Basketball
Rankin chosen for elite all-star game
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Terrell Rankin will close out his high school basketball career playing with the best New York State has to offer.

The Sweet Home senior was chosen to compete in the Basketball Coaches Association of New York all-star game on March 24 at Briarcliff High School in Westchester County, just north of New York City. He is the only player from Section VI chosen to play.

"It's really big for me," said Rankin. "I never had anything like this happen to me before, so it means a lot."

Rankin, ECIC and co-ECIC Division I Player of the Year, averaged 19.76 points and led the Panthers to a 19-5 record and an upset over favored Niagara Falls for the Section VI Class AA title. He was also MVP of the Ken-Ton Holiday Tournament and named to the all-tournament team of the Sweet Home Tip-off tournament. Rankin, who also was ECIC I Player of the Year in 2005, finished his high school career with 1,255 points, an amazing feat considering he missed almost his entire junior year after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Rankin was nominated by BCANY president and Williamsville South boys coach Al Monaco.

"He's a great player and a great kid," said Monaco. "He fit the bill perfectly."

"It's a terrific opportunity for him to take his talents and put it against the best of the best," added Sweet Home coach Paul Schintzius, who was named BCANY Section VI Coach of the Year.

This year, the BCANY all-star game, which also pits players from Rochester, Syracuse, Adirondack, Albany and Hudson Valley against a New York City and Long Island team, will be part of a doubleheader with Section I's all-star game, which includes basketball powerhouses Mount Vernon and Peekskill, the reigning Class AA and A state champions, respectively.

Recent Section VI seniors to participate in the game include Grover Cleveland's Cantrel Parrish and Jose Navarez and Lackawanna's Ray Blackburn.

In other BCANY news, Williamsville resident Dave Smith, the Clarence Central baseball coach, was named Section VI Official of the Year.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com