Area teams to participate in holiday tournaments

Several area high school basketball teams will be participating in holiday tournaments over the weekend.

Unbeaten Catskill (6-0), which moved up two spots to No. 8 in the latest New York State Sportswriters Association Class B rankings, will meet Mekeel Christian on Friday at 5 p.m. in the opening round of the Kirvin Cup Classic at Mohonasen High School.

The Cats’ average margin of victory through their first six games has been 57 points and they have two victories by more than 70 points.

DeVon Haye has led the Cats in the scoring department with 156 points in six games, including 11 three-pointers, for an average of 26.0 points per game. The senior forward had a season-high 32 points against Hudson and has not scored less than 20 points this season.

Senior Lavon Fernandez averages 24.2 points with 145 points through six games. He his his season-high of 30 in a season-opening win over Cairo-Durham and had 28 against Hudson.

Leviticus Johnson is off to a strong start for the Cats, scoring 99 points in six games for a 16.5 average. High season-high of 26 came in an 83-56 victory over Chatham.

Mekeel Christian won the Class B state championship two years ago, but has since moved up to Class A and is currently ranked No. 19 in the state. The Lions have compiled a 4-2 record, with losses to Green Tech and Section VII’s Saranac.

Alex Barnhill leads the Lions in scoring with a 5.4 points per game average. Ozzy DeJesus is another top scoring threat for coach Chad Bowman, averaging 19.4 points per contst.

The winner of the Catskill-Mekeel game will face the Mohonasen-Niskayuna winner for the tournament championship on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The two losing teams will square off in the consolation game at 5 p.m.

Elsewhere, the Taconic Hills boys will be hosting its annual tournament on Friday night and Saturday. Germantown, the No. 10 Class D team in the state, plays Rensselaer in Friday’s opening round at 5:30 p.m. and Taconic Hills takes on Berlin/New Lebanon at 7:15 p.m.

The consolation game will be played on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., with the championship game to follow at 7:15 p.m.

The Greenville and Cairo-Durham boys teams will play in the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Tournament on Friday night and Saturday. In the boys tournament, Greenville will play Tamarac tonight at 6 and Cairo-Durham takes on B-K-W at 7:30 p.m.

The consolation game is 6 p.m. on Saturday and the championship game at 7:30 p.m.

The Greenville girls will play Middleburgh at 3 p.m. in Friday’s opening round of the B-K-W Tournament.

The Ichabod Crane boys will once again compete in the Holiday Hoopfest at the Hill at Maple Hill High School on Saturday and Sunday. The Riders will play Maple Hill in the opening round on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Maple Hill girls play Tamarac in Saturday’s opening round at 3 p.m.

In a boys non-league game, Hudson plays at Ravena on Friday night at 7:30.