Sunday, March 3, 2013

Cornwall Wins Its Fourth Straight Championship!

Cornwall Central HS won its fourth straight championship. There were several firsts in the championship match - It was the first time that a team "two" won; two siblings played each other; and two teams from the same school played each other.

It was the second time two teams from the same school faced each other in the post-season. During the 2009-10 post-season, Cornwall Team One defeated Cornwall Team Two, 5-4 in the semi-finals.

Also, Cornwall was the second school to win four consecutive championships. Newburgh Free Academy accomplished the above from 2004-2007.

 



Semi-finals

James O’Neill HS Team One vs Cornwall Central HS Team One: Alister Collins and Chase Huestis won two games apiece, helping Cornwall defeat James O’Neill HS Team One, 5-4. David Sanz won two games for James O’Neill.

Cornwall HS Team Two vs The Mount Academy Team Two: The Mount Academy almost wiped out a 4.5-1.5 deficit after two sets when Ian Payne and Shawn Burnett won their games in the third set. However, Kyle Emanuele clinched the match for Cornwall, defeating Henry Bowman. The final match score was 5.5-3.5. Ella Collins chipped in two wins, and Nelson Singh scored 1.5 points for Cornwall.

 

Consolation Match
 
The Mount Academy vs James O’Neill HS Team One:
The Mount Academy finished in third place, defeating James O’Neill, 5.4. Shawn Burnett and Mateo Wareham each had two points, and Ian Payne drew two games for The Mount Academy. Nick Fischer won two games, and Timothy Mills scored 1.5 points for O’Neill.

 
Championship Match

Cornwall Central HS Team Two vs Cornwall Central HS Team One: The series was tied 4-4, and Chase Huestis of team One was winning the last game against Kyle Emanuele (Team Two). However, Chase’s king could not move because three pawns and rook surrounded it, and Kyle’s bishop controlled the a8-h1 diagonal. Kyle moved his knight to checkmate Chase’s king, clinching the title for Cornwall Team Two, 5-4. Alister Collins (Team One) won three games, including a victory against his younger sister, Ella.

 

 Cornwall Central HS Team Two. From left to right: Cornwall Coach and Physics Teacher Douglas Stack, Kyle Emanuele, Ella Collins, and Nelson Singh.
 
End-Of-Season Swiss

While the playoffs were held in the library, the five-round End-Of-Season tournament was being played in the cafeteria. The event was opened to players not participating in the post-season. Lucas Donnellan of Cornwall won the seventeen-player event by a 4.5 score. Josh Grossbohlin of Kingston finished in second with 4.0 points. Third-through-fifth place finishers with 3.5 points (in tie-breaking order) were Samuel Ben-Eliezer of The Mount Academy, Vince Orcullo of Cornwall, and John Gougoutris of Kingston. Amar Patel of Kingston finished in sixth on tiebreaks with 3.0 points.

The End-Of-Season Swiss was a combination of individual and team event. The top four individual scores of players from the same school would count as that school’s "team" points. Kingston HS rallied in the last round, scoring three points, to win the team event with 13 points. The Mount Academy finished second with 12 points, Cornwall HS finished third with 10 points, and James O’Neill HS finished in fourth place with 5.0 points.


 Photo: Kingston HS, winners of the End-of-Season Swiss event
 
Please view mhscl.lktechnodude.com for additional information on the season (photos, crosstables, etc)  and the league.