Exactly one month from today, we will find out what teams will head to Buffalo State and

Jamestown Community College for the Section VI boys basketball final fours. A day after that,

we'll start to find out who will compete for the Section VI girls championships. One day

later, we'll find out who will win the Manhattan Cup.

And oh, what a month it should be until then.

The only thing more crowded than some of the basketball polls are some of the league

standings, where it seems every night is yielding a big matchup.

Here's a quick look at the boys basket for what should be a thriller of a second half of

the league seasons.

Monsignor Martin: This league was home to the undisputed, runaway pick for Western

New York's best team — until Nichols senior Ron Canestro broke his finger. The Vikings

had established themselves atop the large school poll with victories over Niagara Falls and

top small school Olean, among others.

But the loss of Canestro has brought Nichols back to a very crowded pack — the

Vikings lost by four at Bishop Timon-St. Jude on Friday and fell by one at Canisius Monday.

St. Joe's is the fourth top 10 large school from the league. Timon lost at St. Francis last

week, St. Mary's is a top 10 small school and Niagara Catholic played the Lancers tough.

St. Joe's beat St. Francis in their first meeting, but they head to Athol Springs on

Thursday. At 4 p.m. Sunday it is Game of the Year, Chapter One: Canisius at St. Joe's. The

rivals meet again on Feb. 14 at Canisius. In the 13 days in between, only five of them do not

include an intriguing league contest.

"There aren't any easy games in this league," said Timon-St. Jude coach Jim Palano. "It's a

dogfight. Any one of four of five teams that could be standing at Canisius College [site of

the Feb. 28 Manhattan Cup final] at the end of the year."

Yale Cup: There are not any full days of league action this week, which just makes

fans salivate even more over battles between three ranked teams who are currently undefeated

in league play. The must-see matchups have Middle College at Grover Cleveland on Feb. 11,

Grover Cleveland at East on Feb. 17 and what should be an exceptional season finale of Middle

College at East on Feb. 19.

McKinley has been steadily improving throughout the season, including a win over St.

Francis at the MLK Challenge. The Macks might be ready to play spoilsport when they play at

Middle College on Feb. 2, host East on Feb. 9 and host Grover in the league's final round on

Feb. 17.

ECIC: Jamestown moved into the No. 1 spot in the large school poll this week thanks

in part to Nichols' woes. The Red Raiders needed a late three-pointer to win at Clarence two

weeks ago, the same site where Orchard Park gutted out an overtime win on Thursday. Jamestown

hosts OP on Feb. 2 and the Quakers host the second meeting on Feb. 12 — two games that

should likely decide the ECIC I title.

Speaking of two key matchups in a short span of time, they don't get much better than Sweet

Home and Williamsville South going back and forth on consecutive Fridays. South hosts this

week's matchup of ECIC II front-runners while Sweet Home hosts a special Coaches vs. Cancer

fundraising doubleheader on Feb. 5.

The girls team hosts Williamsville East at 6 p.m. before the boys game between South and

the Panthers, with the game serving as a fundraiser to fight cancer in the name of "Shell

Strong." The effort is named for Jacob Shell, the 9-year-old son of Burnt Hills football coach

Matt Shell who is battling neuroblastoma. Sweet Home has beaten Burnt Hills, of the Albany

area, in the last two state championship games and the Sweet Home program, particularly former

standout Deshanaro "Day-Day" Morris, has been a big supporter of Jacob Shell.

ECIC III continues to be the conference's deepest and most competitive division with Depew

and Maryvale on top but Amherst, Cheektowaga and East Aurora all looking to knock them off.

Starting Jan. 29, Maryvale takes on the other four toughies in four straight games, including

a Feb. 9 showdown at Depew.

While Lackawanna is still the team to beat in ECIC IV, it had a buzzer-beating win at

Cleveland Hill and has joined Holland and Alden in a competitive race for second.

Niagara Frontier League: This league is as topsy-turvy as you can get. One thing

fans could rely on every year was Niagara Falls being at the top, but North Tonawanda's

historic win at Falls earlier this season — the Wolverines' first loss in a decade of

league play — has led to quite a bit of disorder.

North Tonawanda has one league loss, but it came by 22 to Lockport, which lost by 16 to

Kenmore West, which lost by one to Lew-Port, which has gone OT against NT (loss) and Lockport

(win). Grand Island wins big or loses big ... all of its scores have been by at least nine-point

margins. Niagara Falls has posted some big wins lately, and we'll see if that trend continues

this week as Niagara Falls hosts Grand Island today and is at Lockport on Thursday.

Niagara-Orleans: Wilson looked like it perhaps was ready to run the table in league

play ... until a loss at Medina on Jan. 15. Those two teams meet again at Wilson on the last day

of the regular season (Feb. 9). Until then, Newfane, defending champion Akron and surprising

Albion are ready to disrupt those top two.

Girls race tight in ECIC I

The girls' race for the ECIC I crown might be even more exciting than their boys'

counterparts. Clarence and Orchard Park are having great seasons on both the

boys' and girls' courts while Jamestown remains a top team.

The Orchard Park girls reached the No. 1 spot last week but dropped to No. 3 after the

Quakers suffered their first loss at Clarence. OP is currently without senior center and

Maine-bound Jaymie Druding, who is out with a knee injury until playoff time.

The Quakers are 7-1 but the league race could tighten up even more with schools like

Williamsville North at 6-3, Clarence and Frontier at 5-3, Jamestown at

4-3 and Hamburg at 4-4. North has also spent time in the top spot of the large school

poll, but Frontier knocked off the Spartans at Williamsville, 73-69, last Friday.

Clarence is enjoying a nice season under first-year coach Erin Roos.

"We never thought we were going to be that good," said Clarence senior Val Nappo. "But then

we got more and more confidence, and then we started realizing we maybe could start winning

games, and once we started winning games, we've had more and more good stuff happening."

OP's Druding is out for about three weeks with a knee injury.

"It's my senior year, it's not what I was hoping for, but you have to take what life gives

you," said Druding. "It's the regular season — we've got the playoffs, and the playoffs

is what matters. The ultimate goal is going to ECC. We just have to work for it. Being injured

it's really hard to watch. They can pull it through. I have confidence."

Coaches vs. Cancer

The week of Feb. 1 to 5 isn't just part of a great final month of the season, it has been

designated "Coaches vs. Cancer" week in Section VI by the Basketball Coaches Association of

New York. Coaches will be wearing sneakers to raise awareness while teams will be raised at

the door and during games. Some teams will sponsor three-point shooting fundraisers in which

players collect pledges.

Last year over $130,000 was raised in the state at individual high school games and Section

VI was a huge part of that success, according to Williamsville South coach Al Monaco, a BCANY

assistant executive director.