Thursday's sectional scoreboard, 2/26

 The women had the spotlight on Thursday night, as we set up for championship week at Hudson Valley Community College.

Women's basketball:

Class A quarterfinals:

Albany Academy 64, Ravena 36.

Averill Park 46, Schalmont 29.

Can the Lady Knights collect another Colonial Council pelt in the semi-finals? We'll find out on Tuesday.

Glens Falls 57, Ichabod Crane 42.

Academy of Holy Names 84, Scotia 77. Holy Names & the Black Bears will open the proceedings on Tuesday night.

Class D:

Northville 48, Germantown 17.

Duanesburg 38, Argyle 26.

Hartford 58, Mekeel Christian 42. 

Saratoga Catholic 56, Salem 33.

Sunday at HVCC:

6 pm: Hartford vs. Saratoga Catholic.

7:30 pm (approximately): Northville vs. Duanesburg.

Men's volleyball:

Class B final:

Cobleskill-Richmondville 3, Hudson 1. The Bulldogs will play the Section 3 champion tomorrow.

Class C final:

Catskill 3, Voorheesville 0. Catskill advances to a state regional at Watervliet tomorrow.

Wednesday's sectional scoreboard, 2/25

 Before we dive into Wednesday's basketball action, let's get caught up on the men's volleyball sectionals in Class C:

Monday:

Loudonville Christian 3, Cairo-Durham 2.

Coxsackie-Athens 3, Berlin-New Lebanon 0.

Voorheesville 3, Chatham 0.

Tuesday:

Catskill 3, Loudonville Christian 0.

Voorheesville 3, Coxsackie-Athens 2.

Catskill & Voorheesville meet tonight at Colonie, with the winner advancing to a regional at Watervliet on Saturday.

Women's basketball:

Class AAA:

Albany 71, Saratoga 48. The Lady Falcons will play Shaker Monday at Hudson Valley Community College.

Colonie 93, Schenectady 11. 

Shenendehowa 76, Guilderland 32. Shen & the Wolfpack meet at HVCC on Monday.

Men's basketball:

Class AAA: 

Saratoga 79, Guilderland 59. The Blue Streaks will play CBA Sunday at 4 pm at HVCC.

Class AA:

Burnt Hills 58, Queensbury 47. The Spartans will play Amsterdam Saturday at 4 pm at HVCC.

Ballston Spa 61, Mohonasen 52. The Scotties will meet Niskayuna at HVCC Saturday at 2:30.

LaSalle 77, South Glens Falls 42. Next up for the Cadets is Columbia, Saturday at 1 in what will be a home game for Orlando DiBacco's club at HVCC.

Class A:

Cobleskill-Richmondville 45, Schalmont 40. C-R will play Hudson Sunday at 4 at Guilderland.

Watervliet-Heatly 55, Broadalbin-Perth 27. 

Averill Park 73, Cohoes 40. Not as brutal a blowout as the women's game on Monday....!

The Golden Knights & Cannoneers will meet at Guilderland on Sunday at 11:30 am at Guilderland.

Gloversville 61, Ravena 34. The Dragons will meet Glens Falls Sunday at 2:30 at Guilderland.

Hudson Falls 58, Scotia-Glenville 53. The Bulldogs will play Lansingburgh Sunday at 1 at Guilderland.

Class B:

Greenville 65, Granville 44. Greenville will meet KIPP Capital on Saturday at Guilderland at 4 pm.

Tamarac 57, Mechanicville 48.

Fonda-Fultonville 73, Coxsackie-Athens 56. Fonda & Tamarac meet Saturday at 11:30 at Guilderland.

Johnstown 54, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 29.

Voorheesville 51, Hoosick Falls 40. The Sir Bills & Blackbirds meet at Guilderland Saturday at 2:30 pm.

Schuylerville 52, Corinth 37.

Catskill 83, Cairo-Durham 57. It'll be the Black Horses & Cats Saturday at 1 at Guilderland.

Men's hockey:

Shenendehowa 3, Saratoga 2.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa 4, Adirondack 2. 

Tuesday's sectional scoreboard, 2/24

 Women's basketball:

Class A:

Ravena 58, Broadalbin-Perth 42. The Ravens will next play Albany Academy on Thursday.

Ichabod Crane 46, Cobleskill-Richmondville 37. The Riders travel to Glens Falls next.

Academy of Holy Names 73, Lansingburgh 37. Holy Names will play Scotia at Glens Falls.

Class B:

Johnstown 35, Granville 21. Johnstown will play Mechanicville on Saturday.

Voorheesville 71, Fonda-Fultonville 29.

LaSalle 51, Schuylerville 31. The Blackbirds & LaSalle will have a rematch Saturday at Mechanicville.

Tamarac 39, Greenville 37. The Bengals will next play Coxsackie-Athens.

Corinth 62, Rensselaer-Loudonville Christian 39. Corinth will play Catskill on Saturday.

Catskill 65, Hoosick Falls 35.

Class C:

Greenwich 88, KIPP Capital 29.

OESJ 43, Galway 39.

Mayfield 68, Cambridge 42.

Whitehall 33, Waterford 21.

Stillwater 84, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 16.

Maple Hill 59, Warrensburg 20.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo 67, Schoharie 30.

Lake George 47, Hoosic Valley 34.

Friday:

OESJ @ Greenwich.

Maple Hill @ Stillwater.

Whitehall @ Mayfield.

Lake George @ Berne-Knox-Westerlo.

Men's basketball:

Class C:

Berne-Knox-Westerlo 80, Waterford 15.

Cambridge 73, Hoosic Valley 48.

Duanesburg 65, Lake George 27.

Stillwater 76, Middleburgh 59.

Saratoga Catholic 78, Loudonville Christian 45.

Maple Hill 53, Whitehall 44.

Rensselaer 66, Fort Plain 52.

Greenwich 59, Schoharie 53.

Friday @ HVCC:

Maple Hill vs. Berne-Knox-Westerlo.

Rensselaer vs. Cambridge.

Friday @ Guilderland:

Stillwater vs. Duanesburg.

Saratoga Catholic vs. Greenwich.

Class D:

Hawthorne Valley 73, Salem 28. Hawthorne Valley will play North Warren at HVCC on Friday.

Monday's sectional scoreboard, 2/23

 Not everyone had the day off due to the snowstorm on Monday. Some schools opened late, or had virtual learning. and those that did and had teams in the tournament would open their doors after school.

Women's basketball:

Class AA 1st round:

Niskayuna 54, South Glens Falls 40. Nisky travels to Columbia on Friday.

Ballston Spa 61, Queensbury 41. The Lady Scotties will get a rematch with Troy on Friday.

Amsterdam 61, Catholic Central 57. The defending champions, depleted by transfers and graduation after last season, go one-&-done. The Lady Rams travel to Troy to play Burnt Hills on Friday.

Class A 1st round:

Averill Park 91, Cohoes 27. This mismatch was over in the 1st quarter. The Lady Knights will play Schalmont at Albany Academy on Thursday.

Schalmont 62, Hudson Falls 50.

Scotia-Glenville 57, Watervliet-Heatly 52. The Lady Tartans await the winner of Lansingburgh @ Holy  Names, postponed to tonight due to weather.

Ravena @ Broadalbin-Perth & Cobleskill-Richmondville @ Ichabod Crane were also moved to tonight.

The results of Monday's men's volleyball matches have not been reported, suggesting that they, too, were postponed, pushing the schedule back.

News & notes

 Most schools are either delayed or closed today due to the snow. Check with your schools to see if your team is playing in sectionals tonight.

Gavin Doty led 4 Saints in double figures with 21 points as Siena defeated St. Peter's, 72-63, on Sunday at MVP Arena. The Saints have 2 games left before the MAAC tournament begins next week in Atlantic City.

In other Siena news, the baseball team is still looking for their first win after Wake Forest completed a weekend sweep with a 15-1 drubbing in 7 innings. Siena will travel to Aberdeen, Maryland, to play UMass-Amherst this weekend.

We'll have the full schedule soon, but we can tell you that the Tri-City Valleycats will open the home portion of the 2026 schedule on Friday, May 15 vs. Quebec. The Brockton Rox will be in town the following weekend, returning July 3-5. Ticket prices will be finalized as we get closer to the season opener.

News & notes

 We are down to 4 teams in the Section 2 division 1 hockey sectionals.

Saratoga defeated the Hawks, 5-0, on Saturday to advance to a semi-final date with Shenendehowa on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Queensbury was 1-&-done in Division 2, losing to Ithaca, 6-1. Adirondack United's bid for a 3-peat in women's hockey came up short in a 3-2 loss to Potsdam.

Saturday's college scoreboard:

Baseball:

Wake Forest 8, Siena 1.

Texas Tech swept UAlbany, 15-1 & 8-6. The first game ended at 7 innings (mercy rule).

Men's lacrosse:

UAlbany 17, Drexel 9. 

Women's lacrosse:

UAlbany 13, Harvard 12.

Men's basketball:

UMBC 66, UAlbany 62.

Women's basketball:

Fairfield 81, Siena 51. Siena has dropped 4 straight.

UAlbany 69, UMBC 63 (2 OT).

RPI 70, Clarkson 56.

Union 63, St. Lawrence 50.

RIT 58, Skidmore 49.

The Albany Times-Union's James Allen made his picks for the basketball sectionals in today's editions. Now, it's my turn.

Women:

Class AAA: 

Allen's pick: Shaker.

My take: I've seen Shenendehowa, Shaker, & Colonie on TV this season. Colonie is looking to 3-peat, and deserves a little more respect. Their lone loss came against Shaker, suggesting a changing of the guard.

Pick: Shaker.

Class AA:

Allen's pick: Columbia.

My take: The theme this season at Troy High was collecting receipts from losses in Colonial Council play last season. Will Harris' Lady Horses succeeded in collecting all 5. Now, there's one more to get based on what has been a phenomenal season, the likes of which Troy hasn't had in 13 years. We are assured a new champ in Class AA, since Catholic Central sank near the bottom of the Colonial standings. Columbia was denied in losing the semi-finals to Bethlehem 2 years ago, and they could see a rematch of that game in this year's semi-finals. The Lady Devils were bridesmaids last year vs. Catholic Central, but can they get to the title game this time? Maybe, but if they do, the bill collectors of Class AA (Troy) will be waiting for them.

Pick: Troy.

Class A:

Allen's pick: Albany Academy.

My take: No debate here.

Pick: Albany Academy.

Class B:

Allen's pick: Mechanicville.

My take: Coxsackie-Athens, like Troy, is on a 13 game winning streak heading into the tournament. LaSalle got senior star Kate Gilooly back after a hand injury just in time, even though David Crudo's squad has lost 8 of 10. Momentum is on the side of the Riverhawks.

Pick: Coxsackie-Athens.

Class C:

Allen's pick: Stillwater.

My take: Greenwich is looking for payback after splitting their season series with Stillwater, including a TV game on WNYA. Stillwater also beat Greenwich to win the sectional title last year, so the motivation is even stronger this time.

Pick: Greenwich.

Class D: 

Allen's pick: Northville.

My take: I don't think the Falcons are repeating, even though they have put last year's season ending disaster behind them. 

Pick: Saratoga Catholic.

Men:

Class AAA:

Allen's pick: Shaker.

My take: Having seen Shaker & CBA on TV, including an overtime thriller between the two, I'm not so sure the Blue Bison can avenge their earlier loss. Also, I wouldn't bet against Will Brown & Green Tech upsetting the applecart. The Eagles didn't play CBA during the regular season, but they have historically had the Brothers' number (2013 AA semi-finals, anyone?). Shen will be right there, too, but a gut feeling says that it'll be Green Tech vs. CBA, one more time.

Pick: Green Tech.

Class AA:

Allen's pick: Niskayuna.

My take: Allen sees Troy, the #5 seed as a dark horse. That's an understatement. Jamil Hood will have had a week & a half to get Troy right again after they went 5-7 in their final 12 games, and will have a de facto home game @ HVCC vs. Bethlehem on Saturday. A coaching change at Columbia has made them a contender, as Tyler Rose would be a candidate for coach of the year. I've seen Nisky on TV, but they can be taken if they turn into a one man team (Brady Olsen).

Pick: Columbia.

Class A: 

Allen's pick: Lansingburgh.

My take: The Knights split two regular season games with Troy. Ravena, Allen's dark horse pick, got blown out by Troy. Hudson, out of the Patroon Conference, came out of nowhere this season, and needs to prove they're not a flash in the pan. And there's also the matter of Glens Falls still being a factor.

Pick: Glens Falls.

Class B:

Allen's pick: KIPP Capital.

My take: DJ Jones' KIPP Capital team isn't your ordinary 1st year club. Jones brought Indavier Barnes with him from Green Tech. All they have to do is flash the rings from 2024, and that will be the motivation the Trailblazers need.

Pick: KIPP Capital.

Class C:

Allen's pick: Berne-Knox-Westerlo.

My take: The Bulldogs decided to go independent this year, and the strategem paid off. They own a win over Troy, proving they can play with the big boys. I don't see any reason to debate the point.

Pick: Berne-Knox-Westerlo.

Class D:

Allen's pick: North Warren.

My take: The Cougars moved back to Class D after falling short of the Class C title vs. Berne-Knox-Westerlo last year. D seems to be more their speed anyway. They've won 5 in a row, claiming the Adirondack title by beating Corinth. This time, though, they're getting turned away again.

Pick: Northville.

Of course, I could be (and probably will be) wrong.

Friday's high school scoreboard, 2/20

 One semi-final matchup is now set, and the other will be after tonight's action.

#1 Shenendehowa 7, #8 CBA 2. Gavin Cronin had 2 goals to lead the way for the defending champions, who await the winner of tonight's Hawks-Saratoga game.

#2 Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa 8, #7 LaSalle 2. The Cadets end their season having lost six of their final seven games. Stats are not available at press time.

#3 Adirondack 5, #6 Bethlehem 1. The Rivermen & Spartan Scotties will meet on Wednesday night in the semi-finals.

The finals, we should note, will take place March 2.