News & notes

State regional basketball action began last night with a boys & girls double dip at Saratoga.

Oddly, the boys' Class B game was the opener. Schalmont's Shane O'Dell went off for 37 points, one of three Sabres in double figures, in a 75-63 win over Ogdensburg Free Academy. Tyler Pepicelli added 12 and Trent Randle had 10 for the winners. Jackson Jones led OFA with 24 points.

Schalmont moves on to Beekmantown to play Saranac on Friday night.

In women's action, Section II Class B champ Mechanicville put down Canton, 58-43. Unfortunately, game stats are not available at press time. The Red Raiders will travel with Schalmont to Beekmantown on Friday, and, this time, they'll be the opening act, as they'll play Northeastern Clinton.
=========================================
Moving to Class A for the women, Averill Park shared the wealth in a 73-28 thumping of Franklin Academy. Kelsey Wood led the way with 17 points, and Anna Jankovic had 11. The Warriors had virtually their entire roster hit the scoring column. Averill Park led, 44-17, at halftime, and 66-21 after three quarters. Franklin Academy never reached double digits in any quarter, outscored 22-4 in the third quarter, and if that sounds familiar, that happened to Troy not too long ago.

Apparently, Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse is a little more progressive than their sister school in Albany, as they do have a women's team, which is up next for Averill Park on Saturday night.
==========================================
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament began Tuesday in Atlantic City with women's action. Siena downed Canisius in the first round, 58-48. Rayshel Brown led the Lady Saints with 20 points, while Sabrina Piper added 16. Next up is Fairfield tomorrow.

The men begin play tonight vs. Manhattan, and, reportedly, are expected to run the table and win the tournament.

Siena's Jalen Pickett was named to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA)'s District II team, the first Siena player to be so honored since Dwayne Archbold in 2002. Pickett could wind up winning the MAAC Player of the Year award tonight. We'll see.
=========================================
Alumni watch: Pittsburgh's softball team downed Furman, 4-3, on Tuesday afternoon. Hunter Levesque (Troy), dropped to third in the batting order, went 1-4 with an RBI. The Lady Panthers are in Charlotte today before they play St. Joseph in the Camel Stampede on Friday.

Virginia Commonwealth's losing streak in baseball has reached 5 in a row with a 8-3 defeat to the College of Charleston on Tuesday. Carter Knapek (Albany Academy) pitched in relief, giving up a hit while striking out two over two innings. After a hitless weekend vs. Jacksonville, Brett Young (Albany Academy) was rested. The Rams are at The Citadel today.