The Newburgh Free Academy boys’ basketball team has a strong team coming back from last year’s Section 9 Class AA champion team.
They were looking to not only repeat as section champions but improve on their New York State Public High School Athletic Association regional semifinal berth. As of Dec. 11, when the NYSPHSAA canceled the winter state championships took that off the table.
They may have a shot to repeat as sectional champions.
That is, if New York State will let them play.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association also postponed all high-risk sports, including basketball, until authorization is granted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Even before that, with COVID-19 cases rising and many schools going remote until the middle of January, the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association postponed the start of all winter sports to Jan. 19.
“Once they hit that date, I knew there wasn’t going to be any kind of state tournament,” Newburgh boys’ basketball coach Frank Dinnocenzio said. “I had been talking to some other coaches and we would have been lucky to get any kind of season in with the state tournament.”
The boys’ basketball team was the last Newburgh team to participate in a competitive event as the early stages of the pandemic. The Goldbacks played in an empty gym, suffering a buzzer-beater loss to Section 1 champion Horace Greeley on March 11.
The Goldbacks, entered this season returning the core of that team, including junior guard Jah’Likai King, alongside seven seniors, most of which contributed heavily to last season’s success. They had big goals for 2020-21.
“I think we’re all disappointed,” Dinnocenzio said. “There’s not much you can do about it. It’s a state thing. It’s a pandemic. People are dying from it. You can’t go out there and say, ‘let’s play’ but I don’t understand how other states are doing it.”
Just over the border to the south, both New Jersey and Pennsylvania had full slates of sports. While Pennsylvania has paused extra-curricular activities for three weeks beginning Dec. 11, while New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy paused indoor New Jersey sports until January.
“I’d like to know what percentage of those kids actually got sick,” Dinnocenzio said. “Is there some kind of data talking about that. I know it’s a pandemic and nothing to joke around about, but our kids are another thing.”
Dinnocenzio knows what the athletes are going through. Not only is he a coach, but he also has a child of his own going through it.
“My daughter’s losing her mind,” Dinnocenzio said. “It’s almost depressing.”
Now, it’s about “crossing your fingers and hoping you can get something”. With the strength of this team, Dinnocenzio likes to challenge his players with tough non-league competition. They had some strong tournaments scheduled.
Now, he’ll settle for his 14 league games, and a sectional tournament, which can be done in a week in March.
“I’m disappointed and my coaches are disappointed,” Dinnocenzio said. “It’s out of our hands. Hopefully, this vaccine does something and will start bringing down the cases.”