Mechanicville 44   Waterford 28

Leading Scorers:  Red Raiders – Lila Christensen 10        Fordians – Maddy Atwood 7      Piper Morris 7

Key Stat:  Mechanicville opened with a 16-3 first period.

Take Away:  The Raiders built a 13-point cushion over the first eight minutes and rode the margin the rest of the way in posting the road win.

Cambridge 40   Stillwater 26

Leading Scorers:  Cambridge – Schuylar Nolan 18       Tristann Crandall 11            Warriors – Miranda Price 8       Andie Luskin 8

Key Stat:  Cambridge held a 9-1 advantage in made free throws.

Take Away:  Tied 11-11 at the break, the visitors outscored their hosts 29-15 over the final two quarters to notch the road “W”.  

Hoosick Falls 40   Berlin/New Lebanon 11

Leading Scorers:  Panthers – Mackenna Roberson 15 3 3’s      Tatum Hickey 12 3 3’s          Mountaineers – Hannah Mace 3

Key Stat:  The Falls bottomed six triples while BNL failed to connect from deep.

Take Away:  The Falls won every quarter and used a strong defensive effort in earning the home victory.

Greenwich 82   Hoosic Valley 25

Leading Scorers:  Witches – Adrianna Rojas 27 4 3’s        Brooke Kuzmich 20 4 3’s        Norah Niesz 16        Valley – Megan Rice 8

Key Stat:  Greenwich ran out to a 30-10 lead after the first period.

Take Away:  Greenwich won every quarter in extending their winning streak to 15 straight without a loss.  

Tamarac 50   Emma Willard 42   No other info at this time

Hoosick Falls 62   Berlin/New Lebanon 45

Leading Scorers:  Panthers – Jake Sparks 18               Mountaineers – Jesse Franceur 12

Key Stat:  The Falls outscored BNL 18-8 in the third frame to take control.

Take Away:  Leading 30-23 at halftime, the visitors from Hoosick Falls used a big third period to extend their cushion and closed out the road victory over the final eight minutes Tuesday night.  With the win the Panthers move to 6-2, 9-5 on the year.

Tamarac 68   Green Tech 65

Leading Scorers:  Bengals – Jack Casey 25 6 3’s       Joey Poulin 20 5 3’s         Green Tech – Haisi Mayben 26 4 3’s      Henry Perkins 15

Key Stat:  The Bengals held a 13-4 advantage from beyond the arc.

Take Away:  Tamarac steps up in class and notches the close road win over AA Green Tech behind elite shooting from deep and the line where the Bengals converted 15 of 18 free throws.  Tamarac improves to 7-0, 10-2 on the season with the “W”.  

Hoosic Valley 79   Greenwich 55

Leading Scorers:  Valley – Isaiah Eckler 35      Logan Reilly 11      Tyler Eddy 10        Witches – Ryan Alling 16         Jacob Ziehm 12         Joe Skiff 14

Key Stat:  The Indians jumped out to a 22-15 lead after the first period and were never headed.

Take Away:  Hoosic Valley won every quarter, connected on five triples, shot an efficient 8 of 10 from the line, and put 10 players in the scoring column.   The Valley goes to 6-1, 10-1 on the year with the road victory, while Greenwich moves to 4-5, 8-6 with the loss. 

Mechanicville 55   Waterford 50

Leading Scorers:  Red Raiders – Fen Egan 17      Cruz Goverski 13         Fordians – Derrick Pontore 17 3 3’s        Matt Soden 17 3 3’s

Key Stat:  Mechanicville cashed in on 26 of 36 from the charity stripe while Waterford converted just 9 of 13.

Take Away:  The Raiders trailed 39-38 heading into the final frame but used a 10-point period from Goverski and clutch free throw shooting, connecting on 10 of 14, to post the come-from-behind victory.    

Our Tuesday morning podcast with a look back, a look ahead and the announcement of our latest Wasaren Sportsnet Player of the week.

Stillwater 56   Berlin/New Lebanon 21

Leading Scorers:  Warriors – Miranda Price 17      Riley O’Brien 16          Mountaineers – Lilly Gordell 6

Key Stat:  Stillwater held the Mountaineers to single numbers in every period.

Take Away:  The Warriors point total in the first frame matched BNL for the game as Stillwater cruised to the road win on Friday night

Hoosick Falls 47   Mt. Anthony 35

Leading Scorers:  Panthers – Mackenna Roberson 18 5 3’s        Patriots – Madison Moore 16

Key Stat:  The Panthers outscored Mt. Anthony 17-8 in the final quarter.

Take Away:  Hoosick Falls pulls away over the last eight minutes to post the road “W” in what was a close game throughout.

Cambridge 60   Emma Willard 37   

Leading Scorers:  Cambridge Tristan Crandall 25 5 3’s        Schuylar Nolan 11         Emma Willard A. Shields 22

Key Stat:  Cambridge held a 7-1 advantage in made threes.

Take Away:  Cambridge used a 17-7 second period to take a 37-21 lead into the break, on their way to the comfortable road “W” over the Jespers.  

Boys

Mount Anthony 73   Hoosick Falls 50

Leading Scorers:  Patriots – Carter Thompson 21      Josh Worthington 12 4 3’s      Braeden Billert 11 3 3’s      Shemer Solkator 10   Panthers – Brody Mann 17      Andrew Sparks 13     Jake Sparks 11

Key Stat:  The Patriots scored half of their point total from downtown drilling 12 triples.  

Take Away:  Mt. Anthony built a 42-24 lead by halftime and closed out the win in Hoosick Falls on Monday.  

Greenwich 77   AuSable Valley 35

Leading Scorers:  Witches – Brooke Kuzmich 20 3 3’s       Norah Niesz 17 3 3’s       Grace Autiello 15 5 3’s      Cate Abate 12    AuSable Valley – Kaydence Moehern 8

Key Stat:  Greenwich drilled 14 triples in the contest while AuSable managed just one make from deep.

Take Away:  The Witches ran out to a 46-22 halftime lead and cruised to the win at SUNY Adirondack, improving to 14-0 on the season.  Next up for Greenwich is a visit to Schaghticoke on Wednesday to face the Indians of Hoosic Valley.   

Greenwich 66   Schenectady 38

Leading Scorers:  Witches – Adrianna Rojas 21       Norah Niesz 16      Brooke Kuzmich 10       Cate Abate 10        Schenectady – Xavianna McDaniel 13

Key Stat:  Greenwich made more free throws than Schenectady attempted with the Witches connecting on 10 of 21, while Schenectady converted just 2 of 5 from the stripe.

Taske Away: The Witches built a 34-19 advantage by halftime and finished the final eight minutes outscoring Schenectady 17-4, to notch the “W” in a Saturday matinee at SUNY Adirondack.  Greenwich (13-0) returns to action at the same venue today in a noon tip, with Ausable Valley.  

Hudson Falls 50   Cambridge 33

Leading Scorers:  Tigers – Seneca Williamson 12        Mya Nolan 10            Cambridge – Schuylar Nolan 10

Key Stat:  Hudson Falls held a 6-2 advantage in made threes.

Take Away:  Hudson Falls won every quarter, slowly pulling away from Cambridge to post the victory.  

Stillwater 79   Mount Anthony 75

Leading Scorers:  Warriors – Jaxson Mueller 432        Thomas McDonough 14      Lukas Lilac 13            Patriots – Finn McCrae 19  6 3’s       Carter Thompson 18       Shemer Sookar 13        Braeden Billert 11

Key Stat:  Mount Anthony held a 13-1 advantage in made threes, while Stillwater held a 31-15 edge in made twos.  

Take Away:  Stillwater built a 47-32 halftime lead then held off the Patriots to secure the road win in a game of contrasting styles where Mt. Anthony lived on the perimeter but took only eight free throw attempts, while Stillwater working inside made their way to the stripe for 31 attempts.  

Tamarac 76   Hoosic Valley 69

Leading Scorers:  Bengals – Joey Poulin 34       Mikey D’Agostino 15      James Blake II 13           Valley – Isaiah Eckler 24      Chris Jones 10

Key Stat: Tamarac started with a 29-15 first period.

Take Away:  The much-anticipated matchup didn’t disappoint.  The Bengals started the game with a 9-0 run and ended the first frame leading 29-15.  The Valley slowly cut into the deficit trimming the margin to 39-31 at the break. 

The Indians took their first and only lead of the game with 0:07 remaining in the third on an Issac Wiley bucket, but Mikey D’Agostino answered at the buzzer for Tamarac and the Bengals took the slim 53-52 lead into the fourth. 

Joey Poulin started the final eight minutes with eight unanswered on two free throws, a bucket and one, and a wing triple. But after a timeout the Valley responded on a Chris Jones deuce off a Tyler Eddy find, and a pair of free throws from Isaiah Eckler cutting the Tamarac lead to five at 61-56.  That would be as close as the Indians would get.  Eckler scored 11 points down the stretch to keep the Valley within striking distance, but Tamarac answered, hitting 4 of 6 free throws late to seal the road victory.

With the win the Bengals go to 7-0, 9-2 while Hoosic Valley moves to 5-1, 9-1 on the year.

Greenwich 66   Waterford 38

Leading Scores:  Witches – Joe Skiff 16       Jacob Ziehm 15       Ryan Ingber 10       Fordians – Derrick Pontore 18        Matt Soden 11

Key Stat:  Greenwich held an 8-2 advantage in made threes with seven Witches finding the range from deep.

Take Away:  Greenwich won every quarter in posting the comfortable home “W”.

Hoosick Falls 68   Cambridge 15

Leading Scorers:  Panthers – Jake Sparks 15      Mat Kempf 12      Carson Glover 11            Cambridge – Mason MacDougal 6        Travis Yurshik 6

Key Stat:  Hoosick Falls put the game away with a 20-0 third frame.

Take Away:  The Falls won every period and put 11 players in the scoring column in posting the road win.

Girls

Tamarac 48   Hoosic Valley 18

Leading Scorers:  Bengals – Myanna Faraj 21        Valley – Kaylee Smith 4      Hannah Coffin 4      Jaquelyn Carlo 4

Key Stat:  The Bengals held an 8-0 advantage in made threes.

Take Away:  The Bengals held Hoosic Valley to single numbers in each period in notching the comfortable win and moving to 6-0, 8-1 on the year.

Cambridge 48   Hoosick Falls 23

Leading Scorers:  Cambridge – Schuylar Nolan 15      Nicole LaFountain 10         Panthers – Mackenna Roberson 8

Key Stat:  A 19-2 third quarter gave Cambridge control.

Take Away:  Leading 21-12 at halftime, Cambridge used a big third frame to earn the road “W”.

Friday nights and high school basketball for decades in the Wasaren has meant packed houses, vocal fan bases and high-quality, competitive play on the floor.  The passion for the sport in league circles has been ever present for fifty years with memories of big games shared long after the final whistle.   Tonight’s matchup in Schaghticoke has the makings and feel of a big-time regular season run when the Bengals of Tamarac pay a visit to face the Indians of Hoosic Valley. 

I’ve seen both teams play once this year and as you might expect there are similarities between the two squads. 

Both have a high compete level at the defensive end with length, active hands and the willingness to step in and take a charge or contest shots at the rim. 

Offensively both teams like the transition game and will pull the trigger from deep, while always hunting an open teammate with a better scoring opportunity. 

Tamarac comes in with an 8-2, 6-0 mark on the season and are ranked #8 in the state in Class B.   They average 78 points per contest, the highest in Section II, and allow 54 points at the defensive end.  The Bengals are a veteran group with eight seniors, a pair of juniors and a freshman on their roster.  Offensively they are skilled and deep with nine players having scored in doubles this year.  

Tamarac is led by senior Joey Poulin who scores it at 26 per game with 25 triples, and senior Mikey D’Agostino averaging 14.5 ppg with 28 makes from beyond the arc.  While Poulin and D’Agostino lead the way seniors James Blake II and Jack Casey are also double figure scorers with additional shot-makers coming off the Bengals bench.

Hoosic Valley enters with a 9-0, 5-0 record and a #12 state ranking in Class C. The Valley averages 76 points per game, number two in Section II, and defensively give up 49 points per.  The Indians roster shows five seniors, five juniors and a sophomore. Offensively they are skilled and versatile possessing the ability to score off the dribble or penetrate and kick out to spot up shooters.

Senior Isaiah Eckler leads the Valley attack at 21.4 points per game with 26, 3-pointers. Senior Logan Reilly at 12.4, junior Chris Jones 11.4 and junior Gabe Coffin 11.1 round out a quartet of double figure scorers for the Indians, while senior Tyler Eddy scores at 8.5 ppg, but can score in bunches, pouring in 13 second-half points in a 65-62 win over Ichabod Crane in December. 

While there’s still a long way to go in this basketball season tonight brings together the two front runners from their respective north and south divisions of the Wasaren.  Two elite squads facing off where at games end one will absorb their first loss in league play. Here’s hoping for another regular season classic, on this Friday night in Schaghticoke.

Tamarac 70   Hoosick Falls 50

Leading Scorers:   Bengals – Joey Poulin 23 3 3’s  10 rebounds         Mikey D’Agostino 17 4 3’s  7 assists        James Blake II 11         Panthers – Jake Sparks 15

Key Stat:  Tamarac held a 10-4 advantage in made threes.

Take Away:  The Bengals won every period building a 33-19 lead at the break and methodically pulled away for the home “W”.  Tamarac improves to 6-0 in league play while Hoosick Falls goes to 4-2 in the Wasaren with the loss.  Both squads return to action tonight with Hoosick Falls paying a visit to Cambridge, while Tamarac travels to Schaghticoke to face Hoosic Valley.

Greenwich 82   Waterford 26

Leading Scorers:  Witches – Brooke Kuzmich 21  4 3’s       Norah Niesz 18        Grace Autiello 14          Fordians –   Maddy Atwood 10

Key Stat:  The Witches defense held Waterford to single numbers in every quarter.

Take Away:  Greenwich raced to a 46-16 cushion by halftime and cruised to the road win over the Fordians.  With the win Greenwich moves to 12-0 on the season and will look ahead to a nonleague run with Schenectady on Saturday at 1:30 at SUNY Adirondack.