The Bronx Sports Column: Two Bronxites Named All Big East; Boys HS Tourney Update

We'll continue today with my twin winter sports obsessions: tracking Bronx point guards playing in the Big East and following the high school basketball playoffs. (Note: Looking for more on varsity girls swimming results? Boys gymnastics? Let me know via e-mail-- akratz@norwoodnews.org -- or by leaving a comment.)

The Big Bronx:
Boogie Down ballers Dwight Hardy (St. John's) and Kemba Walker (UConn) made the All-Big East first team, with fellow Bronxite Corey Fisher (Villanova) earning a spot on the second team.

A few weeks ago, I opined that Hardy, a high-scoring guard from John F. Kennedy high school, deserved a mention in the "Best Bronx Point Guard" conversation after torching Walker's UConn squad. Still, I put him in third place on the list, behind Walker (1) and Fisher (2). It's still hard to put Hardy above Walker, but he's definitely surpassed Fisher in recent weeks. While Fisher's Villanova squad has faded, Hardy's St. John's team is streaking into the postseason. 

Here are the season averages of the Bronx's best:
--Walker: 23.1 points per game, 4.3 assists per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, 1.8 steals per game
--Hardy: 17.9 ppg, 1.9 apg, 3 rpg, 1.4 spg
--Fisher: 15.5 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.8 rpg, 1.5 spg

Bonus points to Hardy, who is averaging nearly 24 points per contest over his last 11 games, for getting the best of the head-to-head battles. Hardy put up 33 vs. Walker's UConn team and 34 vs. Fisher's Villanova squad -- both St. John's wins. Walker's heating up of late, but is only averaging 21 over his last 11. Fisher's averaged a little more than 15 over his last 11.  Fisher gets a bump for being the best passer of the trio, while Walker's 5-plus rebounds per game is remarkable considering he's 6-foot-1, 172 pounds.

We'll see how the Big East and NCAA tournaments to shake out before making a final call on this.

High School Hoops Playoffs Update (how the Bronx teams are doing):

High School March Madness: Bronx's Wings Academy Advances to Semi-finals of City Championship

March Madness is officially upon us. And while the college tournaments have yet to begin, a lot has transpired since the New York City high school boys basketball playoffs started last week. After searching through the interwebs I've put together a little hoops roundup with some information on how the Bronx teams performed.

Spoiler alert: with one exception, they all lost.

John F. Kennedy, the northwest Bronx's best prospect and last year's city championship runner-up, was eliminated in a second round game against East New York Transit Tech, who beat the Knights 68-67. J.F.K had a bye the first round. The Post has a rundown of that upset right here.

Evander Childs, The Bronx High School of Science, and Christopher Columbus all met similar fates in their first round match-ups last Tuesday. Evander Childs lost to the #30 seed Prospect Heights, Bronx Science lost against the #32 seed Ft. Hamilton, and Christopher Columbus lost to the #28 seed Far Rockaway.

Dewitt Clinton made it through the first round, beating the 40th seed George Washinton 71-53. The Governors were humbled, however, in their second round match-up against the #8 seed Brooklyn Collegiate, who won 87-46.

The Bronx continues to be represented, however, by the #3 seed Wings Academy.

The Wings, hot off winning the borough championship last month, had a bye the first round and dispatched their first opponent, the #19 seed South Shore, in a second round game 88-75.

On Sunday, the Wings beat Abraham Lincoln High School 78-59. Lincoln has been the reigning city powerhouse; this will be the first time in nine years they do not compete in the finals at Madison Square Garden. The Daily News has more on that game here. Now, the borough champs are to face the #2 seeded Boys and Girls High School in the semifinals tomorrow. If they win that game, the Wings will advance to the finals, playing the winner of a Cardozo (#1)- E. New York Transit (#12) game.

PSAL has the playoff brackets up online, regularly updated. They can be found here.

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 16

Twelve people were injured yesterday when a fire swept through a Bronxdale apartment building.  Here's a dramatic photo of a woman holding a baby girl out of a fifth-floor window so she could breathe.

In Bronx Park, recently, a group of young adults took a tree-climbing class - part of a new job-training program for aspiring arborists.

United Bronx Parents has come to the aid of Tato Laviera, a Nuyorican poet who was struggling to find an affordable apartment.

The DOE plans to close the construction trade program at Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School and replace it with a 18-month-old charter school. But the charter school has its own problems, among them, poor teacher and student retention. Moreover, its founder and former director is Richard Izquierdo, the nephew of Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo. Izquierdo was charged last year with stealing $200,000 from a non-profit.

The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. has a new president. Marlene Cintron, most recently the director of the state Senate's Puerto Rican and Latino Caucus, replaces Ray Salaberrios.

New procedures at Lincoln Medical Center have led to fewer infections in the hospital's intensive care unit.

The Daily News covers Bronx Community College's attempts to expel University Heights Secondary School from its campus. More here in this month's Mount Hope Monitor.

Least we forget, Councilman Larry Seabrook isn't the only Bronx politician looking at possible jail-time. In his weekly column, the DN's Bob Kappstatter ticks off five or six others under investigation.

Majora Carter, the founder of Sustainable South Bronx, was in Georgia yesterday to give a talk to a group of university students about green jobs and environmentalism. Carter now runs her own consultancy firm and was paid a tidy $18,500 for her time.

In high school basketball, Wings Academy are the new Bronx Borough champions.

A eclectic mix of celebrities and politicians - among them, actress Mary-Kate Olsen and Congressman Eliot Engel - name their favorite places to eat. Engel's? Liebman's Delicatessen on West 235th Street.

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 11

Larry Seabrook, the indicted Bronx councilman, has been asked to step down from his position as vice co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian caucus. Meanwhile, the behind the scenes jostling to succeed him in the Council has already begun. Names being tossed around include Assemblyman Carl Heastie, the chair of the Bronx Democratic Party.

Still on Seabrook, the media has been lifting the lid on his messy love-life. In 1993 he divorced his wife but somehow neglected to tell her. She found out seven years later.

Bronx Republicans J.C. Polanco and Jay Savino have been served with subpoenas by federal prosecutors investigating a $50 million voting-machine contract the city's Board of Elections awarded a Nebraska company. Polanco is the Bronx Republican commissioner; Savino is the chairman of the Bronx Republican Party. More here.

The Bronx Democratic Party has endorsed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

A man is suing a Bronx co-op complex for discarding his deceased father's possessions.

The police are hunting five men suspected of robbing a parking garage in Morrisania last week. After tying up an attendant, the men stole cash and a BMW.

Yesterday's snow storm was welcomed by tire shop owners on Jerome Avenue.

An ice-skating rink has opened on East 161st Street.

BoogieDowner clears up some erroneous information floating around cyberspace about two local supermarkets.

Joshua Clottey, a world-class boxer, has quietly made the Bronx his home these past seven years. Next month, the Ghana-born welterweight is scheduled fight Filipino phenom Manny Pacquiao.

In Throgs Neck, near the Whitestone Bridge, a new golf course is being built. Ferry Point Golf Course is scheduled to open in 2011. Golf legend Jack Nicholas had a hand in the original design - previous plans to build here fell through - and continues to be involved.

A Riverdale couple recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.