Bronx Sports Update: HS Tourney Update; Monroe Teams Eye Nationals (Updated)

Monroe's Jeff Early

Quick update from the BxNN sports desk (which is shockingly close to the BxNN crime desk):

Both the men's and women's basketball teams from Monroe College -- strong junior college programs that routinely graduate players to bigger basketball programs -- took care of business last weekend and will be playing for births into the national junior college tournament this weekend.

Both teams will be tested on the road. The Lady Mustangs travel to Scranton, PA to take on Lackawana College, while the male 'Stangs, led by guard Jeff Early (pictured), will be in Maryland taking on a Hagerstown Community College team that defeated them earlier this year in double overtime.

Apparently, you can follow the games live on CyberSports USA. (UPDATE: The men's game, which starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, will also be streamed live on the website for Hagerstown radio station 1240 AM WJEJ. Click on the link on upper left-hand side of the home page.)

After a week off, the PSAL high school playoffs resumed last night. The Bronx fared decently.

Walton, which we wrote about last Friday, saw its championship dreams die after enduring a tough 60-64 loss to fifth-seeded High School for Graphic Arts Communication in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, DeWitt Clinton, Evander Childs, South Bronx and Alfred E. Smith all moved into the round of 16. Clinton and South Bronx face off at the Mott Haven Campus gym tomorrow night. Evander has the pleasure of meeting top-seeded Midwood on Midwood's home court, while Smith draws Brooklyn Collegiate at home.

In tonight's action, third-seeded Christopher Columbus hosts Manhattan's High School for Environmental Studies and Bronx Science stays home for its match against New Dorp High School. Both games start at 5 p.m. If both win, as expected, the Bronx will have six spots in the Sweet 16.

The Bronx Sports Column: A Special Night at Walton, Plus Our Boys HS Tourney Preview

Editor's Note: Today's column breaks down into two parts. The first part is a story I wrote for this week's edition of the Norwood News about the Walton Campus boys basketball team. The second part, written by Selim Khan, is a playoff preview that focuses on the teams from the northwest Bronx. Above, is a slide show from Walton's first round playoff victory last week. Enjoy. And, as always, send me suggestions, feedback, hate mail, photos, video, tips, ideas, whatever, to akratz@norwoodnews.org or leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Five Schools, One Team, One Walton Campus Spirit

As the seconds ticked down to zero in the Walton Campus’s thrilling 57-53 home court victory in the first round of the boys basketball city tournament, fans, coiled from the intensity of the game, rushed the court, hugging players and coaches and each other. A group of students formed into a circle centered with spontaneous dancers near midcourt.

They chanted: “Wal-Ton! Wal-Ton! Wal-Ton!”

None of these students attend Walton High School, which, like most large schools in New York City, was phased out in 2008 and gradually replaced over recent years by five smaller schools.

These days, Walton is only the name of the building and campus these schools inhabit. Aside from the building’s walls, sport is the only thing that brings students together as a community.

“When the DOE broke up all the schools, the one thing they didn’t think about was school spirit,” said Eric Swillinger, Walton’s coach and athletic director. “The last bastion of school spirit is campus athletics.”

Bronx News Roundup, May 1

Welcome to May everyone. Lots of interesting stuff to get to on the blog today, but first, let's get to the news roundup.

We'll start with this great little story on the Times' City Room blog about a tree that survived the 9/11 attacks downtown and is now blossoming in Van Cortlandt Park. The before and after pictures are inspiring and there's nice video story included as well. The tree is scheduled to be uprooted from the Bronx and replanted in the 9/11 memorial park in two years.

Int their Morning Buzz news wrap, the Times mistakenly calls Bronx State Senator Jose M. Serrano an Assemblyman and says he introduced a bill in Albany to impose a 5 cent tax on plastic grocery bags given out at supermarkets. But the link to the story in the NY Post says the bill was introduced by Micah Kellner, a Democratic Assemblyman. I'm confused. We'll get to the bottom of this.

A legally blind man fell to his death in a Riverdale building elevator shaft yesterday.

In a departure from previous policy, the NYPD is now telling people why they are stopping and frisking them in the South Bronx, Harlem and East New York.

A Bronx woman, who's fiancee (and the father of her two-year-old child) died suddenly two weeks ago (while at his computer watching videos), was not able to harvest enough sperm from his dead body to get pregnant and give their child a sibling. I know, it sounds bizarre. I'm glad we're here to point these stories out and the Daily News is around to write them.

An accused drug dealer escaped from police custody in the Bronx yesterday.

And, finally, some sports: northwest Bronx high school boys volleyball teams, Walton and Kennedy, finished the season tied for first place in the Bronx Division VI.

Bronx News Roundup

Two storied local high schools – Evander Childs and Walton -- closed their doors for good this week, though both of them are now home to several smaller themed high schools.

The Yankees and the city are on the hot seat this morning as Assemblyman Richard Brodsky holds a hearing on the stadium deal, with special attention to its tax exempt financing and other sweeteners. Juan Gonzalez has the story.

Newsday takes a look at the controversial tax exempt bonds fueling the Yankee Stadium project.

The Daily News’ Bob Kapstatter says the Bloomberg administration is adopting a “bunker mentality” when it comes to the Yankee project, making the Parks Department and its press officers refer all Yankee inquiries from the press to City Hall.

The Times reports extensively today on an affidavit filed in federal court that suggest that the contractor that dug the giant hole in Van Cortlandt Park for the filtration plant has been closely involved with the mob.