One would think that with Green Tech hosting a fundraising bowling event for their basketball program at Uncle Sam Lanes on Sunday, the media would've taken notice.
Nope.
One would think that with Green Tech hosting a fundraising bowling event for their basketball program at Uncle Sam Lanes on Sunday, the media would've taken notice.
Nope.
Three more field hockey champions were crowned Sunday at suddenly busy Queensbury High, which will host two remaining men's soccer finals tonight.
In Class A, Guilderland defeated Saratoga, 2-1, and over in Class B, Burnt Hills downed South Glens Falls, 4-3. Rounding out the triple-header, Hoosick Falls claimed the Class C title, beating Johnstown, 3-0.
Reading the letters column in today's Albany Times-Union, and finding that, a week later, there is some blowback from not only the media, but readers, too, regarding Section II's decision to effectively disqualify LaSalle from the Class A playoffs due to violating a relatively obscure rule. Bruce Breton, in his letter, argued that the players were being punished for a simple mistake made by one of the coaches.
A couple of years ago, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, dealing with adverse conditions on the road against Buffalo, opted to use more of a run-centric offense, minimalizing the passing game. New England won the game.
Tonight, 1st year Burnt Hills football coach Kevin DeBonis decided to employ the same strategy in a Class A quarter-final vs. Columbia. The difference was in the weather and the scoring. On a mild late October night, the Spartans sought to take the first step toward a Super Bowl berth in 2 weeks.
Burnt Hills won the toss, and deferred to the 2nd half. This strategy nearly backfired, as Columbia, led by QB Dylan Maychack, similarly put greater emphasis on the run. However, after getting into Spartan territory, the Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs. The Spartans, then, took advantage, and marched down the field, their first drive ending with DJ Mosher running it in from 15 yards out. Lineman Logan Tomlinson added the extra point, and Burnt Hills led, 7-0, after the 1st quarter.
The 2nd quarter was more of a war of attrition, up until Burnt Hills' John Gload plunged in from a yard out. One Tomlinson PAT later, and it was 14-0 Spartans at the break.
Burnt Hills, noticing that Columbia's defensive line was already worn down, poured it on in the 3rd quarter. QB Myles Yannuzzi feigned a pass, then followed lead blocker Santino Mareno 31 yards to paydirt. A 2 point conversion extended the lead to 22-0. After a Columbia punt, Sam Karlitz shredded the defense for a 29 yard run. Maddie Tse took over the place kicking duties (Tomlinson is the punter), but her first try sailed wide. After another Columbia drive stalled, Yannuzzi scored again, this time from 19 yards out. Tse hit the PAT this time, and it was 35-0 going into the final quarter.
Burnt Hills' last touchdown came from Joe Frederick after DeBonis lifted his starters on offense. Frederick punched it in from 7 yards out, but Tse missed her 2nd extra point. Columbia broke the shutout as Maychack found Gavin Bielawa for a 10 yard score. Elle Hutton, profiled earlier today in the Albany Times-Union, converted the extra point, and that ended the scoring. Burnt Hills moves on, 41-7. Up next for the Spartans will be Averill Park, which beat South Glens Falls earlier.
Other scores:
Field hockey:
Class B;
South Glens Falls 9, Queensbury 0.
Burnt Hills 10, Glens Falls 0.
Men's soccer:
Class A:
Glens Falls 2, Mohonasen 0.
Ichabod Crane 3, Burnt Hills 0.
Ichabod Crane vs. Glens Falls, Saturday at 11 am at Queensbury.
Class C:
Maple Hill 2, Galway 1.
Waterford 2, Voorheesville 1.
Maple Hill vs. Waterford, Saturday at 3:45 pm at Queensbury.
Lake George swept the championships for men & women in the Adirondack League.
Field hockey:
Class A:
Guilderland 2, Bethlehem 1.
Men's soccer:
Class B:
Greenville 4, Catskill 0.
Mechanicville 6, Hudson 0.
Greenville vs. Mechanicville @ Queensbury, Saturday at 1:30 pm.
Class D:
Hartford 3, Fort Ann 0.
Loudonville Christian 12, Argyle 1.
Hartford vs. Loudonville Christian @ Queensbury, Saturday at 6 pm.
Class AA:
Niskayuna 2, Bethlehem 0.
Columbia 3, Mohonasen 0.
Niskayuna vs. Columbia @ Shaker, Monday at 6 pm.
Women's volleyball:
Class A:
Averill Park 3, Emma Willard 0.
Class B:
Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 3, Hudson 0.
Mechanicville 3, Catskill 0.
Schalmont 3, Cobleskill-Richmondville 0.
Class C:
Tamarac 3, Chatham 0.
Hoosic Valley 3, Schoharie 1.
Voorheesville 3, Coxsackie-Athens 0.
Just a couple of months ago, Malik Henry led the Carolina Cobras to the National Arena League title game, only to lose to Jacksonville.
This week, he's an Albany Firebird.
The regular season for women's volleyball ended Monday, and the sectional tournament begins tomorrow.
Regrettably, Troy High, which snapped a 8 match losing streak in beating Tamarac on Monday, is not in the hunt with just 4 wins on the season.
That said, here we go:
November 1: # 3 Shaker vs. #2 Saratoga @ South Glens Falls. Winner plays #1 Shenendehowa @ Saratoga on November 4.
Class AA:
Thursday: #5 Amsterdam @ #4 Columbia. Winner plays Bethlehem November 1 @ Broadalbin-Perth.
November 1: #3 Guilderland vs. #2 Niskayuna @ Broadalbin-Perth.
November 4: Finals @ Saratoga:
Class A:
Wednesday: #9 Hudson Falls @ #8 Mohonasen. Winner plays #1 Burnt Hills Thursday.
#10 Emma Willard @ #7 Averill Park.
Thursday:
#6 Lansingburgh @ #3 Academy of Holy Names.
#5 Gloversville @ #4 Queensbury.
Semi-finals are at Stillwater November 1. Finals at Saratoga November 4.
Class B:
Wednesday: #9 Catskill @ #8 Mechanicville. Winner will play #1 Ichabod Crane Friday.
#12 Hudson Falls vs. #5 Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons. Winner plays #4 Catholic Central on Friday.
#11 Cobleskill-Richmondville @ #6 Schalmont. Winner to play #3 Fonda-Fultonville Friday.
#10 Watervliet-Heatly @ #7 Schuylerville. Winner plays #2 Broadalbin-Perth on Friday.
Semi-finals are at Averill Park November 1, finals at Saratgoa November 3.
Class C:
Chatham @ Tamarac. Chatham has a better record, but is a lower seed? May be a misprint. The winner of Wednesday's match will face Galway on Friday.
#10 Schoharie @ #7 Hoosic Valley. Winner faces Stillwater Friday.
Also Wednesday:
Coxsackie-Athens @ Voorheesville.
Berlin-New Lebanon @ Berne-Knox-Westerlo.
Duanesburg @ Maple Hill.
Semi-finals at Ballston Spa November 1. Finals at Saratoga November 3.
Class D:
Friday:
#5 Mekeel Christian @ #4 Argyle. Winner plays Lake George @ Hudson Falls November 1.
#6 OESJ @ #3 Fort Edward. Winner plays Hartford @ Hudson Falls November 1.
Finals at Saratoga November 3.
Good luck to all the teams.
Men's soccer:
Class A:
Mohonasen 2, Albany Academy 1.
Glens Falls 1, Scotia-Glenville 0.
Burnt Hills 6, Schalmont 2.
Ichabod Crane 6, Cohoes 0.
Thursday's semi-finals at Gloversville:
Mohonasen vs. Glens Falls, 5 pm.
Burnt Hills vs. Ichabod Crane, 7:30 pm.
Class C:
Maple Hill 1, Greenwich 0.
Galway 3, Middleburgh 1.
Waterford 2, Bolton-Warrensburg 0.
Voorheesville 8, Stillwater 0.
Thursday's semi-finals at LaSalle:
Maple Hill vs. Galway, 7:30 pm.
Voorheesville vs. Waterford, 5 pm.
Women's volleyball:
Wasaren League:
Mechanicville 3, Berlin-New Lebanon 0.
Non-league:
Troy 3, Tamarac 2. Troy snaps a 8 match losing streak.
Averill Park 3, Glens Falls 0.
Cross country:
Queensbury swept the Foothills Council championships for both men & women.
On Friday, LaSalle defeated Bethlehem to clinch its 3rd straight playoff berth in Class A.
Less than 48 hours later, that berth was gone, due to a heretofore relatively obscure rule, and the Cadets now will prepare to play Albany this weekend.
With LaSalle out of the playoffs, Bethlehem moves into 2nd place, followed by Columbia, and last place Troy, which leap-frogs into the postseason despite no wins. This is due to 5th place Amsterdam not having enough healthy players to safely play a post-season game after getting trounced by Columbia on Friday. The Rams' season is over, while Troy travels to Niskayuna on Friday.
Meanwhile, LaSalle's women's soccer team, in its 2nd varsity season, was left out of the Class C sectionals due to having ineligible players for the 2nd straight season. LaSalle defeated Stillwater in the 1st round of the 2022 tournament, but that was before Section II discovered there was an ineligible player on the roster. As bad as LaSalle has been in women's soccer, they still had ineligible players this season, and thus were not included in the playoff tournament when it started last week.
The revised Class A football schedule for Friday:
South Glens Falls @ Averill Park.
Troy @ Niskayuna.
Queensbury @ Bethlehem.
Columbia @ Burnt Hills.
LaSalle wanted to self-discipline, but Section II chose to send a clear message. To borrow from a song from way back in the day, little things do mean a lot.
Colleges:
Field hockey:
Russell Sage 12, Elmira 0.
Football:
Troy High's volleyball team was supposed to play Tamarac on Friday. That game was postponed when Albany decided they had to move their visit to Zotto Gym from today to last night. Abruptly, said match was cancelled, while coach Talia Valenti rescheduled the road trip to Tamarac to Monday for the season finale. Troy has dropped 7 matches in a row to fall to 3-10 on the season, winning just 2 sets over that stretch.
It was Senior Night tonight at Bethlehem, as the Eagles hosted LaSalle on Friday Night Matchup.
Bethlehem had been a 2nd division team in Class AA the last two years, but dropping down to Class A may have been the best thing that has happened to them. The Eagles had already punched their ticket to the postseason, as did LaSalle, so tonight was all about playoff positioning.
If there was a priority for John Audino's Cadets, it was to avoid a road trip to Burnt Hills in the playoffs for the 3rd consecutive season. The Spartans had ended LaSalle's season two years in a row, and a win would see LaSalle host the other Spartans, from Queensbury, next week.
Bethlehem won the coin toss, and deferred. LaSalle's offense stalled after a drive, and turned the ball over on downs. However, Bethlehem would end up punting. A more sustained drive late in the 1st quarter led to a field goal to give the hosts an early 3-0 lead.
In the 2nd quarter, however, LaSalle finally broke through the Eagles' defense, led by senior tailback Matt Bott, who capped a long drive with a 3 yard run to put LaSalle in the lead. Will Kelly added the extra point to send the Cadets into halftime with a 7-3 lead.
Back came the Cadets, who marched all the way down the field, with Bott scoring his 2nd touchdown of the game. However, the 2 point conversion failed, leaving LaSalle with a 4 point lead at 13-9 going into the 4th quarter.
But it wasn't long before LaSalle was back in business. Bott picked off Eagles QB Mike Windelmaier, setting up LaSalle deep in Bethlehem territory. Johnny Rivero then hit Bott with a 17 yard catch in the end zone less than a minute into the frame. Kelly converted his 2nd PAT of the night, and LaSalle extended its lead to 20-9.
Bethlehem wasn't done, though. Down two scores, Windelmaier led the Eagles down the field, then hit CJ Franchini with a 23 yard TD pass to cut the lead to 20-15. The 2 point conversion failed again. Try as they could, Bethlehem's defense could not stop LaSalle from running out the clock, and the Cadets clinched 2nd place in the Capital Division for the 3rd straight year, 20-15.
The Class A playoffs are now set:
South Glens Falls @ Averill Park.
Queensbury @ LaSalle.
Bethlehem @ Burnt Hills.
Columbia @ Niskayuna.
Other action:
Men's soccer (most scores courtesy Capital Region Soccer):
Class AAA:
CBA 3, Albany 0.
Shaker 8, Schenectady 0.
Shenendehowa 6, Colonie 0.
Tuesday's semi-finals @ Guilderland:
CBA vs. Saratoga.
Shen vs. Shaker.
Class AA:
Bethlehem 6, Troy 0.
Columbia 6, Ballston Spa 1.
Guilderland 4, Queensbury 0.
Niskayuna 4, Averill Park 0.
The Suburban Council is assured of winning both the AAA & AA titles.
Tuesday's semi-finals @ LaSalle:
Bethlehem vs. Niskayuna.
Guilderland vs. Columbia.
Class C:
Bolton-Warrensburg 4, Hoosic Valley 1.
Stillwater 3, Corinth 2.
Galway 3, Chatham 0.
Greenwich 3, Mayfield 0.
Maple Hill 7, OESJ 0.
Voorheesville 6, Cambridge 0.
Waterford 8, Schoharie 0.
Monday's quarter-finals:
Maple Hill vs. Greenwich.
Waterford vs. Bolton-Warrensburg.
Stillwater vs. Voorheesville.
Galway vs. Middleburgh or Lake George.
Mekeel Christian 2, Hadley-Luzerne 1.
Women's volleyball regular season:
Colonial Council:
Ichabod Crane 3, Mohonasen 1.
Schalmont 3, Voorheesville 0.
Cobleskill-Richmondville 3, Cohoes 1.
Suburban Council:
Colonie 3, Albany 0.
Burnt Hills 3, Guilderland 0.
Bethlehem 3, Shaker 1.
Shenendehowa 3, Niskayuna 0.
Western Athletic Conference:
Galway 3, Mayfield 0.
Canajoharie-Fort Plain 3, OESJ 1.
Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 3, Middleburgh 0.
Colleges:
Field hockey:
Skidmore 7, Russell Sage 0.
Men's soccer:
Colleges:
Field hockey:
Union 3, Utica 0.
Women's soccer:
Monday's college scoreboard:
Women's soccer:
Russell Sage 4, MCLA 0.
Soccer is one of the sports that has adopted Class AAA (football has not) this year. Today, the sectional brackets were released, after regular season play had ended on Saturday.
Class AAA:
Thursday:
#5 Albany @ #4 CBA. Winner plays #1 Saratoga October 24 at Guilderland.
#6 Colonie @ #3 Shenendehowa.
#7 Schenectady @ #2 Shaker.
The winners of the two above games meet at Guilderland on October 24.
The finals are October 30 at Queensbury.
Class AA:
Tuesday play-in:
Troy @ Amsterdam. Winners will travel to #1 Bethlehem on Thursday.
Thursday:
#5 Averill Park @ #4 Niskayuna.
#6 Queensbury @ #3 Guilderland.
#7 Ballston Spa @ #2 Columbia.
Semi-finals will be October 24 at LaSalle, with the finals at Queensbury October 30.
Class A:
Tuesday:
#9 Cohoes @ #8 LaSalle. Winner plays #1 Ichabod Crane next Monday
#10 Scotia-Glenville @ #7 Broadalbin-Perth. Winner plays #2 Glens Falls next Monday.
#11 South Glens Falls @ #6 Mohonasen. Winner plays #3 Albany Academy next Monday.
Wednesday:
#12 Ravena @ #5 Burnt Hills. Winner plays #4 Schalmont next Monday.
Semi-finals are October 26 @ Gloversville. Finals October 28 @ Queensbury.
Class B:
Tuesday:
#9 Cobleskill-Richmondville @ #8 Cairo-Durham. Winner plays #1 Mechanicville Saturday.
#11 Berne-Knox-Westerlo-Duanesburg @ #6 Johnstown. Winner plays #3 Catskill Saturday.
#10 Canajoharie-Fort Plain @ #7 Schuylerville. Winner plays #2 Greenville Saturday.
Wednesday:
#12 Tamarac @ #5 Hudson. Winner plays #4 Coxsackie-Athens Saturday.
Semi-finals are October 25 @ LaSalle. Finals at Queensbury October 28.
Class C:
Thursday:
#16 OESJ @ #1 Maple Hill.
#15 Cambridge-Salem @ #2 Voorheesville.
#14 Schoharie @ #3 Waterford.
#13 Lake George @ #4 Middleburgh.
#12 Chatham @ #5 Galway.
#11 Hoosic Valley @ #6 Bolton-Warrensburg.
#10 Stillwater @ #7 Corinth.
#9 Mayfield @ #8 Greenwich.
Quarterfinals will be played next Monday. Semi-finals are October 26 at Waterford. Finals are October 28 at Queensbury.
Class D:
Wednesday play-in:
#9 Mekeel Christian @ #8 Hadley-Luzerne. Winner plays #1 Loudonville Christian Saturday.
Saturday:
#5 Germantown @ #4 Argyle.
#6 Fort Ann @ #3 Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons.
#7 Northville @ #2 Hartford.
Semi-finals are October 25 at Waterford. Finals are October 28 at Queensbury.
Good luck to all the teams.
Four months ago, former LaSalle & Siena star Elijah Burns was taking on his first coaching job as a graduate assistant to men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades at Penn State.
Then, according to the Albany Times-Union, the College of St. Rose called.
More specifically, men's basketball coach Brian Beaury called, asking Burns to join his staff full-time. This would allow Burns to do some recruiting of his own on behalf of Beaury, something he couldn't do for Rhoades at Happy Valley.Colleges:
Football:
WNYA's cameras were at Riverside Center in Mechanicville for the 2nd straight week, this time with a women's basketball game betwee...