News & notes

 For years, I've been advocating for a weekly high school basketball broadcast, and had angled for Spectrum News 1 to follow-up on their Friday Night Matchup football series, which runs September-November.

WNYT and its sister station, WNYA (Spectrum channel 1215), are taking to the hoop, and accepting the challenge, if you will.

Last night, My4 (WNYA) kicked off a weekly slate of high school basketball games, with sports director and UAlbany play-by-play voice Rodger Wyland at the mic. The series opener saw Niskayuna vs. Schnectady at the Pat Riley Center on the Patriots' campus. Next week, it's Colonie vs. Shenendehowa. Tip time is just after 7 pm to accommodate coverage.

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Troy High is happy to have Stetson Merritt back after he was benched vs. Guilderland 10 months ago.

Merritt, a sophomore, scored a career-high 44 points in a win over Schalmont Thursday night. In 3 games, Merritt is averaging 37.2 points per game, as coach Jamil Hood is trusting him to be the team leader going forward. Hood's son, Jordan, added 18 points on Thursday.

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Part of the reason the local papers are scrimping on scores these days is the resurrection of a dormant website, and coaches throughout Section II are favoring High School Sports Stats, although the same problem remains with scores not being reported in a timely manner. The website appeared to have gone dormant about 2-3 years ago, but is active now.

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Friday's high school scoreboard:

Colonial Council:

Ichabod Crane 64, Cohoes 58.

Catholic Central 64, Voorheesville 58.

Foothills Council:

Glens Falls 77, Gloversville 31.

Queensbury 70, Scotia-Glenville 43.

Adirondack League:

Hadley-Luzerne 68, Warrensburg 26.

Fort Ann 46, Fort Edward 38.

North Warren 64, Lake George 40.

Suburban Council:

Averill Park 47, Burnt Hills 36.

Niskayuna 60, Schenectady 37.

Shaker 69, Guilderland 31.

Non-league:

Ballston Spa 67, New Hartford 62.

Wasaren league:

Tamarac 76, Waterford 29.

Hoosic Valley 55, Cambridge-Salem 48.

Mechanicville 62, Hoosick Falls 51.

Greenwich 70, Stillwater 64.

Patroon Conference:

Hudson 81, Taconic Hills 37.

Western Athletic Conference:

Mayfield 49, Galway 35.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo 67, Fonda-Fultonville 33.

Schoharie 44, Johnstown 43.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 60, Northville 38.

Women's basketball:

Adirondack League:

Warrensburg 59, Argyle 19.

Corinth 51, Granville 26.

Colonial Council:

Albany Academy 74, Ravena 15.

Catholic Central 63, Voorheesville 26.

Ichabod Crane 42, Cohoes 38.

Suburban Council:

Ballston Spa 43, Saratoga 30.

Averill Park 64, Burnt Hills 31.

Albany 54, Bethlehem 53.

Columbia 64, Colonie 63.

Niskayuna 72, Schenectady 20.

Guilderland 66, Shaker 59.

Western Athletic Conference:

OESJ 55, Mayfield 35.

Hockey:

Queensbury 6, Salmon River 1.

Shenendehowa 6, Potsdam 2.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa 5, Hawks 4. The Hawks have dropped 3 straight.

Adirondack 4, CBA 2.