THE UPSTATE 20, comprehensive team rankings for all areas of the Empire State north of NYC, is back for a new installment. Not only are we well into the dog days of winter, it’s crossed into what I call the “wild card weeks” – a two-week span of late January/early February that tend to bring a few results that just don’t make sense. Never know what you’re going to get this time of year. Who is maintaining their daily approach to development & consistency?

Current rankings, Class A 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 approximately 45 teams are currently under consideration for this class. ***

• 1.) Utica Notre Dame (3)
• 2.) Tappan Zee (1)
• 3.) Albany Academy (2)
• 4.) Peru (7)
• 5.) Maine-Endwell (4)
• 6.) Mercy (5)
• 7.) CBA Syracuse (3)
• 8.) Holy Names (2)
• 9.) Pelham (1)
• 10.) Hendrick Hudson (1)
• 11.) Norwich (4)
• 12.) New Hartford (3)
• 13.) Waverly (4)
• 14.) Depew (6)
• 15.) East (5)
• 16.) Glens Falls (2)
• 17.) Jamesville-DeWitt (3)
• 18.) Pearl River (1)
• 19.) Newark (5)
• 20.) Honeoye Falls-Lima (5)

Big Jumpers: Maine-Endwell (+7), Norwich (+6), Pelham (+4)

New Entries: Pearl River, Newark

NOTES

• After a few weeks of very little movement, we experienced the whole market correction in the matter of a few days. Active & wild week in Class A with some big games & eye-catching results.
• The down side was a tough week for Albany Academy. They got blitzed at home by Shaker on Tuesday, which is understandable. Swinging up in weight class. But a lopsided loss at Troy on Friday night, albeit maybe an anomaly, was unexpected & maybe cause for concern. I dropped them a spot, but looking at the rest of Class A, there’s only so much shifting I can do. Bad night/week that you hope doesn’t become a trend, but it’s still impossible to not call them one of the top 3-5 Class A teams north of NYC.
• One way or another, things are beginning to sort themselves out in Section IV. From not really in the preseason discussion to perhaps setting up as a mild favorite now, Maine-Endwell is rolling. Perhaps a year ahead of schedule with this young group, maybe right on time, but they’re performing at a very high level. Shoutout to first year coach Abby Flynn and Norwich, who looked promising when I watched in early December and have continued to grow through the season, case in point being a big road win over Waverly to close out last week. On the other side, unfortunately Johnson City has been bitten by the injury bug and although they’re still in the mix, it’ll be considerably more difficult for them.
• I pulled the trigger with two new entries, both teams that have been just outside the Upstate 20 the entire time. Welcome Pearl River (Section I) and Newark (Section V) to the party. Despite a narrow loss to fellow Class A Pleasantville in late December, Pearl River hops on after a 7-2 January with the only losses to #2 Tappan Zee (58-45) and ranked Class AA Nyack (51-39). Newark sits at 13-1, the only loss being a blip on the radar a couple Fridays back. Lead guards drive both sides in Pearl River 2028 Caitlin Dempsey and Newark 2027 Karina Natale, and they add to the depth of moderately deep Class A fields in their respective sections.

RESULTS OF NOTE (Jan 26-Feb 1) (current U-20 Class A teams in bold)

• 1/27: Maine-Endwell 84, Johnson City 41
• 1/27: Shaker (AAA) 84, Albany Academy 51
• 1/27: Keshequa (C) 55, Mercy 46
• 1/29: Pearl River 59, Irvington 36
• 1/29: Maine-Endwell 66, Binghamton 44
• 1/29: Amsterdam (AA) 46, Glens Falls 41
• 1/30: Norwich 72, Waverly 66
• 1/30: Tappan Zee 46, Suffern (AA) 41
• 1/30: Holy Names 75, Voorheesville (B) 45
• 1/30: Troy (AA) 61, Albany Academy 38
• 1/30: Pittsford Mendon (AA) 54, Honeoye Falls-Lima 35
• 1/31: Mercy 60, Bishop Kearney (AAA) 50
• 1/31: Jamesville-DeWitt 57, Oswego (AA) 45
• 1/31: West Seneca (AAA) 88, Depew 40

WEEKLY ALL-UPSTATE (Jan 26-Feb 1)

Brooklyn Burke (Norwich 2028): It seems like Norwich has done exactly what teams hope to do, gradually improve through the season & be at their best with the stretch run approaching. Part of that has been the seemingly sudden emergence of Brooklyn, who went on a bit of a tear in January and has added a layer to the Purple Tornado as a reliable floor spacer. In their lone game last week, a big 72-66 road win at Waverly that can be seen as a bit of a statement, Brooklyn led all scorers with 23 points.

Caitlin Dempsey (Pearl River 2028): The program is seemingly the program now at Pearl River. Graduation hit the recent Section I contender after last year, but they’ve figured it out over the course of this season and cracked into the Upstate 20 this installment after winning 6 of their last 7, including a 3-0 stretch last week. Caitlin, an energetic lead guard that broke through last winter as a freshman, averaged 17 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.3 SPG over the course of those three games, most notably a 25 point/5 rebound/5 assist/7 steal showing in Thursday’s 59-36 victory over Irvington.

Gia Kinsey (Jamesville-DeWitt 2029): If this is a sign of things to come, Jamesville-DeWitt may be turning the corner. Gia, already well-known as one of the top young players in CNY, has spent time getting her feet under her back at J-D and delivered her biggest scoring output of the season to date in the Red Rams’ lone game of the week, a matchup against an Oswego team that’s been on a high in recent weeks. Gia went for 27 in Saturday’s showdown, a key 57-45 win.

Chasity Leroy (Lake Shore 2026): Buckets, a couple wins, and a milestone last week for Chasity, an active & athletic guard that’s been one of the most productive in WNY over the last couple winters. She went for 27 points, 4 rebounds, & 4 steals in a 57-52 win over Pioneer, a game they saw themselves down 7 at the break, and followed it with 28 points, 6 rebounds, & 4 more steals in Thursday’s 47-35 victory over East Aurora. In the process of Thursday’s win, she reached the 1,000 point mark for her high school career.

Emerson Wandtke (Our Lady of Mercy 2029): Emerson continues to emerge as one of Section V’s leaders of the future and had a solid week as her Mercy team battled to a 1-1 split last week. The 6’1″ forward led the way with 17 points in a 55-46 setback to Class C state contender Keshequa to start the week, then went for 23 to lead all scorers in a 60-50 victory over Bishop Kearney over the weekend.