Sports

Staff report
Roxbury softball coach Jane Ware marveled at the fact that by April 2 her team had already played three softball games. The Rockets have started their season by winning three straight.

“When you beat the team that nudged you out of a division title the previous season, upend the league’s defending champion, and go to Hunter and bring home a win, you have to be feeling pretty good,” laughed Ware.

Ware’s charges toppled Gilboa, 11-7, last Thursday, toppled Margaretville, 9-5, on Friday, and battered Hunter, 30-2, Monday night.

The Delaware League has announced its All-Star teams for the 2011-12 basketball season.

Among those local students earning recognition on the girls’ teams were: First Team, Kennedy Faraci of Roxbury; Second Team, Desirae Coss of Andes and Amy Filupeit of Margaretville and Honorable Mention, Kelsey Little and Ashley Terry of Andes, Erin Filupeit of Margaretville and Brittany Keator and Kendal Sprague of Roxbury.

By Jennifer Kabat
St. Patty’s Day got rechristened St. Platty’s Day at Plattekill Mountain on Saturday. More than 20 kegs of green beer were served on the deck, and green t-shirts celebrated the new holiday. Kids painted shamrocks on their cheeks, others wore green braids and shamrocks dangled from helmets. The temperature hit the 60s and skiers peeled down to shorts. Some men even skied shirtless. The party though was bittersweet for many as they mourned the end of the ski season, cut short this year by a warm winter with little snow.

By John Bernhardt
For the third time in five seasons, semi-final play cut short the South Kortright Lady Rams dream of winning a second New York State Class D basketball championship.

The Rams fell behind early and couldn’t make up the difference as they lost, 57-44, to Section Five’s Elba Saturday morning at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. Elba capped an undefeated 2011-12 campaign defeating Argyle, 48-34, to win the state title on Sunday.

Timing means everything in state basketball competition, and the New York State Regional championship game is not the place for a basketball team to go stone cold.

That was the fate of South Kortright’s Rams as SK’s season ended Saturday at LeMoyne College in Syracuse. The cold-shooting Rams fell 52-36 to New York State’s top ranked Class D team, Section III’s undefeated Patriots of Sackett’s Harbor.

By John Bernhardt
The template remained the same Saturday at Herkimer College as the South Kortright Rams girls’ basketball team outlasted Section III champion Oriskany, 47-38, to reach the New York State semifinals for the second season in a row.

A combination of balanced scoring, clutch foul shooting, strong rebounding, and stingy defense lifted the Rams to another regional championship. South Kortright, New York State’s top ranked Class D girl’s team, improved their record to 22-0.

By John Bernhardt
The biggest shot of Saturday’s Section IV, Class D boys’ basketball championship game at the Binghamton Arena never went in the basket.

By John Bernhardt
The brighter the lights and the bigger the venue, the more dominant is the game of South Kortright senior center Robyn Ward. Like she did a year ago, Ward found the Binghamton Arena the perfect basketball setting, scoring a game-high 22 points and leading SK to their second consecutive Section IV, Class D girls’ basketball title, a 44-38 victory over Worcester on Saturday.

By John Bernhardt
When Roscoe boys basketball coach Fred Ahart locked the balls in the equipment room and stored away the team uniforms after Wednesday night’s final game of the season, he completed another chapter of an incredible coaching saga. Ahart’s coaching narrative at the tiny Sullivan County school covers 43 chapters, 43 seasons as the Blue Devil football and basketball coach. Ahart’s story is a story of resilience, a story of loyalty, a story of family, and a story of a love in helping shape the lives of young men.

Margaretville — The Margaretville Central School (MCS) Booster Club will host its ninth annual indoor soccer tournament at MCS on Friday evening March 9 and all day Saturday, March 10.