2023 New York State Tournaments

[LI13]

Never too early to preview the state tournament fields. I'll start with Class A.

Upstate

format: 3 v 4, 5 v 6...winners to semis, often referred to as the "upstate final"

Baldwinsville appears the favorite to reach the title game again. They took an upset loss to West Genny last week, but the Wildcats are now in Class B. Their closest challenger in section 3 is CNS. Baldwinsville defeated CNS on the road 11-7 on April 18, and CNS makes a return trip this week. The Bees also have a home game with B frontrunner Victor on Saturday, which could serve as a measuring stick.

Should they win the section, Baldwinsville's road to the state final would continue against the Section 4 champ. There are only three Class A teams in Section 4 and traditional power Corning is the best of them. But the Hawks have taken 5 losses and don't appear to be a threat to make a deep run in the tournament.

Over in Rochester, Section 5 Class A looks to be very competitive between McQuaid Jesuit, Pittsford, Rush-Henrietta, and Penfield. Recent power Fairport also is lurking. I think it's likely that any of these teams would be an underdog against Baldwinsville, but Section 5 teams usually represent very well in the state tournament.

The winner of Section 5 will cruise into the semis because Section 6 has only 3 remaining Class A teams, none of which is remotely competitive. Traditional winners like Orchard Park and Clarence are now B schools.

Overall, Baldwinsville is the favorite with the Section 5 schools and CNS as potential challengers.

Downstate

Format - 8 v 11, 1 v 2 v 9 (not sure who gets "bye" to quarters this year)...winners to semis, "downstate final"

On Long Island, both sections include several competitors. In Suffolk, Ward Melville remains the favorite. The Patriots remain undefeated in the league and have already beaten main challenger Connetquot. They have only lost to Garden City and Chaminade. But Connetquot, Northport, and even a dark horse like Hills or Huntington could upset things in the Suffolk A tournament.

In Nassau, the champ will come from the same four schools that battled to a series of one-goal games last year: Port Washington, Massapequa, Farmingdale, and Syosset. None of these teams appear to be as strong as they were last year, but any of them can win the Nassau A title. Suffolk's champion is likely to be the favorite to beat whoever comes out of this group, however.

In Section 1, defending champ Scarsdale is the favorite, but Mamaroneck is right on their heels. The two teams have yet to play. Greeley and North Rockland have compiled impressive records playing weaker schedules. They could be threats in the sectional tournament.

In Section 2, traditional power Shenendehowa and Shaker are the two best teams. Shaker prevailed 8-4 in their regular season meeting. These two will probably meet again for the sectional title. Shenendehowa has already beaten Mamaroneck. I would expect the eventual Section 1 vs Section 2 game to be close regardless of who comes out of these sections, but the ultimate winner will probably be a substantial underdog to the Long Island champ.

[WaffleTwineFaceoff]

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing your insights.

[JoeMauer89]

LI13,

Do Class B/C/D!!

Thanks!

Joe

[thedisciple516]

One person's B and C predictions for what it's worth

Class B

West - Victor is the favorite upstate and it's doubtful anyone is touching them. This team is unbelievably talented (10 D1 commits on the roster including 2 to Cornell, and 1 each to Georgetown, Maryland and Syracuse). They'll also be out to avenge last year's incredibly dissapointing loss in the sectional finals. If the West Genesee team that beat Baldwinsville shows up it's possible they win but Victor might be the best team in the state besides St. Anthony's.

East - It doesn't look like it's the best year on Long Island for the B's. Garden City is the favorite and of course very good but it's not their best squad. Nobody in Westchester looks too scary. Niskayuna is back to where they were after a few down years (win over Baldwinsville) and has a solid chance of making to the final.

Prediction - Victor over Niskayuna (could just as easily be the Garden City/Long Island Champ)

Class C

West- Very weak year West/upstate for C's. Jamesville-Dewitt is the favorite but they are inconsistent. They're better than recent years but not back to the juggernaut days of the last decade. They crushed West Genny and kept it somewhat close vs. Victor but got killed by unimpressive Horesheads. Vestal out of Section 4 is having one of their better years and could spring the upset.

East - Long Island is loaded and whoever wins the Island takes states. Rye is decent but not enough and there is nothing out of Section 2. We'll randomly go with Mt. Sinai (just to break up the Manhasset championship monopoly) but it could just as easily be 'Set, BBP or SWR.

Prediction - Mt. Sinai over Jamesville-Dewitt

Class D

West - Whoever makes it out of Section 3 is the favorite. It looks to be either Marcellus or Skaneateles but Westhill and Lafayette can't be counted out. Marcellus has their best team in a long time and are slight favorites but they're nothing amazing.

East - Pleasantville is looking very impressive (especially with their win over SWR) and is the favorite. Cold Spring Harbor has the experience and tougher schedule and could very easily beat them though. Let's go with Pleasantville to finally break through.

Prediction - Pleasantville over Marcellus

Class A thoughts - - Despite a few hiccups Baldwinsville is the favorite. There is nothing in Section 1 or 2 that should stop the Long Island Champ but you never know.

Prediction - Ward Melville over Baldwinsville

[kr522]

Interesting takes, thanks for sharing the info guys. Not sure which Manhasset monopoly you refer to….i don’t count 1 in a row as a monopoly It will definitely be a battle royale to get off the island in C this year

Btw does anyone know the score in Victor vs Baldwinsville?

[JoeMauer89]

Interesting takes, thanks for sharing the info guys. Not sure which Manhasset monopoly you refer to….i don’t count 1 in a row as a monopoly It will definitely be a battle royale to get off the island in C this year

Btw does anyone know the score in Victor vs Baldwinsville?

Baldwinsville 7 Victor 6 Final.

Joe

[LI13]

Interesting takes, thanks for sharing the info guys. Not sure which Manhasset monopoly you refer to….i don’t count 1 in a row as a monopoly It will definitely be a battle royale to get off the island in C this year

Btw does anyone know the score in Victor vs Baldwinsville?

Baldwinsville 7 Victor 6 Final.

Joe

Class A finally got a big win against a top B/C team!

[fordmaddoxford]

It took 2 late goals to do it. Down 6-5 B’ville forced a turnover in their defensive end and tied it with 1:30 left. Got the winner with 1.9 sec. on the clock. Victor outshot them by more than 2 to 1.

[kr522]

Interesting takes, thanks for sharing the info guys. Not sure which Manhasset monopoly you refer to….i don’t count 1 in a row as a monopoly It will definitely be a battle royale to get off the island in C this year

Btw does anyone know the score in Victor vs Baldwinsville?

Baldwinsville 7 Victor 6 Final.

Joe

Class A finally got a big win against a top B/C team!

I love that you’re cheering for Goliath

[fordmaddoxford]

Nisky just lost to Mahopac soooo… yeah.

[LI13]

Interesting takes, thanks for sharing the info guys. Not sure which Manhasset monopoly you refer to….i don’t count 1 in a row as a monopoly It will definitely be a battle royale to get off the island in C this year

Btw does anyone know the score in Victor vs Baldwinsville?

Baldwinsville 7 Victor 6 Final.

Joe

Class A finally got a big win against a top B/C team!

I love that you’re cheering for Goliath

At this point Class A is basically David!

[LI13]

Nisky just lost to Mahopac soooo… yeah.

Shocking result based on everything known about the two programs for the last 20 years or so.

[LI13]

And so we begin. Suffolk brackets here: http://www.sectionxi.org/TOUR/BLAX.htm

[Farfromgeneva]

Got a friend from childhood who has a FR at “lowly” section 4 class D Owego Free Academy. Know the combo is weak and the team isn’t great but he’s young and could be an outlier (mom is out of her mind but she was when we ran around anyways so nothing new).

So…if anyone hits any games up there and noticed a kid named Sawyer Prentiss I’d love to hear offline any thoughts. Being in the south and parents gone I never get to see or hear much from CNY anymore.

[wahoomurf]

I remember when you'd pencil in either West Genesee or Ward Melville as the NYS A Champion. Back then.one could argue that Fayetteville-Manlius was likely the 3rd or 4th best A team in the state. Tom Hall et al had a tough time beating W.G.

Corning East,Penn Yan and Irondequoit were always in the thick of things. For a while Cazenovia was formidable.Has Carthage won an NYS Championship yet?

Change is good IMHO.

[thedisciple516]

I remember when you'd pencil in either West Genesee or Ward Melville as the NYS A Champion. Back then.one could argue that Fayetteville-Manlius was likely the 3rd or 4th best A team in the state. Tom Hall et al had a tough time beating W.G.

Corning East,Penn Yan and Irondequoit were always in the thick of things. For a while Cazenovia was formidable.Has Carthage won an NYS Championship yet?

Change is good IMHO.

Nope Carthage in a sad state. Goes to show how much coaching matters (all of the schools you mentioned have different coaches from the glory days I think)

[Farfromgeneva]

I remember when you'd pencil in either West Genesee or Ward Melville as the NYS A Champion. Back then.one could argue that Fayetteville-Manlius was likely the 3rd or 4th best A team in the state. Tom Hall et al had a tough time beating W.G.

Corning East,Penn Yan and Irondequoit were always in the thick of things. For a while Cazenovia was formidable.Has Carthage won an NYS Championship yet?

Change is good IMHO.

Nope Carthage in a sad state. Goes to show how much coaching matters (all of the schools you mentioned have different coaches from the glory days I think)

Also feels like time given population and migration issues in the state of NY to restructure the class system across the board. I recall when I was up there hung moved into a AA class they experimented with but schools would drop in and out on enrollment threshold.

Doc Pg 7 here

https://www.nysac.org/files/NYSAC%20Pop ... 202020.pdf

[wahoomurf]

The Ray Enners award is given to the most outstanding player in college lacrosse.He played at Half Hollow Hills EAST H.S. on Long Island before going to the U.S. Military Academy where he Captained the Army lacrosse team.He lost his life leading his men in the Vietnam war.Enners was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his heroism.

There are two High Schools in the HHH District- EAST and WEST. As mentioned lt. Enners played at HHH East.Due to a lack of interest,there is now ONE lacrosse team in the district. Both HHH East and HHH West high schools fund teams in other sports. JUST NOT LACROSSE,

Perhaps lacrosse continues to be the fastest growing sport in America.Obviously not everywhere.Funding 2 lacrosse teams when there's little interest makes sense.

[Kismet]

The Ray Enners award is given to the most outstanding player in college lacrosse.He played at Half Hollow Hills EAST H.S. on Long Island before going to the U.S. Military Academy where he Captained the Army lacrosse team.He lost his life leading his men in the Vietnam war.Enners was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his heroism.

There are two High Schools in the HHH District- EAST and WEST. As mentioned lt. Enners played at HHH East.Due to a lack of interest,there is now ONE lacrosse team in the district. Both HHH East and HHH West high schools fund teams in other sports. JUST NOT LACROSSE,

Perhaps lacrosse continues to be the fastest growing sport in America.Obviously not everywhere.Funding 2 lacrosse teams when there's little interest makes sense.

Enners played when there was one high school. At the time he played they only moved into the East building for his senior season in 1962. The original HS building then became Burrs Lane JHS and was subsequently sold to a private college when enrollments began to decline.

Enners nickname at Hills was "The Machine".

Ironically, that was the last time HHH even smelled a title winning the Long Island Championship from, maybe Manhasset? or East Meadow.
T-Birds have been to a title game since then 60+ years. The coach at HHH back then was Bill Martens who also taught AP American History. He later enjoyed much more lacrosse success as an assistant at Ward Melville (he lived in Setauket) when HHH showed him the door after the 1969 season. His team that year was favored to take the LI Championship but lost to Huntington in the Suffolk semis whom they had beaten easily in the regular season.

My sources tell me its a lot of intra-town bad blood rather than total lack of interest. Enrollment also has to be a contributor as well.

[wahoomurf]

The Ray Enners award is given to the most outstanding player in college lacrosse.He played at Half Hollow Hills EAST H.S. on Long Island before going to the U.S. Military Academy where he Captained the Army lacrosse team.He lost his life leading his men in the Vietnam war.Enners was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his heroism.

There are two High Schools in the HHH District- EAST and WEST. As mentioned lt. Enners played at HHH East.Due to a lack of interest,there is now ONE lacrosse team in the district. Both HHH East and HHH West high schools fund teams in other sports. JUST NOT LACROSSE,

Perhaps lacrosse continues to be the fastest growing sport in America.Obviously not everywhere.Funding 2 lacrosse teams when there's little interest makes sense.

Enners played when there was one high school. At the time he played they only moved into the East building for his senior season in 1962. The original HS building then became Burrs Lane JHS and was subsequently sold to a private college when enrollments began to decline.

Enners nickname at Hills was "The Machine".

Ironically, that was the last time HHH even smelled a title winning the Long Island Championship from, maybe Manhasset? or East Meadow.
T-Birds have been to a title game since then 60+ years. The coach at HHH back then was Bill Martens who also taught AP American History. He later enjoyed much more lacrosse success as an assistant at Ward Melville (he lived in Setauket) when HHH showed him the door after the 1969 season. His team that year was favored to take the LI Championship but lost to Huntington in the Suffolk semis whom they had beaten easily in the regular season.

My sources tell me its a lot of intra-town bad blood rather than total lack of interest. Enrollment also has to be a contributor as well.

You are obvious tuned more than me.Yet I remain curious why in spite of the bad-blood, both schools have the resources and student interest to support hoops,FB,Baseball etc. I have 3 cousins that graduated from HH West.Those ladies didn't participate in sports....music and academics were their metier.All 3 had a great experience at HHH West.

BTW Ray Enners' HOF plaque indicates he graduated from HHH EAST.