News & notes

 Volleyball season is over at Troy High after the Flying Horses were eliminated in the Class A quarter-finals by top seeded Burnt Hills in straight sets Thursday night. It was not even close. The Spartans had a big chip on their collective shoulders after losing their regular season finale to Shenendehowa on Monday, and blew Troy away by scores of 25-9, 25-12, and 25-13.

Troy finishes 7-9 overall for the season.

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Earlier this week, Albany Times-Union & Spectrum News 1 high school analyst James Allen said that Troy had an outside shot of making the football playoffs, which start next week. I'm both a Troy High alumnus and a realist, and I will refer back to what I wrote on Sunday.

If LaSalle beats Amsterdam tonight, and Allen made a point of noting this today in the T-U, both Troy & Amsterdam would be eliminated from the playoffs, and LaSalle would earn the #2 seed in the Capital Division. The Cadets would have the tie-breaker over both clubs, having beaten Troy last month to retain the Collar City Cup.

But what if Amsterdam snaps its losing streak? Remember, Troy beat them last week, and if Troy beats Columbia, then, it gets dicey. All three teams would have two losses in the division, and Section II would have to use the quarter points formula to figure it out.

If Columbia beats Troy, everything is moot, and Troy is eliminated. You have to believe Amsterdam will be rooting for Columbia in that case.

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Troy QB-DB Michael Dinardo was named Reader's Choice Player of The Week by readers of the T-U. A heavy social media campaign over the last few days made that possible. Congratulations to Michael.

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The Class AA finals in men's soccer are set after Thursday's play.

Shaker defeated Shenendehowa, 2-1, and Saratoga downed Guilderland, 4-0, to advance.

In other sectional action:

Men's cross country:

Lake George captured the Adirondack League title at Queensbury.

Women's cross country:

Corinth-Hadley-Luzerne won the Adirondack title.

Field hockey:

Class C Semi-finals:

Johnstown 6, Granville 0.

Women's soccer:

Class D finals:

Northville 2, Fort Ann 1.

Women's volleyball:

Class A quarterfinals:

Queensbury 3, Averill Park 1.

South Glens Falls 3, Mohonasen 0.

Academy of Holy Names 3, Columbia 0.

The semi-finals will see Holy Names vs. Burnt Hills, while Queensbury faces South Glens Falls.