I hope each and every one of you who celebrated Christmas had a great holiday. I’m still trying to detox from eating more fatty foods in the last 48 hours than I probably should have.

I just wanted to check in to say I won’t attend any games today, but I’ll keep an eye on the results. There are a couple games of note today — Albertus vs. Nanuet for one — and I’ll pass along whatever info I get as soon as I can.

Enjoy the extended vacation. I’ll return later…

It’s X-Mas Eve and my brother’s due to pick me up at any moment. Let’s forgo the formalities and get right to the award:

PLAYER OF THE WEEK, Week 4: Bianca Kowgios, Maria Regina — I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…I’m swayed by a player’s efforts in victory. Few teams played as well this week as Maria, which beat league foes Preston, Cardinal Spellman (in OT) and St. Joe’s Hill. I know, I know, many of you Section 1-ers probably don’t know much about those teams, but they are important wins for the Tigers, who improved their record to a very impressive 7-1.

During the week that was, Kowgios had a hand in quite a bit. She averaged 13.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, and 7.3 steals per game, excellent all-around numbers. The junior point guard and her team are headed to Florida after X-Mas.

Runners-up: K.C. Jentzen, Nanuet (26 in both rounds of the Somers tourney); Meghan Murphy, Carmel (25 points in upset win over North Rockland); Tareka Cesar, Spring Valley (triple-double vs. Nyack); Sophia Aleksandravicius, Holy Child (19 pts, 15 rb vs. St. Luke’s; triple-double vs. RCDS); Tara Gabelman, Irvington (avg. 24.5 PPG in two wins; 17 RB vs. Put Valley.

Crossovers-galore highlights the final week of ‘07:

Thursday, Dec. 27: Briarcliff vs. Lourdes, 1 p.m. at the County Center — The challenge game of the Slam Dunk provides each team with perhaps its sternest test so far.

Thursday, Dec. 27: Archbishop Molloy at Ursuline, 2 p.m. — Is this Ursuline’s toughest game of the regular season? Very well could be.

Friday, Dec. 28: Pearl River at Horace Greeley, 2 p.m. — No idea who’ll win here, which is what makes this a fun matchup. I’ll be at the County Center but I’ll be searching for the score of this one.

Friday, Dec. 28: Mount Vernon vs. Jamesville-DeWitt, 4:30 p.m. at the County Center — No. 8 in Class AA hosts No. 3 in Class A.

Saturday, Dec. 29: Slam Dunk tourney championship, 4:30 p.m. — Teams aren’t decided yet, but this is always one of the highlights of the regular season.

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. Hackley
3. Holy Child

Games of the week to follow at 9, player of the week at 12. Drum roll…

I open up the paper and look at the website this morning and I marvel: There are days in late February and early March — days I have a sore throat and spend eating Nathan’s french fries — were we don’t have this much girls hoops to offer.

Hey, considering it’s only the first day of notebooks, you should consider yourselves lucky.

Saturday notebooks — Here are several stories for your reading pleasure…

In Putnam/Northern Westchester, “we have Tori Jarosz’ thoughts on helping turn Lakeland around.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220319/1049 We also have word of a big opportunity for Briarcliff. A lovable sportswriter has the story.

In Central Westchester, “we have a surprisingly strong start to tell you about in Rye Brook.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220324/1049 Manny Martinez and Blind Brook have started strong despite losing its top two players. That same lovable guy has the word, along with injury news on Hamilton’s Shereen Lightbourne.

In Southern Westchester, “we say hello to 6-foot-4 Lubridia Gordon,”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220339/1049 who is truly blessed by the basketball gods…although not so much right now. (A hint: She’s just 13!…but has a broken collarbone.) Remarkably, that same lovable and hard-working guy sat down with Gordon…and felt quite small after the interview was finished.

In Rockland, “Jake tells us why North Rockland’s Mary Abrams chose LIU.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220334/1049 In his rankings, he tabs Pearl River over Magnus for the top spot.

Athletes of the week — Now this is mere coincidence, but a hoopster won the athlete of the week on both sides of the river.

In Westchester and Putnam, my co-de Justin Jones, who lit it up at Nyack as a senior in ‘03, “has the story of Angelei Aguirre switching positions for the good of the team.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220341/1049 Aguirre was the Con-Ed Athlete of the Week.

In Rockland, “the Scholar-Athlete of the Week went to Ashley Huber of Albertus Magnus.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220345/1049 The senior has no qualms offering a helping hand on or off the court, as Kristin Noonan writes.

And finally, what we call a gamer…

In case you haven’t had time to scroll down for half a second, “Mount Vernon beat Peekskill 71-40 last night.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/SPORTS02/712220387/1049 I thought the idea of the teams meeting was intriguing, but the absence of Roberta Sleigh from the Red Devils’ lineup took a little something out of the proceedings. MV rolled…

Two games I saw of note last night…rebuilding Dobbs Ferry had a nice win over Hastings, 51-40, and Briarcliff overcame its nemesis of ‘07, Putnam Valley, 68-30 at home.

Hopefully — and I mean this to every over-zealous parent out there — the game went off without incident.

OK, OK…no Mookie or Kevin Jones. But it was still intriguing to see Mount Vernon and Peekskill meet on a basketball court. Problem was Peekskill girls aren’t quite at the level of MV, as evident by the 71-40 final.

Making matters more uneven was the fact that the Red Devils senior star Roberta Sleigh missed the game. She had played vs. Ossining but was on the bench in street clothes tonight for undisclosed reasons.

Without Sleigh, Peekskill kept scoring but simply couldn’t handle the deep and balanced Knights. Kwinnyata Mercer led three players in double figures with 13 points. She also had five assists in the first half, setting up a 45-18 halftime lead.

I talked to Mercer afterward. She told me this team is different than the one that lost to White Plains in the Class AA final because there’s so much depth behind her and Nadia Duncan. “Every player on our team can put the ball in the basket,â€? Mercer said. “I don’t mind passing the ball because I know everyone can score.â€?

This was my first look at Shanyce Stewart (right, guarding Peekskill’s Brittany Mountain), the 6-foot-1 transfer from Monsignor Scanlan. She can definitely rebound and block shots, and I imagine she’ll progress even further offensively as the season progresses. (After all, she’s only a sophomore.) She scored eight points and had 11 boards playing about 15 minutes, which is about all the starters played.

Not much else to say about the game. I’ll obviously have a lot on MV next week with the Slam Dunk.

Peekskill needn’t hide its faces. This could’ve been a better game had Sleigh played. Freshman Sheridan Taylor was very impressive, scoring 13 points.

With Sleigh back and some better defense, the Red Devils would have a chance to make the playoffs after winning just three games last seasons. Stay tuned for that…

Hopefully most of you have seen last night’s edition of “Varsity Central Extra” on RNN, or at least watched the replay on LoHud.com. If you saw it, you know we breezed through the power rankings at the end, so it may’ve been tough to get my first five.

Problem solved, right?

I’ll have more later in the post on a few topics, but first here’s the Top 10 as I see it at this point in the season:

1. MOUNT VERNON (3-0): The Knights draw Peekskill today at home, then two tough games at the Slam Dunk next week.

2. URSULINE (3-0): With a date with Archbishop Molloy on Thursday, the Koalas may face their toughest game of the season before the New Year.

3. OUR LADY OF LOURDES (1-0): That’s a good win last night for the Warriors; White Plains had played excellent defensively since its season opener.

4. ALBERTUS MAGNUS (3-1): Sorry folks. Though a loss to Burke Catholic is still a loss, you can’t fault the Falcons for losing a game on the road against a Section 9 champion that returned its best player this season.

5. BRIARCLIFF (7-0): If you’re Don Hamlin you’re probably gonna sleep well over the holiday break.

6. HORACE GREELEY (6-0): So far that Quakers have vaulted themselves into a group with Nos. 3 thru 6.

7. PEARL RIVER (3-1): Needed to see the Pirates play before giving them a ranking. It won’t be popular with those they jumped, but they deserve it.

8. NORTH ROCKLAND (1-2): Tough to judge their loss to Carmel, which made nine 3’s to stun the Red Raiders. They get the benefit of the doubt for now…but tomorrow night’s game with Pearl River bears watching.

9. MARIA REGINA (6-1): Terrific win for the Tigers on Wednesday; they beat a good Cardinal Spellman team by two points in OT.

10. BEACON (6-1): The Bulldogs’ win over Ossining proved a lot after a disappointing performance vs. Greeley.

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

Now, on to other business…

PORSHA. The subject of the early part of last night’s show was Porsha Postell, who leads the section in scoring for 4-2 Woodlands. The junior is also the focus of our first Friday basketball feature, “which you can read here.”:http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/SPORTS02/712210402

This was a fun story to report on and write. Porsha’s a fun girl who knows what she wants now: to be a great player. She had a little trouble in the past, but those days seem to be over. She recommitted herself beginning last winter — both to school and to basketball — and became one of the best players in the area, hands down. As you can read, though, it’s her attitude that makes her special.

TO MY CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: If you want to see the feature package we put together on Postell, “you can find it here.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=VIDEO0602 The voice over was done by yours truly.

There are other videos there as well, like our Q and A session, our opening discussion, and our power rankings. Among the teams discussed are: Holy Child, White Plains, and Lakeland.

Our anchor, Ben Sosenko, was wondering what people thought of the show. If you’ve seen it, please drop a comment to let us know what you thought.

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE. And for the Mahopac folks rightly clamoring for some coverage, “I bring you today’s game story on Mahopac’s win over Suffern by colleague Debbie Schechter.”:http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/SPORTS02/712210404/1049 The Indians are 6-0 heading into the break, setting up an interesting game on Jan. 4th at JJEF.

I must need to catch up because it’s time for some housekeeping.

Task #1: Requesting your phone calls. Tonight is the second edition of “Varsity Central Extra.” As I said recently, it will include a feature on Woodlands’ Porsha Postell, as well as a discussion of some recent storylines. We hope you will bolster the show with your questions and/or comments. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. on RNN (Channel 6 or 19 in Westchester; Channel 20 in Putnam; and Channel 19 in Rockland). If you want to chime in, please call RNN Studios at 1-888-RNN-CHAT. We don’t bite…

Task #2: Polling our readers. We have a new poll “on the Varsity Tipoff page.”:http://www.lohud.com/girlshoops The winner of the last poll — who’s the best player in the LoHud — offered five choices, but the majority chose “None of the above.” You gotta love our readers. … Anyway, the new question is this: “Which team should be ranked higher at this point in the season: Briarcliff or Albertus Magnus?” I know I don’t even have to tell you to chime in here; our Briarcliff and Magnus readers always represent.

Task #3: Top 10. If for no other reason, you should watch tonight’s show to find out the top 5. Hint: There will be at least one change. In TV-ese, we call that a teaser…

Task #4: Nanuet deserves your love, too. I mentioned the Holy Child-RCDS game last night because I covered it. But Jake was in Somers for the championship of that tournament, and Nanuet remained unbeaten with a win over Tappan Zee. “You can read Jake’s story on the Tipoff page.”:http://www.lohud.com/girlshoops

Task #5: Delivering the state rankings, belatedly. Thanks to Lou Kern for leaving this after a post the other day. Shame on me for not following up quicker. … At any rate, “you can find the first NYS rankings here.”:http://www.newyorksportswriters.org/reference/current_polls_bkw_071214.shtm

FINAL THOUGHT: Call RNN around 6:30 p.m.! 1-888-RNN-CHAT.

Holy Child’s Sophia Aleksandravicius had 13 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocked shots to lead her team over Rye Country Day 30-19 this afternoon in Rye. The win pushed the Gryphons to 7-0. They’ve now beaten the NYSAIS state champ Fieldston; Fairchester League champ St. Luke’s; and Fairchester runner-up RCDS already.

Paige Labella and Molly Schauber each had six points for Holy Child, which held RCDS to just nine points in the second half.

The head-to-head matchup never really materialized. Alexandra Osborn-Jones missed the last nine minutes in the first half with three fouls and she never got into a groove against Holy Child’s triangle-and-two defense. She finished with four points, six rebounds and two blocks, and also struggled at the end with a twisted ankle suffered at Monday’s practice.

Aleksandravicius was terrific. She had a triple-double despite hoisting just nine shots against the RCDS diamond-and-one. Instead of scoring, she affected the game in other ways, like using her athleticism to block shots and start fastbreaks.

Colleges come to see Sophia all the time and today was no different. There were at least two coaches there that I saw, and perhaps more. She said she’s used to the attention.

If I have time later, I’m going to upload my interview with Sophia. All in all though this was a great win for Holy Child, which may now be the favorite to win the Fairchester League. It’s still early, but the Gryphons have already made gains toward that goal.

There were an unusually high number of stunning results last night. Since it’s the holiday season and all, I will play my best Santa and present a few of them for you reading pleasure. First though I just want to cover a few topics:

— We’ll return to the air tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. on RNN for another episode of “Varsity Central Extra.” The show runs a half hour and will include:

1. A feature on Woodlands’ Porsha Postell, who I also profile for Friday’s paper;

2. Discussion about Postell, as well as a handful of other topics relating to girls hoops in the LoHud

3. Another Q and A session where we answer some of your calls and e-mails

4. Last but not least, my top 5 for this week will be unveiled

— Now, if you want to be part of the conversation, call during the show at 1-888-RNN-CHAT. We had no girls calls last week, so I hope that changes. You can also e-mail me questions for the show. (If you sent me one last week and it’s still pertinent, I will submit it again. If you want to send me a question, e-mail me at jthomson@lohud.com)

— I am also headed out to Holy Child-RCDS this afternoon. Should be fun, and I’ll have a report on the game when I return to the office.

On to the scores that shocked me:

Exhibit A: Carmel 57, North Rockland 52 — No offense to the alma mater, but please, Red Raider fans, tell me what happened here! I am very surprised by this result. It’s not that Carmel isn’t a solid team — with Meghan Murphy (right) and Ashley Ruiz the Rams are capable of knocking off a strong opponent, that’s for sure — but I thought North Rockland had a chance to be one of the three or four elite teams in the section. Now I’m not so sure.

Again, this is not meant to slight Carmel. Murphy and Ruiz hit for 45 points combined, with 32 of them coming on 3’s. Maybe it was just one of those nights where it all came together for the Rams. Congrats to them.

Exhibit B: Beacon 60, Ossining 47 — I wanted to give Dan Ricci a call last night but I was too busy at the office. It doesn’t seem like there’s much to say about this one, as it came down to the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs simply were the better team when it counted, outscoring Ossining 21-10 in the final eight minutes. Kara Tancredi led the way with 18.

As I said earlier this week, Ossining won both meetings last season between the teams. Right now, it just doesn’t look like Ricci’s bunch is on track at all.

Exhibit C: White Plains 39, JJEF 29 — The Tigers appear to have gotten another all-world game from Angelei Aguirre, who had 23 of their 39 points to go with 11 boards. Caitlynn Moran had just four points, so I’d imagine she was either unusually cold from the field or White Plains played terrific defense. (Honestly, I’d bet it was the latter. That is definitely White Plains’ strength at this point in the season.)

True story: I left Woodlands this afternoon after taping an interview with Postell. I had some time before my shift started at 5:30 p.m. (I know, I know – just an INSANE time to start work) so I decided to buzz by White Plains, which is literally two minutes from my office. I pull into the oval driveway by the White Plains athletic facilities and proceed to sit in my car behind a parked bus for a solid 10-15 minutes. All the cars that piled up eventually arranged to back up because the bus WAS NOT moving, but I was so frustrated by the incident that I turned around and drove down the hill to our building. The moral of the story: one-way roadways should not exist.

Exhibit D: Greeley 48, Brewster 46 — The 2-5 Bears continue to be plucky. They gave the Quakers everything they had, and forced a comeback led by the 23 points of Taylor Jackson. Brewster freshman Emily Tapio played well in defeat from what I hear; she scored a team-best 20 points, helping the Bears head into the fourth quarter tied.