News & notes

 The Josh Pelletier era at Troy High didn't get off to a good start Friday at Zotto Gym.

Stetson Merritt led Troy with 26 points, but Columbia's Evan Rainville was better, leading all scorers with 29 points to lead the Blue Devils to a 60-55 victory. Troy will play Ballston Spa on Tuesday.

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Union College's football balloon just Popped.

After just 1 season, Jon Poppe is gone, returning to Columbia University, where he served as an assistant to another former Union coach, Al Bagnoli, until Bagnoli retired after the 2022 season. Poppe went 10-2 in his lone season with the Garnet Chargers, the season ending last week with a loss to Johns Hopkins. Poppe was at Columbia as an assistant for 7 seasons, and before that was at Harvard for 9, so he knows the Ivy League pretty well. 

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Averill Park won its own women's tip-off tournament tonight, holding off Bethlehem, 37-34. The Eagles fought back after being dominated in the 1st quarter, and briefly had a lead in the 3rd. These two teams will meet again later in the season.

In the 3rd place game, Columbia, a 50-39 loser to Bethlehem last night, dominated luckless Guilderland, 71-42. The Lady Dutch were blown out by AP on Friday, 56-25.

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The pending closure of the College of St. Rose isn't very popular with the student body, to be sure.

The school's heretofore unreported financial issues, which came to the fore this week, has left the sports teams as lame ducks.

That said, St. Rose's last chance for a soccer title went by the wayside on Friday after a loss to Adelphi, which went to a penalty kick shootout after the teams were knotted at 1 after regulation & double overtime.

St. Rose brought back men's basketball coach Brian Beaury and signed Will Brown to lead the women's team, but what happens now? 

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As of now, it is up to Fonda-Fultonville to bring a state football title home. Fonda vs. Waverly is underway as we write.

Earlier, Stillwater's dream season came to a crashing end at the hands of Tioga, 63-14. For seniors Lukas Lilac, Jaxson Mueller, and some of the others, it's a quick transition to basketball, starting as early as Tuesday.

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UAlbany swept the Albany Cup once again tonight, as the women, in their first game at Broadview Center, downed Siena, 76-58. Helene Haegerstrand & Kayla Cooper led the Lady Danes with 13 points each. Lilly Phillips (Cambridge) & Sarah Karpell added 11 points each. Meghan Huerter (Shen/Providence) chipped in with 9. For Siena, Valencia Fontanelle-Posson (Guilderland) had 12 points, and Ahniysha Jackson (Albany) had 5. As per usual, Abby Ray (Saratoga) was off the scoreboard with no points, and didn't play.

The Lady Danes will travel to Central Connecticut State on Wednesday before returning home next Saturday for a Toys For Tots event against another MAAC foe, Marist. Siena, which has dropped three straight, will have their Toys For Tots event Thursday at UHY center vs. Fordham.

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The Siena men snapped a 5 game losing streak in beating Rider, 67-65. Zek Tekin led the Saints with 23 points. Michael Eley did not start, played just 2 minutes, and didn't score, as his injury issues have cropped up again. Mason Courtney (Shen) played 24 minutes, but was also held scoreless.