Men’s Swimming
Fan favorite Michael Phelps returns for what may be his last Olympic cycle to compete in five events. Phelps collected eight medals in the 2004 games in Athens and another eight in Beijing, winning more individual medals than any other athlete at both games. He holds the records for most gold medals won at a single Games (eight) and highest total gold medals won by a single athlete (14). At 16 individual medals overall, Phelps is just three away from breaking Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina’s record for the most individual Olympic medals of any athlete in history.

Women’s Swimming
Missy Franklin, 17, qualified for her first Olympics this year. Though she’s new to the Games, Franklin has entered the swimming world with a splash; at the 2012 Olympic trials, she broke Team USA veteran Natalie Coughlin’s American record in the 100-meter backstroke. She took her first five international medals home in the 2011 World Championships, competing alongside Coughlin, and broke two world records in 2011.

Men’s Track & Field
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, five-time world champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist, is considered easily the fastest man in the world. He currently holds the international records for both the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Before Bolt, the U.S.’s own Tyson Gay held the 100-meter sprint title. Gay, with three world golds under his belt, has one of the most decorated records in running history but has yet to medal at an Olympic Games. He’ll be looking to change that this summer when he faces Bolt.

Women’s Track & Field
Carmelita Jeter, a sprinter who specializes in the 100-meter dash, is the second-fastest woman to ever compete in the event, topping Marion Jones’ best time and nearing the all-time world record held by Florence Griffith-Joyner since 1987. Jeter currently holds three of the 10 best times in history run by a female athlete in the 100-meter race. At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Jeter finished first in the event and will head to London this summer to go for the gold.

Men’s Wrestling
Jordan Burroughs, a freestyle wrestler from New Jersey, boasts a competition record that speaks for itself: the up-and-comer has won every tournament he has entered in the last three years. Claiming the top spot in the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 Pan American games and the 2011 NCAA Championship, Burroughs became the fourth wrestler in history to win both the world and NCAA titles in a single year.

Women’s Beach Volleyball
Many in the sports world have deemed dynamic duo Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor the greatest beach volleyball team of all time. The pair competed together in the 2004 and 2008 summer Olympics, taking home the gold both times. May-Treanor is also the most successful current women’s beach volleyball player in the world, holding 110 individual championship wins in national and international competitions.

Women’s Tennis
Superstar sisters Serena and Venus Williams will compete alongside each other after a strong year in competition. Both women have held the title of No. 1 female tennis player in the world several times in the last 10 years and have continued to dominate international tournaments, including this month’s Wimbledon.

Men’s Basketball
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James has been the center of attention in the world of men’s basketball since he became the No. 1 NBA draft pick in 2003 at age 18. In 2008, the guard/forward helped lead Team USA to victory, securing the team gold in the Beijing summer Games. The American basketball legend will aim for a repeat show this year in London.

Women’s Soccer
31-year-old Abby Wambach led the U.S. women’s soccer team to a gold medal victory in Athens 2004, but missed the opportunity to compete in Beijing four years later due to a leg injury. Having come back strong in 2011 to compete in her third FIFA Women’s World Cup, scoring 13 goals to become the U.S.’s lead scorer in the tournament, Wambach will get another shot in London this summer.

Read More About the Summer Olympics!

• An Olympic Love Story
• Greg Louganis Q&A 
• Olympic Sprinters Trained in Central Park

NBA star Tony Parker to sue the W.i.P club in New York for $20 million after bottle-smashing brawl left him with a risky eye injury.

by Laurent Berstecher

San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker may not be able to lead the French basketball team in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics on account of of an eye injury. Parker was hit in the eye by a piece of glass during a brawl between rappers Drake and Chris Brown’s entourages at the W.i.P nightclub in SoHo earlier this month.

Parker, who initially declared he was fine after the incident, recently revealed that he had to go through extensive surgery to remove a shard of glass that had penetrated 99% of his left eye. “I almost lost my eye,” said Parker, who is currently confined to his hotel room to prevent infections. Parker will have to wait until July 5th to go see a specialist in NYC, who will determine whether he is fit to play in the London Olympics. In the meantime, ‘TP’ has joined the rest of the French squad in Pau, but has yet to start training. London looks uncertain for Parker, who is already forfeit for France’s next four preparation games. However, the injury still appears to be relatively benign, and does not pose a threat to Parker’s career with the San Antonio Spurs.

Tony Parker may have avoided the worse, but it was a close call. Too close perhaps, as TP has decided to sue the W.i.P nightclub for $20 million. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Manhattan’s State Supreme Court. The club is accused of being negligent, as they let the two rappers inside despite their conflictual history, and continued serving them alcohol even after both parties were “clearly intoxicated.” W.i.P was also suspected of being understaffed that night, which made it harder to control the situation. Parker’s lawyer said they were waiting for the police investigation to determine whether Drake and Brown should be added as defendants.

According to TMZ, the club responded to the allegations, saying that Drake and Brown were let in because they were not particularly known to be prone to violence. In addition, W.i.P claims to have been adequately staffed, as 15 security guards were present that night. Basically, not their fault.

Tony Parker did certainly risk a major career upset in this incident, one that could have cost him a lot more than $20 million. However, it seems that, by suing the club for negligence, Parker and his lawyer are simply looking for a scapegoat. Can a club really be held accountable for the behavior of its customers? Shouldn’t the person who actually injured Parker be charged instead?

Perhaps the most convincing accusation is that organizers continued selling large quantities of alcohol to both Drake and Brown’s entourages, even though they visibly had enough. But really, imagine that you own a nightclub. When you sell a bottle for $500 net profit, it’s hard to stop. You might even be tempted to say “go ahead and break it’ I’ll bring you a new one” (evil genius smirk, rotating chair and cat-petting included.) Even more so if the clients are famous. If you cut them off, you’ll soon find yourself boycotted by all those slightly alcoholic celebs who don’t appreciate being told when they’ve had enough.

In the end, there is one question that really jumps out of all this: If there really was bad blood between the rappers, if everybody knew about it and it was public knowledge, if the two should have been denied entry and open bar, if they were wasted, if the situation was bound to escalate, and if he had the Olympics in a few weeks… Why the hell didn’t TP just go to another nightclub?

The Tribeca Film Festival "Drive In" Movie Experience (Photo: Tribeca Film Festival)

In what has become an annual rite of passage for aspiring indie filmmakers, the Tribeca Film Festival – founded by Robert Di Nero, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in an effort to re-vitalize a Tribeca community that had been shaken by the events and aftermath of September 11, 2001 returns for its 11th incarnation. Playing host to Hollywood A-Listers and philanthropists and celebrities from across the globe, this year’s festival will feature 90 feature film selections (documentaries and narrative) as well as 60 shorts from 45 countries. Additionally, the festival will play host to a plethora of public programs aimed at engaging the New York and International community in a celebration of art and culture.

With so much to do and see, it’s worth considering how the festival is seen by the average Downtown New Yorker. There will be plenty of fodder for the pretentious crowd, but for the “average” New Yorker, there’s still plenty to do and see that’ll keep you both interested and involved in the festival’s happenings without things seeming foreign.

Thurs. 4/19 – FREE Tribeca Drive-In Outdoor Screening: JAWS

Tribeca Drive-In, World Financial Center, 200 Vesey St. #11 (off North End Ave.), tribecafilm.com; 8 p.m.

One of the best parts of the Tribeca Film Festival has to be the “drive in” shows. They’re a throwback to a time when movies and people weren’t so stuck on special effects and HD. More then that, though, they’re a reminder that people used to actually like being entertained together. Jaws is a classic by any standard, and the perfect ice-breaker for a date or spot to unwind with your friends on a cool April night.

Fri. 4/20 – FREE Tribeca Drive-In Outdoor Screening: The Goonies

World Financial Center Upper & Lower Plaza, 200 Vesey St. #11 (off North End Ave.), 6 p.m.

“Heyyyy you guys!” come and celebrate one of the most beloved 80’s movies of all time under the stars. The Goonies chronicles the child-gang of Data, Chunk, Mikey and Mouth seek to reclaim their home, “The Goon Docks” from Real Estate tycoons by following an ancient map to “One Eyed Willie” and his treasure. With early performances by afro-jazz pioneers NOMO, and a “truffle shuffle” contest, you won’t want to be left behind!

Sat. 4/21 – ESPN Films: Beyond the Playing Field 

SVA Theatre 2 Beatrice, 333 W. 23rd St (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), tribecafilm.com; 2:30 p.m.,  $16.

ESPN has been an industry leader in sports television, and has helped to re-define the genre of sports film. It should be no surprise, therefore, that on the heels of their highly successful 30 for 30 series, ESPN continues to venture “outside the lines” bringing into focus the trials and triumphs of some of the world’s greatest female athletes.

FREE “KICK IT”: 2nd Annual NYFest Soccer Day

Pier 40, Hudson River Park, 353 West St. (off Houston St.), tribecafilm.com; 9 a.m.)

It doesn’t matter what your age is. Whether you call it futbal, soccer, or ‘the most popular sport on Earth’ – all that matters is that you love the game. This day long event, sponsored by NYFEST and the Tribeca Film Festival, will feature celebrities, film and media professionals, and pro. athletes as they celebrate soccer with skills clinics, games and competitions, and street team soccer demonstrations.

Sun. 4/22 FREE Pen to Paper

Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St. (betw. Broadway & Park Ave. S.), tribecafilms.com; 1 p.m.

This discussion carries an enormous amount of relevance today: with the tremendous success of book-to-film adaptations like Harry Potter and Hunger Games, this expert panel will discuss the art of turning a successful book into a blockbuster film. You’ll learn what translates successfully, what won’t carry over, and where the industry as a whole is headed in the future.

Mon. 4/23 Jackpot

We’ve all wondered what would happen if we won it big. But what about winning it just big enough? In this film, it’s a wakeup call as Oscar Svendsen comes to over a dead body and a room full of corpses in what used to be a respectable strip club. Naturally, he’s taken in, and when questioned, reveals how a winning soccer lottery prize that was supposed to be shared wound up destroying everything.

Tues. 4/24 Deadfall

Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 5, 260 W. 23rd St. (at 8th Ave.), tribecafilm.com; 6:30 p.m., $16.

What happens when casino-robbing siblings on the run forCanadacross paths with a troubled boxer just released from prison? It’s a classic tale of morality and redemption, and Deadfall promises to provide all of the action and suspense without any of theHollywoodclichés we’re all so used to.

Wed. 4/25 FREE Short Films, Big Ideas

Tribeca Cinemas Theatre 2, 54 Varick St. (at Laight St.), tribecafilms.com; 3 p.m.

Three short films might change your perspective on the capabilities of people. It may not seem miraculous to discover a facility that harvests garbage for energy. But what about a man who lives without a beating hart, or a paraplegic who sailed the English Channel alone? Leave your pessimism at the door and let these films inspire you.

Thurs. 4/26 FREE Tribeca Talks Industry: Does the Cloud have a Silver (Screen) Lining?

Listen in on the panel discussion as experts weigh in on the impact and evolution of “the Cloud” – the almost imaginary space that was created as a response to consumer demand and usage pattern shifts. Coupled with the emergence of the tablet as a serious “screen”, filmmakers and distributors are hoping to take advantage of this unique opportunity to connect with audiences in new ways.

Fri. 4/27 2 Days in New York

Apple Store, 401 W. 14th St. (at 9th Ave.), tribecafilm.com; 7 p.m., $16.

2 Days in New York, the sequal to the critically-acclaimed 2 Days inParis, to the screen. The film’s writer, director, and lead actress, Julie Delpy will discuss the film, and the inspiration behind the movie’s plot: cultural differences between her new American boyfriend (Chris Rock) and her family as she attempts to deal with the stresses of her career.

Sat. 4/28 FREE Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day

N. Moore Street (from Greenwich St to West St), tribecafilm.com; 10 a.m.

It’s a hands-on afternoon when some of the most iconic mascots and athletes in the city turn up for an afternoon of sports. You can learn how to throw a perfect pitch, pick up a sword and take your first fencing lesson, shoot hoops with some of the borough’s best ballers, or just come for the outdoor atmosphere in a celebration of the spring!

Sun. 4/29 Death of a Superhero

AMC Loews Village VII-2,66 Third Ave. (betw. E. 11th & 12th Sts.), tribecafilm.com; 1 p.m., $16.

While the rest of the avant-garde New Yorkpopulous gear up for “Awards Day” – you might better spend the final day of the Tribeca film festival catching one last foreign film. After all, you won’t see one for the next twelve months. Death of a Superhero, which is a German film, follows Donald, a typical teenager with an exceptional talent with art and imagination. But he’s put to the test when he’s diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and must learn to live in reality if he’s going to have a chance at living.

Photo be Andrew Schwartz

Nathan Warszawski shoots for two points to raise funds for the Strong Kids Campaign during the Second annual Basketball Shootout Contest at the west side YMCA March 31st. Participants earned points be making baskets, with the most points winning a prize, as did the child who collected the most pledges.

Steph Lechich started playing basketball with a small, rubber ball when she was 5. She was too small to use a real basket, so her father would mimic a hoop by holding his arms in a circle and allowing her to shoot through it. She’s been draining buckets ever since. Jan. 25, she hit a 3-pointer to pass the 1,000-point mark.

“Watching her play in middle school, she was always a great scorer and great shooter,” said Dalton head coach Doug Feinberg. “She came right into a spot that was left by Mia Gliedman, so it was from one great player to another at that off-guard spot.”

Friends and teammates Steph Lechich (left), who is heading to Swarthmore next year, and Bonnie Cecil, who will play at Dickinson, may face off against each other in college at the Centennial Conference. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Bonnie Cecil transferred to Dalton from Marymount in 9th grade and proved as a newcomer that she was just as tough and talented as the veterans. Like Lechich, she has been a starter from the very beginning. Feb. 19, she scored Dalton’s first 13 points in a win over Riverdale, including a layup in the second quarter that put her over 1,000 points for her career.

“I’m even more impressed that Bonnie has scored over a 1,000 points because she’s a point guard,” Feinberg said. “As such, she’s also had at least 500 or 600 assists, accounting in total for over 2,000 points in her career. That’s unbelievable. She’s the third all-time leading scorer, the leader in minutes, the leader in assists, the leader of a wonderful team.”

Thanks to Lechich and Cecil, Dalton (18-6 at press time) has its strongest team in years, one that is a definite contender for the New York State Association of Independent School (NYSAIS) tournament, which begins Mar. 4. How well they do will depend on many things, but any progress they make will almost definitely be based on whether Lechich and Cecil do what they do best: shoot and pass, respectively.

The duo has a comfortable rhythm on the court, with Cecil handling the ball, organizing the offense and then distributing. Lechich is a classic spot-up shooter, draining mid- or long-range jumpers repeatedly.

“Having Steph and Bonnie together for four years helped them because they were able to feed off each other,” Feinberg said. “Steph was a point guard in middle school, and having Bonnie taking care of the ball took a lot of pressure off her. I think Bonnie is one of the top five point guards in the city right now, private, public or Catholic. She has the best court vision I’ve ever seen at this school, boy or girl.”

Cecil credits her success to the time she puts in working on her game outside of normal team practice. Despite passing 1,000 points, she clearly doesn’t see herself as a scorer.

“I didn’t really think about 1,000 points until this year,” she said. “I don’t like thinking about it now, so it feels good not to worry about it anymore. I just tried to keep it out of my mind
during the games.”

For Lechich, who passed Gliedman March 1 to become the all-time leading scorer in team history, motivation comes from her older brother, Nick, who was captain of Dalton’s boys’ team four years ago. He’s been her fan and mentor since they played together as kids at the courts in Riverside Park.

“I’ve played some one-on-one with him during the summer,” she said. “He still beats me, but it’s pretty close.”

As with Cecil, passing 1,000 provided a sense of relief.

“I had been thinking a lot about it, but I didn’t tell anyone besides my mom because I didn’t want to put a personal goal above the team’s goal,” Lechich said. “When it finally happened, it was such a weight off my shoulders.”

Naturally, Cecil was feeling pretty good for her teammate.

“Steph’s one of my best friends outside of basketball, so it’s pretty easy working with her,” she said. “We know each other so well that we know where the other is on the court. We’ve grown together as basketball players.”

Both seniors are heading into the NYSAIS tournament confidently, but no matter what happens, their intertwined basketball odysseys are not ending anytime soon. After four years of teamwork, they will soon have to get used to being rivals. Lechich is heading to Swarthmore next year, while Cecil, whom Feinberg said could be a Division 1 player if she were several inches taller, will play at Dickinson. The two colleges play against each other in the Centennial Conference.

“I am just so excited that I am going to be able to play with her in some form,” Lechich said. “Just playing ball with her in any way, whether against her or with her, has been so important to me.”

New York’s basketball picture wasn’t always so bleak. The five boroughs were once as well known for basketball as they were for bagels and nightlife.

The city’s hoops tradition stretches back to the 1920s, when professional teams, such as the Original Celtics and the Harlem Rens, dominated the sport. The playgrounds became feeders for local colleges; New York University, Long Island University and City College became national powerhouses.

As the game evolved, our high schools continued to breed great players, including Bob Cousy, Billy Cunningham, Lew Alcindor and Bernard King. Summer tournaments produced stories of athletic feats by neighborhood hoopsters that rivaled anything seen in the NBA.

The style of play that defined the city game was embodied in the championship Knicks teams of the 1970s, known for teamwork and hard-nosed defense taught by coach Red Holzman, who learned the game on the playgrounds of Brooklyn.

As a teenager growing up on the Upper East Side during the Knicks’ championship run, I reveled in New York’s basketball heritage. I went to a summer camp founded by Nat Hollman, the “Mr. Basketball” of the 1920s, before he became a Hall of Fame coach at City College, where Red Holzman was one of his players. Listening to Hollman tell stories about playing basketball on the rough and tumble Lower East Side gave me a tangible connection to New York’s basketball roots.

In high school, I honed my jump shot in weekend pick-up games on courts in Riverside and Central Parks, and the schoolyards of the Upper East Side. I took pride in being part of the city’s basketball scene, and the tradition of toughness and court savvy that mirrored the street smarts and grit required to flourish in New York’s hard-edged neighborhoods.

But in recent years, New York’s line of basketball greatness has run thin. The city that once produced playground legends like Detroit used to turn out cars has lost its status as a hoops hotbed.

According to a well-respected basketball scouting service, only one of the 100 best high-school players in the country hails from the five boroughs. And a pre-season ranking of the top 25 high school teams did not include a single school from New York.

The demise of New York basketball makes me feel like an Englishman pining for the days of empire. Part of my self-image is grounded in a world that no longer exists.

With the city facing an economic crisis, failing schools and the threat of terrorism, we New Yorkers have more important things to worry about than our falling basketball fortunes. Yet, with New York’s greatness in question, I want to believe that the city’s collective character makes us resilient to anything thrown our way, that we possess an undefeatable toughness reflected in schoolyards and gyms across the five boroughs.

During lean times, past generations of New Yorkers could look to our winning basketball tradition as proof of New York’s unique tenacity. Nowadays, the message from the hardwood is that we are no different from anyone else.

–
Ben Krull is a lawyer and essayist who lives on the Upper East Side.

Then one of the team’s starters tore a knee ligament, and suddenly a spot in the starting lineup opened up for Scott.

“I guess it was a blessing in disguise,” she said. “Going into the season, I didn’t know if I wanted to keep doing this. Then I was given this opportunity, and since then I’ve been working as hard as I can to keep playing.”

Kelly Scott is heading to medical school next year.

Scott has been a regular in the team’s rotation ever since, always providing the sort of quiet contributions that recently earned her UPenn’s Unsung Heroine Award, which honors “accomplishments that do not necessarily show up in the statistics but contribute to the team’s success.” As a senior captain, she also won a prize for sportsmanship, loyalty and leadership. Scott started all 28 games this season, averaged 10.2 points and three rebounds and compiled 27 assists and 20 steals. She was also named to the Ivy League weekly honor roll three times
“Overall, I had a really fun season,” she said. “We didn’t have all the success we wanted to, but it was a good learning experience.”

With team basketball now behind her, Scott will focus on getting ready for medical school. But she still has time for games against an opponent much tougher than any conference rival—her older brother Will.

Will usually has the upper hand. He is, after all, the all-time leading scorer at Collegiate and a three-year member of the Louisville basketball team, a powerhouse program that has reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament the past two years. This year, he played in 21 games and averaged 4.5 minutes and 2.1 points for a team that finished 31-6.

“If we play one-on-one now, I have to make rules like he can’t block me and has to only shoot three-pointers,” Kelly said. “I don’t like to admit that, usually.”

For a city with plenty of roundball heritage, New York always has a lot of players in the collegiate ranks. And the East and West Sides held their own this year in terms of producing talent. At Monroe College, Regina Washington (Beacon) appeared in 28 games for a 31-2 team that reached the national junior college semifinals. She shot better than 40 percent from three-point range and finished with averages of 12.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals.

There were three other Beacon graduates playing college ball this winter. Janina Jurewicz-Johnson wrapped up her career at John Jay by playing in 25 games and starting 20. She averaged 4.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Her younger brother Calvin totaled 18 points and 15 rebounds at Baruch for a team that went 23-6 and made the Division 3 NCAA Tournament. Drew’s Kathryn Kozma appeared in 12 games.
Monique Sampson (Cathedral) had a dominating season at Lehman. She started 21 games and helped steer her team to a 20-11 record and the CUNY Athletic Conference championship game by shooting .537 from the field and averaging 7.8 points and 10.3 rebounds. She also had 45 assists, 75 steals and 23 blocks.

There were excellent performers at other CUNY schools as well. Gary Brady (Martin Luther King Jr.) saw action in 24 games and started 15 for John Jay, averaging 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds. Stephanie Herbert (Environmental Studies) and Julissa Blanco-Benedict (Norman Thomas) played for Medgar Evers, with the latter earning 25 points and 40 rebounds. York’s Monique Denson (Brandeis) started 14 games as a freshman and finished with 31 points, 48 rebounds, 19 assists and 11 steals.
Elsewhere in the city, Kelvin Valdez (St. Agnes) played in 18 games for St. Joseph’s Brooklyn. He averaged 7.6 minutes and had 36 points and 27 rebounds. And Yeshiva’s Tova Laufer (Ramaz) was named to the All-Hudson Valley Athletic Conference Team for the third straight year for starting 19 games and averaging 6.5 points and 9.2 rebounds. She also had 48 steals and 22 blocks and led the squad with 59 steals.

Three Collegiate alumni besides Will Scott played basketball this winter. Mike Nelson spent the season on the junior varsity squad at Williams. Middlebury’s Ashton Coghlan averaged 8.8 minutes and 2.8 points for a team that went 24-4 and won its conference tournament. At Skidmore, Matt Belsito played in seven games. His teammate Sam Cohen-Devries (LaGuardia) appeared in 20 contests and started three, averaging 14.7 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.4 rebounds with 22 assists.
Molloy’s Matt Wafula (St. Agnes) started eight games and averaged 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting .447. He also had 15 blocks and 23 steals. Miranda Arthur-Smith (Churchill) played 25 games for SUNY-Purchase and averaged three points and 2.2 rebounds. Another Churchill graduate, Forrest Alvarez-Ringer, started 10 games at Bard, averaging 20.1 minutes, 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. Brendan Barile (Horace Mann) appeared in eight games for Stevens Institute.
Finally, two Regis alumni had solid seasons. Matt Galvin started 13 games for Tufts and averaged five points and 2.3 rebounds while leading the team with 67 assists. Sean O’Connor played in 18 games at Johns Hopkins, while his teammate Josh DeLott (Trinity) appeared in two fewer but had 25 points and 16 rebounds.

Hunter, already a strong contender in the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL), proved its skills against a foreign foe by beating the Tuggeranong Vikings, an Australian travel team on an American tour, 65-63 at its Upper East Side gym last Saturday evening.
“This was a nail-biting experience,” Valinotti said. “We knew what the Australian team was coming with. They brought something a lot of U.S. teams are missing, which is basic, fundamental basketball. This team was fundamentally sound. Street ballers here in New York have forgotten that.”
Maybe the street ballers have, but the Hawks evidently have not. They proved that by jumping out to a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game thanks to three baskets by Chenfeld. At that point, any feelings of international amity were seemingly parked on the bench. Several of the Hunter players hosted their Australian counterparts for a couple of days before the game, but no one was going to let new friendships get in the way of some tough basketball.
The boys from Tuggeranong, a private sports club located in Australia’s capital, Canberra, regrouped and pulled ahead 15-12 by the end of the first quarter. Not just anyone gets to join a travel team, even in a country where basketball takes a back seat to at least five other sports in national popularity. The Vikings quickly showed what made them dangerous: blazing speed, a quick-paced transition game based on clever passing and a bombs-away attitude from beyond the three-point line. Daniel Mills, the long-range threat for the Australians, finished first among all scorers with 24 points. One of his shots came from so far away that it struck an overhanging light fixture.
“They play very smart, a lot smarter than most teams we face,” said Matt Schoener, Hunter’s other captain.
Even though the Hawks entered halftime ahead 32-30 after a seven-point run, they looked clearly outmanned in the third quarter. The Vikings were leading by 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter, but then, with Hunter facing its first loss of the season, the pace of play became truly frenetic. And slowly, the gap began to close.
“I said, ‘We are not losing this game,’” Chenfeld said. “Unfortunately, we came out so flat in the third quarter. But once we got back into the pace of the game and improved our defense in the fourth quarter, we had a chance.”
Led by Chenfeld, Schoener and junior Kyle Waney, the Hawks edged closer. Schoener sank a couple of baskets to bring his team within range, and then Chenfeld nailed a runner with less than a minute remaining to tie the score at 63. Hunter got the ball back off a traveling violation, and Chenfeld provided the heroics again, going the length of the court and rolling home a layup on a blazing drive into the lane with only a few seconds left.
“Matt got us to that point with a couple of shots, and then I just saw the lane clear out and knew I could get to the basket,” Chenfeld said.
Chenfeld, a speedy point guard, finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. Schoener had 12 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.
The excitement of the victory underscored the surprising competitiveness of Hunter, which has made a big leap this season from the PSAL “B” Division to its “A” Division. But the Hawks, 13-3 last year against ostensibly weaker competition, were 8-0 as of press time in its new league. They’ve also bested seven non-league opponents, including their visitors from Down Under.
“The ‘B’ Division was tough last year, but we were very nervous going up to ‘A,’” Valinotti said. “We’re here and it’s a challenge, but we’ve been rising to meet it. We finally have everything going on all cylinders. It’s coming together. I think this is the talent that has been coming up from middle school and junior varsity for some time.”
That talent goes beyond Chenfeld, the team’s floor leader, and Schoener, its post presence. Behind the two captains are a variety of capable role players, including the tough forward Waney, Cole Garson, Pranab Karki, Jason Lupatkin, Gianni DiCioccio and a dazzlingly quick guard named Marley Akonner. All of them stepped up at various moments on Saturday to grab an important rebound or hit a clutch shot.
As recently as three years ago, Hunter finished a disastrous 1-15. Schoener, an inexperienced freshman at the time, suffered through that season. A year later, he and Chenfeld helped start a turnaround that continued under the leadership of Neil Potter, who took over as head coach last season. Now, with a perfect record and plenty of talent, the Hawks are brimming with confidence.
“There’s no team we don’t think we can beat,” Schoener said. “We don’t think we’re going to lose any game if it’s close. When it gets to the end, we just don’t panic.”
They sure didn’t panic on Saturday, and the result was one of the wilder, more satisfying victories of their season.

For now, all eyes among private schools are trained on Collegiate, where the boys’ basketball team is coming off a championship season and remains a definite contender to take home some more trophies. The Dutchmen won both the New York State Association of Independent Schools and the Federation Tournament titles last spring. The team lost only Mike Nelson and Andrew Patrick to graduation and returned a talented lineup of budding stars like Will Bartlett, Harrison Green, Christian Fisch and Will Pagano. Collegiate gained a season-opening win over Dwight before heading into a two-day tournament last week, where the Dutchmen beat Loyola 70-58, then took down a Canadian team named Seminaire Sant-Francois Quebec, by a score of 75-45. Seminaire Saint-Francois Quebec beat Loyola 58-53 in the third-place game.

Dwight, which won its league championship in the spring, rebounded from its early-December loss to Collegiate to go 4-2 so far. It has compiled wins against UNIS, Staten Island Academy, Brooklyn Friends and Packer Collegiate. Browning is also 4-2.

For the third year in a row, the Nightingale-Bamford girls’ basketball squad snuck into the Brearley Holiday Tournament and took the title away from the hosts.
Nightingale first topped Columbia Prep before besting Brearley 42-36, with Katie Gwathmey and Taylor Sorillo each contributing 11 points. The Marymount girls are currently 3-1 after early wins over Nightingale, Trevor Day and Columbia. Calhoun is off to a fast start as well, going 5-2 thus far.

The best early results undoubtedly belong to Dalton and Fieldston. The Dalton girls’ basketball team is currently 7-1 thanks to stars Steph Lechich and Bonnie Cecil. The boys, meanwhile, are 4-1. Both teams’ only loss came against Fieldston. No surprise, then, that Fieldston’s boys’ and girls’ squads are both a perfect 7-0.

On the public school side, Hunter spent the off-season preparing to move from the “B” to the “A” Division, and the efforts are paying off. The Hawks are 6-0 so far. They are led by Len Chenfield’s 24.67 points per game average. Richard Green and Beacon High School are both 6-1 and also seem set for standout seasons.

In girls’ basketball, three West Side teams have shown early promise, as Martin Luther King (6-0), Food and Finance (6-0) and Environmental Studies (7-0) are all undefeated. Environmental Studies’ Ashley Leslie is averaging 15.1 points and 15.7 rebounds per game. She is currently the 12th leading rebounder in the city. Martin Luther King and Food and Finance, meanwhile, will put their perfect records to the test when they face each other on Jan. 6.

In other sports, the Hunter boy’s swimming team is leading the Bronx/
Manhattan league with a 3-1 record. Senior captain Gabriel Yanez, one of the best butterfly swimmers in the city, has led the effort.

The indoor track and field season has seen several notable efforts from athletes at LaGuardia. Radoslav Boyukliev is the sixth best shot putter. His top heave sailed over 42 feet. Erica Chiu has performed well in the 1,500-meter racewalk, placing eighth citywide with a time of 8:41.40 At Beacon, senior Chelsea Davies has won the 1,000 meters at two different meets. She posted New York’s second best mark in 3:11.06.
There were several local winners at the first Ivy League track meet of the season on Dec. 12. Horace Mann’s Ben Noble won the 1,600 meters in 4:44.8 and Collegiate’s Florian Koenigsberger triumphed with a shot put of 43 feet, seven inches. Two Sacred Heart students won races as Alexandra Flinchum placed first in the 55 meters and Dana Walsh did the same in the 1,000. Horace Mann won both girls’ relays, and sophomore Laura Halis had the longest triple jump. Nightingale’s Stefanie Spanfeller also won the 3,200 meters in 12:02.

MLK Receives Honor—The Martin Luther King boys soccer team has enough hardware to last a lifetime. The perennial city champs have won three straight city championships and 11 of the past 13. They earned their latest title in upset fashion by beating Beacon, which had vanquished Martin Luther King twice earlier in the season, in a penalty kick shootout.

As if that wasn’t enough, the school was officially honored by the City Council. Council Member Gale Brewer delivered a proclamation in front of a Council meeting on Dec. 9 that recognized the team’s accomplishments.

“By triumphing again and again, the team has demonstrated amazing passion, talent and determination,” Brewer said.

The Running Schedule Ahead—More than 5,000 of the best high school track athletes in the region will descend on the Uptown Armory on Dec. 27 for the Marine Corps Holiday Classic. And for those who despise running indoors, New York Road Runners always has something to look forward to. Next week it is the New Year’s Eve Midnight Run, a four-miler in Central Park that begins just as the fireworks go off. Remember to bundle up.