High School Fridays: LaSalle @ Troy (basketball), 12/27/19

Once upon a time, you could plan on seeing LaSalle and Troy High hook up in basketball twice a year.

However, it has been nearly five years since the two schools have met on the hardwood. The classic rivalry has been revived in football, with Troy having won four straight over the Cadets. Would it be any different tonight? Would LaSalle spoil the Uncle Sam Holiday Classic, as Troy billed this year's event?

For a while, it seemed like they could.

For three quarters, the Cadets hung tough with the Flying Horses, matching them on both sides of the ball. Junior forward Owen Kane scored seven points in the first half, but was shut down after halftime. Gabe Lucarelli, arguably one of the Cadets' best players, was held to just six points on the night.

But for every Cadet basket, Troy had an answer. Both teams applied defensive pressure, although Troy began to get sloppy with the fouls in the second half. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that the hosts finally began to pull away.

Marquis Hamby, one of three sophomores on the varsity roster, led all scorers with 17 points. Senior Makai Cruel added 15, and Alex Wolfe & Shamdo Caldwell chipped in 9 each, as Troy rebounded from a tough loss to Truman High last weekend with a 70-59 win in front of a raucous crowd at Zotto Gym.

Jimyh Evans led LaSalle with 16 points, while Drashean Wallace added 13 in a losing effort.

Tomorrow, LaSalle will play Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons, while Troy hosts Lansingburgh.

Earlier, Lansingburgh ended Gibbons' season opening eight game winning streak, taking the Golden Knights to overtime before emerging with a 73-72 victory. Gibbons had a chance to actually win on the last possession, but Omari Carmon's three pointer was blocked as time expired.
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Other stuff:

It was not a good day for LaSalle, as the skating Cadets dropped a 5-3 decision to Brattleboro at Union College. Owen Scannell, Spencer Carpenter, & Hunter Caola scored for the Cadets, while Caleb Ellis made 19 saves in goal. LaSalle will play Saranac tomorrow morning. Saranac defeated the Niskayuna-Schenectady-Albany-Amsterdam Mohawks in today's nightcap, 3-2.

The Troy women's basketball game vs. Pittsfield at Amsterdam High was not reported as of press time.

Albany Academy finally won a hockey game in Section II. Dave Rider's Cadets defeated "Guilderville", 3-2, snapping a four game losing streak.

News & notes

Former LaSalle star Elijah Burns hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to lift Siena past Canisius, 73-72, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener for both teams at Times-Union Center on Monday. Burns finished with 16 points, while Jalen Pickett led Siena with 21. The Saints return to the TUC on Sunday to play Holy Cross.

Monday's game was the first broadcast this season on WNYA (Spectrum Cable channel 1215), with Robert Lee and ex-WRGB sports anchor Kelly O'Donnell at the microphones. O'Donnell has also done some work for Spectrum on high school football during their aborted live streaming project a couple of years back.

While I cannot confirm this, it appears the game was being live streamed on ESPN3, hence the trade dress graphics that the network uses for their college broadcasts. Nice!
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While Troy High has gotten off to a 2-4 start, with the Holiday Classic coming up on Friday, we noted that Zaveon Little wasn't on the varsity roster after being called up near the end of last season from junior varsity. There's a good reason for that.

Turns out Little transferred from Troy to Voorheesville after last season, as his family moved out of the Collar City. Little scored 24 points, a career best, in his last game, per the Albany Times-Union. Granted, Troy could use him now, as their offense has had struggles early on,  but Little has made the best of the situation.
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That same Times-Union article, their weekly boys' hoops rankings, may have fudged the Holiday Classic schedule.

James Allen, who may or may not be covering the event, has Troy playing LaSalle on Saturday instead of Friday, and Troy would be ticketed to play undefeated Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons on Friday. Schedule Galaxy has Troy-LaSalle on Friday, and assuming Troy will play Lansingburgh on Saturday, but figure if Gibbons beats 'Burgh, they'll play Troy, if they hold to the traditional tournament format.
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A deeper look at Albany Academy's early hockey struggles in the Capital District High School Hockey League (CDHSHL) reveals that junior goaltender Emma McIntyre has started all four games this season, but has not finished. Her longest stint this season was 39 minutes, playing deep into the 3rd period. She didn't get out of the 2nd period on Saturday vs. LaSalle. I get that coach Dave Rider is trying to protect her from injury, but maybe a change in starting goalies is in order, as the Cadets will play "Guilderville" and, possibly, a rematch with Bethlehem, at home this weekend. Stay tuned.

Something to fight for (Albany Academy @ LaSalle, 12/21/19)

To be fair to the participants, neither Albany Academy nor LaSalle had assumed they would be struggling just to win heading into the Christmas break.

Part 1 of hockey's Battle of The Cadets took place tonight at Conway Arena at Hudson Valley Community College in front of a nearly full house. Both teams were coming off bad losses in their previous games, LaSalle losing to CBA on Wednesday, while Academy was wrecked by Bethlehem. Something had to give.

After experimenting with pro style penalty minutes and added game time last year, the Capital District High School Hockey League reverted to the old system, with 15 minutes per period, and minor penalties scaled back to 90 seconds for each infraction. Major penalties would be 3-4 minutes. Apparently, the experiment didn't go over well around the league after all.

Digression over. Hoping to spark his offense, Academy coach Dave Rider started Emma McIntyre in goal. The junior looked solid for much of the first period, giving up only a late goal by LaSalle sophomore Forest Ward, who may or may not be related to first year athletic director Craig Ward. LaSalle, then, led, 1-0, at the first intermission.

Perhaps fittingly, the first song on the loudspeaker at intermission was Foreigner's "Cold as Ice".

In the second period, LaSalle turned up the heat, and knocked McIntyre from the game. With McIntyre sprawled on the ice, Shaun Branon popped one into the net to up the lead to 2-0. Just a minute or two later, there was a scrum around the crease. Down went McIntyre, again, and this time, Reid Murray took advantage to give the hosts a 3-0 lead. It took the officials about three minutes to decide whether or not the goal should stand, and, rightfully, it shouldn't have, not with all the traffic and interference in the crease. No wonder the Academy faithful were irate going into intermission,  but not before LaSalle tacked on one more, as Pauley redirected a Jack Brown shot past Jackson Bissell, who'd relieved McIntyre.

Spencer Carpenter scored in the third to close things for LaSalle, but after Tim Carlson snapped Academy's scoring draught, LaSalle coach Tim Flanigan lifted starting goalie Leo Paul for Kyle McGee. McGee only allowed a goal by Sam Koenig the rest of the way, while Bissell finally got the vacuum going in net for Academy, shutting down LaSalle the rest of the way.

Just the same, LaSalle snaps a 2 game losing streak with the 5-2 win.

Up next for LaSalle is the annual Mohawks tournament on Friday at Union College. They'll play Brattleboro on Friday afternoon, and Saranac on Saturday morning.
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Other stuff: I had thought Troy High was going to Kingston for today's road game, which was still listed as "TBD", per Schedule Galaxy. Nope. They went to SUNY Cobleskill instead to play in a tournament, and dropped a 55-51 decision to Harry Truman High. Nasir Dawud-Soto, one of the heroes of the football team, led Troy with 13 points, while Marquis Hamby added 11 in a losing effort for Troy (2-4 overall).

News & notes

Troy High two-sport star Maddie Rifenerick has signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at Columbia University beginning in 2021. Maddie was also an all-star goalkeeper at Troy in soccer, and was named to the Suburban Council All-Star Team 1st team this season. Congratulations!!
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Meant to get this in yesterday's report. Shenendehowa alum Kevin Huerter scored 14 points in a losing effort as Atlanta fell to the Knicks on Tuesday. The game was shown on MSG for one of the few times local fans will see the Hawks this season.
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Troy High's boys basketball team snapped a three game losing streak in beating Colonie, 54-49, last night. Marquis Hamby led Troy with 13 points. Colonie's Marcus Shelton matched Hamby with 13 of his own to lead the Garnet Raiders. The team concludes a four game road trip tomorrow, but as of press time, the game site remains a mystery. Still think it's Kingston.
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In contrast, the Troy women saw their two game winning streak end at the hands of Colonie, 48-44. Scoring was so hard to come by that no one on either team reached double figures. Jenalyse Alarcon was held to just 6 points. Amalia Mulinio led Troy with 9 points, and Alaina Holmes & Nadia Brown added 8 apiece. Macie Trimarchi & Sareena DiCerbo led Colonie with 9 points each.

Both Troy teams are now 2-3 overall, and the women will have a week's rest before playing a tournament in Amsterdam next week.
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It's still the first month of the season, but we're noticing that a fair number of games have not been reported to all media outlets. Parents, you may need to help the coaches and athletic directors at your schools submit game results to the local papers and television stations. We'd like to post the current league standings for basketball, but so far, they're incomplete as of press time.
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Colonie also defeated Troy in bowling, 27-5, the Flying Horses' 2nd straight loss to even their record at 3-3.

News & notes

UAlbany's mens' basketball team closes out 2019 on the road in the tri-state area, and the trip has already gotten off to a bad start.

The Great Danes fell to St. John's on Wednesday night, 85-57. Will Brown's club is off until Saturday, when they play Monmouth, then return downstate to play Columbia on December 30.
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Joe Germinerio, Jr. finished his collegiate career at Ithaca by being named to the All-Liberty League 1st team at quarterback. The LaSalle graduate had initially committed to UAlbany, but transferred to Brockport for his sophomore season after redshirting as a freshman due to not getting any playing time in Albany.

Former Shaker QB Wahid Nabi will likely be the starting quarterback when he begins his senior season in 2020.
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When Albany Academy visits LaSalle in hockey on Saturday night, both sets of Cadets will be looking for their first win of the league season.

LaSalle dropped a 6-1 decision to CBA on Wednesday night in front of the faithful at Conway Arena, and now have dropped two straight, and three of their first five overall games.

Academy was greeted rudely at home by defending Delvecchio Cup champion Bethlehem, 10-0, also on Wednesday, and are 0-2 in league play.

Speaking of LaSalle, the date's been set for Cadets For Vets III. It'll be Saturday, January 18, in the rematch vs. the Capital District Jets, who are anything but patsies this season. The Jets beat LaSalle last Saturday night, 6-3, so Tim Flanigan's Cadets are looking for revenge.
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Quick reminder that there's no basketball at Troy High tomorrow. Instead, the women's team finishes a 3 game homestand tonight vs. Colonie, while the guys will try to snap a 3 game losing streak at Colonie. Given the frigid temperatures, maybe they should spring for space heaters in the bleachers.......
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Troy-CBA's swimming & diving meet vs. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake on Tuesday has not been reported as of press time. We're hoping to rectify that issue soon.

As the snow flies.....

For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, Section II has seen a number of basketball games postponed, most moving to tomorrow, due to weather. At least a couple of games were moved forward to last night, but these games are slated now for tomorrow or later. Mostly girls' games, except where noted.

Colonial Council:

Catholic Central @ Mohonasen.
Academy of Holy Names @ Lansingburgh.
Voorheesville @ Cohoes (boys' game at Voorheesville also postponed)
Ichabod Crane @ Schalmont (boys game at Ichabod Crane also postponed)
Lansingburgh @ LaSalle (boys basketball).

Western Athletic Conference:

Ravena @ Watervliet (boys).
Canajoharie @ Schoharie.
Duanesburg @ Mayfield.
Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons @ Middleburgh.

Also a Colonial Council wrestling meet, set for Lansingburgh, has been postponed, and a bowling match between Lansingburgh and Mohonasen, set for Towne Bowling Academy, has been pushed back, likely to tomorrow.

Please check with your schools to see if your games or meets are still on.

And, verily, the worm hath turneth

It's only a small sample size, but, to borrow from Bob Dylan, the times are a'changin' at Troy High in the young winter sports season.

The December 3 boys & girls doubleheader at Bethlehem didn't count in Suburban Council league standings, as the league openers came three nights later. For Troy's boys' basketball team, that's bad news, because any momentum generated from beating Bethlehem that night has dissipated into a morass of misfortune.

Greg Davis' club has since lost three in a row for the first time since the latter days of the Rich Hurley era, the latest a 64-61 defeat to Schenectady on Friday at Pat Riley Center. Marquis Hamby ended a two game scoring slump by leading Troy with 21 points, and Jadon Cummings added 13. Troy (1-3 overall) may not be entirely together as a team just yet, but they do have less than a week before their next game, as they'll continue their road trip in Colonie on Thursday. Per Schedule Galaxy, they'll then travel to a "undetermined" site----I'm guessing Kingston----next Saturday.

Meanwhile, at Zotto Memorial Gym, the women dispatched Schenectady with ease, 54-39. The Lady Patriots have been one of Troy's favorite patsies in recent years, and just didn't have the talent to keep up. Troy led, 28-10, at halftime, and that pretty much told the tale. Alaina Holmes led Troy with 18 points and 6 rebounds, followed by Jenalyse Alarcon with 13 and 5, respectively. Troy finishes the current homestand with Colonie on Thursday night.

So where does the problem lie with the boys? Part of it might be a slower than expected transition from football season to basketball season, and a majority of the roster were also on the football team (i.e. Alex Wolfe, Tyrell Penalba, Makai Cruel). Starting with Thursday's game at Colonie, the boys will play four games over a ten day period, including the Holiday Classic in two weeks. Practices will be harder, to be sure.

In contrast, the women's team has been together for a couple of years now, with only two seniors graduating last year, and are poised to make a run at perennial Gray division leaders Averill Park and Albany this season, having erased the bitter taste of getting blown out by Shenendehowa eight days ago with dominating wins over Guilderland and Schenectady. Like the boys, Ryan Meikle's club will play a tournament in two weeks, on the road, in Amsterdam, where they're scheduled to play Pittsfield on the 27th. The real litmus test will come starting January 10 when they begin a run of games against some of the Suburban Council's powers, including Albany, Saratoga, and Shaker. Once again, Senior Night comes too early for the ladies, January 28 vs. Columbia, leading to a season ending five game road trip, including a stop in Averill Park on February 7.

As previously noted, Troy will host a boys & girls doubleheader vs. Kingston, on Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King Day). The Lady Horses swept Kingston last season, so maybe they can show the boys how it's done.

To borrow a line from Howard Jones, things can only get better. They'd have to.