WRESTLING — Beacon sent four wrestlers to the 16-team Section IX tournament hosted by Monroe-Woodbury on Feb. 14 and 15. Jude Betancourt (33-2) punched his ticket to the state tournament by placing second at 152 pounds. Seeded No. 2, he defeated the No. 7 seed from Minisink Valley, 4-1, and the No. 3 seed from Wallkill, 14-3, before falling to No. 1 seed Anthony Tresch from Minisink Valley, 18-1. The state tournament begins Feb. 28 in Albany.
Avery Davis (17-4), seeded fourth at 170 pounds, defeated the No. 5 seed from Wallkill, 2-0, before being pinned by No. 1 P.J. Duke from Minisink Valley. Brody Timm (21-3), the fifth seed at 190 pounds, was pinned by an opponent from Washingtonville, and Connor Murphy (16-15), seeded No. 7 at 160 pounds, also did not advance.
WINTER TRACK — Beacon sent seven runners on Feb. 14 to The Armory in New York City for the North Shore Pre-National Invitational. Jayden Mihalchik placed sixth in the weight throw (51-5.75) and ninth in the pole vault (10-0), while Zachary Schetter was ninth in the long jump (20-1.5) and Caellum Tripaldi was 33rd in the mile (4:41.40). For the girls, Mikaela Sanchez placed 51st in the 400-meter dash (1:05.15), Christine Robinson was 54th in the 55-meter dash (8.10) and Bethany Rudolph took 16th in the weight throw (28-2). Beacon will return to The Armory today (Feb. 21) for the Garden State Open.Â
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL — Beacon secured its third straight league title on Wednesday (Feb. 19) by dominating Liberty at home, 67-10. Rayana Taylor led the team with 13 points, Lila Burke had 11 and Samiha Golden scored 10, a career high. Viviana Bailey also scored her first points, finishing with four. Beacon (14-5) closed the regular season hosting Wallkill on Thursday (Feb. 20) and awaits its seeding and an opponent in the Section IX, Class A tournament, which begins March 1.
MEN’S BASKETBALL — Joseph Battle, a 2023 Beacon graduate, is a member of the undefeated Dutchess Community College team, which is ranked No. 1 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III. Battle, a sophomore, is averaging 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds. The Falcons were 22-0 before losing their final game to visiting SUNY Orange (24-4) on Feb. 20; they begin the postseason at home in Poughkeepsie on Tuesday (Feb. 25) against Suffolk County Community College (3-17). The goal is to reach the 12-team national championship that begins March 11 in Herkimer, New York.
Elijah Hughes, 26, a Beacon native who was selected in the second round of the 2020 NBA draft, is playing this season for the G-League affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The former Syracuse University star is averaging 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Charge (9-11). On Feb. 7, he scored 26 points against the Westchester Knicks, including a running shot from beyond halfcourt at the buzzer to send the game into overtime (below) that wasn’t quite as long as one he hit at Syracuse against Duke in 2019.
