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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Key Stat: Greenwich used a 23-10 second frame to take control.
Take Away: Greenwich, the number 5 ranked Class C team in the state, won in signature style putting three players in doubles with a fourth scoring nine points while playing lockdown defense in moving to 8-0, 11-0 on the season.
Boys
Hoosic Valley 91 Mount Anthony 56
Leading Scorers: Valley – Isaiah Eckler 36 6 3’s Gabe Coffin 16 Chris Jones 12 Patriots – Carter Thompson 30 6 3’s
Key Stat: Hoosic Valley outscore the Patriots 25-7 in the second quarter.
Take Away: Hoosic Valley traveled to Vermont for the nonleague get-together with Mt. Anthony and the Indians took their offense with them bottoming nine triples and hanging 91 points on the board led by Eckler’s 36-point evening. The number 3 ranked Class C team in the state moves to 5-0, 9-0 on the year and returns to action Friday night when they’ll entertain the Bengals from Tamarac.
Leading Scorers: Bengals – Joey Poulin 26 3 3’s 9 rebounds James Blake 14 Mikey D’Agostino 13 3 3’s 9 assists Adam Quackenbush 10 Frankie DiPalma III 10 3 3’s Fordians – Matt Soden 19 3 3’s Derrick Pontore 12 Logan Kelly 11
Key Stat: Tamarac held a 12-4 advantage in made threes.
Take Away: The Bengals scored 20 or more in every frame, putting 10 players in the scoring column with five reaching double figures. Tamarac connected12 times from long distance accounting for 40% of their 88-point total. With the win the Bengals move to 5-0 in league play and look ahead to a Friday night matchup with undefeated Hoosic Valley in Schaghticoke. Waterford slips to 1-5 in Wasaren play and will look to get back in the win column on Friday night when they travel to Greenwich to face the Witches.
Hoosick Falls 48 Mechanicville 47
Leading Scorers: Panthers – Jake Sparks 14 13 rebounds Andrew Sparks 13 3 3’s Red Raiders – Fen Egan 14
Key Stat: Hoosick Falls converted 15 of 21 free throws, while Mechanicville connected on 5 of 11 from the stripe.
Take Away: The Panthers trailing 36-33 entering the fourth quarter outscored the Raiders 15-11 over the final eight minutes to earn the come-from-behind “W” in Hoosick Falls. With the win the Falls improves to 4-1 in league play and will ready themselves for a road game in Cambridge on Friday night. Mechanicville see’s their league mark move to 3-3 and will return to action next Tuesday night when they’ll host the Fordians of Waterford.
Leading Scorers: Jaxson Mueller 20 Carter Wincheins 19 Lukas Lilac 12 Thomas McDonough 12 Witches – Joe Skiff 26 4 3’s Ryan Alling 10
Key Stat: Stillwater converted on 12 of 24 free throws while Greenwich had zero trips to the stripe.
Take Away: The visiting Witches built a 34-26 halftime cushion, but Stillwater used a 24-7 third period to gain the lead and hung on over the final eight minutes for the “W”. The Warriors put four players in doubles in moving to 8-2, 5-1 on the year while the Witches go to 7-5, 3-4 with the loss.
Here is the link to this morning’s podcast where we recap Friday night’s action, take a look at the upcoming schedule, as well as announce our newest Wasaren Sportsnet Player of the Week.
Leading Scorers: Valley – Logan Reilly 19 Isaiah Eckler 17 Warriors – Jaxson Mueller 21 Lukas Lilac 15 Carter Wincheins 13
Key Stat: The Valley held a 7-1 advantage in made threes.
Take Away: In a close game throughout Lukas Lilac hit a pair of free throws with 0:12 remaining to pull Stillwater to within one at 58-57. Hoosic Valley then played keep away until 0:01 left when Tyler Eddy was fouled leaving the Warriors no time for a shot attempt after Eddy intentionally missed the second try. With the win the Valley moves to 5-0, 8-0 on the season while Stillwater goes to 4-1, 7-2 after the loss.
Greenwich 73 Saratoga Catholic 70 OT
Leading Scorers: Witches – Joe Skiff 26 Ryan Alling 21 Jacob Ziehm 14 Saints – Aiden Dunne 26 Justin Duscher 16 Ronan Rowe 14
Key Stat: Greenwich held a 27-14 advantage in made two-point goals.
Take Away: The Saints forced overtime with a 22-11 fourth period before the Witches captured the road “W” in overtime, and move to 3-3, 7-4.
Tamarac 90 Berlin/New Lebanon 40
Leading Scorers: Bengals – Joey Poulin 31 Adam Rice 12 Frankie DiPalma 11 Mountaineers – Jesse Francouer 18
Key Stat: A 35-14 third quarter put this one away for the Bengals.
Take Away: Tamarac won every period in rolling past BNL and moving to 4-0, 6-2 on the year.
Hoosick Falls 54 Waterford 26
Leading Scorers: Panthers – Jake Sparks 21 14 rebounds Carson Glover 14 Fordians – Matt Soden 9
Key Stat: Hoosick Falls held Waterford to single numbers in each of the first three periods.
Take Away: An 18-2 second frame decided things early as the Panthers improve to 3-1, 6-3 on the season.
Girls
Tamarac 77 Berlin/New Lebanon 23
Leading Scorers: Bengals – Abbie Yetto 16 Kayla Beaudoin 12 Morgan Hayden 10 Mountaineers – McKenzie Krause 12
Key Stat: A 25-2 first quarter by Tamarac set up the one-sided decision.
Take Away: The Bengals put three players in doubles with 11 players scoring in notching the road win over BNL.
Waterford 40 Hoosick Falls 37 OT
Leading Scorers: Fordians – Rachel McOmber 17 Maddy Atwood 12 Panthers – Ava Case 15 Grace Houghton 11
Take Away: In a tight contest that needed an extra session to decide the Fordians outscore the visitors from Hoosick Falls 5-2 in the overtime period to earn the hard fought “W”.
Hoosic Valley 50 Stillwater 39
Leading Scorers: Valley – Megan Rice 14 Kaylee Smith 13 Lainey Bochette 10 Warriors – Miranda Price 14 Riley O’Brien 12
Key Stat: The Valley outscored the Warriors 34-21 after the break.
Take Away: Hoosic Valley puts three players in doubles and uses a big second half to get past the visitors from Stillwater.
Key Stat: Greenwich held the Saints to single digits in each of the first three quarters and didn’t allow a point in the final frame.
Take Away: Another day at the office for the Witches putting 70 plus points on the board, four players in doubles and playing lock down “D” as Greenwich moves to 10-0 on the campaign with the road win over the Saints.
