Commentary
Challenge has best hoops action on tap
MATT KRUEGER Sports Reporter
The ECIC-MMA Challenge may only be a few years old, but it has already become one of the premier

highlights of the Western New York high school basketball season.

By pairing up public schools against Catholic schools, Western New York's basketball community gains a showcase of contests that wouldn't normally be seen. The ECIC and Monsignor Martin Association don't often mingle, except in the few non-league games scheduled into the season. So having the two leagues match up for a series of games makes for one great weekend of basketball.

The Challenge, sponsored by Ad-Pro Team Sports, begins Thursday when Niagara Catholic takes on Depew and Canisius meets Lancaster. Friday pits Cardinal O'Hara against Williamsville North, St. Francis against Lackawanna and St. Joe's against Sweet Home. Saturday's trio of games, including St. Mary's of Lancaster versus Lake Shore, Nichols versus John F. Kennedy and Timon/St. Jude versus Hamburg, conclude the competition. All games will be held at St. Mary's of Lancaster High School.

While many of the games promise to be entertaining, close and well-contested, the St. Joe's-Sweet Home match-up should be among the best games anyone sees this year. St. Joe's is the defending MMA and was New York State Catholic High School champion. Sweet Home won the Section VI Class A title and advanced to the state finals last year.

Notably, this is the first year in the Challenge that O'Hara does not play JFK. The two teams had been building up a rivalry over the past few years, based on the friendship of coaches Tim Dyrek and Tony Krupski. Both graduated from O'Hara High School and coached together. Dyrek resigned from O'Hara this past spring and is now an assistant with St. Joe's. The two were supposed to play again this year, but a scheduling conflict shuffled the lineup.

St. Mary's had also been slated to play Lancaster in a crosstown rivalry game, but that game was also scrapped due to scheduling difficulties.

The brainchild of St. Mary's of Lancaster Athletics Director Kevin Kelleher, the Challenge bridges the gap between to the two leagues, which has become cavernous in other sports, mainly football. The idea was so popular after its first year, the league organizers put together a second Challenge for the baseball teams in the spring.

There is talk that a third Challenge would take place in football. But that is going to take some doing, considering the standoffish attitude teams have against each other. Many coaches in Section VI refuse to schedule non-league games against MMA teams out of fear of having their best players recruited away by the Catholic schools. After years of trying to schedule games, and by doing so avoiding long bus trips to Ohio and Pennsylvania, some Catholic school coaches have given up trying to ingratiate themselves to their Section VI counterparts.

"It was successful right out of the chute," Kelleher said. "People want to see this kind of thing with the teams from the public and Catholic schools. There's always a lot of interest in it."

With eight games in three days, the Challenge makes for a busy weekend, but if basketball is your thing, it's the place to be.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com