News & notes

 Not a good day for Troy High on the lanes or in the pool on Thursday.

Troy's co-ed bowling team dropped a 5-0 decision to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, dropping the Flying Horses to 1-4 (or is that 1-5?) on the season. Thursday's result was obtained through the Spartans' Twitter page, since the result was not reported to the press in time for this morning's editions.

Meanwhile, Troy/CBA also fell to 1-4 after losing to Albany, 52-42. The Flying Brothers close the regular season with a home & home series with the Spartans, February 2 & 16, and a home meet vs. Guilderville on February 9.

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To follow up on yesterday's news, the Albany Times-Union reports today that out of the 12 counties that host Section II member schools, Rensselaer County is the only one launching high risk sports come Monday without restrictions. The holdouts, including Albany, Warren, Greene, Columbia, and Schenectady counties, are waiting for rolling positivity rates for coronavirus to drop below 4% before allowing play to begin.

As noted yesterday, Glens Falls has shut down their winter sports program altogether, erring on the side of caution.

Update, 4:13 pm: From WTEN comes an announcement from Montgomery County:

Also, Saratoga County is following the same guidelines.

The natives (athletes), though, are getting restless.......!

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UAlbany's men's basketball team is back on pause due to another positive COVID-19 test, and games scheduled this weekend & next have been postponed.

The Siena women have had their February 3 game vs. Niagara postponed for the same reason.

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On Thursday, the Tri-City Valleycats hired former major leaguer Pete Incaviglia as their new manager. Incaviglia played 12 seasons in the majors with Texas and Philadelphia, and has 35 total years experience in the game.

Along comes a buzzkiller

 To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, Section II counted it all joy that high school "high risk" winter sports (i.e. basketball, wrestling, hockey) would get underway on Monday.

However, as ESPN's Lee Corso is wont to taunt, not so fast, my friends.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy announced late Wednesday that he would advise school districts in the county not to start high risk sports until the county positivity rate for COVID-19 falls below 4%, per the Albany Times-Union. Spectrum News is saying the required rate would be 5%.

5% is the threshold Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin is aiming for, and it had been reported that districts in the county (i.e. Troy, Averill Park) were already being given the green light.

McCoy's decision has an adverse effect on the Suburban Council, since nearly half the teams in the league (Albany, CBA, Shaker, Colonie, Bethlehem, Guilderland) are based in Albany County. McCoy is not alone, though, as the Times-Union also reports that Washington, Warren, Greene, & Columbia counties are also throwing up the red lights on high risk winter sports. As of now, we haven't heard anything from Saratoga or Schenectady counties. 

Understand that McCoy and his counterparts are all acting on the side of caution, especially with newer, more dangerous strains of coronavirus having made their way into the US.

The decision also damages the Capital District High School Hockey League (CDHSHL), since most of their member schools would be adversely affected, especially since there are a few hybrid teams in the league, the result of some schools merging athletic programs in order to field teams. It's been reported that in Warren County, winter sports would be suspended for the rest of the season, meaning the CDHSHL would be missing at least two teams if/when league play starts.

And so the waiting game resumes.

Let's get ready to play!

 We are a week away from the start of a condensed season for high-risk winter sports in Section II. While bowling & men's swimming & diving are underway, basketball, wrestling, and hockey will begin practices & games next week. The season will be from February 1-March 13, so the season will be 6 weeks, with a 1 week overlap with "Fall II", which begins the week of March 1.

On Section II Athletics' Twitter page, users were uncertain about sectionals, but it was made clear that there would be no sectional or any other post-season competition this year.

Here's the official announcement:

Spring sports, such as baseball, lacrosse, outdoor track, and men's tennis, will start in May, and overlap into exam season, assuming Regents exams will be given this year, and graduation. Since college baseball continues past commencement, usually in May, leading to the College World Series in June, sports fans should be used to that. And, yeah, there's a mask mandate in place. As it should be. Not just for fans, but athletes & coaches, too.

Let the games begin!

News & notes

 Siena College's men's basketball team is doing the COVID-19 schedule shuffle again.

Instead of playing at Niagara this weekend, the Saints will instead visit Marist on Saturday & Sunday. A home series vs. Canisius has been split into a pair of stand-alone mid-week home games on February 3 & 17.

The complete, revised schedule for the rest of the regular season is as follows:

January 30-31: @ Marist.

February 3: Canisius.

February 5-6: Quinnipiac.

February 12-13: @ Niagara.

February 17: Canisius.

February 26-27: Manhattan (Senior Day is February 27).

March 4-5: @ Iona.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament is scheduled to begin around March 10-11 in Atlantic City. The Saints were on the verge of winning the tournament last year when play was suspended due to COVID.

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Speaking of COVID, Syracuse's Joseph Girard III (Glens Falls), recovering from a bout with the virus, scored 8 points in 26 minutes, but the Orange were blown out of the gym by Virginia, 82-56, on Monday. The Orange fall to 3-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 9-5 overall.

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Troy High & Ballston Spa very quietly rescheduled their bowling meet at Uncle Sam Lanes, presumably last Friday, but the result wasn't reported until today's editions of the Albany Times-Union and other newspapers. Olivia DeCitise rolled a 630 triple for high honors as Troy earned its first win of the season, 4-1.

Unfortunately, the momentum didn't last, as Troy dropped a 3 1/2-1 1/2 decision to Guilderland on Monday, also at Uncle Sam. Not including the January 7 meet at Albany, which for unknown reasons was never reported, Troy is 1-3, and could be either 2-3 or 1-4 with the Albany result. The Flying Horses are on the road the rest of the week, at Saratoga today, and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake on Thursday. However, with a snow storm arriving this afternoon, the Saratoga meet could wind up postponed. We'll wait & see.

Update, 1:51 pm: The match has been postponed. No makeup date has been set.

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It was UAlbany's 10th game of the season, and, with the Great Danes comfortably in front in a win over New Hampshire on Sunday, coach Will Brown decided to give son Jackson (Catholic Central) his first minutes on the court. Jackson played the final two minutes, but didn't score. That's not to say he was running on empty, or allowed to drive the boulevard to the basket, but that will come in time. Seems he felt he stayed on the bench just a little too long.......!

News & notes

 State Senator Tom O'Mara is asking Governor Cuomo to extend the curfew on local bars & restaurants beyond 10 pm tonight only due to the AFC title game between Buffalo & Kansas City. The Bills are one of the hottest teams this post-season, and all of New York is rallying behind them.

No word if O'Mara's request has been granted at press time.

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Siena earned a split of their weekend series at home vs. St. Peter's, but, contrary to Friday's game, this was bowling shoe ugly.

Defenses ruled the night at the Alumni Recreation Center. Jordan King & Manny Camper led Siena with 12 points each. Jalen Pickett added 11. No Peacock reached double figures, and Siena gets back on the winning tip with a 47-40 win.

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UAlbany gained a split of their series with New Hampshire, 83-64, earlier today. CJ Kelly led the Great Danes with a season high 23 points.

On Saturday, the Wildcats beat the Danes, 71-64. Kelly had 11, and Jamel Horton led Albany with 19 points.

The women, on the other hand, swept New Hampshire at SEFCU Arena.

On Saturday, Kayara Frames led Albany with 12 points, and Helene Haegerstrand added 10 as the Lady Danes won, 59-47. Columbia alum Grace Heeps added 6 for Albany.

Today, though, Heeps had a breakthrough game, scoring a season high 17 points. Frames had 10, and Ellen Hahne led Albany with 18, as the Lady Danes completed the sweep, 63-50.

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Albany Academy alumnus Dion Lewis, currently with the Giants, will be appearing at the annual #518 Gives telethon on WXXA next Sunday afternoon. However, for the first time, the telethon has been reduced to 2 1/2 hours (2:30-5 pm), a sign that the telethon, which began as a benefit for United Cerebral Palsy years ago, may be on its way out. Either that, or the time is being trimmed as another casualty of COVID-19. Telethons have been a dying breed in recent times, and last fall's attempted comeback by MDA was a critical failure.

News & notes

 St. Peter's couldn't stop Siena sophomore Jordan King. The CBA graduate topped 20 points for the 3rd straight game, with 21, but it wasn't quite enough. The Peacocks, the last team to beat the Saints before Siena went on a 16 game winning streak, ended said streak Friday night, 68-62. Manny Camper added 18 points. Jalen Pickett, in his first game back, had 8.

The game aired on ESPNU (Spectrum channel 370), but when the game started at 7 pm, viewers were rerouted to ESPNews (Spectrum channel 302), as coverage of a Big 10 gymnastics meet between Michigan & Minnesota ran late. ESPNU picked up the game around 7:05.

Tonight's game will be seen locally on WNYA (Spectrum channel 1215), also at 7.

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UAlbany alumnus Eli Mencer will play his pro football in, like, Canada, eh?

Mencer signed a free agent contract with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. Mencer joins former Albany Empire star Malachi Jones, who signed with Montreal last year when things didn't work out for him in the short-lived XFL.

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Finally, some good news for Section II athletes.

Pending authorization from county health departments, high risk sports (wrestling, hockey, basketball, competitive cheerleading) will begin the week of February 1. The state has given the green light, but with the caveat that each county (i.e. Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia, Schenectady, Saratoga) has to give their approval.

Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, interviewed by WNYT last night, has indicated that the county health department will give the green light, which would make student-athletes at Emma Willard, Troy, LaSalle, Catholic Central, & Lansingburgh very happy.

Stay tuned.

Troy High update, 1/21

 Troy High & CBA's combined men's swimming & diving team snapped a season opening three meet losing streak Thursday in beating Schenectady, 60-34. The Flying Brothers (1-3) will have a week off before meeting Albany next Thursday.

On the other hand, Troy's co-ed bowling team could use some help.

The Flying Horses had two home matches in as many days the last two days, and lost them both, shut out, 5-0, in each case, by Niskayuna & Columbia.

The result of Wednesday's virtual meet (which is what they may all be, methinks) wasn't published until today, and that may be the fault of the Silver Warriors, more so than homestanding Troy. Olivia DiCitise led Troy with a 623 triple in the losing effort. On Thursday, Colin Shepherd tallied the high score for Troy with a 573 triple.

We'll see if we can obtain the result of Troy's season opener vs. Albany on January 7.

Like everyone else in the Suburban Council, Troy is waiting to find out if there will be a basketball season. If there is, as we wrote the other day, we're looking at a 4 week schedule for the month of February, with a minimum of 8 games. We'll keep an eye on that, too.