Top 10 local sports stories of 2022: Returning to normalcy

Dec. 31—2022 marked a return to normalcy for north country sports, but the year also asked the question, "what is normal?"

The year, although barely touched by the COVID-19 pandemic that had dominated sports seasons in 2020 and 2021, still yielded a number of strange and unlikely sports moments.

Mere moments after the Watertown Wolves captured the Federal Prospects Hockey League championship, the team's owner said he had sold the team. Later, the Wolves hired a new coach, then dismissed him after 11 games.

The Watertown Red and Black put together an improbable dominating season en route to a second straight Empire Football League title, but it wasn't without its chaos, with one game ending in a forfeit for opponent Broome County due to an altercation at halftime.

The Watertown football team won a Section 10 title in 2021 but in 2022 announced its return to Section 3 for the first time since 2018. The Syracuse basketball team registered a losing record for the first time in head coach Jim Boeheim's tenure as coach. The Syracuse men's soccer team celebrated an NCAA championship. Lyme dropped its "Indians" nickname for the "Lakers." The dome in Syracuse, known as the Carrier Dome since its arrival, became the JMA Wireless Dome.

The year was also marked by female achievement. Former Heuvelton all-star Paige McCormick was named an assistant for the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team. The Watertown Rapids named Lynn Schell-Parody general manager, a first for the Perfect Game Baseball League. On the athletic field and court, the Copenhagen girls basketball team won the state title. South Lewis' Brynn Bernard won the state cross country title. South Jefferson's Jackie Piddock established a Section 3 record, surpassing Breanna Stewart, for the girls basketball all-time scoring record.

In other achievements, Gouverneur's Carter Baer become the Wildcats' 10th state wrestling champion, winning at 160 pounds. Beaver River's Colton Kempney won a pair of state track titles in the 3200 meters and the 3000 steeplechase. Massena's Jonny Gustafson participated in luge in the Beijing Winter Olympics. Near-misses didn't take away the thrill of state final appearances by the Heuvelton boys basketball team and General Brown football team.

As in any year, the north country mourned the passing of several notable sports figures, including legendary Lowville and Watertown coach Lew Kibling, former Harrisville boys basketball coach Chuck Folsom, former Syracuse football coach Greg Robinson, former Malone high school football coach Greg Marshall, former Syracuse basketball great Louis Orr, former Malone resident and Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tom Browning and former Times Sports Editor John O'Donnell.

Here are the Times' Top 10 local stories for 2022:

1. COPENHAGEN WINS STATE TITLE: The Copenhagen girls basketball team showed exactly how strong the sport is in this area with a nonstop ride through the postseason, even knocking off another north country powerhouse in Heuvelton en route to capturing the first state basketball title for an area team since Heuvelton won its third straight five years prior. The Golden Knights finished 24-2 in claiming the 11th state girls basketball title for a north country team in the last 20 years.

2. WINS AND CHANGES FOR WOLVES: The Watertown Wolves were riding high in May, sealing their third Federal Prospects Hockey League championship in a thrilling, double-overtime battle against Columbus. Shortly afterward, the franchise changed owners as Andreas Johansson sold the team to local businessman Tyler Weese. The team changed coaches as well as Brent Clarke left for a new coaching job. Clarke's replacement, former Wolves player Justin Coachman, lasted just 11 games as interim coach before being dismissed in December. The Wolves then hired Stephen Esau as full-time coach.

3. RED & BLACK JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER: The Red and Black had an answer for "how do you top winning an Empire Football League title," which the team did in 2021. Watertown responded by going undefeated in 2022 en route to winning its second straight EFL crown and fourth overall. The R&B went 13-0, racking up four straight shutouts at one point. One win came via forfeit after an altercation with opponent Broome County.

4. LIONS ROAR TO LIFE: General Brown's reputation as a football power received another jolt as the Lions rolled to the state Class C championship game for the first time in 12 years. General Brown, fueled by its traditional mix of defense and multiple ground options on offense, fell just short of a state title, falling to James I. O'Neill of Section 9, 29-14, in the final at JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse.

5. SYRACUSE'S WORST SEASON IN DECADES: The Syracuse Orange's 16-17 men's basketball season was so uncharacteristic that the last time the program finished with such a poor record, longtime head coach Jim Boeheim was a graduate assistant for the team. That 1968-69 team finished 9-16, and in Boeheim's 40-plus years as head coach, the team hadn't finished with a losing mark until 2022.

6. RED WINGS HIRE BRASHER FALLS NATIVE: Derek Lalonde, a goaltender for St. Lawrence Central's boys hockey team during the late 1980s and early 1990s, built his coaching reputation through several levels before solidifying it as an assistant coach for the perennial champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The Detroit Red Wings finally noticed in June by giving him his first NHL head coaching job.

7. ORANGE'S THRILLS AND SPILLS: The Syracuse football team, determined not to repeat the woes of previous seasons under head coach Dino Babers, got off to a terrific start, winning their first six games for the first time since 1987. The second six games weren't as fun as the Orange lost five straight before salvaging a Pinstripe Bowl berth with a win over Boston College in its regular-season finale.

8. CLARKSON BACK IN PLACID: The Clarkson Golden Knights celebrated their first full season in more than three years by making a return trip to Lake Placid for the ECAC Hockey Tournament. The Golden Knights won two straight overtime games against Union to reach the tourney but lost to Harvard in the ECAC semifinals.

9. COVID FINALLY RELEASES ITS GRIP: At the start of 2022, athletes on area sports teams were still wearing face masks on the basketball and volleyball courts. The state tournaments for winter sports announced that everyone attending would need to have received a COVID vaccine. But as the year continued, the COVID talk turned to reunions. The North Country Sports Hall of Fame finally held a banquet for the long-delayed induction of the 2020 Class. The Carmen Basilio Quest For Champions boxing event also returned for the first time in three years.

10. IHC BANNED FROM POSTSEASON: Immaculate Heart Central enjoyed a sterling boys soccer season, blazing through its opponents and buoyed by a few members of the Black Rock Football Club, who were international players who also attended IHC. Once Section 3 tournament began, though, the NYSPHAA stepped in and said IHC could not participate in sectionals nor states. IHC filed an appeal in state Supreme Court but lost, ending its season.