THE UPSTATE 20, comprehensive team rankings for all areas of the Empire State north of NYC, is back for a new installment. The dog days of winter are upon us, and I think from players to coaches to parents to me, we’re all feeling it. The key… who’s surviving and maintaining their approach?

Current rankings, Class C notes, and more:

*** Note: I will include this prior to every ranking list for every class because it’ll always be someone’s first time reading the EST class rankings. All NYSPHSAA & non-NYSPHSAA ‘Federation’ schools north of NYC & Long Island are considered. Also, it isn’t called ‘The Upstate 20 and some more’ so I don’t include an honorable mention list, but this is an impressive class with approximately 50 teams are currently under consideration. ***

• 1.) Frewsburg (6)
• 2.) Greenwich (2)
• 3.) Keshequa (5)
• 4.) Stillwater (2)
• 5.) Tuckahoe (1)
• 6.) Union Springs (4)
• 7.) Canisteo-Greenwood (5)
• 8.) Delaware Academy (4)
• 9.) York (5)
• 10.) Berne-Knox-Westerlo (2)
• 11.) Frankfort-Schuyler (3)
• 12.) Lisbon (10)
• 13.) Oakfield-Alabama (5)
• 14.) Hamilton (3)
• 15.) Weedsport (3)
• 16.) Bainbridge-Guilford (4)
• 17.) Letchworth (5)
• 18.) Unatego (4)
• 19.) Tully (3)
• 20.) Moravia (4)

Big Jumpers: none

New Entries: none

NOTES

• The first new #1 of the year! In case you haven’t noticed, I put a great deal of thought into this leading into the initial installment, so I’m not quick to make major moves in general or even minor ones at the top. But thank Stillwater for this one, who earned a tremendous bounce back win after a troubling loss to Mechanicville the week prior as they knocked off Greenwich up at their place in overtime. A rock fight of a game, but the game of the week nonetheless. That bumps Stillwater back up a bit, drops Greenwich a spot, and shifts last year’s state champ Frewsburg back to the top spot.
• And I didn’t even go to that game. Why? I felt the need to cross into Section III to get a better look at Frankfort-Schuyler against a better team. I was feeling annoyed that I made the trip at halftime. After all, I saw the Stillwater/Greenwich score was close and I was staring at Hamilton up 25-12 on a F-S team that hadn’t figured it out yet. But this is what Frankfort has done all year, find ways when they can and pull out close wins. This was more of a wild one as they went on a 17-2 run to close the game & squeak out a 49-40 win to move to 12-0 (now 13-0, including 7 single-digit games, after another win over the weekend). I think they’re figuring it out on the fly – Frankfort-Schuyler has not been in the basketball discussion since Danielle Migliore (2016) and Danielle Caivana (2017) were torching the nets. But at the end of the day, they have guard play, floor spacing, it doesn’t just come from one kid, but they do have one that can morph into the alpha when it’s time. That’s a solid recipe for success down the road.
• One other game I hoped to see but couldn’t get to? The plan was to be in Delhi as Delaware Academy hosted Bainbridge-Guilford on Friday night, but the game was postponed for 24 hours due to persistent illness on B-G’s side. This was their second postponed game of the week as they also pushed off a tough nonleague matchup against D1 commit McKenna Hoyt & Stamford/Jefferson a few days prior. With the new time being Saturday night at 7:15, I was unable to get there, but it may have been for the better. Delhi jumped on B-G early and never opened the door for anything different to happen in a convincing win. I assume the chatter is now ‘see what happens when they’re healthy’ – fair enough – probably a reasonable chance they run it back in MAC playoffs in a few weeks, and of course maybe in sectionals after.
• If weather permits and the schedule doesn’t suck, I really need to get out to Section V a bit over the next few weeks, and not just for the large schools. Big win for Canisteo-Greenwood over Class AA contender Canandaigua on Saturday. Obviously Keshequa and York are two of New York’s better Cs, and they get to duke it out with each other a bit too. Then there’s Oakfield-Alabama continuing to grind teams out in the Genesee Region. Pretty good small school basketball in the depths of this section.

RESULTS OF NOTE (Jan 20-25) (current U-20 Class C teams in bold)

• 1/21: York 53, Waterloo (B) 51
• 1/21: Oakfield-Alabama 54, Elba (D) 40
• 1/22: Stillwater 43, Greenwich 41 (OT)
• 1/22: Frankfort-Schuyler 49, Hamilton 40
• 1/24: Delaware Academy 57, Bainbridge-Guilford 35
• 1/24: Canisteo-Greenwood 64, Canandaigua (AA) 54 (OT)
• 1/24: Berne-Knox-Westerlo 55, Voorheesville (B) 46

WEEKLY ALL-UPSTATE (Jan 20-25)

Maddie Chatt (Stillwater 2028): One game on the schedule last week for Stillwater, but I mean… big one, right? It wasn’t picturesque for a while, but someone eventually found the stroke, and it was Maddie putting the thousands of offseason reps to use when needed most, in a headlining game on the road. The athletic floor spacer knocked down 5 threes on the night and had 11 of her game high 17 points in the 4th quarter & overtime, including 3 monster 4th quarter threes to recover from a late deficit along with two putaway FTs in the extra session, in a morale boosting 43-41 victory at Greenwich.

Danielle Ennist (Delaware Academy 2029): Show up when the lights are bright… that’s what the 12 month reps when the lights aren’t shining are for. Home stretch regular season play tends to mean more in Section IV, the only place in New York where all leagues have their own playoffs prior to sectionals. In a Saturday night showdown of MAC unbeatens, Danielle delivered with a headlining performance, an efficient 23 points with 4 assists, as the Bulldogs took a 57-35 win over Bainbridge-Guilford, who was 12-0 on the season entering this game.

Leigh Ferguson (Frankfort-Schuyler 2027): The sheer numbers last week for Leigh were averaged of 11 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 6 APG, and 7 SPG in a 2-0 week to push the Maroon Knights forward to 13-0 on the season, but I had the opportunity to watch the headliner of those two games in person, and the numbers – although a noticeably well-rounded stat line in itself – don’t quite tell the story. In clear danger of losing the unbeaten mark, down 13 at the end of kind of a troubling 1st half, Frankfort needed an answer & Leigh assumed alpha duties as they flipped the script. She helped spark a turnaround with the meat & potatoes of an early 3rd quarter spurt, then drilled a three and jumped a passing lane for a steal & layup to light the wick of momentum for an eventual 17-2 game-closing run in a 49-40 win over fellow Section III Class C contender Hamilton. Leigh went for 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals in that particular game.

Bailey Mullen (Canisteo-Greenwood 2026): From the smallest schools to the big dogs, Canisteo-Greenwood had a pretty adventurous week, and Bailey’s production was strong & consistent among both games, including one that goes down as a signature win. She averaged 18 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 4 APG in a decisive win over Avoca/Prattsburgh (Class D) and an eye-catching 64-54 overtime decision over Class AA Canandaigua, a game in which she canned 3 threes in the 3rd quarter to help them keep pace & dig back from an early deficit. In that game, the more notable of the two, Bailey finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Bree Parsons (York 2027): The emergence of Bree as a reliable & versatile counter to potent guard Tessa Rodwell has kept York firmly in contender territory within Section V. She had another strong, steady week and delivered maybe their biggest make of the season to date in the process. After a recent heartbreaker at Keshequa that saw them lose all of a 19 point 1st half lead, some late game success was probably just what the doctor ordered, and she closed out a Wednesday showing of 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 blocks with a game winner at closing time of a 53-51 triumph over competitive Class B Waterloo. Including a lopsided win on Friday, Bree averaged 17 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 5.5 SPG, and 3.5 BPG on the week.