Nicolina Chenard

ղíϲօӏíղɑ ƒɾɑղϲíղҽ ϲհҽղɑɾժ ♰

[NEW YORK KNICKS @nyknicks]

OG ANUNOBY’S GAME WINNING TIP IN.

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Many of us grew up with the Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week Award appearing in the newspaper. For 75 years, it's a distinction that stands out among any other for a local athlete.

Here's my look back on what the award means and the prominent stars who've won it. @ConEdison

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

This should make you smile today.

Ossining flag football team manager Aliyah Rivera comes out on the field yesterday in her wheelchair and throws a touchdown and extra point.

@OSSATHLETICS

Via Winning Moments IG

https://t.co/mxQeyEuo4R

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Mamaroneck has done it.

Section 1 Class AAA Champions for the first time ever.

Mamaroneck 61, Mount Vernon 44

What a performance by Brandon Burrell (30 points) and Will Plunkett (15 points)

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

In all my years of broadcasting, I'd never gotten emotional on air until tonight. It was impossible to hold back the tears.

Jack Piccione of Tappan Zee lost his father suddenly last Sept. 1. Matthew Piccione died of a heart attack minutes after playing pickleball with friends. He was 51.

Over the last three years, I got to know Matthew Piccione fairly well. One day back in 2023, he asked coach George Gaine for my number so he could call me just to say thank you for calling out Jack's contributions during Tappan Zee's championship run.

Jack was a role player who averaged maybe 5 points a game as a freshman. But he started and never came off the court.

"I know he doesn't score a lot of points," Matthew Piccione said. "But you are one of the only people who appreciates what he does for the team."

Matthew Piccione kept a very low profile at games and reinforced in his son to be the emodiment of all the things that make Tappan Zee basketball different than any other program in the state.

Play unselfish. Defend. Be coachable. Defend. Draw charges. Pass. Sacrifice for your teammates. And, of course, defend some more.

Nobody in the history of Tappan Zee basketball since I have been covering has ever played that role better than Jack Piccione. He's the best best defensive player in the program and is on an elite level of players I've been around in Section 1.

When Matthew died in September, I worried about Jack. I wondered what his senior season might be like. The person most responsible for instilling and reinforcing the values that made Jack great was now tragically gone.

Tonight, Jack Piccione scored 5 points in the Section 1 Championship game. FIVE. Yet not only did his team because of his performance, I had the honor of handing him the MVP Trophy to prove it.

In the final 90 seconds of the game, I shared the story of Matthew Piccione and his passing. You will hear the emotion in my voice. It's genuine, not because of any relationship I had with him. You just can't be a sports parent and not relate to loving your child and always wanting what's best for them.

Because here's what I am going to tell you. And I really want all parents to read this and remember it:

Your kids' youth - not just athletics, but all of it - is short and it's precious. You don't get this time back when it's over. It goes way too quick. And some don't even get to see it to the end.

You have a choice: You can spend this period of their lives stressing about how many points they score, what awards or accolades they receive, begging people to vote in the online poll for Player of the Week, emailing the coach and complaining about playing time or lamenting the number of shots they get in a game. Go ahead. You can make all of that important for yourself and your child. Trust me, you won't be alone in doing so.

Or you can do what Matthew Piccione did. Sit in the stands and enjoy watching your children compete. Teach them that it's team above all else, stress what it means to sacrifice and ensure them that, when you do those things and have success, the feeling of hanging a banner will far exceed any of the personal accolades think are important.

And, sadly, God might choose that you won't be around to see it all anyway.

Matthew didn't get to give his son a hug after he won tonight. And Jack didn't get to see the pride in his father's face. Think about that. If you are a parent, try to put your child in Jack's shoes. If God forbid your child was confronted with the same tragedy, you'd want them looking back on this sacred period of their lives the way Jack will forever recall them with his dad.

Tonight was complete validation for Jack Piccione and all of the things his father always told him.

Jack scored 5 points and won the MVP on his way to becoming the most decorated basketball player in Tappan Zee history.

Nobody has ever won more in a TZ uniform than the most unselfish player they've ever had. He wouldn't trade his career with anyone, either.

Take a moment to listen to myself and Pleasantville coach Nick Bonura from tonight's @SportsEngine broadcast of @TZeeAthletics @TZhoops

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Ossining responds to start the 4Q. Amaya Yancey, the freshman, delivers back to back 3s.

Pride leads Rye 21-20 w 5:30 left 3Q

https://t.co/mfqlHU9dKR

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Merry County Center Week

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Blind Brook star Kendall Konigsberg scored her 2,000th career point tonight against Tuckahoe.

Congrats to @Kendallkon26 , a relentlessly hard worker and gifted playmaker on joining the elite in Section 1 history.

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Here's the basket Anthony Ficarrotta hit tonight to eclipse 2,000 career points. The Dobbs Ferry star is only the fifth player in Section 1 history to reach the milestone. First since Elton Brand in 1997

[Nicolina Chenard @nicolinachenard]

Incredible.

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Ok, I didn't just force former Tappan Zee coach George Gaine to talk about the tough losses. He also engineered the greatest upset in @NYSPHSAA basketball history when his team beat Jamesville-DeWitt in 2013. Gaine relives that day. @tzhoops

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

This might be my favorite moment in Section 1 football history.

Bronxville punches their ticket to Syracuse. Sleepy on the field for the next. Watch this.

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

I mean, is this real life?

Brayden Richardson fourth TD run, an 85 yarder, puts the @Horsemen_Sports star well over 300 yards rushing today.

Sleepy leads Glens Falls 36-12 w under 4 to play

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

BREAKING: For the first time in over five decades, there will be a new girls basketball coach at Irvington High School.

Gina Maher informed her team last night that she is retiring after 50 of the most decorated, influential and inspiring seasons of any coach in the history of Westchester County sports.

Yes, 50 years.

Maher won a state-record 814 games, 18 Section 1 championships, six state titles and five Federation crowns. She’s in the New York State Basketball, Westchester County Sports Hall of Fames, as well as a recipient of countless distinguished career achievement awards.

For Maher, it was just time. She said she spent months coming to the decision, spoke about with her sons Neil and Chris, as well as close friends. But she's ready to hand the program off to the next generation.

“Fifty years is enough," Maher said. "I am ready. And we are fortunate to have two wonderful people ready to take over the program in B.J. Constantine and Kaitlin Degnan. It's time.”

Maher lives one block away from Irvington High School and intends to stay close to the community. She will remain @IrvBulldogs girls tennis and the Unified basketball coach. And you will still see her at girls basketball games around the section all season.

Nobody I've personally ever been around will leave a greater legacy; not to @SecOneAthletics, to @NYSPHSAA, to @sogbca, to young female athletes, or even to my own my family.

If there is ever going to be a Mount Rushmore for athletics in our area, Gina Maher would be the first face on it; as a a coach, a role model, a mentor and a person.

Please join me in thanking Coach Maher for her years and wishing her the best in her retirement.

[Nicolina Chenard @nicolinachenard]

@SecOneAthletics @OssiningSchools @OSSATHLETICS Can’t wait to work with this amazing person!

[Section I Athletics @SecOneAthletics]

Section One Athletics would like to welcome first-time athletic directors and those who have moved to new positions for the 2025-26 school year. Today, you can learn more about Kimberly Saxton, the new AD @OssiningSchools.

@OSSATHLETICS

[Ossininggirlsvolleyball @Ossininggirlsvb]

2025 Schedule 🏐💪🏼🦁

[Collin Rugg @CollinRugg]

NEW: High school basketball coach fired after yanking a girl's ponytail following their loss in the New York Class D state championship game.

Good job on the girl standing next to the victim (number 24?) for standing up to this thug.

The Northville Central School District says they fired coach Jim Zullo for the incident.

According to Zullo, senior Hailey Monroe directed an expletive toward him which led to the incident.

"We assure the public that this matter is being taken extremely seriously, and the District is actively addressing it," the Northville Central School District said in a statement.

"The District will be following up with the affected players and their families to provide support and outline the actions we are taking in response to this incident."

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Nothing has impressed my 11-year old daughter this week at the County Center than recognizing how many boys players wear the Sabrina’s sneakers.

It says a lot about where womens athletes are in the scope of sports.

[Kevin Devaney Jr. @KDJmedia1]

Good Morning.

It's basketball season.

[Dr. Matt Block @DocBlockAUFSD]

Just amazed at the spirit and kindness of our AMS students, staff, and parents organizing the Little Pink Panther Invitational Volleyball Tournament today to aide in the fight against cancer. Great job!!!