The CYO boys intramural basketball program registrations will continue this Sunday, Nov. 22, at St. Mary's Wiest Hall from 9 a.m. to noon.

All boys, grades one through seven are invited to play. Practices start the first weekend in December and games will follow shortly and end in the beginning of March.

After six weeks of exciting, tightly-contested flag football, the Port Washington PYA-Manhasset PAL Instructional League closed out its season on Sunday, Nov. 15, by putting on a fabulous championship game as the underdog Dolphins (3-1-1) upset the favored Giants (4-1) 14-8. With less than two minutes remaining in the contest, and the second-place Dolphin squad buried deep in its own territory, most fans assumed the title tilt would end in an 8-8 tie, resulting in league co-champions for these 2nd and 3rd graders. Then halfback Conner English took a hand-off from quarterback Tyler Corcoran and sped around right end. Suddenly he found himself in the clear and crossed the goal line with the game-winning touchdown.

The result shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to flag fans as the Giants had eked out an 18-16 decision over the Dolphins back in week one, with super-quick Shea Licata notching three touchdowns, including a last-minute game winner. The mutual respect between the teams was much in evidence throughout the first half which ended 0-0. First the Dolphins drove the length of the field - only to be stopped inside the Giant 5; then the Dolphins thwarted their opponents by ending their drive just short of the goal line. Dolphin defenders Ryan Corcoran, Eric Kaminsky, Chris Smilios, Erick Gadaleta and Ryan Aloe were especially effective at containing Licata, who ran the ball for the Giants on practically every down.

But that containment evaporated in the initial moments of the second half when Licata broke off a long touchdown run, aided by the Dolphins' defense, which mistook a dropped flag for stoppage of play. The Giants also cashed in the conversion run for an 8-0 lead.

Nonetheless, coaches Dan Corcoran and Rob English rallied their troops and the Dolphins engineered one of their trademark, grind-it-out length-of-the-field drives, resulting in an 8-yard touchdown burst by Drew Keneally. The ensuing conversion proved to be anything but routine when Eric Kaminsky started around the right flank and then cleverly cut back up the middle to notch the tying two points. The Giants claimed that this constituted an illegal "between the tackles" run, but League Commissioner Brian Calenda, serving as referee, ruled the conversion good and it was 8-8.

Quickly the Giants were on the verge of re-establishing their lead as they found themselves with a first and goal on the Dolphin four. But, having recorded three shutouts (while giving up a league-low six touchdowns), the eventual champs were comfortable relying on their defense. And this paid off when Eric Kaminsky and Matt Rubertone combined to seize Licata's flag on the half yard line.

Obviously buoyed by their defensive surge, the Dolphins struck quickly for their 14-8 lead, but this also meant they had to defend their advantage for the game's final 40 seconds. Despite four more rushing attempts by the Giants, the Dolphins held and claimed their crown at the final whistle.

In earlier play-off games that day, the Cowboys (3-1-2) took third place in a tight 28-22 contest with the Saints (3-2-1). Fifth place went to the Chiefs (2-4) as they edged the hard luck Jets (0-6) 8-0.