When the Thousand Islands girls basketball team moved the ball up the court against Copenhagen on Monday, they were met by a unique defensive formation. A combination of man-to-man and zone coverage that places a defender one-on-one with a designated player on offense while the rest of the defense focuses on specific areas on the floor, otherwise known as a matchup zone.

Thousand Islands sophomore Kennady Amo gives out instructions to her teammates on the floor Friday during Thousand Islands’ 44-27 win over Sackets Harbor. There was a juncture in Thousand Islands’ 44-27 win over Sackets Harbor that it appeared the Vikings would cruise to their fifth victory of the season.

Thousand Islands sophomore Kennady Amo gives out instructions to her teammates on the floor Friday during Thousand Islands’ 44-27 win over Sackets Harbor. There was a juncture in Thousand Islands’ 44-27 win over Sackets Harbor that it appeared the Vikings would cruise to their fifth victory of the season.

The most eye-catching part of Lyme’s 84-52 Frontier League boys basketball crossover victory over Sandy Creek is of course the explosive offensive performance that led to the Indians scoring their second-highest point total of the season Thursday. But backing up the 3-pointers, contested layups and transition points was the defensive effort on the other end of the floor.

Standing in front of a Section 3 backdrop and surrounded by a small cluster of reporters holding cameras and voice recorders last month, Kwazsi Gaddis broke down in tears. Indian River had just won the Section 3 Class A football title in the Carrier Dome and Gaddis, a senior, was overcome with emotion.

The Carthage Comets did everything a team that was losing should do to start the second half. They shot well, they rebounded, they forced turnovers and, as a result, they scored 10 unanswered points to start the third quarter. But General Brown (4-1) hung tough and didn’t allow itself to fall too far behind.

The bus ride to away games is often a time for meditation. A place where players can collect their thoughts before taking the court. Some listen to music, others may talk about school or the upcoming game, but Jaden Kennedy elects to do neither. Staring at his phone, Jaden Kennedy opens the YouTube app and searches basketball highlights, particularly of Washington Wizards point guard John Wall and Detroit Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson.

A large crowd consisting of mostly parents, students and teachers packed the General Brown High School cafeteria for a Board of Education meeting Monday night. The board allowed for eight public comments to be made, all of which pertained to former General Brown girls varsity basketball coach Janelle Ferris.

It took Watertown a good two quarters to shake off any nerves it might have built up in anticipation of the opening night game against Immaculate Heart Central on Friday. But once the Cyclones got loose, their offense began to click and Watertown began to get bucket after bucket until it eventually won, 66-52.

After school lets out at Belleville Henderson Central School, only a few teachers and students are left still roaming the halls. Disrupting the now quiet building is the sound of basketballs repeatedly ricocheting off the hardwood gym floor. Having fielded a boys basketball team for decades, this is not an unfamiliar sound at Belleville Henderson.

Some of Damon Blaha’s best games last season came as the Lyme boys varsity basketball team was attempting to finish off one of its best seasons ever. In three of his last four regular season games, Blaha posted point totals of 22, 23 and 21, the last of which secured a 58-40 victory over Sackets Harbor and a regular season title for the Indians.

Zach Shambo is expecting to play a slightly different role as the head coach of the Lowville boys basketball team this year. He’ll still serve as the man in charge, but he believes his job is more about keeping his team positive than it is about calling plays. Of the 11 players returning from last year’s squad will be Chad Bach, Gavin and Aidan Macaulay, Hudson White and Brett Tiffany.

Anna Bauter, center, smiles as she signs her national letter of intent to play lacrosse at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, surrounded by family and her coach, on Wednesday at General Brown High School in Dexter. Sitting at a table draped in a cloth featuring the Immaculate Heart Central seal, Amanda McElheran, wearing a University at Albany sweater, signed her national letter of intent to play Division I lacrosse at the University at Albany on Wednesday afternoon.

Wearing white jerseys with Panthers written in black across the front. The Belleville Henderson girls varsity basketball team began its inaugural season with a home game against Immaculate Heart Central. The nonleague contest between the Frontier League’s Class D Belleville Henderson and Class A IHC resulted in the Cavaliers winning, 50-21.

Trailing by eight points with one minute and 20 seconds remaining in Friday’s state Class A semifinal football game, Indian River went to field a squib kick near the West Seneca East bench. Both teams converged on the ball and began to pile on top of it. As the players were peeled off each other, the officials ruled that the ball belonged to the Trojans, a call that would officially end Indian River’s season in a 50-42 setback to the Section 6 squad.

When Indian River had possession of the ball in Friday’s state Class A quarterfinal football game versus Vestal, the play calling often resulted in Guillermo Rosario-Acosta, a junior running back, getting the hand-off and pushing his way up the field. When Indian River didn’t have possession of the ball, Guillermo’s older brother Felix Rosario-Acosta, a linebacker, would bolt around the field tackling any man he could.