Top 10, Jan. 31
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- January
- 31
So you heard my thoughts on Mount Vernon-Lourdes, which was fairly inconclusive. And you saw yesterday’s breakdown of Briarcliff-Nanuet. Is there anything better than when the top four teams square off in an 18-hour span?
All four played well enough to remain atop the rankings. The rumbling you feel is at the bottom, where more change has reshuffled the list.
1. BRIARCLIFF (15-1): No doubt the Bears remain No. 1. They appeared vulnerable for a half, but no other team in the section could’ve come back from 15 down to beat Nanuet, not with the way the Golden Knights played yesterday. Briarcliff showed incredible guts last night.
2. OUR LADY OF LOURDES (16-2): I wasn’t sure about the Warriors after they lost badly to Albertus Magnus, but they have clearly improved since then. In a few weeks, they may begin a new streak of gold balls.
3. NANUET (11-4): I’m not sure how last night will affect this team. Will it be spooked by an inability to close out Briarcliff? Or strengthened knowing it almost beat the Bears? There probably won’t be an answer to those questions for another few weeks.
4. MOUNT VERNON (13-3): The Knights have now lost three of four, but they showed several positive signs today. It would’ve been quite the win playing without a starter and with two starters missing half the game due to foul trouble. Their worry going forward is how to keep Taylor Palmer and Shanyce Stewart out of foul trouble.
5. PEARL RIVER (11-3): OK, so the Pirates are playing Magnus on Super Bowl Sunday. Are they the Cardinals or the Steelers? I guess last week’s win at home makes them the favored Steelers, but I’m not so sure.
6. ALBERTUS MAGNUS (11-2): I imagine Magnus will come out with great intensity, hoping to turn its season around. Problem is, I don’t know that Pearl River is the type of team you catch napping.
7. IRVINGTON (14-2): Tuesday, Thursday, and a week from Monday are the days. Pearl River, Nanuet and Magnus the opponents. Go 3-0 and the Bulldogs could sneak in an win the League 3-C championship.
8. TAPPAN ZEE (14-4): If you asked me at the beginning of December, this is the team I’d have least expected to see on the list. Now, the Dutchies are a mainstay. Remember, they haven’t just played well of late. There was a time they beat Nanuet handily.
9. NYACK (13-3): The Indians have played well. But how close can they hang with Nanuet on Monday? Looks like another chance to earn respect.
10. LAKELAND (11-3): Much to the chagrin of the folks in Dobbs Ferry — the Eagles made their first appearance in the Westchester/Putnam Top 5 in today’s notebooks — the Hornets pull off the leapfrog with last night’s upset of Scarsdale. Tori Jarosz isn’t even yet at 100 percent, but she completely dominated Scarsdale in the paint…with Michigan watching. That’s impressive.
On the bubble: Dobbs Ferry, Ursuline, Scarsdale, Ossining, Peekskill, Suffern.




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.









the list could look very different by next Saturday…or not…...crazy week of hoops next week….should be fun..