The Ellenville Blue Devils have had a pretty good last few weeks. The winter season is winding down and Ellenville athletes have been excelling. It seems like I have mentioned senior Blue Devil wrestler Eric Thayer many times before, but each mention is well-deserved. Thayer won last week's Section 9 – Division II wrestling tournament at Onteora High School and will be attempting to cap off his illustrious career by placing in the state championships this weekend in Albany. Thayer won the 189-pound weight class to earn his trip to the states. If you had to go into a dark alley way and fight your way out, and you only got to bring one other person in with you, Eric Thayer would be a very good choice……….Thayer will have some company on his trip to Albany as Blue Devil teammate and super-heavyweight Frank Casamento also captured the Section 9 – Division II championship. Casamento, also a senior, won the 285-pound title in his third try, having dropped the championship match the last two years. Fans of Ellenville athletics would probably agree that Casamento might be the most-improved Blue Devils athlete in the past four years. Since he was an oversized modified football player in seventh grade, Casamento has worked diligently, and this year became a dominant Section 9 athlete in both football and wrestling. Like Thayer, Casamento's success was arrived at through hard work, goal setting, and perseverance. Congratulations to all the Ellenville wrestlers who placed at the Section 9 tournament. Other place-winners include: Donald Exner (2nd at 152 pounds), Justin Farrenkopf (3rd at 103 pounds), Hassaun Brand (3rd at 103 pounds), Michael Wernick (3rd at 139 pounds), Jacob Coutant (3rd at 140 pounds), and Amiel Maerling (3rd at 160 pounds). The Blue Devils finished in fourth place (out of 11 teams) overall……….Last year, I predicted that in 25 years or so when Ellenville boys track coach Phil Althouse retires that he would go down as one of the best Ellenville coaches ever. Althouse was a Blue Devil athlete when hanging Section 9 championship banners on the walls of the Ellenville gym was a common occurrence. As the Blue Devils continue their resurgence to respectability, Althouse is leading the way. Althouse's boys' winter indoor track team won the Section 9 – Class B title last Friday night at West Point, bettering 12 other schools. The Blue Devils title was the second for Coach Althouse as Ellenville won last year's championship also. Blue Devil senior Sam Pozorski defended his 55-meters hurdle title by winning the event in a time of 8.26 seconds. Teammate Ryan Valencia won the 600 in a time of 1:27.34, and the Blue Devils relay team of Pozorski, Valencia, and Joe Barrera won the 1,600 in a time of 3:44.08. Junior standout A.J. Borriello finished second in the shot put where his toss of 45'9. 5" was just one inch off the winning toss of Marlboro's Christopher Jones. Borriello edged Jones by a quarter of an inch in last week's Mid-Hudson Athletic League Championship. The sectional win was a result of solid team depth as the Blue Devils had top-three place-winners in seven separate events. Coach Althouse will be in search of his third sectional title when his boys' outdoor team takes to the track early in March………..Would like to send best wishes out to Roy Althouse (Phil's dad), who has been under the weather lately. Roy Althouse is the perfect sports father. Throughout Phil's athletic career, Roy was always in the stands, modestly cheering his son on. Nothing has changed, as now Roy Althouse can be seen on the sidelines, cheering on his son — the coach — who just might win ten or more sectional championships before he is through……….Both the boys' and girls' Ellenville basketball teams qualified for sectional play. As of deadline, the section had not set the schedule……….The Pine Bush varsity boys basketball team sits at 11-9. Looking for a Coach of the Year candidate? How about Bushmen Coach John Salvadore? The Bushmen coach led his team to double-digit wins in the tough Orange County League's big school division after winning exactly one game last season. Bushmen Cleanthony Early is near the top of all Section 9 players in scoring……….I don't care what anyone says, I miss the Lighthouse Deli……….The NBA All-Star game is clearly the leader of the four major sports when it comes to All-Star festivities. My favorite this year was watching Phoenix Suns star (and true showman) Shaquille O'Neal dance with the Jabbawockeez during the pre-game introductions. And no, I have absolutely no idea what a Jabbawockeez is — but I enjoyed it……….Finally, we witness another great example of sportsmanship, courtesy of a group of high school students in Illinois. A basketball game between Milwaukee Madison (Wisconsin) and DeKalb (Illinois) took a turn for the better as a result of the kind actions of a high school coach and his players. Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin was mourning the loss of his mother, Carlitha, who he lost to cancer on February 7. Naturally, Franklin was not expected to play in the game against Dekalb later that night. Franklin, however, arrived at the gym during the second quarter of the game and informed his coach he wished to play — that his mother would have wanted him to. The crowd was aware of the circumstances, and as Franklin entered the game his team was assessed a technical foul. Apparently, since Franklin had indicated he would sit out the game, his coach had not entered his name in the official scorebook. The rule calls for technical foul, but Dekalb Coach Dave Rohlman told the refs that in light of the situation he wanted to decline the technical foul, which called for two free throws and possession of the ball. The refs insisted that the technical had to be enforced, so DeKalb's Darius McNeal walked to the foul line and promptly threw up a foul shot that landed well short of the rim. When the fans realized that McNeal had missed the shot intentionally, they stood and began to cheer. The noise grew louder as McNeal woefully missed the second shot. When Dekalb was awarded the ball after the free throws, they immediately rolled the ball out of bounds giving it back to Madison. "I did it for the kid who lost his mother," said McNeal. "It was the right thing to do." The gesture was not lost on Johntell Franklin; especially since Madison went on to win the game, compliments in part of the actions of a special group of young men and their coach. Until next time…

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