Author Archives: valleyblue

Sponsor Support

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Since the onset of Covid-19 this spring so much in our society has been impacted including businesses both large and small which have been greatly affected.

I say it all the time on our broadcasts that the businesses advertising on Wasaren Sportsnet make what we do possible. Although there’s no broadcast schedule at present I wanted to recognize businesses that advertised with us last year and encourage everyone to patronize, when possible, these fine establishments.

New Country Toyota of Clifton Park – 202 Route 146 Mechanicville

Val’s – 42 Hudson Avenue Mechanicville

Wiley Brothers – 1854 Route 40 Schaghticoke

Bonnier’s Service – 1140 Route 40 Schaghticoke

Legends Barbershop – 30 North Central Ave Mechanicville & 2443 Rt. 9 Malta

Off Broadway Hair Design – 15 South Central Ave Mechanicville

The Connors Agency – 40 North Central Ave Mechanicville

Guz Enterprises – 148 First Ave Mechanicville

Devito Salvadore Funeral Home – 39 South Main St Mechanicville

Zappia and Fryer Dentistry – 1 Pine West Plaza Albany

Carney’s Service Center – 18 South Central Ave Mechanicville

The Community Nursery School – 134 North Second Ave Mechanicville

End Zone Sports Pub and Restaurant 227 Park Ave Mechanicville

The Cambridge Tribesmen Booster Club

The Waterford-Halfmoon Sports Booster Club

The Tamarac Booster Club

Aviation Mall – 578 Aviation Road Queensbury

As always many thanks for all your support of Wasaren Sportsnet.

High School Athletics Remain on Hold

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This past Friday, around 4:30 in the afternoon, I got the feeling I should be packing up the laptop and headset for a trip to Mechanicville and the call of a Red Raider football game.  Obviously there was no said game to cover as things are shut down on the high school sports landscape and will remain that way throughout the fall.

I have to say I was a but surprised this past week when the Wasaren league decided to push the boys and girls soccer season to the spring.  It seemed like there was a chance that soccer would be played this fall but the powers that be, decided not.  The league officials made that decision, taking into account many factors with the most important being the safety of everyone involved. I’m sure it was a difficult decision to make and equally difficult for the coaches, players and their families to accept.

Sports are such a bit part of our society, and one could argue the biggest impact comes at the high school level. That impact reaches well beyond just players and coaches, extending to the people filling the stands.  Family and extended family of most players are game-day fixtures throughout the fall, winter and spring seasons. Day game, night game, home or away, inclement weather or a hot, humid June afternoon those proudest fans wouldn’t miss.

They’ve checked the schedule on the refrigerator door, and have planned accordingly regarding departure time, directions if needed, food, and weather along with wearing/packing appropriate apparel.  Really a way or big part of life for many.  Our home at one time housed three high school athletes and a coach.  It was at times crazy, chaotic, you pick the adjective, but it was a big part of our family as I know it is, or has been for many families throughout the Wasaren.

But this past winter everything changed with the onset of the pandemic.  Honestly few of us truly knew what the word meant, but we do now and make no mistake, gaining control of Covid-19 is real life, while sports is simply the candy store well down the list in terms of importance.  Hopefully our medical experts can produce a vaccine that sometime soon will allow us to unlock that door to the candy store so players can compete, coaches can coach, and fans can show out in support.  Here’s hoping.

 

 

Waiting on High School Sports

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Today I was looking back at the last post on our website and it had to with basketball all-stars.  It was a March post, the month when everything changed.  Fast forward to the end of July and Covid-19’s impact remains ever present.

Over the past four and a half months the high school sports scene has gone dark and with Section II’s announcement that the start to the fall season would be delayed into September, with the possibility that fall sports could actually play out in the spring, the only thing certain about high school sports is the uncertainty.

When play came to a halt this past March, the Cambridge and Mechanicville girls basketball squads were in pursuit of a state title having advanced into regional play after earning Section II championships.  I wouldn’t have bet against either group being the last team standing in their respective classifications, something obviously we’ll never know.

All athletes this spring were also forced to take a knee, and with the fall schedule on hold all three high school seasons have been compromised by the uncompromising virus.

Over these past few months we’ve missed the many special and unique things that sports has to offer.

How about the roar of a crowd when a player rises and buries a go-ahead jumper with seconds remaining, watching a centerfielder run down a ball in the gap on a warm May afternoon, or the sound of a fast ball from a hard throwing lefty popping the catchers mitt.

We’ve missed momentum swings and come-from-behind W’s, squads that understand the meaning of teamwork, a packed house for a rivalry game, and players with a high level of “want to”.

Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for a header, off a perfect corner, that finds the back of the net, or a tight spiral finding a receiver in stride on a go route for six.

And while those are some things we’ve gone without and look forward to seeing again real soon,  we realize that sports is just the candy store relative to the bigger picture, where individuals in our country and around the world continue to fight the virus.

Here’s hoping that through our science and medical communities efforts, we soon will have an answer for Covid-19 and safely restart activities on and off the athletic fields.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All State Girls Basketball Selections; Phillips Class C Player of the Year

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The New York State Sportswriters Association released it’s Girls Basketball All State selections on Wednesday and a number of Wasaren players were recognized, including Cambridge’s Sophie Phillips who was selected as the New York State Class C Player of the Year.

Class C

Sophie Phillips         Player of the Year          Cambridge        Jr.

Lilly Phillips             First Team                     Cambridge        Jr.

Fiona Mooney          Fifth Team                    Cambridge         Jr.

Sami Dickinson        Tenth Team                  Hoosic Valley    Sr.

Stasia Epler              Honorable Mention       Cambridge        Soph.

 

Class B

Charlie Goverski       Fourth Team                Mechanicville   Sr.

Logan Thayne           Eighth Team                 Hoosick Falls     Sr.

Amy DiSiena             Honorable Mention       Mechanicville   Jr.

Molly Brophy            Honorable Mention       Greenwich        Jr.

 

Wasaren Girls Basketball All-Stars

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MVP –  Sophie Phillips       Cambridge

First Team

Lilly Phillips              Cambridge

Molly Brophy            Greenwich

Logan Thayne           Hoosick Falls

Charli Goverski        Mechanicville

Syrita Faraj                Tamarac

 

Second Team

Fiona Mooney           Cambridge

Stasia Epler                Cambridge

Marley Mueller         Stillwater

Sami Dickinson         Hoosic Valley

Amy DiSiena              Mechanicville

 

Honorable Mention:  Cambridge – McKayla McLenithan,   Ruth Nolan       Greenwich – Adrianna Rojas,   Tess Merrill,   Norah Niesz      Spa Catholic – Ashley Upson,   Molly O’Reilly,   Lauren Maher      Hoosic Valley – Samantha Lanoue,   Ashlyn Chartier,     Hoosick Falls –  Molly Walker      Mechanicville – Jada Brown,    AJ Joseph        Tamarac – Jordyn Sorel,    Gabby Cellucci,   Katie Machnick      Berlin/New Lebanon – Aaliyah

 

Mechanicville Runs Past Canton

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The Mechanicville girls basketball team checks all the boxes.  The Raiders have an experienced, athletic and skilled roster, that is well coached and shows toughness and a high level of compete.  Add to that the revenge factor that they carried into Tuesday night’s regional run in Saratoga against Canton, who eliminated Mechanicville in last years Class B regional final in Potsdam, and this Raider squad simply would not be denied, posting the 58-43 “W”.

Mechanicville started slowly, misfiring on their first dozen shots, but slowly gained traction and held a 14-10 advantage after the first period.  With the game knotted at 19-19 midway through the second, the Raiders finished the frame on an 11-0 run to take a 30-19 lead into the break, and never looked back.

A trio of seniors led the Mechanicville attack with Charli Goverski scoring a game-high 21 points, Jada Brown 11 points and AJ Joseph adding 10 for the 20-5 Raiders.

Mechanicville now looks ahead to a Friday night matchup in Beekmantown where they’ll face Northeastern Clinton in the Class B Regional Final at 5 p.m., with the winner advancing to the state final four.

 

 

Raiders, Indians Earn Sectional Titles

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Mechanicville 56   Mekeel Christian Academy 46

Leading Scorers:  Red Raiders – Chloe Goverski 12       Charli Goverski 11       AJ Joseph 10  Amy DiSiena 10       Jada Brown 8          Mekeel – Promise Mitchell 10       Avery Mills 10   Jillian Ballard 10

Leading 14-7 after the first period, the Raiders took control with a 21-7 second frame, holding a commanding 35-14 lead at the break and were never headed, earning their second straight Section II Class B crown at HVCC on Saturday.

Mechanicville put four players in doubles and held a 5-0 advantage from beyond the arc.

With the win the Raiders move to 18-5 on the year and look ahead to regional play this week.

 

Cambridge 68   Maple Hill

Leading Scorers:  Indians – Sophie Phillips 23      Lilly Phillips 18        Wildcats – Paige Bleau 9      Natasha Strock 9

Not even an 11:00 tip Saturday morning at HVCC could take Cambridge out of their game as the Indians ran out to a 25-10 lead after the first quarter, and by the break had doubled up Maple Hill at 40-20, cruising to the Section II Class C title.

Cambridge made more free throws than the Wildcats attempted, and converted on 16 of 21 trips to the stripe.  Prowess at the line is something that will serve Cambridge well as they continue their post season run.

That run resumes this week in regional play as the 22-1 Indians begin defense of their 2019 Class C state title.

Raiders, Fordians Fall in Finals

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Schalmont 53   Mechanicville 46

Leading Scorers:  Schalmont – Shane O’Neil 22       Jake Sanford 13         Red Raiders – Josh Germain 16        Devin Garland 13

Mechanicville trailed 26-10 at the break, cut the deficit to 34-26 after the third but fell short in their comeback attempt in the Section II Class B championship game.

The Raider finish the season with an outstanding 22-2 mark and Wasaren Champions.

 

Lake George 52  Waterford 48

Leading Scorers:  Warriors – Luke Pelcher 19       Juan Garcia 10           Fordians – TJ Kelley 23       Michael Talavera 11

Waterford held a 31-26 lead at halftime time and continued to play on front for most of the second half.  But Lake George drew even with 3:08 left on a pair of Pelcher free throws, and later, two more from the stripe by Pelcher gave the Warriors a 50-48 advantage with 19.4 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Waterford turned the ball over and Lake George closed things out to earn the Section II Class C championship.

Waterford completes a fine season with a mark of 17-7.

Wasaren Teams March To The Finals

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We made the case on Sunday with six Wasaren teams playing in Section II semifinals that with the exception of the Hoosick Falls Mechanicville boys matchup where someone had to fall, that all others could win and advance to championship games.

On Tuesday night, while Maple Hill eliminated the Hoosic Valley girls, needing overtime to do it, Cambridge and Mechanicville girls teams and the Waterford boys all earned “W’s” and will play in title games this weekend.

Cambridge 84   Berne-Knox 36

Leading Scorers:  Indians – Sophie Phillips 25 (7 3’s)        Lilly Phillips 19       Stasia Epler 16         Fiona Mooney 15              BK – Alexis Wright 13          Taylor Meacham 11

Cambridge put 28 points on the board in the opening period and hung 31 more in period number three, routing Berne-Knox in their Class C semifinal Tuesday night at Colonie.  The top-seeded Indians bottomed 16 triples and put four players in doubles, as they ready for the title game against #2 Maple Hill on Saturday at 11 a.m. at HVCC.

 

Mechanicville 53   Schalmont 48

Leading Scorers:  Red Raiders – Charli Goverski 20        AJ Joseph 12          Chloe Goverski 9 Schalmont – Payton Graber 17        Karissa Antoine 14        Haley Burchhardt 11

The Raiders built a 35-17 halftime advantage, weathered a Schalmont comeback effort in the third, and closed things out over the final frame to post the victory in their Class B semifinal at Averill Park on Tuesday.

The #4 Raiders and defending Class B champs will face Mekeel Christian Academy on Saturday at HVCC.

 

Waterford 54  Fort Plain 52

Leading Scorers:  Fordians – TJ Kelley 27        Jake Houle 9        Fort Plain – Troy Butler 20     Robert Jordan 11       L. Thomas 11

Waterford trailed 32-21 at the break, but used a 22-8 third period to take the lead and held off Fort Plain for the Class C semifinal win.

The #11 Fordians will face Lake George in the championship game Friday night at the Cool Insuring Arena at 5 p.m.

 

Maple Hill 49   Hoosic Valley 45      No other info at this time.

 

Red Raiders Advance to Championship Game

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Mechanicville 66   Hoosick Falls 58

Leading Scorers:  Red Raiders – Josh Germain 21       Tyler Eiseman 12      Tyler Dion 12       Luciano D’Ambro 10        Anthony Attala 8                 Panthers – Tristan Williams 21         Jon Kempf 19           Isiah Burnett 8

In a close game throughout at the Cool Insuring Arena Monday night, Mechanicville held a 47-44 advantage entering the final frame and used a 19-14 fourth period to close things out, posting the Class B semifinal “W” and advancing to Friday nights championship game with Schalmont.

Very little separated the two Wasaren squads in the contest that saw the Panthers hold a 4-3 advantage in made 3-pointers, while both teams shot it well from the free throw line, the Falls connecting on 19 of 24 and the Raiders converting 16 of 22.

The Raiders balanced attack, where on any given night a variety of Raiders can lead in scoring and typically three or more will post double digits, once again proved pivotal.

Germain’s 21 points led four Mechanicville players in doubles as the Raiders, who with the win move to 21-1 on the year, advance to face Schalmont who turned back Glens Falls 52-43 in their Monday night semifinal.

The Class B champion will be decided Friday night at the Cool Insuring Arena with a scheduled a 6:45 tip.