Just as everyone was all set to enter the winter sports season and all the excitement that goes with it….the story of Kihary Blue’s shooting and death breaks, and we in the Central New York high school sports community have to pick up shattered hearts.

At Henninger, Blue was a first-rate athlete, good enough to quarterback the Black Knights to a sectional football title and, in basketball, lead them within inches of back-to-back sectional titles – nearly three championships in 12 months. Yet he ended up a random victim of mindless gang violence.

So we dedicate this season to the memory of Kihary Blue – and to his wonderful family, who had the grace and generosity to donate his organs in the hope that others might live.

In years past, there would be no time to breathe. Winter sports teams would start to practice even as fall sectional champions worked their way through the state playoffs.

To save some money, and to avoid huge gaps in the schedule, Section III schools moved the start of practices back in the calendar. Most teams took to the court (or ice) just a couple of days after Thanksgiving.

Thus, we’ve had to wait to get the games started, and with the weather outside turning frightful, that creates a whole lot of cabin fever. But that’s over now, and it’s time for the games again.

Especially when it comes to basketball and hockey, they’ve got a lot to live up to. There was, in 2009-10, Jamesville-DeWitt (again) and Westhill snagging state championships on the Glens Falls Harwood and, at Utica Auditorium, West Genesee and New Hartford reaching the same summit on the ice. Not to mention Oswego’s girls claiming their own state hockey crown.

Could that happen again? Well, J-D’s trying for a mind-boggling fourth state Class A championship in a row. With DaJuan Coleman ready to dominate in the paint, and Tyler Cavanaugh and Demetrius Mitchell helping out, it’s hard to see any local side stopping them again.

Westhill’s Class B quest will be much harder, since Dan Ross, Mike McMullen, Tom Fisher and Dan Karleski all moved on. A whole lot of challengers, including Bishop Grimes and Skaneateles (who have most of their stars back), are ready to seize control.

New York Mills, in Class D, might prove just as big a favorite as J-D, since Fred Russ and Matt Welch are still around to tower over opponents. Class C appears wide-open at the outset, with defending champ Tully having lots of parts to replace and West Canada starting life without Jared Sudderly.

And Class AA? Well, CNS assumes a higher profile as defending champs, absent the likes of Andy Falvey and buzzer-beating sectional final hero Anthony DelCoro, but with Zach Coleman, Elliott Boyce and Josh Williams around to provide a solid core. Everyone else, Utica Proctor included, has major parts to replace.

Of course, the most famous basketball Northstar is a girl – Breanna Stewart, a first-team All-American with two summer Team USA appearances (and two gold medals) on her resume. And she still has two years left to dazzle at CNS.

What’s scarier about the Northstars is that all but one player is back from 2009-10, from Maine-bound Kelsey Mattice to Brittany Paul. As with the J-D boys, Stewart and her mates will have plenty of tournament showcases this winter, which might prove more competition than the local AA sides, since Corcoran replaces everyone and CBA’s Leanne Ockenden is now at Marist.

Class A girls hoops lacks a clear favorite, but that’s not the case with the other classes. South Jefferson, with Rachael Bassett and Maddy Wetterhahn, Westhill (with Anna Ross and Ashley Cianfriglia) and Jordan-Elbridge (with all but one starter back, led by the imposing Molly Hourigan in the middle) form the Class B front line.

Utica-Notre Dame, in Class C, has a terrific ninth-grader in Emily Durr, and Hamilton, the reigning Class D champs, brings back do-everything Jordan Peterson. It will take mighty efforts from the challengers to unseat them.

Then, on the ice, you’ve got big changes. Instead of a small Division I and large Division II, it’s reversed, with some odd alignments in a split Division I and a real chance for someone to unseat West Genesee since the Wildcats’ mighty defenders, Ryan Michel and Tim Bubnack, have moved on. New Hartford seeks a state championship three-peat in Division II.

Also we head into wrestling, boys swimming, bowling and a somewhat scattered indoor track season where teams will run at Colgate and SUNY-Cortland, awaiting the completion of that new facility at OCC for next year.

And though basketball teams and wrestlers will, once more, settle their titles in the eastern part of the state, the hockey championships still run through Utica Aud, the state bowlers are headed to Strike-N-Spare Lanes in Mattydale and, again, indoor track titles will get decided at Cornell.

In short, there’s plenty of reason for fans to trek through the snow, sleet and salty roads to see young athletes square off – even if they had to start a bit later than normal.