Welcome to this week’s breakdown of the Vision High School Sports Beat, your behind the scenes look at the production, from the producer and the shows many contributors.
We are on location for this week’s episode, at Vision Hyundai of Henrietta. Vision has been our title sponsor for 7 years, and we couldn’t bring you the show without their support. It’s an honor to be able to film on location at various Vision dealerships around the Rochester area (there’s 11 of them in total!). It’s the Reason for the Season Toy Drive – a great opportunity to donate a gift for a child in need, and you can even get a free oil change.
It’s Week 13, and the official kick-off to the Winter Sports Season.
What better way to kickoff winter, than to feature the end of the fall season. Two Section 5 teams made it to the Carrier Dome this year for the State Finals, and our first story is one one of those teams – Batavia.
It was a highly anticipated contest between the record-setting and historic season of Blue Devils RB Ray Leach – and the Glens Falls QB Joe Girard III, also known as JG3 – and a future Orange basketball player at Syracuse. Glens Falls also was the defending Class B state Champion.
Neither Leach or JG3 would disappoint… but it was Glens Falls that won out in the end. Here’s Paul Gotham’s story on the game…
In attendance at the Carrier Dome was Jim Boeheim. If your wondering, Paul did ask Coach Boeheim for a comment on JG3. He politely declined once he saw the video camera. Luckily, others there did capture a moment of Coach and Girard.
Paul returns for our Dunkin Donuts High School Notebook. Filming on location does sometimes present some obstacles. We were delayed prior to taping the notebook, with some audio issues. Then, there was a delay while the featured automobile, in the background, was detailed. Josh did the detailing – and did a terrific job too. If anyone knows what that pink liquid he used to remove the sticker off the back window… we sure would like to know.
Next up is our Making the Grade nominee, Nick Annechino of Aquinas. Nick is a state champ with the Lil Irish football team, and his dad, Derek, is the coach. Nick is honored for his work off the field, as well as on.
The McArdle’s Section V Spotlight is next – due to time constraints from being on location, we had a shorter spotlight than usual. Jalen Pickett, the Aquinas grad starring at Siena, gets a shout-out here – and he was mentioned earlier in the notebook segment. Big things ahead for the first-year starter…
Our main story this week – the Bishop Kearney Selects Academy Girls Hockey team. They don’t play in Section V, and the team consists of mostly players from around the country, and even a few from abroad. It’s a truly unique experience for them. They live on campus, in a college-like setting. We were lucky enough to get a tour of the Bishop Kearney 3rd floor, where they reside.
And that’s a wrap on week 13! Be sure to check out the full episode– and tune in Every Saturday night on 13 WHAM after the late news, and on Sundays at Noon.
Follow the High School Sports Beat on Twitter, and be sure to check back here each Monday for the latest Insider!
We leave you this week, with an Insider weekly feature – looking back at some of our stories from the past 7 years. From January 4, 2012 – a hockey match-up between the Greece Thunder and the Pittsford Panthers. Featuring Max Kaufman – now at the University of Vermont, and Ryan Hager – who after graduating from Penn State is on the PGA Tour. It’s a story by Brian Mazurowski, now the voice of WBEN mornings.
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