News & notes

Former LaSalle star Elijah Burns hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to lift Siena past Canisius, 73-72, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener for both teams at Times-Union Center on Monday. Burns finished with 16 points, while Jalen Pickett led Siena with 21. The Saints return to the TUC on Sunday to play Holy Cross.

Monday's game was the first broadcast this season on WNYA (Spectrum Cable channel 1215), with Robert Lee and ex-WRGB sports anchor Kelly O'Donnell at the microphones. O'Donnell has also done some work for Spectrum on high school football during their aborted live streaming project a couple of years back.

While I cannot confirm this, it appears the game was being live streamed on ESPN3, hence the trade dress graphics that the network uses for their college broadcasts. Nice!
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While Troy High has gotten off to a 2-4 start, with the Holiday Classic coming up on Friday, we noted that Zaveon Little wasn't on the varsity roster after being called up near the end of last season from junior varsity. There's a good reason for that.

Turns out Little transferred from Troy to Voorheesville after last season, as his family moved out of the Collar City. Little scored 24 points, a career best, in his last game, per the Albany Times-Union. Granted, Troy could use him now, as their offense has had struggles early on,  but Little has made the best of the situation.
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That same Times-Union article, their weekly boys' hoops rankings, may have fudged the Holiday Classic schedule.

James Allen, who may or may not be covering the event, has Troy playing LaSalle on Saturday instead of Friday, and Troy would be ticketed to play undefeated Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons on Friday. Schedule Galaxy has Troy-LaSalle on Friday, and assuming Troy will play Lansingburgh on Saturday, but figure if Gibbons beats 'Burgh, they'll play Troy, if they hold to the traditional tournament format.
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A deeper look at Albany Academy's early hockey struggles in the Capital District High School Hockey League (CDHSHL) reveals that junior goaltender Emma McIntyre has started all four games this season, but has not finished. Her longest stint this season was 39 minutes, playing deep into the 3rd period. She didn't get out of the 2nd period on Saturday vs. LaSalle. I get that coach Dave Rider is trying to protect her from injury, but maybe a change in starting goalies is in order, as the Cadets will play "Guilderville" and, possibly, a rematch with Bethlehem, at home this weekend. Stay tuned.