The Hoosic Valley basketball squads faced off with Maple Hill Wednesday night and came away with a split, with the margin off victory being just three points in both runs.
Boys
Maple Hill 52 Hoosic Valley 49
Leading Scorers: Maple Hill – Blake Docker 18 Ben Marra 14 Dominic Hirschoff 13 Valley – Tyler Eddy 18 ( 6 3’s) Isiah Eckler 17 Logan Reilly 12
In a close game throughout the visitors from Maple Hill used a 14-9 fourth period to sneak past the Indians in Schaghticoke Wednesday night. Both teams placed three players in doubles and while the Valley held a 10-5 advantage in made threes, including six makes by Eddy, Maple Hill converted on 15 of 18 from the charity stripe with the Valley going to the line just seven times connecting on all seven.
Girls
Hoosic Valley 40 Maple Hill 37 No other info at this time.
Leading Scorers: Red Raiders: Devin Garland 20 Luciano D’Ambro 15 South High C. Woodard 20
The Raiders trailed 14-8 after the first, but won each of the next three quarters in posting the “W” and running their season mark to 6-0.
Schuylerville 44 Stillwater 36
Leading Scorers: Black Horses – Ryan Dow 10 Owen Sherman 10 Warriors – Isaac Cutler 19
In a low scoring affair the Black Horses used a 19-7 fourth period to get past the Warriors and notch the road victory.
Waterford 63 Galway 42
Leading Scorers: Fordians – CJ Kelley 29 (4 3’s) Jake Houle 19 Galway – Henry Flint 18
Deadlocked at 19-19 after the first eight minutes, Waterford outscored their guests 37-16 over the middle two frames to earn the comfortable win, their fourth in as many outings to open the season.
Saratoga Catholic 52 Corinth 34
Leading Scorers: Saints – Robbie Bolen 13 Anthony Barile 11 Tomahawks – Zach Guilder 13
The Saints dominated the second half outscoring their hosts 31-9 to break open what was a close run at the break, and earn the “W”.
Hoosick Falls 60 Greenwich 57
Leading Scorers: Falls – Jake Sparks 26 Connor Jones 14 Dylan Baker 11 Witches – Jesse Kuzmich 32 (4 3’s) Jacob Blair 15
The Panthers, who faced a 22-9 deficit after the first period, outscored the Witches in each of the remaining quarters to post the come-from-behind victory over Greenwich in the season-opener for both squads.
In their season opener Cambridge started fast, scoring 48 first half points on their way to the easy “W” over Duanesburg. The Indians bottomed 10 triples, and placed nine players in the scoring column, led by the Phillips sisters who combined for 50.
Greenwich 80 Hoosick Falls 26
Leading Scorers: Witches – Molly Brophy 25 Adrianna Rojas 18 Mora NIesz 14 Panthers – Marley McLellan 8
The Witches won every quarter, cruising to the easy road win over the Panthers in their season-opener.
Both Mechanicville squads stayed perfect over the weekend finishing off home and home sweeps over Galway in Saturday matinees. Here’s a look at how all the Wasaren teams fared.
Boys
Mechanicville 66 Galway 25
Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Luciano D’Ambro 12 Devin Garland 12 (4 3’s) Jacob McCabe 12 Tyler Eiseman 10 Galway – Henry Flint 8
The Raiders held Galway to single numbers in three of the four quarters and hung 26 points on the board in the first eight minutes in cruising to the easy home win on Saturday.
Mechanicville saw four players reach double figures as the Raiders continue to stack “W’s” earning their fifth straight to start the season.
Waterford 65 Stillwater 52 Friday
Leading Scorers: Fordians – CJ Kelley 28 Jake Houle 21 Warriors – Isaac Cutler 16 Lukas Lilac 13
Kelley and Houle combine for 49 points and the Fordians used a 20 of 25 night from the free throw line to get past the the Warriors of Stillwater Friday night.
Waterford 45 Stillwater 43
Leading Scorers: Fordians – Jake Houle 16 CJ Kelley 10 Warriors – CJ McNeil 18 Isaac Cutler 17
In a game that was knotted at 35 all heading to the final frame Waterford had just enough to get past the Warriors and complete the weekend sweep in the home and home series.
South High 77 Spa Catholic 72
Leading Scorers: South High – Van Wagoner 21 Prevost 20 Woodard 17 Saints – Anthony Barile 28 Hayden Day 23 Robbie Bolen 10
A back and forth run, where Spa Catholic trailed 43-30 at the break, used a 25-7 third period to take a 10 point advantage into the fourth, only to see South High respond with 27 fourth quarter points to capture the well earned “W” over the Saints.
Girls
Mechanicville 66 Galway 25 Friday
Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Amy DiSiena 19 Chloe Goverski 18 Hailey Phelps 12 Galway hannah French 8
The Raiders held Galway to single numbers in all four quarters, while offensively placing three players in doubles, to secure the comfortable home victory Friday night.
Mechanicville 57 Galway 28
Leading Scorers: Red Raiders – Amy DiSiena 18 Chloe Goverski 14 Hailey Phelps 12 Galway – Ryan Repepi 10
After an even first period Mechanicville took control of the Saturday matinee, with a 20-2 second period and cruised home with the road “W” to complete their weekend sweep over Galway and move to 5-0 on the season.
Stillwater 74 Waterford 48
Leading Scorers: Warriors – Marley Mueller 16 Molly Sheehan 16 Jayce Williams 10 Fordians – Meghan Paul 17 S0phia Belogna 11 Piper Morris 10
Stillwater placed three players in doubles and won every quarter in turning back the Fordians at home on Saturday.
Cambridge’s Lilly and Sophie Phillips were nominated this week for the McDonald’s All-Star Basketball Game, the country’s premier event for high school players.
Sophie and Lilly were among the Eastern nominees for the classic with the final squads to be announced in March.
Both girls will be playing NCAA Division I basketball in the fall with Sophie playing for Rhode Island and Lilly a bit closer to home at the University of Albany.
Congratulations to Lilly and Sophie on this outstanding and well-deserved achievement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
