If you didn’t have a chance to read all the stories from this weekend’s Federation tournament, you’re clearly not trying to get in my good graces. If you have an acceptable reason, then here’s what ran in The Journal News during your absence:

SATURDAY:

Game story — Bears run into championship game
Blair and Coon each reach a milestone — Maggie Blair scores her 1,000th point and Shelby Coon grabs her 1,000 rebound

Carp column — Briarcliff welcomes opportunity to keep playing

SUNDAY:

News story — Briarcliff completes an historic season, becoming the first Westchester girls team since Ursuline in 1994 to win the Federation

Game story — Briarcliff claims its first Federation championship after overcoming a minor crisis early in the game

Hall of Fame — LoHud coaching legends John Lauro and Ken Thomas are inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame

Carp column — Briarcliff’s run to title began with its only loss

Game-by-game — Here’s a game-by-game look at the Bears’ playoff run

MULTIMEDIA:

Photo gallery — click here to view photos from the games (all taken by Matt Brown)

VC Extra feature package — here’s the piece I did for Thursday’s show

NewsCenter Now interview following Friday’s semis — I suggest Briarcliff will win the championship (I was right)

12:25 p.m.: Final stats —

Briarcliff: Shelby Coon (19 points, 13 rebounds); Maggie Blair (14 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, four steals); Taylor Pescetti (18 points, 6 of 10 FGs)

American Studies: Crystal James (13 points, 13 rebounds); Raquel Gutierrez (17 points, 8 of 13 FGs); Diani Mason (15 points, 11 rebounds)

11:49 a.m.: All-tournament team —

Brittany Thompson, Fieldston; Crystal James, American Studies; Raquel Gutierrez, American Studies; Diani Mason, American Studies (sportsmanship); Taylor Pescetti, Briarcliff; Shelby Coon, Briarcliff; Maggie Blair, Briarcliff (MVP)

11:44 a.m.: It’s all over in Glens Falls. Briarcliff wins 61-49.

Shelby Coon, Maggie Blair and Taylor Pescetti combined to score 51 of the Bears 61 points. Coon led the way with 19.

This is the first Federation championship by a Westchester school since Ursuline won in 1994. It’s the first by any Section 1 school since Lourdes in 2002.

I’ll have more stats later, plus a quick thought on the HOF induction of John Lauro and Ken Thomas, both of whom I spoke to earlier.

11:32 a.m.: Briarcliff 53-41 with 4:22 left.

Right now, all three Briarcliff stars are in double figures. Coon has 18 points and Blair has 14. Pescetti has 11.

11:29 a.m.: 49-39 with 5:20 to play. Briarcliff’s defense has made it much harder on American Studies in the second half and it has keyed the run.

11:24 a.m.: After three quarters, Briarcliff holds a 47-37 lead. Shelby Coon had a great third, scoring 10 points. Maggie Blair also hit a big 3 to end a 6-0 run.

James is back on the floor but has not been as effective. The Reids have done a solid job on Mason in the second half, holding her to just one point. Brianna Reid has been on the floor a lot, even knocking down a jumper earlier.

11:30 a.m.: Photog Matt Brown was kind enough to provide the photo of Shelby Coon from the first half.

11:15 a.m.: American Studies has answered with a 7-3 run of its own. The score is now 39-31 with 3:30 left in the period.

11:12 a.m.: Briarcliff is up 36-24 now. James has two fouls, but she is currently on the bench. I don’t know if she’s hurt or what, so I’ll have to find out later.

Coon hit two baskets during the quick 6-0 run to open the half and now has 11 points.

10:56 a.m.: It’s halftime and Briarcliff has taken a 30-24 lead on the strength of a 10-2 run over the final 5:22 of the half. James, who has 11 points to lead American Studies, spent the last half of the quarter on the bench with two fouls. Her absence really hurt the PSAL champ, which struggled on the glass without its best rebounder.

The Bears had to work to take the lead. They drove it into the heart of the zone and got to the FT line. Coon made 5 of 6 FTs during that stretch and the team made 6 of 8.

Taylor Pescetti extended the run to 10-0 when she made a layup after a steal. American Studies then ended a 4:46 drought with a basket just before the half.

10:46 a.m.: Great second quarter so far. Katie Weiner just tied it on a putback of a Maggie Blair miss 22-22. Briarcliff’s getting great play out of Maggie Blair, who has really been aggressive attacking the AS zone. Coon has played most of the period and has yet to pick up another foul, so that’s a positive sign for the Bears.

10:38 a.m.: Briarcliff still down 15-13 after one quarter. Hamlin inserted Coon back on the floor with 1:31 to play in the period, hoping to spark a comeback. She hit a pair of FTs with six seconds to play in the period.

The same problems persist for Briarcliff, handling Mason on the perimeter or Crystal James in the post. Hamlin told me yesterday he was concerned about those two, and his concerns are real so far. They have combined for 11 of AS’s points.

10:32 a.m.: Briarcliff trails 13-7. If the Bears are going to win, they’ll have to find an answer for Diani Mason, who already has five points but has caused a lot of trouble with her speed.

Also, Briarcliff faces a confounding 1-3-1…not a fun defense to play against.

10:27 a.m.: Taylor Pescetti opened the game with a 3, but American Studies has tied it 3-3. Shelby Coon has two fouls already and is on the bench. Right afterward Don Hamlin called a TO.

I have to say, American Studies is definitely a more worthy opponent than Fieldston. It’s a very athletic team.

10:19 a.m.: Looks like it’ll be another early tipoff. They’re running through the lineups right now…again, not a lot of people in the house today.

Also about to start in 30 minutes, the HOF induction John Lauro and Ken Thomas. I’ll try to get some thoughts on that as well.

2:55 p.m.: I updated the post with the above photo of Maggie Blair. You can also read my web update from the game here. 

1:10 p.m.: First of all, the final score was wrong (not my fault). It was actually 64-37 Briarcliff.

OK, here are the final stats. Maggie Blair (above, grabbing a first quarter RB) scored a team-high 18 points and had nine rebounds. Her last basket gave her 1,000 for her career.

Shelby Coon had her own personal milestone. She scored 17 points and had 20 rebounds, including the 1,000th of her career.

Taylor Pescetti scored 15 points and had four steals. She also played solid D and made two big 3’s that killed some of Fieldston’s momentum. Jamie Heyda played solid as well, with eight points, three rebounds and two steals.

Overall, Briarcliff outrebounded Fieldston 49-24…easily the stat of the game. It allowed the Bears to get back to running, which they told me was a very important addition to their attack. They hadn’t run as much in recent games.

If Briarcliff plays this well tomorrow (it may play even better), I fully expect a victory.

12:26 p.m.: Final score was 66-37. Briarcliff moves on to the final at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.

I’ll have final stats on the game later. For now it’s time to go do a few interviews.

12:22 p.m.: It’s 66-37 with under a minute to play. Maggie Blair just got a layup on a breakaway to score her 1,000th career point.

12:13 p.m.: Briarcliff has cleared off its bench and is now up 59-33 with 3:46 to play. Fieldston has most of its subs on the floor, so we’re now just awaiting a final.

12:01 p.m.: Briarcliff leads 51-22. Pescetti just nailed a 3 with two seconds left in the period. She now has 15 points to lead the way for the Bears, who will start the fourth quarter with their three all-section players still on the floor.

Knowing Hamlin, they won’t be out there long. 10 more points and he’ll probably start looking ahead till tomorrow.

11:55 a.m.: 45-19 Briarcliff. Stickland is back on the floor.

11:50 a.m.: Briarcliff has regained its stride, playing much like it did to open the game. The Bears have built a 41-19 lead behind four more points from Pescetti, who has really hustled today on both ends of the court.

Fieldston center Chyna Strickland, who has been her team’s most effective player, had a scary fall on her tailbone before and is on the bench receiving treatment. It’s unknown as of yet whether she will return or not.

11:39 a.m.: The halftime score is Briarcliff 32, Fieldston 17. The leading scorers for the Bears are: Maggie Blair with 10, Coon with 8, Taylor Pescetti with 8, and Jamie Heyda with four. Strickland and Brittany Thompson lead Fieldston with five points apiece.

This was a quick half, but it could’ve been quicker. Briarcliff led 20-5 after the first quarter but Fieldston played the Bears even in the second. They were a little more aggressive going to the basket, drawing 10 FTs (and making seven). That kept the Eagles on the board. They pulled with 29-17 on a 3-ball by Thompson with 32 seconds to go in the half, but Pescetti answered with Briarcliff’s first 3 of the game with 14 seconds to play before halftime.

Briarcliff is certainly in good shape despite a so-so second quarter. Plus, you can’t really blame them for letting up. It’s so cold in here. After all, this is a hockey arena…Rick Carpiniello and I put our coats in the penalty box, so what does that tell you?

I’ll plug this again, but if you want to see highlights and hear my thoughts on the game tune into NewsCenter Now tonight on RNN.

11:24 a.m.: It’s 27-13. Briarcliff got a little disjointed with its starters on the bench and lost a lot of momentum. The Bears have turned it over too much and given up a lot of looks inside to Fieldston center Chyna Strickland.

We’ll see if they can finish the half on a quick run. If not, this will be a competitive game to start the second half…at least a lot more competitive than it looked a few minutes ago.

11:18 a.m.: Shelby Coon just hit a short jumper to snap a 6-0 run by Fieldston. Maggie Blair followed with a layup to give Briarcliff a 24-11 lead with 4:44 left in the half.

Briarcliff consistently beats Fieldston down the floor. Of course, the Bears have the luxury of getting every rebound, allowing their guards to breakout. It’s been incredibly effective so far.

11:06 a.m.: Not to overanalyze a game with an 18-5 score at the end of the first quarter, but Fieldston does not seem to believe it can execute its game plan. Not only are the Eagles not running, they’re actually backing it out to avoid Briarcliff’s pressure. Taylor Pescetti seems to be bothering Fieldston PG Jacqueline Schoninger, and that task has now been handed to Brianna Reid.

Also noteworthy: The Bears just ended the first quarter with four bench players and Shelby Coon (who has six points to lead the way so far) on the court. Hamlin seems confident he can go deep into his bench today.

Sometimes in basketball yu have to go down firing. Fieldston has to keep up the pace but it isn’t doing that.

11:01 a.m.: It’s so quiet here that you can hear Don Hamlin coach during timeouts. I know this because Fieldston just called its second timeout after traveling in the backcourt.

Briarcliff does not still have the shutout going but it does lead 14-3 with 4:11 to play in the first quarter.

The good folks in Glens Falls may want to warms up their snowmobiles already.

10:58 a.m.: Briarcliff is already up 8-0 and has forced a timeout. It has a 5-0 rebounding advantage. Will this be the first shutout in Federation history?

10:51 a.m.: I hope you’re ready to go because we’re less than 10 minutes from tip-off here at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The winner meets American Studies of Queens for the championship tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m.

It’s not exactly crowded today. Perhaps that’s because of the SIX INCHES OF SNOW that fell last night. That was a nice treat to wake up to today. Apparently it hadn’t snowed up here since March 1st. What luck!

Anyway, I’ll have live updates all game so sit back and enjoy…

Forgot to mention this before: Briarcliff Manor will have a parade for its Class B state champ on Saturday, April 5. The parade starts at the firehouse at 12:30 p.m. The champs will be feted win or lose at the Feds.

I’ll be on my bachelor party that day (Vegas!) but I just wanted to pass along the town’s plans to celebrate.

I wrote a story today from the Fieldston perspective as the Eagles attempt to upset Briarcliff in tomorrow’s Class B state semis of the Federation tournament.

I, myself, am about to head north for the game, but I wanted to give you guys and girls a link to the story. There is also a scouting report alongside the piece.

Tomorrow I’ll have live updates of the game. If you’re staying home or if you’re stuck at work, keep it locked here on the Sixth Man for my thoughts. The game should tip around 11 in the morning.

With the season dwindling to a close but two more big games to play, I decided to track down Fieldston coach Randy Slaugther. It took about a week to get him on the phone, but I finally did just that last night.  (As an aside, the euphoria didn’t exactly match my St. Saviour find, but there was definitely a little satisfaction over tracking down Slaughter.)

Anyway, Slaughter’s record is 16-4. His team is headed to Glens Falls for the second straight year after making it there last year and losing to eventual Federation Notre Dame in the semifinals.

Fieldston has fielded teams with several LoHud players in the past, but this year the independent-schools rep has one player from Westchester, starting forward Sadie Nott of Bronxville. Not averages about four points and four rebounds per game.

Fieldston’s key players are junior Brittany Thompson and a sophomore named Jacqueline. (Her name escapes me right now, and unfortunately my notes are in my e-mail, which suddenly dos not work at home because the internet is the death of us…) Thompson is the leading scorer at over 15 PPG, and Jacqueline (_ insert last name here) averages 7 APG.

My impression of Slaughter was that he really had a plan. He said Fieldston doesn’t have much size (its biggest player is a 5-foot-10 center), but it likes to push the tempo and create offense with quick shots. His team doesn’t excel in the half court, which means it must move the ball against a much bigger Briarcliff team bent on getting every rebound.

Fieldston doesn’t have game film on Briarcliff but does have some info. Slaughter knows what awaits him, but remains hopeful: His club reached Glens Falls last year by beating top-seeded Poly Prep. He said Poly Prep had a pair of big forwards who went on to play Division I basketball, including 6-foot-1 Cosima Highham (Bucknell), and that memory gives him hope the Bears’ size can be solved.

I guess we shall see…

Now there’s something for you on this Easter morning, huh?

But seriously, he’s not far off. The NYSPHSAA has at least had discussions about removing itself from the Federation, which is a little anti-climatic for teams that just worked their tails off to win a state championship. Ask Lakeland, which would probably trade back last year’s Federation loss to Kennedy for a nickel and a stick of gum.

Here’s Carp’s take on the state’s most criticized event.

We also caught up with Briarcliff this week as it prepares for the tournament. … This is the first time since the state and Federation tournaments were separated in 1987 that there’s been a two-week break, so I asked the Bears how they felt about the tedious wait to play again.

Photog Dave Kennedy, who took the above the pic of Liz Meyers, also recorded this video with Briarcliff about the long wait.

We know Briarcliff will play Fieldston on Friday morning in the semifinals, but we now know the Bears’ opponent for the championship game (of course, provided they win Friday). It’ll be American Studies of Queens, which won the PSAL title today at St. Francis in Brooklyn.

If you want to research American Studies, check out its page one the PSAL website. Overall, it’s a solid site. Looks like their best player is sophomore Crystal James, who averages a double-double…at least if you base it on the game posted on the website. Check out James’ page here.

Hey, ask (nicely) and you shall receive…

MY ALL-CONFERENCE, CHSAA/PRIVATES:

First-team all-conference —

• Sophia Aleksandravicius, Holy Child


• Bianca Kowgios, Maria Regina


• Rachel McNair, Blessed Sacrament


• Alexandra Osborn-Jones, RCDS


• Nicole Detko, Victory

• Natalie Catavero, Maria Regina


• Ariel Guzman, Victory


• Elyssa Tellone, Sacred Heart


• Jennifer Nixon, Maria Regina


• Allie Piscina, Hackley

• Meghan McDermott, Hackley


• Laura Kennedy, Good Counsel


• Erin Riordan, Maria Regina


• Amanda Robertson, Maria Regina


• Veronica Roman, RCDS


• Elyssa Tellone, Sacred Heart

Coach of the year — Tim Pitrulle, Maria Regina

We’re back on Varsity Central Extra tonight on RNN. In case you’ve been buried in a dark cave (a cave without wireless), we’ll discuss last weekend’s final fours. I’ll have a piece on Briarcliff and Haldane, plus my thoughts on Maria Regina’ CHSAA title.

As always, the show is 677 times better with your phone calls, so reach out to us at 1-888-RNN-CHAT with your comments and/or questions. We’ll do our best to answer them…

With any luck, our boy Sosenko will leave the video of him hitting a couple uncontested jumpers on the cutting room floor. Game 2 in the TJN-RNN series is scheduled for next Wednesday at 10 p.m., and the pressure has clearly shifted to the shoulders of Ben and his cronies to produce again.

One game is just one game…