Daily Sports Digest: Tappan Zee, Pearl River Head To Johnson City For Regionals

The undefeated Tappan Zee boys basketball team will take its 22 game winning streak to Johnson City High School to take on Section 4 champion Seton Catholic Central (16-4) in the first round of the state playoffs at 7:45 p.m.

The Saints are not known as great team away from home as they are only 4-4 on neutral courts this season, but Seton Catholic has been on their A-Game in the New Year, winning 11 of its last 12 contests. The team’s starting point guard, senior John Martin, is battling an ankle injury and he missed the Section 4 Championship against Maine-Endwell, which Seaton Catholic won 41-38.

Tappan Zee has also been hit by the injury bug late in the season as center Brendan Donahue missed the  with a sprained ankle. It is currently unknown if either Martin or Donahue will be on the court for tonight’s Regional Semifinal, but Tappan Zee Head Coach George Gaine called Donahue's ankle sprain "severe" after Sunday's championship game. 

Tommy Torto will be on the court for the Saints and the 6-foot-2 senior currently leads the team averaging nearly 17 points per game. Torto is the most consistent scorer on the team and if he gets things going early the Dutchmen could be sent home with a loss.

The Saints are a tall team who play tough man to man defense and if Donahue misses the game it could hurt the team and cause matchup problems, but if the Dutchmen can continue to play mistake free basketball they should advance.

Prediction: Tappan Zee Wins 55-50

Pearl River Girls Open State Tournament Play

Before the Tappan Zee boys take the court at Johnson City, the Pearl River girls (20-2) will play Section 4 champ Owego (13-6) on that very same floor at 6 p.m. tonight. Check out a preview here. 

Just like a number of teams Pearl River has faced this season, Owego has the size to give the Pirates trouble in a half-court game. The Indians' offense revolves around 6-foot-3 sophomore center Rachel Merrill, who averages 16 points and 11 rebonds per game. 

Pearl River simply hasn't allowed many teams to play in the half court, disrupting the opposition with its press and creating opportunities with turnovers. That is how Pearl River beat a much bigger Tappan Zee team in the Section 1 championship game, forcing 30 turnovers. Expect the Pirates to try to do more of the same against Owego.

The level of competition the teams played is also a key. Pearl River is currently ranked No. 2 in the state by the New York State Sportswriter's Association and took two of three from No. 5 Tappan Zee and swept three meetings from No. 9 Albertus Magnus. No Class A teams from Section 4 cracked the most recent top 20, though Owego did play Binghamton, the No. 2 team in Class AA, taking an ugly loss. 

Pearl River's other loss came against undefeated Section 1 Class AA champion Ossining, the No. 3 team in the state rankings. 

Pearl River's pressure defense and experience should be enough.

Prediction: Pearl River wins, 50-35.

Got pictures?

With many of the local teams venturing far out of the area for state playoff games, Patch would love to see pictures from readers attending the regional contests and beyond. Here are  for you to add your best photos and/or videos. You can also email Pearl River Patch Editor Ryan Buncher directly at ryan.buncher@patch.com.

Today’s Schedule

In girls basketball,  to take on Section 4’s Owego in the Class A Regional Semifinals at 6 p.m.

In boys basketball, The Class A Regional Semifinals tip off tonight when Tappan Zee will take on Section 4’s Seton Catholic at Johnson City High School at 7:45 p.m.

In boys basketball, The Class C Regional Semifinals begin as Tuckahoe will host Section 9’s Pine Plains at the Westchester County Center at 4:45 p.m.

In boys basketball, The Class D Regional Semifinals will start off when Greenburgh Academy hosts Section 9’s Livingston Manor at the Westchester County Center at 4:45 p.m.

In girls basketball, Section 9’s Highland will play Irvington at the Westchester County Center in the Class B Regional Semifinals at 8:15 p.m.

In girls basketball, Hamilton will host Section 9’s Coleman Catholic at the Westchester County Center at 6:30 p.m. in the Class C Regional Semifinals.

College Sports Notebook

Will The Gaels Be Dancing?

Tim Cluess and his Iona Gaels put together one of the best regular seasons in the college’s history going 25-7 and 15-3 in conference, however it may not be enough to land the Gaels in the field of 68.

After winning the regular season in the MAAC and finishing first in the country in points and assists per game the Gaels fell to Fairfield in the conference tournament’s semifinals. 

Fairfield went on to lose in the conference championship to Loyola giving the Greyhounds the automatic bid into the tournament and putting Iona’s fate in the selection committee’s hands.

In ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s most recent break down he has the Gaels as one of his “next four out” with fellow mid-majors VCU and St. Joseph’s in favor of schools in bigger conferences like Northwestern, Texas and Seton Hall.

The selection committee will be announcing this year’s field on Sunday afternoon. 

Daniels twins, Huskies upset Boston

The Northeastern University men’s hockey team closed out a disappointing season in uplifting fashion as junior Vinny Saponari of Powder Springs, GA, provided overtime heroics in a 5-4 victory over No. 4 Boston University at Matthews Arena.

Saponari scored 2:35 into overtime to force the Terriers to take the No. 3 seed in the Hockey East Tournament.

Northeastern’s season finale yielded a total of 54 combined penalty minutes as each club went 1-for-7 on the power play.

Drew Daniels of Suffern, a junior forward, set up the Huskies’ power-play goal for his seventh assist of the season.

Identical twin brother Justin Daniels, also a forward, compiled seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 33 games.

Northeastern finishes its season with an overall mark of 13-16-5 and a Hockey East record of 9-14-4. The Huskies tied for eighth place in the league with Massachusetts.

Mortarboard musings

• After a tightly contested three periods of regulation, St. Lawrence upended the No. 8 Harvard University women’s hockey team, 2-1, at Lynah Rink in Ithaca in the ECAC semifinals. Harvard finishes with a record of 22-9-1 on the year to go along with a 17-4-1 ECAC mark. St. Lawrence (23-9-4, 14-6-2 ECAC) advances to the ECAC final, where it will meet host Cornell for the league title. Junior defenseman Josephine Pucci of Pearl River had 21 points on the season for Harvard, on five goals and 16 assists in 27 games.
• The Manhattan College baseball fell at No. 20 Maryland at College Park, MD.  Manhattan (1-7) looks to regroup on Wednesday when the Jaspers visit Seton Hall at 3:30 p.m. The Jaspers travel to North Carolina this weekend for a three-game series with High Point that begins on Friday at 4 p.m. Senior right-hander Mike Giordano of Bedford and Fox Lane HS has a 3.27 ERA in two games for the Jaspers, while Mike Scarinci of Nanuet and Pearl River HS has an ERA of 9.00 in two appearances as a rookie right-hander. Also are on the staff are sophomore righty Connor Bacalles of New City and Clarkstown South, and sophomore righty Jared Hirschberg of Katonah and John Jay.
• The Westchester Community College women’s basketball season came to an end when third-seeded Suffolk sank a last-second shot to upset the Vikings, 50-48, in the semifinals of the NJCAA Region XV Championship at New Roc City. The men’s team also ended it season with a loss to top-seeded Monroe, 71-47, in the Region XV semisemifinals at Monroe’s arena in New Roc City.
• Greg Black led the Westchester CC men’s bowling team at the NJCAA National championship at AMF Thruway Lanes in Buffalo. Black, an alum of Tuckahoe High, had a total pinfall of 1,713. On the women’s side, Britanya Crow, a graduate of Blessed Sacrament and Francesca Thompson of Pleasantville rolled 847 to finish 17th in the doubles event. Crow placed 40th in the all-events competition.

Weekly Sports Poll

This week’s poll deals with the New York Jets and quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Peyton Manning. If you were sitting in General Manager Mike Tannenbaum’s chair would you make a hard push for the NFL’s only four-time MVP, would you ride out the turbulence with the Sanchize, or would you bring in Manning to mentor Sanchez in his fourth year in the league?

Let your voice be heard in our .