Boys

Mechanicville 69 Galway 38

Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Luciano D’Ambro 18 Nick Salustri 13 Tyler Eiseman 12 Colin Richardson 10 Galway – Zach Kenyon 8

Mechanicville took control with a 29-5 first period and cruised to the easy road win over Galway. Four Red Raiders posted doubles, leading Mechanicville to their fourth straight victory to start the season.

Tamarac 65 Hoosic Valley 52

Leading Scorers: Bengals – Zachary Rice 116 Joey Poulin 12 Patrick Mainello 10 Valley – Tyler Eddy 17 (4 3’s) Matt Rowe 14 Logan Reilly 13

The two teams were knotted at 47-47 entering the final frame where the Bengals used an 18-5 period to earn the “W” over the visitors from Schaghticoke.

Both teams saw a trio of players hit for doubles, while Tamarac held a slight edge in made threes, bottoming eight with the Valley connecting on six.

Saratoga Catholic 50 South High 43

Leading Scorers: Saints – Robbie Bolen 24 Anthony Barile 17 South High – Woodward 14 VanWagoner 11

In another game decided late, the Saints outscored South High 18-12 over the final eight minutes to secure the road “W” Friday night.

Bolen and Barile combined for 41 points to lead the Sa Catholic attack, and with the win the Saints even their season mark at 2-2.

Girls

South High 60 Spa Catholic 38

Leading Scorers: South High – Hannah Breen 20 Sydney Hart 16 Kaitlin McDonough 10 Saints – Ashley Upson 16

South High built a 34-9 first half cushion and cruised to the road victory over the Saints.

Girls

Mechanicville 47 Stillwater 22

Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Amy DiSiena 16 Chloe Goverski 13 Warriors -Trinity Cutler

The Raiders held Stillwater to single digits in every quarter and slowly pulled away for their third victory in as many outings. Stillwater with the loss moves to 1-2 on the year.

Saratoga Catholic 57 Waterford 34

Leading Scorers: Saints – Ashley Upson 15 Molly O’Reilly 13 Ryleigh Dempsey 12 Fordians – Piper Morris 8

The Saints put three players in double figures and used a 26-5 first period to pave the way to the road “W” over the Fordians of Waterford.

Boys

Hoosic Valley 60 Berne Knox 52

Leading Scorers: Indians – Logan Reilly 15 Isiah Eckler 12 Berne Knox- 21 13 of 16 from the line

The Valley, trailed 28-24 at the half but scored 36 points after the break, half of their points coming from behind the arc in posting the come-from-behind win over Berne Knox. The Valley bottomed eight triples on the night, and saw Eckler score nine of his 12 points in the decisive fourth period.

Waterford 57 Saratoga Catholic 48

Leading Scorers: Fordians – TJ Kelley 22 Jake Houle 20 Saints – Robbie Bolen 20 Hayden Day 12

Facing a 30-25 deficit at the break, Waterford took the lead with a 23-12 third period and closed things out for the “W” in their season opener. Spa Catholic, who drilled seven three-pointers in the game, falls to 1-2 on the year.

Mechanicville 62 Stillwater 54

Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Devin Garland 16 Luciano D’Ambro 13 Warrior – CJ McNeil 15 Isaac Cutler 12

After an even first period the Raiders took control, outscoring Stillwater 34-11 over the middle two frames fueling the Mechanicville victory, their third straight to start the season. Garland’s 16 points led the Raiders, 13 of them coming after the break.

Stillwater connected 10 times from beyond the arc in the contest, six coming in a 30 point fourth quarter for the Warriors who slip to 1-2 on the year.

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.

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.

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.

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.