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Courtside
By
RICHARD A. ROSS
NARROWSBURG, NY — While the postal
service can brave the weather and claim that, “Neither
snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night shall
stay these couriers from their appointed rounds,”
such is not the case with the playing of scheduled
scholastic basketball games. Sleet, ice and snow disrupted
the busy pre-holiday schedule this past week leaving
athletic directors scrambling to find places in the
dense calendars of January and February to fit in
the games that the weather had put asunder.
This week’s comprehensive winter
sports recap column features many games played in
the more temperate climate zone of Orange County while
the gyms in Sullivan County were populated only by
janitorial staffs catching up on evening maintenance
and floor polishing.
The majority of basketball action begins
in earnest after the holidays with teams going into
their dense league schedules. Gone will be many of
the tournaments featuring unusual cross-divisional
match-ups. A number of these tournaments were casualties
of the early winter onslaught.
Despite the abbreviated schedules,
some teams have already made their presence felt.
Count among these the S.S. Seward boys’ team
that is currently undefeated at 5-0. Featuring the
noteworthy play of Mike Hoyt, the Spartans are going
to be a handful for many OCIAA Division V teams. Eldred
will get a look at Hoyt as S.S. Seward rolls into
Eldred this week. Another team that has had early
success is the James I. O’Neill boys’
team that is also undefeated at this juncture.
In early season action, Liberty has
shown its prowess by notching a 6-0 record thus far.
The athletic dexterity of point guard/shooting guard
Andrea Terbush has catapulted the Indians to the top
of Division IV of the OCIAA. Other local girls’
teams showing promise in the young season include
Livingston Manor, Roscoe, John S. Burke Catholic,
Newburgh and Minisink Valley.
If mother nature manages to intersperse
some days with clearer skies amidst the cycle of wintry
mix, the gyms will be steaming with heated action
despite the frigid temperatures outside.
Eldred
JV wrestling becomes a force
By
RICHARD A. ROSS
ELDRED, NY — While varsity sports
capture the headlines and space on the scholastic
sports pages, something significant and powerful is
happening in the world of junior varsity sports at
Eldred Central School. Eldred began its wrestling
program three years ago at the modified level. The
junior varsity program began last year and is now
in its second full year. Next year, Eldred will field
a varsity team.
Despite the fact that the junior varsity
program is only in its second year, the team shows
great promise. This past week Eldred wrestled against
perennial powerhouse Minisink Valley winning five
out of the 14 matches even though this was Eldred’s
first meet of the year. Minisink, on the other hand,
had already been competing this year. Even in the
matches Minisink Valley won, Eldred was extremely
competitive. Bad weather had cancelled a number of
Eldred’s practices this winter, which made the
performance against Minisink Valley that much more
impressive.
Kevin Derr coaches the Yellowjackets.
Coach Derr brings great personal experience to his
job. He started wrestling at age five and was a member
of the Johnson City team, which has been in the top
10 in the state since 1982. His partner in high school
was New York State’s champion in 1994. Kevin’s
dad, Ken Derr, was an assistant coach at Johnson City
but left when Kevin was in eighth grade.
Coach Derr has five returnees from
last year’s JV. These include Corey Proscia,
Patrick Sullivan, Charles Chandler, Tim Hallock and
Kevin Dunning. At the meet against Minisink Valley,
newcomer Nick Whitman pinned his man in his first
match. Kieran Pierce, coming off a fine cross-country
season, was also victorious as was Jeremy DeForge.
This year the Eldred team is basically
following Liberty’s schedule and wrestling the
same teams that Liberty competes with in the OCIAA.
These will include Ellenville, Port Jervis, Onteora
and Millbrook. They will also face powerful Minisink
Valley a few more times.
Next year, Eldred will break into the
varsity competition. In the new format, small schools
and large schools will be grouped separately for state
competition. Coach Derr is confident that Eldred will
be sending a couple of wrestlers to States.
Eldred faces Liberty and Newburgh this
week on November 18 at Liberty High School.
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