News & notes

UAlbany's men's basketball team ran their winning streak to four in a row (five of their last six) with a 77-73 win over New Hampshire on the road last night. Ahmad Clark led the Great Danes with 27 points. UAlbany will next play at Stony Brook on Saturday.
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Former Troy High star Ryan Carmello will be coming home next week as Marist comes to town on January 24 to play Siena at Times Union Center. That might just put a few extra people in the bleachers......
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Turning to high school hockey, Bethlehem completed a home & home sweep of LaSalle Wednesday night, 5-3, sending the Cadets to their 6th straight loss. While the Eagles are making a run toward their 3rd straight Delvecchio Cup, the only thing keeping LaSalle out of the CDHSHL cellar is their opponent for Cadets For Vets III on Saturday, the Capital District Jets, who won a non-league game over LaSalle last month.

Going into Cadets For Vets the last couple of years, LaSalle had something resembling momentum. Not so this year. Tim Flanigan's club has seven games left, four of them on the road, and a ton of ground to make up if they want to avoid a play-in game on February 22. They're in 11th place, 9 points behind surprising "Guilderville", whom they'll play on Senior Night, February 15.

Tuesday sports roundup, 1/14

All Troy High needs now is to win an indoor track meet, and they'd really have something to crow about.

The school's other winter sports teams are all over .500 for the first time in what seems like an eternity

Troy & CBA's combined swimming & diving team defeated Ballston Spa on Tuesday, to bring the Flying Brothers' record to 2-1. An earlier meet vs. Burnt Hills apparently was postponed in December, and has been rescheduled to Tuesday.

Troy's co-ed bowling team has now won three in a row after thrashing Ballston Spa. The keglers' record is now 7-3. They could very well be a threat in the Suburban Council tournament when that comes up next month.

In basketball, the boys have now won three in a row as well, and four of their last five, with a 75-61 win over Ballston Spa. Keegan Zoller led all scorers with 34 points in a losing effort. Shamdo Caldwell led Troy with 21, as Greg Davis' club had four players in double figures.

The girls have also won four of their last five, shaking off a loss to Albany last Friday in blowing out the Lady Scotties, 87-33, at Zotto Gym. Jenalyse Alarcon led all scorers with 26 points, as Troy placed four players in double figures. Ballston Spa didn't have anyone crack double figures.

Both Troy teams are now 6-5 overall.
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As noted in The Land of Whatever yesterday, LSU defensive back Derek Stingley, Jr. has ties to the 518, as his father, Derek, Sr., spent four seasons at the end of the 90's, with the Albany Firebirds, culminating in an ArenaBowl title in 1999. Congratulations to Derek, Jr. and the Bayou Bengals on winning the College Football Playoff national title.
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Back to basketball. LaSalle remains undefeated in the Colonial Council after beating Cobleskill-Richmondville, 89-34. Bo Catherwood led the Cadets with 22 points. Owen Kane had 21, and Jimyh Evans added 16.

Lansingburgh kept pace and beat Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, 67-56. Isaiah Knight led all scorers with 27 points.
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The 2nd annual SLAM North-South Classic takes place Saturday at the Washington Avenue Armory. Tickets are $6 for students, $10 for adults, but courtside seats are $30, which is too expensive for high school hoops. The organizers apparently weren't paying attention to the fluctuating attendance at the Armory for Mekeel Christian Academy's tournament a few weeks back. The Lions will be participating, as per the schedule:

11 am: Cohoes vs. Albany.
12:30 pm (time approximate going forward): Catskill vs. Mount St. Joseph.
2 pm: Watervliet vs. Mohonasen.
3:30: Shenendehowa vs. Newburgh Free Academy.
5: LaSalle vs. Colonie.
6:30: Mekeel Christian vs. Shaker.
8: Albany Academy vs. Romeoville.

You'll recall that last year's event was a victim of inclement weather, and snow is in the forecast for late Saturday as of now. But the weather patterns change on a daily basis, so we'll have to watch that leading into Saturday.

College news & notes

UAlbany's men's basketball team erased the stigma of a loss to Maine last season by beating the Black Bears, 76-70, earlier today at SEFCU Arena. Ahmad Clark led the Great Danes with 29 points. UAlbany is now 9-8 on the season, and will begin a road trip Wednesday at New Hampshire.
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Siena sophomore Jalen Pickett is on the watch list for the Lou Henson Player of The Year award, named for the former Illinois coach. All Pickett is doing is proving last year wasn't a fluke, and that he's on the watch list means he'll also get the attention of pro scouts, meaning we'll have to wait after the season to find out if he'll return for his junior season.
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Former RPI standout Jacob Hayhurst transferred to Michigan this season as a graduate transfer (think Elijah Burns at Siena), but didn't register a point in the Wolverines' 3-0 win over Notre Dame on Friday night. It doesn't surprise that there was little or no mention of Hayhurst's transfer after he graduated from RPI last May.
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Speaking of the Engineers, their modest winning streak ended Friday with a 3-0 loss to Cornell. RPI hosts Colgate later tonight, while Cornell visits Union, which lost to Colgate, 3-2, last night.

The RPI women have yet to win a game this season, and earlier today, the losing streak went to 23 in a row (0-22-1) with a 2-0 loss to Cornell.

It doesn't help that they haven't been able to draw at Houston Field House for any of RPI's hockey teams this season. The addition of RPI TV, available on YouTube, and using the audio feed from WRPI-FM, may be contributing to the decline in attendance.

Then again, RPI doesn't spend money on advertising. Instead, they'd rather spend money on buying up property around the city. Priorities, you know.

High School Fridays: local sports roundup

Let's just get the bad news out of the way first.

The Skating Cadets of LaSalle have now dropped five in a row after getting slammed, 7-2, by Bethlehem tonight in Delmar. Justin Chenaille scored a hat trick to lead the Eagles, who will play LaSalle at Hudson Valley Community College on Wednesday night. LaSalle's chart was unavailable as of press time. However, getting outscored 17-5 in their last three doesn't bode well for the rematch. Ouch!

To be fair, LaSalle has had to deal with injuries, per an article in El Cheapo Media today, and that has had an effect on the Cadets.
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On to the hardwood.

Lansingburgh saw their five game winning streak snapped in a 67-56 loss to Watervliet. Isaiah Knight had 23 points to lead the Knights. Watervliet now has drawn even in the Patriot division standings with division leader Voorheesville apparently idle, per the Albany Times-Union.

LaSalle blew away Catholic Central, 83-49. Bo Catherwood led five Cadets in double figures with 17 points, and gained a game on the 2nd place Knights in the Reinfurt division.

In the Suburban Council, Troy dispatched Albany, 62-55. Nasir Dawud-Soto led Troy with 16 points. Alex Wolfe, after back-to-back career nights vs. Lansingburgh & Guilderland, had just four points.

Conversely, the Troy women still can't beat Albany. Alaina Holmes led Troy with 23 points, but the Lady Horses saw their winning streak snapped at three, 62-51.

Seems Troy's game vs. Pittsfield in the Amsterdam Holiday Classic, originally set for December 27, was moved to the 28th. No explanation given, and the Lady Horses played twice on the 28th. Both Troy teams are now 5-5 overall, and will play Ballston Spa (girls at home, guys on the road) and Shaker (guys at home, girls on the road) next week before a Martin Luther King day doubleheader at home vs. Kingston on January 20.
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Troy's bowling team is now 6-3 in the Suburban Council after blowing away Albany, 22-10, on Thursday. Alex Hepp led the way again with a 603 triple. Troy will bowl Ballston Spa & Shaker next week.

Sports roundup, 1/7

Zaveon Little returned to Troy Tuesday night, now playing for Voorheesville. The Blackbirds gave LaSalle all they could handle, and Little led all scorers with 33 points, but it wasn't enough, as the Cadets won, 81-74. Bo Catherwood led LaSalle with 25 points, hitting 8 3-pointers, and leading 4 Cadets in double figures. LaSalle remains unbeaten in league play in the Colonial Council.

Little & the Blackbirds return to Troy to visit Catholic Central on February 7. The schedule provided to the Albany Times-Union does not indicate if Voorheesville will also play Lansingburgh this season.

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Troy High's bowling team snapped a recent losing streak in beating Guilderland, 20-12, on Tuesday. Alex Hepp led the way with a 666 triple, and Olivia DeCitise nearly matched it with a 661. The bowlers are so hot, Troy is crowing about them in morning announcements.

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For unknown reasons, both Troy-Guilderland basketball games were contested at Guilderland on Tuesday night, as the girls were originally scheduled to play at Troy.

The Troy women completed a season sweep of the Lady Dutch with a 71-65 win. Jenalyse Alarcon had 25 points to lead four Troy players in double figures. Valencia Fontenelle-Posson matched Alarcon with 25 points of her own to lead Guilderland. Ava Lia, sister of Billy & Vinny, had just six points, so there's likely no test driving after school for a while.

Speaking of Billy Lia, he led all scorers with 20 points, and Ryan Teaney had 14, but Alex Wolfe continued his red hot play with another season high of 18 points, and Jadon Cummings, who missed the Holiday Classic, matched Teaney with 14, as the Troy men avenged an earlier loss to Guilderland with a 56-50 verdict.

The women are now 5-4 overall, while the boys have the reverse record at 4-5. The men return home to play Albany on Friday, while the ladies travel to the hostile Falcon's Nest on Washington Avenue. The Lady Falcons have fallen on hard times, but can Troy's women snap their recent losing streak vs. Albany?

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The Times-Union Center announced Tuesday that tickets are all sold out for the NCAA men's basketball tournament games taking place in March. I think it's the lure of television cameras, more so than the hope of either Siena or UAlbany being in the tournament, that drives ticket sales in this market. The games will be played March 19 & 21, with broadcasts on CBS and/or TBS, TNT, & TruTV. Siena & the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) are co-hosting the event.

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Troy & Christian Brothers Academy's combined swimming & diving teams fell, 114-69, to Bethlehem on Tuesday. Last month's meet vs. Burnt Hills still hasn't been reported, so for now the Flying Brothers are 1-1.

News & notes

It was a productive weekend on the road for RPI hockey.

The Engineers upset Clarkson, 4-1, on Friday, then completed a season sweep of St. Lawrence, 3-0, on Saturday. Clarkson came back to beat Union, 2-1, on Saturday. The Dutchmen are having a rough go of it so far this season, but have they peaked?
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As seen Friday night on WNYA, Siena took down Monmouth, 75-72, placing four players in double figures. All the talk before the game was how the Hawks had owned the Saints in recent times, but Siena remains unbeaten at home this season at Times-Union Center. Hmmmm. A harbinger of things to come? We'll see.
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Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake-Ballston Spa thumped LaSalle, 7-1, in hockey action on Saturday night. The Spartan Scotties have shown some improvement this season, but the Cadets have regressed to 2015 levels. Meanwhile, Albany Academy skated to a 2-2 draw with CBA, meaning Dave Rider's club has gone unbeaten in their last three games.
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Given that Siena has their TV deal with WNYA, now fortified with the station picking up a feed from ESPN for home games, where does that leave UAlbany? I wouldn't mind seeing another local channel pick up the Great Danes, unless Spectrum is willing to take up the gauntlet again. Shoot, WNYA, a sister station to WNYT, could take a chance, given that sports director Rodger Wyland also calls football and some basketball for UAlbany. It's not like anyone flocks to the station for MyNetworkTV's rerun-loaded lineup, anyway.......

High School Fridays: Hoops roundup, 1/3/2020

It was not a good start to 2020 for Schenectady High on Friday.

The Patriots' men's & women's squads both traveled to Troy, the women for a matinee rematch vs. Troy, while the men went to Lansingburgh to pay a call on former coach Eric Loudis, who now is the head coach of the Knights.

The Lady Patriots sought to avenge a 54-39 loss to Troy just three weeks ago, but for some reason Section II scheduled both matchups at Zotto Gym. Jenalyse Alarcon had 19 points as Troy placed three players in double figures, routing Schenectady for the second time in a month, 66-30. Troy improves to 4-4 overall, and will travel to Guilderland on Tuesday.

Across town, in the nightcap, if you will, the Patriots ran into a red hot Lansingburgh club, which won its fourth straight game. Schenectady, which fell from the unbeaten ranks in a loss to Bethlehem a couple of weeks back, has now dropped two of its last three.

In another matchup between the Colonial & Suburban Councils, Kaylon Dickson led all scorers with 24 points, and Gabe Lucarelli added 20, as LaSalle knocked off CBA, 63-52.

I wrote before that Lansingburgh was a Class B school. Not in basketball, where they're in Class A. The Knights are chasing LaSalle for a division title in the Colonial Council.