COLLEGIATE, TRINITY NET BASKETBALL WINS

the scene on sunday at fieldston was one of playoff passion, where some basketball dreams came true and others fell short. by the time the action had ended, the new york state association of independent schools had crowned four champions as collegiate won the boys' "b" division while trinity claimed the title in the "c" division. on the girls' side, rye country day was the "c" victor and long island lutheran prevailed in the "b" division.

collegiate upset no. 1 seed poly prep in the same tournament a year ago but avoided a similar fate as the top-ranked team this season. after a first-round bye, the dutchmen beat dwight (winners earlier over poly) 60-48 and then downed hackley in the final 66-52.

"we played very well in both the semis and the championship," collegiate head coach ray voelkel wrote in an email message. "we again had different people stepping up, and our defense was very good, especially against the opposing teams' best players."

trinity was also the top seed and barely suffered a hiccup along the way to the title. it first dispatched columbia prep 60-41 and then staten island academy 72-49 before edging out browning 56-53 in the final. browning, the seventh seed, earned upset victories over friends seminary and dalton to make it to the championship game.

in the girls' tournament, fieldston beat loyola 54-27 to reach the final of the "b" bracket before falling to lutheran 60-38. among the "c" teams, no local squad made it out of the first round as dwight, sacred heart and horace mann all lost early.

march madness under way-it was a great regular season for local high school basketball teams in the public schools athletic league, with many achieving excellent records. the postseason hasn't been quite so friendly, though.

on the boys' side, only hunter made it past the first round by winning its game against midwood 67-60, with matt schoener leading the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds. in its second-round contest the next week, though, hunter ran into higher-ranked benjamin banneker academy and fell 54-46.

hunter's local neighbors in the "a" bracket all lost in the first round: beacon got an astounding 34-point effort from aldin medunjanin but came up short against south bronx; high school for environmental studies lost to newtown; and julia richman couldn't get past franklin d. roosevelt. in the "b" bracket, two other local squads, graphic communication arts and central park east secondary, also suffered defeats in the first round.

the girls' teams did much better. hunter and laguardia both lost in the first round, but martin luther king jr. made it to the quarterfinals and fourth-ranked food and finance is still alive after routing john bowne 63-14 last sunday. destiny brito led the way with 15 points, setting up food and finance for a semifinal showdown with top-seeded medgar evers on saturday. the seahawks received an initial bye in the "a" bracket and then beat school of the future 56-33, with shanequa lassiter contributing 20 points.

martin luther king jr., meanwhile, started by beating hunter 50-36 in the first round and then topped long island city 61-52 as kenya crusoe poured in 24 points. medgar evers was too strong in the quarterfinals, though, and defeated mlk 53-45.

the girls in the "b" bracket are also doing well, with two teams-high school for environmental studies and central park east secondary-making the quarterfinals. high school for environmental studies first beat far rockaway 67-52 thanks to ashley leslie's 26 points and 20 rebounds. the eagles then won 54-47 against east new york transit tech, with leslie once again posting a double-double (15 points, 16 rebounds). central park east secondary also won its first two games, besting american studies 57-36 and east side community 49-42.

track results-the new york state association of independent schools indoor track championships took place a couple of weeks ago, and poly prep won the girls' title while collegiate triumphed against the boys' teams. among the girls, horace mann's laura halis and annie lynch were standouts. the former won the triple jump and 55-meter dash and finished second in the long jump, while the latter was second in the 55 and first in the high jump. horace mann also brought home the shot put title thanks to a throw of more than 31 feet by jodi-ann robinson.

on the boys' side, collegiate took home the title in seven out of 13 events, including sweeps of the 1,000 meters (with hashem zikry placing first), shot put (sam levison) and 1,600 (hugh parker). the dutchmen also had winners in will garcia in the 600, michael johnson in the 300 and parker again in the 3,200. other local champions included trinity's devon thompson in the 55 and horace mann's max duwat in the triple jump.