New York State Public High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball Championships

1989 basketball championship trophy in East Hampton, New York

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Boys Basketball Championships are held annually to determine the champions of public high schools outside of New York City, though some catholic and independent schools are members as well. The championship games are held each March. After 36 years in Glens Falls at the Glens Falls Civic Center, the championships are held in Binghamton at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. ^[1]

The winners of the Class AA, A and B tournaments then compete for the state title in a tournament, called the Federation Tournament of Champions, against the champions of the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), the New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association (NYSAISAA), and the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) (public schools in New York City). ^[2] The Federation Tournament of Champions returned to Glens Falls at the Glens Falls Civic Center beginning in March 2017. ^[3]

Early history

The earliest high school boys' state championship in New York was held in 1921 as a single-class tournament. The tournament continued as a one-classification competition through 1929, then as a two-classification (A and B) competition from 1930 through 1932. After the 1932 tournament, the NYSPHSAA voted against continuing the competition. ^[4] According to Alton Doyle, the executive director of the NYSPHSAA from 1975 to 1990, there were many violations of the rules on eligibility, with some schools using overage students, and gambling was widespread. The state tournament was believed to be a cause of such problems, leading to the decision to eliminate the tournament. ^[5]

Regional tournaments continued over the years without any overall state championship. From 1974 through 1977, various inter-sectional, regional and inter-class post-season tournaments were held. In 1976, the state legislature passed a bill to authorize a state tournament, which began in 1978. ^[4]

Sections and classifications

Winners of each section compete in the NYSPHSAA tournament, by size classification, for the NYSPHSAA state championship. There are 11 sections, as follows:

• Section 1: Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester Counties
• Section 2: Capital District
• Section 3: Central New York
• Section 4: Southern Tier ^[6]
• Section 5: Genesee Valley ^[7]
• Section 6: Western New York
• Section 7: Champlain Area
• Section 8: Nassau County
• Section 9: Orange, Sullivan, Ulster Counties
• Section 10: St. Lawrence Area
• Section 11: Suffolk County

Each section is further divided into classes, by school enrollment size. The classes are, from largest schools to smallest, AA, A, B, C, and D. For 2015, the classification enrollment cutoffs were as follows, counting the number of 9th, 10th and 11th grade students in the previous scholastic year (enrollment is doubled for all-boys schools): ^{[8] [9]}

• Class AA: 910 and more
• Class A: 480-909
• Class B: 280-479
• Class C: 170-279
• Class D: 169 and fewer

A school may elect to play in a higher classification, but may not elect to play in a lower classification. ^[10]

Winners and runners-up

Winners and runners-up of the single-classification tournament from 1921 through 1929 were: ^[4]

Year	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	W score	RU score
1921	Syracuse University	Poughkeepsie	Sherrill	29	18
1922	Syracuse University	Syracuse Central	East (Rochester)	25	19
1923	Syracuse University	Port Chester	Masten Park (Buffalo)	18	14
1924	Syracuse University	Lafayette (Buffalo)	Lansingburgh	29	18
1925	Syracuse University	Lafayette (Buffalo)	Patchogue	22	16
1926	Syracuse University	Elmira Free Academy	Kenmore (Tonawanda)	26	24
1927	Broadway Auditorium	Yonkers	Elmira Free Academy	30	16
1928	Troy	Syracuse Central	Fosdick-Masten Park (Buffalo)	30	16
1929	Syracuse University	Albany	Fosdick-Masten Park (Buffalo)	25	19

Winners and runners-up of the two-classification tournament from 1930 through 1932 were: ^[4]

Year	Venue	Class	Winner	Runner-Up	W Score	RU Score	OTs
1930	Syracuse University	A	Little Falls	Cohoes	25	9
1930	Syracuse University	B	Mineville	Margaretville	38	28
1931	Syracuse University	A	Yonkers	Oswego	34	18
1931	Syracuse University	B	Cornwall	Chautauqua	38	28
1932	Syracuse University	A	Yonkers	Johnson City	34	18	1
1932	Syracuse University	B	Sherrill	East Islip	33	15

Venues of the current, multi-classification tournament:

Year(s)	City	Arena
1978–1980	Rochester	Rochester Community War Memorial
1981–2016	Glens Falls	Glens Falls Civic Center
2017–2019	Binghamton	Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena

Results of the current, multi-classification tournament, through 2019: ^[4]

Year	Class	Winner	Sec	Runner-Up	Sec	W Score	RU Score	OTs
1978	AAA	Mount Vernon	1	Kenmore West (Tonawanda)	6	82	52
1978	AA	Niskayuna	2	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	75	55
1978	A	Notre Dame (Elmira)	4	Roosevelt	8	85	67
1978	B	Schuylerville	2	Bloomfield	5	70	68	3
1978	C	Pierson (Sag Harbor)	11	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	71	68	1
1978	D	Bridgehampton	11	Lyme	3	73	70
1979	AAA	Mount Vernon	1	Rush-Henrietta Sperry	5	63	56
1979	AA	Lackawanna	6	Scarsdale	1	57	55	3
1979	A	Malverne	8	Albertus Magnus (Bardonia)	1	55	52
1979	B	Sidney	4	Mattituck	11	65	56
1979	C	Cuba	5	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	64	51
1979	D	Bridgehampton	11	Argyle	2	59	50
1980	A	Ward Melville (East Setauket)	11	Union-Endicott	4	56	51
1980	B	Bellport	11	Rush-Henrietta Roth	5	63	61
1980	C	Lyons	5	Hastings (Hastings-on-Hudson)	1	81	65
1980	D	Bridgehampton	11	Oppenheim-Ephratah	3	71	70
1981	A	Mount Vernon	1	Arcadia (Greece)	5	74	66
1981	B	Malverne	8	McKinley (Buffalo)	6	62	54
1981	C	Wyandanch	11	Emerson (Buffalo)	6	72	70
1981	D	Tuckahoe	1	New York Mills	3	73	71
1982	A	Spring Valley	9	Bishop Ludden (Syracuse)	3	85	68
1982	B	Nottingham (Syracuse)	3	Catskill	2	45	43
1982	C	Wyandanch	11	Lyons	5	68	65
1982	D	New York Mills	3	Tuckahoe	1	82	77
1983	A	North Babylon	11	Union-Endicott	4	69	43
1983	B	Charlotte (Rochester)	5	Wyandanch	11	88	57
1983	C	Bennett (Buffalo)	6	Burke Catholic (Goshen)	9	88	61
1983	D	Brookfield Central	3	St. Patrick's (Catskill)	2	40	38
1984	A	Sweet Home (Amherst)	6	Long Beach	8	51	50
1984	B	Bennett (Buffalo)	6	Catskill	2	82	81	1
1984	C	Charlotte (Rochester)	5	Coleman Catholic (Hurley)	9	74	60
1984	D	Bridgehampton	11	Greenwood	5	49	47
1985	A	Binghamton	4	Mount Vernon	1	73	59
1985	B	Westbury	8	Lackawanna	6	65	60
1985	C	Wheatley (Old Westbury)	8	Wilson (Rochester)	5	68	55
1985	D	Bishop Cunningham (Oswego)	3	Bridgehampton	11	69	65	1
1986	A	Binghamton	4	Hempstead	8	64	50
1986	B	Manhasset	8	Elmira Free Academy	4	62	56
1986	C	Wilson Magnet (Rochester)	5	James I. O'Neill (Highland Falls)	9	78	72
1986	D	Bridgehampton	11	Newfield (Tompkins)	4	94	57
1987	A	Shenendehowa (Clifton Park)	2	Bishop Ludden (Syracuse)	3	69	52
1987	B	Nottingham (Syracuse)	3	South Side (Rockville Centre)	8	76	67
1987	C	Trott Vocational (Niagara Falls)	6	Center Moriches	11	71	61
1987	D	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	Cuba	5	74	50
1988	A	McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester)	5	Liverpool	3	77	67
1988	B	La Salle (Niagara Falls)	6	Nottingham (Syracuse)	3	79	75	1
1988	C	Stillwater	2	Malverne	8	78	67
1988	D	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	Sugar Loaf (Chester)	9	92	83
1989	A	Hempstead	8	La Salle (Niagara Falls)	6	77	63
1989	B	East Hampton	11	Rye	1	57	53
1989	C	Lyons	5	Whitney Point	4	61	55
1989	D	Avoca	5	Sugar Loaf (Chester)	9	66	61
1990	A	Hempstead	8	Mount Vernon	1	60	42
1990	B	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	Newark	5	60	52
1990	C	Rensselaer	2	Buffalo Traditional	6	80	68
1990	D	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	Avoca	5	57	54
1991	A	Mount Vernon	1	Henninger (Syracuse)	3	80	65
1991	B	Nottingham (Syracuse)	3	Nyack	1	72	70	1
1991	C	Watervliet	2	Livonia	5	68	58
1991	D	Prattsburgh	5	Argyle	2	80	72
1992	A	Greece Athena (Rochester)	5	Liverpool	3	60	37
1992	B	George Fowler (Syracuse)	3	Palmyra-Macedon	5	79	61
1992	C	Mynderse Academy (Seneca Falls)	5	Malverne	8	85	79
1992	D	Notre Dame (Batavia)	5	Bishop Grimes (East Syracuse)	3	70	58
1993	A	Hempstead	8	Mount Vernon	1	55	54
1993	B	Norwich	4	Franklin (Rochester)	5	56	49
1993	C	Whitney Point	4	Broadalbin-Perth	2	57	53
1993	D	Clyde-Savannah	5	Tuckahoe	1	76	66
1994	A	White Plains	1	West Genesee (Camillus)	3	65	60
1994	B	Norwich	4	Central Square	3	49	29
1994	C	Bishop Ludden (Syracuse)	3	Mynderse Academy (Seneca Falls)	5	64	54
1994	D	Hamilton	3	Tuckahoe	1	59	39
1995	A	La Salle (Niagara Falls)	6	Henninger (Syracuse)	3	67	57
1995	B	Poughkeepsie	1	Amsterdam	2	62	53
1995	C	Peekskill	1	Buffalo Traditional	6	94	85	1
1995	D	Maple Grove (Bemus Point)	6	Sugar Loaf (Chester)	9	61	54
1996	A	La Salle (Niagara Falls)	6	Newburgh	9	77	66
1996	B	Peekskill	1	Franklin (Rochester)	5	71	62
1996	C	Buffalo Traditional	6	Mechanicville	2	62	48
1996	D	Bridgehampton	11	West Canada Valley (Newport)	3	51	37
1997	A	McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester)	5	Hempstead	8	69	55
1997	B	Westhill (Geddes)	3	Walter Panas (Cortlandt Manor)	1	64	53
1997	C	Christian Brothers Academy (DeWitt)	3	Lyons	5	66	54
1997	D	Bridgehampton	11	Hammond	10	79	55
1998	A	Schenectady	2	Hempstead	8	61	51
1998	B	Westhampton Beach	11	Westhill (Geddes)	3	56	36
1998	C	Sidney	4	Watervliet	2	63	47
1998	D	Bridgehampton	11	Jasper-Troupsburg	5	67	33
1999	A	White Plains	1	Colonie	2	46	43
1999	B	Southampton	11	Bishop Kearney (Irondequoit)	5	55	42
1999	C	Buffalo Traditional	6	Notre Dame (Utica)	3	61	51
1999	D	Millbrook	9	Fort Ann	2	44	31
2000	A	Mount Vernon	1	Longwood (Middle Island)	11	76	69	1
2000	B	Amityville	11	Notre Dame (Utica)	3	66	52
2000	C	Buffalo Traditional	6	Malverne	8	66	62
2000	D	Hamilton	3	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	91	86	3
2001	A	Schenectady	2	Hempstead	8	69	45
2001	B	Amityville	11	Williamsville East	6	87	70
2001	C	Buffalo Traditional	6	Mechanicville	2	78	53
2001	D	Notre Dame (Batavia)	5	Hamilton	3	62	61
2002	A	Henninger (Syracuse)	3	McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester)	5	71	56
2002	B	Amityville	11	Peekskill	1	67	57
2002	C	Blind Brook (Rye Brook)	1	City Honors (Buffalo)	6	57	49
2002	D	City Honors (Buffalo)	6	Harrisville	10	49	48
2003	A	McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester)	5	Mount Vernon	1	57	50
2003	B	Amityville	11	Glens Falls	2	77	52
2003	C	City Honors (Buffalo)	6	Cooperstown	3	66	59
2003	D	S. S. Seward Institute (Florida)	9	Moriah	7	68	52
2004	AA	Mount Vernon	1	Niagara Falls	6	56	46
2004	A	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	Amityville	11	56	52
2004	B	John F. Kennedy Catholic (Somers)	1	Malverne	8	53	52
2004	C	Blind Brook (Rye Brook)	1	Tully	3	52	43
2004	D	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	1	Whitesville	5	50	44
2005	AA	Niagara Falls	6	New Rochelle	1	69	58
2005	A	Peekskill	1	Mexico	3	75	61
2005	B	Palmyra-Macedon	5	Carle Place	8	57	47
2005	C	Sodus	5	Faith Heritage (Syracuse)	3	76	65
2005	D	Martin Luther King (Hastings-on-Hudson)	1	Fort Edward	2	76	57
2006	AA	Mount Vernon	1	Niagara Falls	6	57	53
2006	A	Peekskill	1	Sweet Home (Amherst)	6	46	39
2006	B	Lackawanna	6	John F. Kennedy Catholic (Somers)	1	67	50
2006	C	Campbell-Savona	5	Stillwater	2	39	35
2006	D	Charles Finney (Penfield)	5	Martin Luther King (Hastings-on-Hudson)	1	60	58
2007	AA	Mount Vernon	1	Bishop Maginn (Albany)	2	68	65
2007	A	Peekskill	1	Glens Falls	2	58	48
2007	B	Malverne	8	Ogdensburg Free Academy	10	44	42
2007	C	Sidney	4	Friends Academy (Locust Valley)	8	67	49
2007	D	Charles Finney (Penfield)	5	Chateaugay	10	45	27
2008	AA	Bishop Maginn (Albany)	2	Niagara Falls	6	68	37
2008	A	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	East Hampton	11	78	54
2008	B	Olean	6	Malverne	8	63	53
2008	C	Maple Grove (Bemus Point)	6	Mechanicville	2	71	46
2008	D	Chateaugay	10	Northstar Christian Academy (Rochester)	5	52	41
2009	AA	Newburgh Free Academy	9	Niagara Falls	6	62	42
2009	A	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	Peekskill	1	77	75
2009	B	Bishop Kearney (Irondequoit)	5	Seton Catholic (Binghamton)	4	65	48
2009	C	Avon	5	Maple Hill (Castleton)	2	61	55
2009	D	South Kortright	4	Greenport	11	47	43
2010	AA	Christian Brothers Academy (Albany)	2	Half Hollow Hills West (Dix Hills)	11	71	53
2010	A	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	Newark	5	59	45
2010	B	Westhill (Geddes)	3	Burke Catholic (Goshen)	9	60	51
2010	C	OTC/Middle Early College (Buffalo)	6	Maple Hill (Castleton)	2	74	41
2010	D	Maple Grove (Bemus Point)	6	Coleman Catholic (Hurley)	9	43	38
2011	AA	Mount Vernon	1	Jamestown	6	62	51
2011	A	Jamesville-DeWitt	3	Harborfields	11	66	51
2011	B	Burke Catholic (Goshen)	9	Potsdam	10	62	52
2011	C	Friends Academy (Locust Valley)	8	Syracuse Academy of Science	3	46	44
2011	D	New York Mills	3	Coleman Catholic (Hurley)	9	47	42
2012	AA	Mount Vernon	1	Aquinas Institute (Rochester)	5	61	57
2012	A	Harborfields	11	Tappan Zee (Orangeburg)	1	67	58
2012	B	Bishop Ludden (Syracuse)	3	Watervliet	2	43	42
2012	C	Tuckahoe	1	OTC/Middle Early College (Buffalo)	6	77	66
2012	D	Sackets Harbor	3	Madrid-Waddington	10	49	35
2013	AA	Bishop Kearney (Irondequoit)	5	New Rochelle	1	45	39
2013	A	McKinley (Buffalo)	6	Burke Catholic (Goshen)	9	76	73	1
2013	B	Watervliet	2	Babylon	11	72	60	1
2013	C	Lake George	2	Pine Plains	9	55	45
2013	D	Argyle	2	Martin Luther King (Hastings-on-Hudson)	1	58	33
2014	AA	Green Tech (Albany)	2	Jamestown	6	54	49
2014	A	Scotia-Glenville	2	East (Rochester)	5	66	44
2014	B	Westhill (Geddes)	3	Olean	6	93	55
2014	C	Hoosic Valley (Schaghticoke)	2	OTC/Middle Early College (Buffalo)	6	67	55
2014	D	New York Mills	3	Coleman Catholic (Hurley)	9	57	50	1
2015	AA	Shenendehowa (Clifton Park)	2	Brentwood	11	76	63
2015	A	Scotia-Glenville	2	Greece Athena (Rochester)	5	54	49
2015	B	Westhill (Geddes)	3	Woodlands (Hartsdale)	1	70	62
2015	C	Lake George	2	Waterville	3	53	50
2015	D	Bridgehampton	11	New York Mills	3	62	49
2016	AA	Aquinas Institute (Rochester)	5	Middletown	9	68	50
2016	A	Elmont Memorial	8	Troy	2	57	43
2016	B	Olean	6	Marlboro	9	56	45
2016	C	Middle Early College (Buffalo)	6	Haldane (Cold Spring)	1	82	40
2016	D	Oriskany	3	Moriah	7	79	54
2017	AA	Mount Vernon	1	Fairport	5	59	48
2017	A	Irondequoit	5	Our Lady of Lourdes (Poughkeepsie)	1	54	43
2017	B	Westhill (Geddes)	3	Canton	10	80	62
2017	C	Moravia	4	Lake George	2	54	39
2017	D	Moriah	7	Newfield	4	61	52
2018	AA	Liverpool	3	Half Hollow Hills East (Dix Hills)	11	71	65
2018	A	Amityville	11	Ardsley	1	74	54
2018	B	Mekeel Christian Academy (Scotia)	2	Seton Catholic Central (Binghamton)	4	42	37
2018	C	Lake George	2	Northstar Christian Academy (Rochester)	5	66	65
2018	D	East (Buffalo)	6	Moriah	7	74	61	1
2019	AA	West Genesee (Camillus)	3	Brentwood	11	70	57
2019	A	Poughkeepsie	1	Pittsford Mendon	5	69	59
2019	B	Glens Falls	2	Lowville Academy	3	75	74	1
2019	C	Cooperstown	3	Middle Early College (Buffalo)	6	71	61
2019	D	Harrisville	10	Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville (St. Johnsville)	2	67	54
2020		Cancelled, due to coronavirus pandemic [11]

Championships by school

Results through 2020:

Rank	School	Wins	Years
1	Mount Vernon	11	1978, 1979, 1981, 1991, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2017
2	Bridgehampton	9	1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2015
3	Jamesville-DeWitt	6	1990, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
4	Amityville	5	2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2018
4	Peekskill	5	1995, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2007
4	Westhill (Geddes)	5	1997, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017
7	Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford)	4	1987, 1988, 1990, 2004
7	Buffalo Traditional	4	1996, 1999, 2000, 2001

Championships by section

Results through 2020:

Rank	Section	Champions	Runners-up
1	Section 3	31	27
2	Section 1	30	28
3	Section 5	26	27
4	Section 6	25	21
5	Section 11	24	14
6	Section 2	22	24
7	Section 8	11	14
8	Section 4	11	8
9	Section 9	5	15
10	Section 10	2	7
11	Section 7	1	3

References

1. Retrieved April 4, 2016
2. New York State Boys Basketball Championships – nybasketball.net. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
3. "Federation basketball tournament to return to Glens Falls". www.recordonline.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
4. "Boys' Basketball Playoffs Brackets". www.nysbasketballbrackets.com. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
5. Jason Molinet, "History of LI Basketball/New York State of Mind/Tourney, dormant for years, has become goal for LI teams", Newsday , March 21, 2002, http://www.newsday.com/sports/history-of-li-basketball-new-york-state-of-mind-tourney-dormant-for-years-has-become-goal-for-li-teams-1.349674. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
6. "Home". 80019.digitalsports.com.
7. "Section V Athletics". Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
8. "NYSPHSAA > Classifications". Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
10. "NYSPHSAA > Classifications". Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
11. http://www.nysphsaa.org/News-Media/Headline-News/Article/id/3630 Archived 7 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine – Retrieved April 4, 2020