Eagle Bulletin

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So a week of Section III playoff basketball is put away. None of it involved Jeremy Lin, but we managed just fine, with a fair amount of surprises, especially on the boys side.

Just look at who's left in Class D - Blessed Virgin Mary, the little school that stunned Rome Catholic and will go after Faith Heritage in the D-2 semifinals, but not Oriskany, whose 15-3 record meant absolutely nothing in a 46-44 shocker delivered by Poland.

The end result? Well, now it would be a tremendous upset if it was anybody except New York Mills and Sackets Harbor in the Carrier Dome. The Marauders dumped Stockbridge Valley by a modest 89-31 Vallley and next targets Cincinnatus, who barely got past Alex Bay. And I doubt that Poland or Otselic Valley makes the Marauders tremble, either.

Same with Sackets, the Patriots handled Old Forge 74-42 and take a 19-0 mark to the D-2 semifinal against Lyme, a team it just beat on Feb. 8, though not by a wide margin. And the upstarts of BVM now try and upend Faith Heritage, but the Saints won't let that happen....right?

In the killer Class C bracket, the roulette wheel turned against Institute of Technology Central and Pulaski. Once no. 2 in the state, the Eagles saw city rival Syracuse Academy of Science avenge two regular-season losses to get the only one that counts. The Blue Devils, just as dangerous from a no. 6 seed, had Beaver River on the ropes before a late comeback allowed the Beaver to stretch its win streak to 16.

Just as SAS got revenge against ITC, so did no. 2 seed Mohawk, atoning for its lone loss of the season to eliminate Little Falls. This leaves us with the Mohicans getting Beaver River in a terrific semifinal, while the champs from SAS challenge top seed Cooperstown, who has buried all local opposition so far, including Sauquoit Valley 70-39 in the quarterfinals.

Before the first round in Class B was done, the no. 2 (South Jefferson), 4 (Cazenovia) and 5 (Sherburne-Earlvlle) seeds were gone, and the end result were two heavy favorites and two real surprises making it to the semifinal.

In the surprise category, there's VVS. a no. 15 seed who took two trips to the north country and won them both - first South Jefferson, then General Brown. And there's Marcellus, once 0-5, who survived overtime at S-E and got a sweet quarterfinal win over long-time nemesis Westhill, ending the Warriors' three-peat quest.

At the same time, though, top seed Bishop Ludden buried Hannibal and no. 3 seed Bishop Grimes used free throws to fight past Skaneateles. So Marcellus will try to stun the Gaelic Knights and VVS will attempt the same against the Cobras. Otherwise, it's the Dome final between the Bishops everyone figured back in December.

Talk about what everyone figured - try Class A. No. 2 seed Indian River exited, courtesy of Mexico, but now the Tigers must face a Cortland side that crushed ESM behind Brandon Babcock's 33 points and 18 boards. Clear this hurdle, and the Purple Tigers are likely to get one more chance at the red-clad dynasty it has spent two years trying to topple.

That would be J-D, after an unprecedented fifth straight state title. The Red Rams did the usual to Whitesboro (Tyler Cavanaugh's 32 points helped him pass 1,000), and now gets New Hartford, who needed an overtime buzzer-beating 3 from Jordan Henderson to scrape past Utica-Notre Dame. A lot more 3s are needed for the Spartans against the mighty Rams.

In Class AA, top seed Utica Proctor needed defense to put away CBA, just as did in the 2011 semifinals. C-NS avenged an earlier loss to Oswego with a lethal 2-3 zone, one you're sure to see again when the Northstars and Raiders meet in the semifinals - can Proctor turn around C-NS's recent dominance of this series?

As Henninger was drilling West Genesee, there was F-M, absent seven suspended players, still rallying in the second half to take out Nottingham as John Schurman and Tomer Nesher combined for 48. They might need to do that again if the Hornets want to avenge an early-January defeat to the defending champion Black Knights, who have won 11 in a row.

While all this was going on, they got started on the girls side, too, without a whole lot of upheaval, which sets up quite a set of semifinals.

And none are better than what you'll get in Class B-1. On one side, it's unbeaten Westhill trying to beat a very tough Bishop Ludden for a third time. On the other side, merely Utica-Notre Dame (no. 2 in the state) against South Jefferson (no. 5 in the state), a game good enough for a regional final, but happening far earlier in the process.

On the B-2 undercard, Sherburne-Earlville defends its top seed against Skaneateles, who ended the fabulous high-school career of Molly Hourigan at Jordan-Elbridge, while Hannibal, who has regrouped following a mid-season slump, draws Adirondack. Again, we'll see if the OHSL Liberty teams are too strong for their Center State Conference counterparts.

Liverpool went through all that trouble - a furious comeback against CBA, overtime, a Marisa Romeo shot at the buzzer that did everything but go through the net - only to get, in the Class AA semifinals, that team from CNS that just dropped Rome Free Academy by 64 (no, that's not an error). At least the other semi, between F-M and West Genesee, should be close, physical and tense.

J-D, in pursuit of its first sectional title in 14 years on the girls side, easily handled Whitesboro and will get, in the Class A semis, Carthage, who had to really battle to knock off Indian River. Cortland's Maggie Brown dropped 31 points on ESM, so no. 2 seed New Hartford, who was less than impressive taking out Mexico, knows it must play better to contain Brown and the Purple Tigers.

In the split Class C drama, a brutal C-2 side sees unbeaten Weedsport put 19-0 on the line in the semis against West Canada, with Brittany LaForce 10 points short of 1,000. The other semifinal pits a balanced, deep Cooperstown squad against Fabius-Pompey, and if anyone doubted the defending champs' intentions, they were silenced when Stevie Ray scored 38, with eight 3-pointers, against LaFayette.

All of that (especially the possibility of a Weedsport vs. F-P grudge match in the C-2 final) makes C-1 seem relatively tame. But Watertown IHC does not want to give up its crown, having stunned Onondaga so it could get a semifinal against no. 2 seed Little Falls. Quietly, top seed Thousand Islands disposed of Sauquoit Valley, and will meet Herkimer after the Magicians edged Tully.

Finally, there's Class D, and the two favorites, Hamilton and Oriskany, did not slip in the quarterfinals. So in the semis, the threepeat-seeking Emerald Knights draw Poland, who hammered New York Mills and cannot be taken lightly. Same is true with Oriskany against Alex Bay, whose 69-33 romp of Rome Catholic suggests a good battle in the next round.