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As the high school basketball season plays out in a condensed form this year, something unique scheduling-wise, will affect most if not all Wasaren teams. Playing a home and home series on the weekend with a common opponent looks to be a recurring theme for area basketball squads and it makes sense for multiple reasons. It also presents a new scenario for high school coaching staffs.

It’s a quick turnaround from walking off the court on Friday night and tipping with the same opponent in a Saturday matinee. At best you may squeeze in a walkthrough/shootaround on Saturday morning where you could highlight some adjustments you’d like to make based on the Friday night run.

Let’s say you won or lost in a close contest on Friday. No need to go crazy, but a small change or two might turn the tables and put your team in the win column, or keep them there.

How about if you blew your opponent out on Friday? Then probably the biggest thing a coach is guarding against is the team thinking the bus driver is the MVP of the program on Saturday. The thinking being if he gets us there on time we’ll cruise to the “W”. Probably not many adjustments needed if you dominated last night, but complacency will kill a squad and it can be hard convincing a high school team after a 20 point win on Friday that they’ll be in a dogfight in the Saturday rematch.

What if your squad dropped that 20 point decision? The Saturday tip seems to come even more quickly. Switch things up where you can but like we said it’s a walkthrough at best so identify three or four adjustments and play on the premise that the opponent will come in over confident. Keep it close early and you might have a shot late.

I’m sure many coaches on Friday night enter the fray not wanting to show their hand. The thought being, save something for Saturday on either, or both sides of the ball. Great in theory but if you have an opportunity to secure the win by emptying the tank, do it. Nobody wants to be like the baseball coach that saves his ace for the finals, and loses 7-2 in the semi’s.

Maybe on Saturday a coach will choose to pack it in the paint defensively and force their opponent to shoot jumpers, the premise being legs are tired in the second game of a back to back and those jumpers won’t fall.

Ok I need to stop now before I get carried away but those are a few things that coaches will have to contend with regarding back to back scheduling this season and while at times they may lament over it, knowing coaches as the competitors they are, I’m sure most will embrace the new challenge.

I’ll end with a disclaimer so to speak. If your playing a team that would beat you handily 9 times out of 10 any or all adjustments probably have a minimal effect on the outcome. Over the weekend I believe there were four home and home series that ended with three sweeps and one split.

But no matter. Coaches will still go home Friday night, watch the game film, jot down a few notes, get about four hours of toss and turn sleep, put their teams through a Saturday morning walkthrough and play the sequel hoping to stack W’s or earn the split.

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A number of Wasaren schools played a home and home series with the same opponent this weekend, part of the creative scheduling needed in this unique basketball season. Here’s how things played out in Saturday matinees across the league.

Girls

Mechanicville 69 Schuylerville 24

Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Chloe Goverski 24 Amy DiSiena 16 Black Horse – S. Bodenr 6

The Raiders ran out to a 24-4 advantage after the first and cruised to the home victory over Schuylerville on Saturday. Mechanicville sweeps the home and home series with Goverski and DiSiena combining for 40 points in both Raider wins.

Tamarac 51 Hoosic Valley 24

Leading Scorers: Bengals – Sarita Faraj 21 Valley – Becca Bruso

The Bengals held the Valley to single digits in each of the first three periods and Faraj poured in 21 points to lead Tamarac to the dominant road “W” in Schaghticoke.

Stillwater 40 Saratoga Catholic 38

Leading Scorers: Warriors – Marley Mueller 19 Saints – Megan Cornell

Trailing 26-18 at the half Stillwater trimmed the margin in the third period and used a 12-6 advantage in the final frame to secure the narrow, come-from-behind victory over Spa Catholic on Saturday. Mueller with 19 points led the way for the Warriors who swept the weekend series with the Saints.

Boys

Mechanicville 38 Schuylerville 32

Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Colin Richardson 12 Black Horses – Owen Sherman 12

In a defensive battle, where neither squad posted a double digit quarter in the first half, Mechanicville used a 16-10 fourth period to get past the stubborn Black Horses of Schuylerville. With the victory the Raiders claim both ends of the home and home series, after besting Schuylerville 54-34 on Friday night.

Stillwater 61 Saratoga Catholic 46

Leading Scorers: Warriors – Issac Cutler 22 Geran Baker 13 CJ McNeil 11 Saints – Hayden Day 17 Anthny Barile 11

Taking a 43-42 lead into the final frame, Stillwater used a dominant 18-4 fourth period, in posting the road “W” over the Saints. The Warriors used three players in doubles and seven made threes to earn the win and split the weekend series Spa Catholic.

Mekeel Christian Academy 77 Hoosic Valley 36

Leading Scorers: Mekeel – Alex Barnhill 23 Zahki Fallen 15 Chris Kane 14 Joey Roddy 10 Valley – Logan Reilly 14

Mekeel outscored the Indians in every quarter including a 20-2 advantage after the first, and cruised to the home win over the Valley on Saturday. The Lions saw four players reach double figures and bottomed 10 triples in the decisive victory.

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Boys Basketball

Tamarac 65 Hoosic Valley 44

Leading Scorers: Bengals – Jack Casey 16 Joey Poulin 12 Patrick Mainello 10 Valley – Tyler Eddy 11

Trailing 15-14 after the first quarter, the Bengals outscored the Indians 35-17 over the middle two periods in taking control, on their way to the road “W”. Tamarac placed three players in doubles and converted on 13 of 16 from the free throw to notch the win in the season-opener for both squads.

Saratoga Catholic 48 Stillwater 35

Leading Scorers: Saints – Hayden Day 19 Anthony Barile 13 Aiden Lambert 11 Warriors – Grant Baker 8 Tyler Pafsen 8

The Saints ran out to an 11-3 lead after one, and used a 30-23 advantage over the final two frames to pull away from Stillwater and post the victory. Spa Catholic saw just four players score on the night but three of the four hit double digits, and the Saints bottomed four triples in the contest as well helping to earn the road win.

Mechanicville 54 Schuylerville 34 No other info at this time

Girls Basketball

Mechanicville 60 Schuylerville 29

Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Chloe Goverski 26 Amy DiSiena 14 Black Horses – Buff 8

The Raiders threw a shutout in the first period, outscoring Schuylerville 13-0 and cruised to the “W” in their season-opener. Goverski and DiSiena combined for 40 points and the Raiders connected four times from beyond the arc in picking up the road victory.

Stillwater 41 Spa Catholic 33

Leading Scorers: Warriors – Molly Sheehan 22 Marley Mueller 9 Saints – Molly O’Reilly 11

Stillwater outscored the Saints in each of the first three quarters, building a 39-20 cushion, and closed things over the final eight minutes to earn the comfortable victory Friday night in Saratoga.

Molly Sheehan rang the bell for 22 points including four triples to pace the Stillwater attack.