Basketball beat: McDonald's games nominees

Fifteen boys and six girls represent Long Island on this year's list of nearly 2,000 nominees for the McDonald's All-American Game on March 30 at Chicago's United Center. Both games are on national TV - the girls at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU and the boys at 9 p.m. on ESPN. Bria Hartley of North Babylon and Tobias Harris of Half Hollow Hills West played in last year's game in Columbus, Ohio.

There is an elaborate selection process that will result in 24 boys and 24 girls being named McDonald's All-Americans. They will be divided into East and West squads for the games.

Here are the Long Island players nominated for 2011:

Boys: Dante Agnew, Justin Bailey, Chavaughn Lewis, St. Mary's; Jordan Allen, Mike Florin, Achraf Yacoubou, Long Island Lutheran; James Bulva, Mineola; Darien Croft, Amityville; Dantre Langhorne, Greenport; Shamony McIntosh, Justin Wilson, Floral Park; Matt McLeod, Harborfields; Daouda Soumaoro, Our Savior New American; Tavon Sledge, Half Hollow Hills West; Dante Thompson-Smallwood, St. John the Baptist.

Girls: Micki Impellizeri, St. Anthony's; Alexandra Leftridge, Whitman; Ugochi Nwaigwe, Valley Stream South; Allysia Rohlehr, Alexis Smith, Kamala Thompson, St. John the Baptist.

Williams joins 1,000 clubCopiague's Chelsea Williams became the seventh player in the girls program's history to score 1,000 career points in Friday's 89-68 loss to Riverhead.

Her feat occurred on a layup in the opening minute. She finished with 28 points to move her career total to 1,027.

"I've been playing for so long and other players before me, great players that went far in their career, scored 1,000 points," Williams said. "It feels good just knowing that I reached that point in my career and to be on that list of players from Copiague."

Williams is also leading Long Island in scoring at 21.7 points per game, according to scores reported to Newsday.

The Eagles' senior guard said she likes having the ball in her hands. "I like scoring. I like it a lot . . . balance is good but sometimes somebody has to step up and be a leader and I feel like that's me," she said.

With her achievement complete, Williams has her eyes set on a playoff run. "I think we can go all the way if we just have discipline, intensity and desire," she said.

The Island vs. the Apple

Two of New York City's finest boys teams will play two of Long Island's best as part of the program for this year's MLK Day Big Apple Classic on Monday at Baruch College.

At 2:45 p.m., L.I. Lutheran will face Rice and at 4:30 p.m., Half Hollow Hills West will meet Lincoln. In last year's prime-time game, Hills West outlasted Bishop Loughlin in overtime, as Tavon Sledge was named the game's MVP.

Liebertz gets 300th

Stephen Liebertz, the second coach in the history of the Great Neck South boys basketball program, is also the second to 300 wins. He achieved the feat Tuesday with a 67-55 win over Calhoun.

Milton "Dutch" Hess, who started coaching when the school opened in 1959 and continued for the next 25 years (save one season off) also reached the 300-win mark.

"We were part of something here that was kind of nice," Liebertz recalled telling his team in the locker room after the game.

In his 27 seasons, Liebertz is 300-214 with four conference champions and a county semifinal appearance against Roosevelt "which I'd like to forget," he said.

He noted the best player he ever coached was Chris Beckett, a 1992 Newsday All-Long Island selection who played collegiately at NYIT.

"I feel very fortunate to have had good kids that have worked hard, and a good staff surrounding me for a lot of years," Liebertz said after his 301st win, 60-55, at Bellmore JFK that improved his Rebels to a first-place mark of 5-1 in Conference AA-III.

"It's all about the kids."