt handily tonight, 63-36, behind 23 points and 12 rebounds from Nadia Duncan and 18 points and three assists from Taylor Palmer. Duncan dominated with her athleticism, as anyone in attendance could tell you.

In the other semifinal, North Rockland lost to Jamestown 75-69. Mary Abrams had 23 points and 18 rebounds, while Jameston’s Nikki Frederickson scored 31 points. It was the second-highest individual-game total by a female in Slam Dunk history.

If you were there, feel free to talk about the action here. Should be a high-scoring game tomorrow but most of the people I spoke to like Mount Vernon to win.

Greeley knocked off Pearl River 63-57 today up in Chappaqua. Jaclyn Miller returned from injury to score 18 points off the bench. What a debut…

Erin Jackson had 17 points for the Quakers, who are now 7-0.

don’t fear. I’ll have it up here either tonight or tomorrow morning. I figured it’s best to wait through today’s game b/c nothing should happen after today to change the rankings until next week.

I’ll check in later with some thoughts on today’s action. Until then…

Just one game today at the Slam Dunk and Lourdes won it 62-49 over Briarcliff.

I wasn’t at the County Center, but it sounds like the Bears doomed themselves from the start. They missed 16 of 18 field goals in the first half and trailed by as many as 27 before embarking on a late run. Don Hamlin told TJN’s very own Kristin Noonan that his team was “frozen.” Indeed, Briarcliff didn’t wake up until it outscored Lourdes 22-9 in the fourth quarter, but that was far too late.

The loss dropped Briarcliff to 8-1 and improved Lourdes to 2-0, but I’ll say this: It’s pretty much a win-win for both.

Sure, the Bears had a chance to really put a nice bold stamp on their undefeated start. But they will be better for this, having not only faced the best team they’ll face all season (possibly) but getting a game in at the County Center. That was objective No. 1 for Briarcliff, so consider that accomplished.

For Lourdes the month of December was spent on idle. But for a team some of you claimed didn’t have much, consider this: Those wins came against Briarcliff and White Plains, which have beaten Ossining, JJEF, Woodlands and Carmel among others. Not terrible…

Westchester’s own Kim Dweck was the game MVP with 13 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Shelby Coon led the way for Briarcliff with 13 points and 12 boards.

I’ll return tomorrow for both games, then I’ll be there for at least the final on Saturday. It should be fun. Mount Vernon faces Jamesville-DeWitt, a team riding a three-game losing streak that features a nice player in Brittany Cohen. North Rockland will be tested against undefeated Jamestown (7-0), the defending Class AA champ in Section 6 that returns an all-Buffalo area backcourt. Senior Nikki Frederickson actually scored a school-record 45 points in a game earlier this season, so she’s obviously a dangerous threat for North Rockland to focus on.

I’d seriously suggest reading this story about Frederickson and Jamestown. The coach suggests he’d like to see a minimum of 90 shots per game, with the goal of forcing 32 turnovers per. Perhaps the quote of the year: “Last year we had 40 offensive sets and this year we have none,” Jamestown coach Ken Ricker told The Post-Journal in Jamestown. “We want the quickest shot we can get.”

Also, if you haven’t seen tonight’s “Varsity Central Extra” yet, you can find it at this link. Click on the 6:30 button to watch the show, which includes a piece on Mount Vernon coach Patrice Wallace-Moore, new power rankings, and a fun Q and A session. I share my thoughts on how offensive fouls can have an impact on girls games.

As always, please share your thoughts on the show and feel free to shoot me questions for next week at jthomson@lohud.com.

— The Slam Dunk tips off today at the County Center and there is one girls game of note: the Briarcliff-Lourdes matchup you’ve heard me talk about the last couple weeks. For a number of reasons this is interesting. 1. Briarcliff has been dominant so far. 2. It’s always a challenge when a Section 1 school plays Lourdes (the Warriors are the Duke of LoHud girls hoops). 3. We don’t know too much about Lourdes yet.

Unfortunately, I will not be among the lucky ones attending today’s game. I hope everyone can fill me in with the details because I’m really bummed I’ll miss out.

— Sounds like a good game last night in Bardonia, but Magnus beat Nanuet by 11 behind 32 points from Alaina Walker. A great sign for both teams…the Falcons earn some respect by beating a solid team and Nanuet proves its start was no fluke (although I don’t think many people had questioned it.).

— Our next edition of “Varsity Central Extra” appears tonight on RNN (Channel 6 or 19 in Westchester; 19 in Rockland; 20 in Putnam). If you want to get involved you can either call tonight between 6:30-6:45 p.m. or send me an e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com. The more e-mails you send the merrier. I’ll be sure to pass them along and hopefully yours will be chosen on the air.

If you want to call the show, the number is 1-888-RNN-CHAT. Talk to you then…