News & notes

 Coming off an ugly loss to UMBC, UAlbany rebounded with a 89-63 win over UMass-Lowell on Sunday. Sarju Patel, a 5th year player, led four Great Danes in double figures with 22 points, a season high.

The men's win completed a weekend sweep for the Great Danes, as the women won, 62-38, on Saturday.

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It was a weekend sweep for Siena, too. The men sit atop the MAAC standings after downing Rider, 68-63, in a Sunday matinee at MVP Arena. On Saturday, the women defeated Marist, 74-67, and are now in a 3-way tie for 1st in the league with Fairfield, whom the Lady Saints beat a week ago, and Iona. Siena will next play in a businessman's lunch special, or, kids' day, matinee at Manhattan on Thursday. The men continue their homestand at MVP Arena Friday vs. Fairfield.

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Troy High had a chance to make a statement in the Suburban Council on Friday night, but lost to Ballston Spa, 81-76, dropping their 3rd straight game. Stetson Merritt led three Troy players in double figures with 24 points.

On a brighter note, the Flying Horses bounced right back on Saturday, snapping a 3-game losing streak in beating Gloversville, 73-70. We do not have a box score presently.

Meanwhile, LaSalle's hockey team shut down Albany Academy in the 1st half of the Battle of The Cadets, 5-0. Freshman Chase Rose scored two goals and added an assist to claim the team lead in points with 19, and the league lead in goals with 14.

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The Albany FireWolves dropped the first half of a home & home series with Halifax, 14-11, as Halifax remains undefeated on the young season. The two teams will meet again in Nova Scotia on Friday.

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Sad to report the passing of former Troy Middle School phys ed teacher Dennis Wood, 78, due to complications from COVID last week. Wood taught in the early years of the middle school, when it was known as the W. Kenneth Doyle Middle School.

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Listening to part of Saturday's RPI-Cornell broadcast online, you can tell that some of the quality drops when their lead announcer isn't there. You had a student subbing on play-by-play, and he acknowledged that the sight lines for the announcers at Houston Field House isn't the best in the world, and I haven't been to the Field House in years, so I wouldn't know the current outlay of the arena.

Oh, by the way, Cornell beat RPI, 6-4.

High School Fridays: The closer they get......(Troy @ Ballston Spa, women's basketball, 1/6/23)

 A personal note to start.

I spent two seasons at a now-defunct Christian school in Lansingburgh before coming to Troy High. The school launched an athletic program during my 2nd year, with just soccer & basketball for the boys only, while the girls were cheerleaders. Of the teams we played in those days, only one, Loudonville Christian, is still around, playing an independent schedule against more established Section II teams 44 years later. We were overmatched much of the time, and our rag-tag expansion team---yes, that's what it really was, a mish-mash of varsity & junior varsity---won just one or two games, and the school closed four years later.

Why do I bring this up? The frustration of watching Troy High's women's basketball team under Steve Lombard is dredging up memories of those days.

As we've discussed, Lombard only has 9 players on his active roster, and plays 8 of the 9. Hamstrung by the lack of roster depth, Lombard is wishing he could recruit some kids from Metropolis to help him out, but that ain't happening. Yeah, I know. Bad comic book joke.

Coming off a 43 point blowout loss to Bethlehem on Tuesday, Lombard and the Lady Horses began a 3 game road trip tonight in Ballston Spa, hoping for that elusive 1st win of the season. As was the case against Guilderland 8 days ago, Troy mounted a furious comeback in the 4th quarter, and even tied the game with about 3 minutes and change left in regulation, but two quick Scotties baskets, and some dubious officiating in favor of the hosts, killed whatever chance Troy had to finally break the win column. B-Spa got the lead back up to 7 before Troy trimmed it to 4, losing, 50-46.

Edit, 7/13/23: Ballston Spa deleted the video. In its place is the school logo:

After a week off, the Troy road trip continues in one of the worst venues in the league for visiting teams, the Falcons' Nest at Albany High, next Friday, and then, it's on to Colonie and the Academy of Holy Names next Saturday, January 14, before returning home to play Schenectady and Guilderland.

Thursday's high school & college scoreboard, 1/5

Colleges:

Women's basketball:

Siena 61, Fairfield 46. The Lady Stags suffered their first league loss. Siena has won 3 in a row under acting coach Terry Primm.

Men's basketball:

UMBC 92, UAlbany 83.

High Schools:

Wrestling:

Colonial Council:

Cobleskill-Richmondville 54, Lansingburgh 10.

Ravena 54, Schalmont 21.

Men's volleyball:

Taconic Hills 3, Schuylerville 1.

Swimming:

Gloversville-Mayfield 88, Fonda-Fultonville-Johnstown 76.

Queensbury 87, Hudson Falls-South Glens Falls 70.

Wednesday:

Hudson 40, Taconic Hills 0.

Bowling:

Colonial Council:

Ravena 22, LaSalle 10.

Foothills Council:

Gloversville 4, Scotia-Glenville 0.

Patroon Conference:

Maple Hill 5, Taconic Hills 0.

Suburban Council:

Shenendehowa 25, Shaker 7.

Troy 25, Schenectady 7. Troy actually beat Albany on Tuesday. The Times-Union had the score reversed, and we've corrected our original listing. Olivia DeCitise led Troy Thursday with a 666 triple.

Burnt Hills 27, Colonie 5.

Columbia 19, Averill Park 13.

Guilderland 19 1/2, Albany 12 1/2.

CBA 22, Saratoga 10.

Men's basketball:

Colonial Council:

Lansingburgh 61, LaSalle 55. The Cadets have now dropped five in a row.

Wednesday:

Adirondack League:

Argyle 56, North Warren 53.

Fort Ann 46, Fort Edward 30.

Hadley-Luzerne 58, Whitehall 38.

Hartford 74, Salem 29.

Granville 78, Corinth 30.

Colonial Council:

Ravena 40, Cohoes 20.

Western Athletic Conference:

Fonda-Fultonville 66, OESJ 12.

Canajoharie 66, Middleburgh 60.

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 78, Fort Plain 41.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo 70, Mayfield 53.

Northville 41, Galway 32.

Non-league:

Loudonville Christian 50, Bolton 35.

Tamarac 85, Bethlehem 59.

Kingston 50, Shenendehowa 46.

Women's basketball:

Foothills Council:

Broadalbin-Perth 67, Gloversville 43.

Suburban Council:

Albany 62, Saratoga 48.

Wednesday:

Patroon Conference:

Taconic Hills 26, Chatham 19.

Wasaren League:

Saratoga Catholic 50, Berlin-New Lebanon 39.

Greenwich 81, Hoosick Falls 26.

Mechanicville 48, Stillwater 33.

Western Athletic Conference:

Mayfield 71, Berne-Knox-Westerlo 39.

Fonda-Fultonville 51, OESJ 31.

Duanesburg 71, Schoharie 19.

Northville 65, Galway 36.

Non-league:

Broadalbin-Perth 57, Watervliet 27.

Ballston Spa 71, Lansingburgh 23.

News & notes

 In the course of his managerial career, the late Billy Martin was hired & fired five different times by the Yankees' mercurial owner, George Steinbrenner.

More than a year after accepting a job with an expansion team in Oklahoma that ended up going belly-up, Derrick Rowland, "Mr. Patroon", is coming home to coach the Patroons for the 3rd time.

Also known as "Dr. D" for his defensive skills, Rowland returns to Albany to succeed his successor, Will Brown, who stepped down last month.

Training camp for the Patroons begins February 18, and the season begins Friday, March 3, at the Washington Avenue Armory vs. Lehigh Valley.

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UAlbany's women's basketball team sits atop the standings in the America East Conference at 3-0 after disposing of UMBC, 61-53, Wednesday at Hudson Valley Community College in front of just over 700 fans. Kayla Cooper led Albany with 25 points. Lilly Phillips (Cambridge) had just 3 points. Grace Heeps was held scoreless, and Abby Ray (Saratoga) didn't play. The Lady Danes visit UMass-Lowell Saturday before returning to Troy next Wednesday to host Bryant.

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Meanwhile, the College of St. Rose dropped a 78-41 decision to Bentley, and drew just 62 fans. The Lady Knights trailed, 41-14, at the break as they dropped to 3-4 in league play.

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Wednesday's high school scoreboard:

Hockey:

Adirondack 9, CBA 2. 1st year Brothers coach Adrien Melrose is off to a bad start at 2-5-1 overall, 2-3 in league play. Maybe papa Barry needs to stop in when he's got time off from ESPN to give these guys a pep talk.

Saratoga 7, Guilderville 1.

Swimming:

Albany 92, Ballston Spa 79.

Bethlehem 97, Niskayuna 83.

Saratoga 103, Guilderville 80.

Shenendehowa 91, Shaker 70.

Men's bowling:

Foothills Council:

Scotia-Glenville 3, Hudson Falls 1.

Women's bowling:

Colonial Council:

Mohonasen 22, Schalmont 10.

Suburban Council:

Schenectady 25, Bethlehem 7.

Averill Park 28 1/2, Saratoga 3 1/2.

Colonie & Shaker combined to rout Niskayuna, 29-3. Don't ask.

Wrestling:

Suburban Council:

Averill Park 48, Schenectady 24.

Men's basketball:

Tuesday:

Colonial Council:

Voorheesville 67, Mohonasen 54.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 52, Cohoes 50.

Catholic Central 72, LaSalle 59.

Patroon Conference:

Coxsackie-Athens 35, Cairo-Durham 34.

Maple Hill 73, Germantown 18.

Chatham 72, Taconic Hills 52.

Watervliet 75, Catskill 30. The Cannoneers led, 46-13, at halftime, and were never threatened.

Wasaren League:

Saratoga Catholic 60, Berlin-New Lebanon 43.

Hoosic Valley 93, Waterford 35.

Non-league:

Schuylerville 57, Ticonderoga 27.

Lansingburgh 73, Scotia-Glenville 48.
Averill Park 52, South Glens Falls 35.

CBA 47, Green Tech 42.

Women's basketball:

Suburban Council:

Bethlehem 81, Troy 38. Ellie Cerf led 4 Eagles in double figures with 25 points. Troy was within 1 after the 1st quarter at 16-15, but the Eagles blew them out of the gym, outscoring Troy, 65-23, the rest of the way. Sanalya Adams led Troy with 10 points.

Wasaren League:

Hoosic Valley 38, Waterford 35.

Western Athletic Conference:

Canajoharie 58, Middleburgh 28.

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons 56, Fort Plain 30.

Tuesday:

Adirondack League:

Hartford 45, Argyle 35.

Colonial Council:

Ichabod Crane 72, Ravena 31.

Mohonasen 55, Voorheesville 49.

Catholic Central 87, Academy of Holy Names 48.
Albany Academy 96, Lansingburgh 19. The Bears led, 69-10, at halftime.

Patroon Conference:

Maple Hill 85, Germantown 14. 

Greenville 48, Rensselaer 39.

Catskill 65, Watervliet 27. Janay Brantley led all scorers with 37 points for Catskill.

Non-league:

Schenectady 57, Mekeel Christian 39.

Saratoga 64, South Glens Falls 37.

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More Troy High: The women's non-league game at Holy Names, postponed on December 23, will be played January 14 at 2 pm. It now appears, per Aktivate, that the men's game at Kingston on January 21 is off. We'll try to confirm that.

Tuesday's high school scoreboard, 1/3

 Men's bowling:

Patroon Conference:

Taconic Hills 5, Catskill 0.

Suburban Council:

CBA 24 1/2, Ballston Spa 7 1/2.

Guilderland 20, Shenendehowa 12.

Shaker 19, Averill Park 13.

Columbia 26, Saratoga 6.

Colonie 27, Schenectady 5.

Troy 18, Albany 14. Anthony Mainello was top scorer for Troy with a 709 series. Cole Paulsen led the Falcons with a 603.

Burnt Hills 21, Bethlehem 11.

Wasaren League:

Hoosick Falls 5, Saratoga Catholic 0.

Monday:

Colonial Council:

LaSalle 17, Voorheesville 15. Zach Lombard led the way for the Cadets with a 704 triple.

Hockey:

Monday:

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake-Ballston Spa 7, LaSalle 3. Tommy Bleyl had a hat trick & 2 assists for the Spartan Scotties. Chase Rose had 2 goals for LaSalle.

Swimming:

Mohonasen-Schalmont 97, Ravena 65.

Men's basketball:

Adirondack League:

Warrensburg 58, Lake George 28.

Colonial Council:

Ichabod Crane 56, Ravena 48.

Suburban Council:

Niskayuna 67, Columbia 33.

Wasaren League:

Hoosick Falls 51, Greenwich 49.

Non-league:

Hudson Falls 62, Burnt Hills 52.

Heatly 54, Sharon Springs 51.

Women's basketball:

Adirondack League:

Corinth 65, Granville 28.

North Warren 47, Salem 20.

Whitehall 53, Hadley-Luzerne 36.

Warrensburg 37, Lake George 30.

Colonial Council:

Cobleskill-Richmondville 42, Cohoes 25.

Non-league: 

Burnt Hills 46, Queensbury 43 (OT).

It happened at The Joe (2017)

 Over two consecutive summers, the Tri-City Valleycats hosted pro wrestling at Joe Bruno Stadium. In July 2017, Northeast Wrestling presented "Wrestling Under The Stars", headlined by then-champion Cody Rhodes, who was also the Ring of Honor World titlist, defending the Northeast title vs. Jack Swagger (Jake Hager). Both men had left the WWE some time earlier, and Hager, under the name Jack Strong, would be the final champion of Lucha Underground as that series ended a year later.

This is also a rarity, as Jake's wife, Linda, accompanied him to ringside, only to be chased off by Cody's wife, Brandi, as you'll see. Hager & Rhodes would later surface in All Elite Wrestling, where Hager now wrestles under his birth name. Rhodes returned to WWE a year ago, and is expected to return at this year's Royal Rumble.

Right now, though, let's go back in time 5 1/2 years and let Jerry Strauss paint the word picture.

Linda Hager has stayed out of the spotlight, choosing not to follow her husband to AEW. 

News & notes

 Siena's men's basketball team won their 4th straight this afternoon, defeating Fairfield, 70-61. Michael Eley led three Saints in double figures. Javion McCollum, who was the hero on Friday, had just 7 points. Andrew Platek (Guilderland/North Carolina) was limited to 4 points.

Back in Loudonville, the women defeated Canisius, 72-62. Ahniysha Jackson (Albany) led 5 players in double figures with 17 points. Valencia Fontanelle-Posson (Guilderland) added 12. Fairfield's women's team comes to town Thursday for a Kids' Day matinee, with an 11 am tip.

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UAlbany's women's team destroyed New Hampshire this afternoon, 71-46. Kayla Cooper led Albany with 14 points. Helene Haegerstrand tallied her 1000th career point, and finished with 7. Lily Phillips (Cambridge) added 8. Grace Heeps (Columbia) had 3, and Abby Ray (Saratoga) didn't score in just 6 minutes of court time. The Lady Danes return to Hudson Valley Community College Wednesday night to play Maryland-Baltimore County.

On the other hand, the Wildcats defeated the UAlbany men, 67-51, at HVCC on Saturday, as Dwayne Killings' club continues to struggle. The Danes travel to Baltimore to play UMBC on Tuesday.

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Weekend high school scores:

Men's basketball:

Friday:

Foothills Council:

South Glens Falls 38, Scotia-Glenville 29.

Non-league:

Schuylerville 60, Greenwich 55.

Women's basketball:

Colonial Council:

Academy of Holy Names 70, Mohonasen 68.

Friday:

Mayfield 55, Northville 39.

Schoharie 50, Galway 32.

Greenwich 71, Schuylerville 43.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo 55, Ravena 36.

Wrestling:

Friday:

Adirondack 46, Hudson Falls 25.

Ballston Spa 45, Hudson Falls 18.

Central Valley 53, Hudson Falls 18.

Hudson Falls 35, Fonda-Fultonville 33
Averill Park 38, Hudson Falls 27.
Saranac 54, Hudson Falls 18.

Hudson Falls 30, Unatogo 30. Hudson Falls won on the tiebreaker.

Shoreham-Wading River 59, Hudson Falls 17.

Hockey:

Burnt Hills 4, Mt. Pleasant 3.