Daily Sports Digest: Iona’s Justin Combs Signs with UCLA Today

Local football players celebrate National Signing Day

For high school seniors there is no more important choice than deciding on the perfect college to further their education. Today several local football players will be making the choice in front of friends, family and media in signing ceremonies at their schools.

As Iona Prep’s defensive back Justin Combs, son of rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, will be signing on to play his college ball for Jim Mora and the rest of the coaching staff at UCLA at 2:45 p.m.

Staying in New Rochelle, Huguenot senior Anthony Caldararo will be signing on at 3:15 p.m. to play for American International College, a Division II school in Springfield, MA. 

Austin Taps of Stepinac and Mahopac originally committed to play tight end at William and Mary, however it now looks that the senior will sign on to play defensive end in the Ivy League as he will sign a letter of intent to Penn at 11 a.m.

Taps will share the signing ceremony with Stepinac’s Jesse Gwin who will be heading to C.W. Post and Przemyslaw Popek who will be heading to Stony Brook.

John Jay senior Ryan Sanders has chosen to play defensive tackle next year at Lafayette. Sanders played offensive and defensive tackle in high school.

Hackley’s offensive linemen A.J. Wolf will be signing on to play for the Duke Blue Devils at 10:15 a.m. and Ossining’s Brian Connolly will be committing to Bucknell at 8:30 a.m.

Croton Harmon’s duo of Kyle Ricciardi and Jesse Mainiero will be committing to schools tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. Ricciardi will join Army and Mainer is committed to Marist.

Player of the year Christian Conway and his brother Jackson Conway were set to sign on to Yale along with Stepinac’s Caleb Gilligan-Evans, however these signings seem to be on hold for now as Yale has a new head coach and there may be some delays in paperwork.

Yesterday’s Results:

Sport: Girls Basketball

Game: Ursuline vs. New Rochelle

Score: New Rochelle Won 43-33

Highlights: Jazzmin Hylton led the Huguenots with 10 points and 11 rebounds as New Rochelle won the cross town battle. Alyssa Lawrence led all scorers with 18 points in the loss.

Sport: Boys Bowling

Game: New Rochelle vs. Woodlands

Score: New Rochelle Won 7-0

Highlights: Anthony Carroll led the way for New Rochelle with the high game of 289 and the best series of the day with 681. New Rochelle’s Shaun Conner and Woodlands’ Elijah Simmons each had a series of 581.

Valiants home, hope to rebound

The Manhattanville College women's basketball team, coming off Freedom Conference losses to DeSales University and Eastern University, hope to rebound in Purchase tonight against FDU-Florham. Game time is 6 p.m.

Following tonight's game, the Valiants travel to Wilkes-Barre, PA, on Saturday for a game at 1 p.m. against Wilkes University.

Jen McSharer of Garnerville led the Valiants with 18 points and six rebounds in a 64-60 loss to DeSales, while Taylor Wilson of Pearl River just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

In an 81-65 defeat to Eastern University, the Eagles pulled away late as the Valiants were forced to foul in an attempt to get back in the game.

Wilson finished with 16 points, including four three-pointers, and added four steals while McSharer, a graduate of North Rockland, had six points and six rebounds but her time was limited after falling into early foul trouble.

Wilson is seventh in the conference with 13.6 points per game, leads the conference in 3-point baskets with 40, and is ranked ninth in steals with 39.

McSharar is sixth in the conference in rebounding, pulling down eight caroms per game, and her 43 percent field-goal accuracy ranks 12th.

Harrison’s Salandra named conference player of the week

Franklin & Marshall sophomore guard Jon Salandra of Harrison was named Centennial Conference (CC) player of the week for his basketball exploits.

Salandra shot 85 percent from the field, making 17-of-20 attempts, while averaging 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in a 2-0 week for the ninth-ranked Diplomats.

The Hackley School graduate made 12-of-13 shots from the floor, in a 65-40 defeat over Johns Hopkins, for a career-high 24 points to go along with a career-best 10 rebounds.

F&M returns to action tonight when the Diplomats visit Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Lady Warriors overtaken

The Nyack College women's basketball team, which had built a 14-point lead before falling at home to Georgian Court, 62-56, returns to Bowman Gymnasium tonight to host Bloomfield (NJ) College as part of a CACC doubleheader with the men's teams.

The women's game tips off the action at 6 p.m.

Against Georgian Court, the Lady Warriors had four players score in double figures, led by a 14-point effort from sophomore guard Ashley Tallman of Rotterdam.

Junior guard Brittany Mitchell of Queens Village, junior guard Khamari Tellis of Chicago, and freshman forward Meghan Richards of Nanuet also totaled double digits in scoring, with Richards pulling down a team-high seven rebounds, and Mitchell adding a team-high six assists.

Rockland CC on a roll

Led by Nikki Saponaro of Nanuet, who is averaging a team-high 12 points, the women's basketball team at Rockland Community College has won 16 of 22 games.

The Lady Hawks host Nassau CC on Thursday (Feb. 2), and feature a balanced attack.

Averaging nine points each per game are Christine Brezovsky of Nanuet, Katie Sovak of Tuxedo, and Melissa Loughhane of Pearl River.

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