This week in local sports (2/16/22)

Kingston High School girls’ basketball

The Kingston High School varsity girls’ basketball team has had a difficult run of games since securing their bid for the postseason, adding a pair of home losses to their now four-game slide last week. 

On Tuesday, February 8, the Tigers played host to one of the hottest teams in the state, as Warwick won its 13th straight at their expense in a 57-27 result. 

Kingston was up 19-17 with just under three minutes remaining in the first half before a metaphorical lid appeared over the basket. In addition to hitting 2-of-21 from the field in the second half, the Tigers also turned the ball over eight times. 

Kalia-Hylton-Jackson was electric for Kingston in the first half, scoring 17 of her team-high 18 points. Asia LeBon scored nine points in the loss. 

The Wildcats sank 11 3-pointers, including four by leading scorer Megan Desrats (18 points). 

On Saturday, February 12, Kingston welcomed non-league opponent Bethlehem to Kate Walton Field House, falling 68-47. As was the case against Warwick, Kingston played well in the first half, trailing 30-28 at intermission. But the momentum irrevocably shifted early in the second half as the Tigers opened with five consecutive turnovers in the face of a tight press. 

LeBon (16 points) and Hylton-Jackson (14 points) led the Tigers in defeat. 

Kingston was 10-8 heading into its final home game of the regular season on Monday, February 14 when they hosted rival Newburgh Free Academy on Senior Night. 

Kingston High School boys’ basketball

It’s been a very good year for the Kingston High School varsity boys’ basketball team, but a very bad week. The Tigers lost a pair of games by a combined score of 136-86, dropping them to 12-6 on the season. 

The run opened with a visit to Warwick on Wednesday, February 9, a team the Tigers crushed 83-41 in early January. The tables were fully turned this time around, with the Wildcats winning 72-41. 

For the first time in the 2021-22 season, no Tigers scored in double digits, though Ryan McCardle and Kevin Andrade came close with nine points apiece. Nine different Kingston players scored in the game. 

Two days later, Newburgh Free Academy came to Kate Walton Field House, completing a season sweep by beating the Tigers 64-45. Kingston had no consistent answer to 6-foot-7 Goldback center Jah’Likai King, who led all scorers with 24 points. 

Andrade led the Tigers with ten points, while McCardle (7 points), Demario Smith (3 points) and Ke’montae Thawe (3 points) also pitched in. Kingston hit just 27 percent (16-for-59) from the field, and just 20 percent (5-for-25) from behind the 3-point arc. 

The Tigers will look to right the ship when Valley Central comes to town for a Senior Night battle on Tuesday, February 15. 

Kingston High School/New Paltz High School gymnastics

Kingston High School placed second with 138.8 points, and New Paltz High fifth with 52.35 points in a Section 9 state qualifier held at Ziggy’s Gymnastics Academy in Middletown on Saturday, February 12. In the first season of its varsity program, Valley Central won the tournament with 160.2 points. 

Kingston’s Alivia Gambino placed fourth all-around with 31.6 points. Gambino will compete in the uneven bars and floor exercise at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Kenmore West on Saturday, March 5. At Ziggy’s on Saturday she placed third in the uneven bars (7.8 points) and fourth in the floor exercise (8.65 points)

Valley Central’s Marlee McCullough came in first all-around with 35.05 points, winning three events outright and tying for second in the uneven bars.  

Indoor track

Area high schools competed in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association divisional championship at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Saturday, February 12. 

On the girls’ side, New Paltz High School finished second out of 32 schools with 216 points, just three points off the pace of winner Monroe-Woodbury. Kingston High School placed 17th overall with 63 points, while Onteora tied with Middletown for 24th place with 28 points. 

In the boys’ competition, New Paltz placed ninth out of 31 schools with 116 points, Kingston tied with Wallkill in 21st with 58 points, and Onteora came in 28th place with 30 points. 

Local Division I top three finishers on the girls’ side included Kingston’s Carla Bautista, who placed first in the 1,500-meter (5:22.07) and second in the 1,000-meter (3:16.25) races. Kingston’s Alexandra Coffey (3rd, 600, 1:50.92) and Paige Molyneaux (3rd, weight throw, 30-11).

The Tigers’ 4×400 relay team of Alexandra Coffey, Olivia Coffey, Ryleigh Purvis and Ellie Meyer placed second with a time of 4:44.86. Kingston also placed second in the 4×800, with Charlotte McFarland, Meyer, Maia Rich and Catalina Blazek finishing in 11:02.17. 

In Division IV, New Paltz’s Ady Laurie (2nd, 55, 7.98), Mariah Odari (3rd, 55, 8:01), Siri Walsh (2nd, 300, 46.92; 1st, triple-jump, 31-06.00), Maggie DiDonna (3rd, 300, 46.95; 2nd, 600, 1:52.35), Hannah Ettinger (1st, 1000, 3:38.55; 2nd, 1500, 5:42.39), Melanie Kniffen (2nd, 1000, 3:39.74), Flavia Drazek (1st, 1500, 5:40.78; 3rd, 55-hurdles, 10.99), Sofia Carucci (3rd, 3000, 14:05.97), Veda Keon (1st, 55-hurdles, 9.99; 1st, shot put, 27-09.50), Zlata Shmarina (3rd, long jump,13-09.75; 3rd, triple-jump, 27-00.75), Soleil Miller (1st, 1500 race walk, 10:01.39) and Sidney Mayers (2nd, 1500 race walk, 11:05.94). 

The Huguenots also placed second in the 4×200-meter relay, with Laurie, Odari, Keon and May Rogers finishing in 2:00.39. The New Paltz team of Bebe Cosgrove, Josie Quinn, Mayers and DiDonna took second in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 4:52.26. And the Huguenot girls finished first in the 4×800-meter relay, with Ettinger, Drazek, Carucci and Kniffen finishing in 11:49.13. 

Jade Belfiore turned in the Onteora girls’ best individual performance, finishing second in the Division V 1,500-meter run with a time of 6:08.61. 

The Eagles also had a strong showing in the 4×400 relay, with Ahna Fusco, Sophia Wall, Madeline Mills and Ariahni Boyd placing third with a time of 5:10.78. 

In Division I boys’ action, Kingston had top three performances from Luca Maneri (1st, 1600, 4:38.12; 2nd, 1000, 2:40.97) and Andrew Lee (3rd, 1600, 5:01.74). 

The Tigers also fared well in relays, finishing second in the 4×800 (Lee, Maneri, Zach Martinez, Lukas Paunovic) in 9:06.84, and third in the 4×200 (Jack Aberle, Chase Fromson, Tyler Longo and Peyton Lane) in 1:47.93. 

The New Paltz boys fared well in Division IV, with Alexander Peyser (1st, 300, 37.57; 2nd, 55-hurdles, 8.22), Finn Gibson (2nd, 300, 38.06; 2nd, high jump, 5-6.00), JJ Giordano (3rd, 1000, 2:58.82), Maxwell Hawkins (1st, 3200, 10:59.84; 2nd, 1600, 5:13.87), Chace Snyder (2nd, 3200, 11:17.91), Aidan Ifkovits (2nd, shot put, 36-10.00; 3rd, weight throw, 40-8.25). 

The Huguenots also placed second in the 4×800 relay, with Giordano, Snyder, Elijah Flynn and Hawkins finishing in 9:26.02. 

In Division V action, Onteora’s Trapper Van Dreason placed first in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:53.57, more than 30 seconds ahead of the competition. Marquies Treasure was the Eagles’ other top-three finisher, placing third in the long jump with a distance of 16-09.25. 

Van Dreason and Treasure ran the third and fourth leg respectively of Onteora’s third-place finish in the 4×400 relay, joining Henry Swasey and Jozus Munoz for a time of 4:35.70. 

Saugerties High School boys’ basketball

Ethan Conrad continued his season-long streak as the Saugerties High School varsity boys’ basketball team’s shining star last week, scoring 21 points in two consecutive losses. 

The first came in the form of a 78-33 loss at Wallkill on Wednesday, February 9. The Panthers have lost just once in 16 games this season, and the result was never in question against the Sawyers. Every Wallkill player scored, led by Mat Shea’s 33 points, as the home team earned its first Mid-Hudson Athletic League divisional crown in eleven seasons. 

The defeat was more modest two days later when FDR came to Saugerties, with the home team on the bottom of a 69-50 result. Conrad’s 21 points included four 3-pointers. 

The Sawyers will look to get back on the winning track when they head to Highland for non-league action on Thursday, February 17. 

Saugerties High School girls’ basketball

The Saugerties High School girls’ varsity basketball team thoroughly dominated Rondout Valley in a 62-34 home win on Thursday, February 10. 

The Sawyers were led by Sage Fanelli’s 17 points, with Molly Boek (12 points), Natalie Tucker (8 points) and Natalie Vail (8 points) also contributing. 

Next up for Saugerties is a visit to non-league opponent Newburgh Free Academy on Thursday, February 17.