Five former athletes or coaches were inducted as the Class of 2014 into the Hilton High School Athletic Hall of Fame: Matthew Blodgett, 1995 (cross country, indoor and outdoor track); Rachel Clonick, 2006 (basketball, softball); Matthew Cushman, 2001 (volleyball, indoor and outdoor track); Jonathan Schwind, 2008 (soccer, hockey, baseball) and John Feeney, gymnastics coach.
Blodgett ran for the University of Pennsylvania after graduating from Hilton and earned a letter in 1998. He received his MBA from the University of Rochester and is now an Internal Audit Manager for Paychex.
Clonick played varsity softball for five years and was team captain in 2005 and 2006. A four-time all-county first team selection, all-state in 2006 and the 2005 Monroe County Division 1 Player of the Year. She went on to play softball at the University of Hartford where she was named to the America East All-Rookie team in 2007.
Cushman was a high-jumper for the Cadets and won the 2001 NYSPHSAA championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse after finishing sixth in the state his junior year. He still is the co-holder of the Section V indoor high jump record of 6’10 ¼ set his senior year.
Schwind was a four year varsity baseball player for the Cadets and was named to the Class AA All-State First Team his senior year before moving on to play at Marist College. He was a 41st round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He just completed his fourth season of pro ball hitting .289 in 47 games with Bradenton in the Florida State League.
Feeney coached the Cadets to the Monroe County Tournament team gymnastics championship in 1997 and 2004. As the current head coach at the College at Brockport, he won the 2011-2012 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Championship. Feeney was awarded the NCGA Coach of the Year for guiding the Golden Eagles to their first ever national championship.
In the boys basketball Hall of Fame tournament, the Cadets defeated Greece Olympia 69-43 in the semi-finals behind Mike Ross’ 22 points, Reide Metzger’s 15 and Brent Turpyn’s 10.
In the finals, Hilton had an early lead, but Fayetteville-Manlius went on a 16-3 run on their way to an 18-7 first quarter lead. The Cadets fought to within five points of the lead on a pair of baskets and two free throws from Ross along with free throws from Austin Metzger.
But the Hornets pressure defense led to some easy baskets. A nine-point halftime lead became as many as 16 in the third quarter.
Hilton’s offense woke up in the fourth. They cut the lead to seven on a hook shot by Reide Metzger with 3:30 remaining and to four points on a three-pointer by Johnathan Letta with three minutes left.
The lead became just two points on a pair of free throws by Ross with 72 seconds remaining in regulation, but a three-pointer by the Hornets with 35 seconds on the clock sealed the win.
Ross finished with 13 points, four steals and four assists and was named to the All-Tournament team along with Reide Metzger, who had 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds in the final. Letta finished with nine points and seven rebounds while Bailey Pittman added six points.
The Cadets scored more points from the free throw line – 22 – than they did from the field – 21.
