Section V Basketball has been part of the high school scene for over 75 years, and the annual tournament is recognized as one of the premier tournaments held in New York. From a modest beginning, the tournament has grown to over 100 games each year, with attendance averaging over 65,000 yearly since 1975.

The Section V Basketball tournament was born in 1922. In that year, one tournament championship game was played. East High School, won the first championship, defeating West High 22 -18. The leading scorer in that game was Les Harrison who scored 18 of East's points. Les went on to become "Mr. Basketball" in Rochester, bringing the NBA to the city with his Rochester Royals. The Royals won an NBA Championship under his guidance, and he later was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.

The tournament expanded to three classifications in 1930. Classes A, B , & C held championship games until 1942, when Class AA was added. In 1955, Class D was added, as the tournament continued to grow. Championship games were played at the East Main Street Armory in Rochester in the early years and at the Edgerton Park Sports Arena, before moving to the Rochester War Memorial in the mid 50's. Unfortunately in the early years, few records were kept, and much of the tournament history has been lost as a result.

In 1971, the Golden Anniversary of the tournament, a new feature was added, when the first Coach of the year was selected. The recipient was Vito Costanza from Edison Tech. Two years later, this award was expanded, and a coach from each classification was recognized with this honor.

In 1975, the Tournament saw some dramatic changes. Under the leadership of Chairman Bill Farrell and his committee, a new format was instituted. In prior tournaments, teams earned the right to play by winning league championships, or were invited to play as at large representatives. Pairings were made based on what looked to be good match-ups. In 1975 the tournament went to the "Open" format, with all teams eligible to participate, and pairings determined in a "seeding" process, based on points assigned each school for every win and loss during the regular season. A sixth classification, Class AAA, was also added. Attendance for the tournament that year was 111,723, the highest for any year, prior, or since. Statistics also were compiled for the first time, to help document the history of the Tournament.

In 1978, spearheaded by State Basketball Chairman Bill Farrell and his expanded Committee, the State Basketball Tournament was resurrected for the first time in 50 years. The tournament was hosted by Section V for three years, before moving to Glens Falls in 1981. The new tournament introduced inter-sectional play (Regionals) in 1978 that were "feeders" to the State Tournament, and created the need for State Tournament "Qualifier" games in 1979, to pare down the number of teams to meet the State Tournament Classifications. Chairman Farrell retired after the 1980 tournament, and Mr. Gene Johnson, from Greece, took over the reins of the tournament, for the decade of the 80's.

The 80's saw some new support from the business community for the tournament, allowing the tournament to provide additional "perks" for teams making it to the championship round. The growing cheerleading program came into its own, with Cheerleader Advisor of the Year awards presented in each classification. Several tournament records were established in the decade, many of which still stand today, including the longest game played - a 6 overtime contest won by Irondequoit vs. Hilton, in 1986. The 3 point field goal arrived in 1988, which brought new excitement and strategy to tournament games.

1986 also saw the arrival of the Ronald McDonald Exceptional Senior All-Star basketball games in Rochester, giving select seniors, one last opportunity to showcase their talents at the High School level, while raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House, in Rochester.

In 1989, the structure of the tournament was revised. A seventh classification, was added, and Class A became the classification for the largest schools, followed by classes BB, B, CC, C, DD, & D. Chairman Johnson retired following the tournament, and was succeeded by Doug Westcott, from Brockport.

1991 saw more changes to the tournament. Class DDD was added, and the tournament went from five rounds, to four. The changes made it easier to determine representatives to the State tournament, reduced the number of play dates necessary, and allowed for better pairing of schools closer in size to each other.

Section V reached the pinnacle in State competition in 1992, with all four of its teams making it to the championship round, and three of the four claiming NYSPHSAA championships. Greece Athena star, John Wallace was also named a McDonald's All American in basketball. He went on to play at Syracuse University, and was drafted by the NBA New York Knicks.

As a result of school consolidations, and population shifts, the tournament dropped Class DDD in 1996, and added Class CCC. 1996 marked the Diamond Anniversary of the tournament. "Seeding" results were announced for the first time at a dinner open to the players and public, and a special commemorative handbook was issued, with expanded statistics and information on the tournament, as well as participants past and present. Renovation of the War Memorial, began shortly after the conclusion of the tournament.

Over the 75 plus years of the tournament, some schools have dominated play. East High, won 4 of the first 8 championships, and currently holds the record for the most championships, with 18. Ironically, East, which won the 1922 tournament, was also a champion in 1996, the 75th anniversary of the tournament. Easts' leading scorer in 1922, Les Harrison, sat at the scorers table watching the Orientals win their 18th championship, 74 years later. While East dominated early, other schools also had periods where they were powers to be reckoned with. From the mid 40's to the early 60's, East Rochester produced 7 championship teams. Angelica won three consecutive championships in the early 60's, with Romulus and Waterloo also 60's powers. Bloomfield won 3 in a row in the early 70's, and both Kendall and South Seneca won 5 consecutive championships in the 70's. Cuba dominated play in the late 70's and early 80's, joined by Franklin as the decade progressed. Seven schools, however, have pretty much dominated in their classifications since the Open Tournament began. East, Honeoye, McQuaid, Newark and Prattsburgh have 6 championships, Clyde-Savannah 7, Notre Dame-Batavia 7, and Lyons 10, in the quarter century of the Open Tournament. Through the 2000 tournament, 374 champions have been crowned.

Not only has the Section provided some top notch teams, but some outstanding alumni and officials have come from the area as well. Tom Emmanuel was recognized as one of the premier officials in his day, and was a mentor to many officials in later years. In recent years, Tony DeJohn, Gene Monje, Murph Shapiro, and the late Pete Pavia have officiated in Big East and other regional college games and have gone on to The NCAA Championship game and even the NBA. Alumni have gone on to outstanding careers in Basketball and elsewhere. Such notables as Les Harrison, Mauro Panaggio, Jeff VanGundy, & Jim Boeheim have gone on to outstanding coaching careers in the college or professional ranks, and players such as Marty Byrnes, John Wallace, Joe Arlauckas, Roosevelt Bowie, John Schweitz, Greg Woodard, and Al Butler have gone on to professional careers in the NBA or abroad.

The Tournament could not be the success it has been, without the support of many corporate sponsors. Rochester Coca-Cola was one of the first to "sign on" as a sponsor, and has been with the tournament for over a quarter of a century. Early on, they were joined by the R.T. French Company, Rochester Products, Jim Dalberth Sporting Goods, and Eastman Kodak. In recent years, some of the sponsors have had to withdraw, but others have come in, taking their place. These have included The Birkett Mills of Penn Yan, Champion Products, First National Bank of Rochester (now M&T Bank) , Premier Sports, Bob's Stores, V.H. Lang Trophies, Pitney Bowes, TOP'S Friendly Markets, Crane-Hogan Structural Systems of Spencerport, Toth Sports, Kinko's Corporate, Scoreware, Retirement Plan Advisors of New York, Wendy's Old Fashioned Burgers of Rochester, and On-Air Wireless

Section V has also been blessed with the strong support of the area Press and Media. W.O.K.R. Television, and W.R.O.C. Television carried the "AAA" and later "A" Championship games live, for many years. W.H.A.M. Radio, for years was the source of the seeding information for the tournament, broadcasting results throughout Section V, shortly after they were completed. Over the years, several regional as well as city radio stations broadcast games live, from the War Memorial, and numerous other sites as well. With the advent of cable, several games are now taped for later telecasts over the local cable networks. The area Press has also been very supportive of the tournament. Writers from across the Section religiously cover the schools in their area, at outlying sites, or at the War Memorial. Their coverage has been a invaluable resource, for their communities, and for the tournament as well.

Section V Boy's Basketball has indeed been very blessed to receive the support it has, from the many venues it is a part of , and the respect it commands throughout New York State. As we enter a new century and Millennium, the future certainly looks bright, as the sport of Basketball continues to evolve and grow in popularity, locally, nationally, and around the world.

Fred Hermansen
Tournament Statistician
April - 2000