News & notes

 Hoosick Falls & Lansingburgh have both chosen to opt-out of winter high risk sports, erring on the side of caution. Both schools, we assume, are saving their sports resources for baseball, which will start in the spring.

Considering that 'Burgh won the 2019 Uncle Sam Holiday Classic at Troy High, a non-conference slate would've opened the door for a rematch between Troy and Lansingburgh, but it is not to be. Not now, anyway.

Averill Park has begun practice, with their first games a week away, set for February 12-13, with opponents to be named. The Warriors got press coverage from WNYT and the Albany Times-Union, which interviewed some of the players on the boys team.

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Speaking of Troy, coach Rich Hurley's return to the sidelines is tenatively set for February 12 vs. Schenectady at home at Zotto Gym. The Flying Horses are scheduled to visit Niskayuna on February 16. In between, the junior varsity men & women will host Columbia on February 13, per Schedule Galaxy. Athletic Director Paul Reinisch confirmed via e-mail earlier today that no spectators will be admitted for games this season.

Seems the plan for most teams is to schedule as little as 10 games for a truncated season with no sectionals.

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With just 6 players dressed and available, Siena's women's basketball team took Monmouth down to the wire before falling, 61-60, Wednesday night. Iris Young led the Lady Saints with 28 points.

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Troy's bowling team beat CBA, 5-0, on Monday. Colin Shepard led Troy with a 258 high game, and a 667 triple. Wednesday's match vs. Colonie has not been reported, and the Times-Union is experiencing some delays with match results, since the Troy-CBA result should've been in Tuesday's editions. The result of Wednesday's match may not see print until tomorrow at the earliest.

Troy-CBA's swim meet vs. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake on Tuesday was cancelled outright due to the storm. The two teams will meet in Burnt Hills on February 16, with the league championships set to take place 10 days later.

News & notes

 Siena's women's basketball team was supposed to play Canisius tomorrow night, but that game was once again postponed. Instead, the Lady Saints will host Monmouth on short notice.

Problem is, coach Ali Jacques will only have six players available for the game. Considering that most college teams will rotate as many as 6-9 or 10 players per game, this is not an issue. Fatigue, however, might be.

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They will play basketball next week. The only difference is, it's not traditional league play for high schools.

For example, Amsterdam, which plays in the Foothills Council, will open their season with Fort Plain next Wednesday night, in boys basketball. The women will be at the opposite site.

Montgomery County officials have stated that there will be no fans in the bleachers for the games, and that schools in the county will live-stream the games for parents and fans. With a short season amounting to a five week regular season, it's perhaps for the best.

What isn't known is what Rensselaer County schools, such as Catholic Central, LaSalle, and Troy High will do. Averill Park, however, is delaying the start of their basketball season, erring on the side of caution. Not sure about Columbia.

Assuming Rensselaer County uses the same guideline to have the games kept within county limits, this opens the door for Troy High and Emma Willard, who have met in women's sectionals the last two seasons, with Troy winning both meetings, to finally play a regular season game. Troy would also get to play Tamarac in a regular season game for the first time, as would the boys at the other schools.

In other words, pilgrims, the counties are serving as bubbles for the moment, and we saw how that worked pretty well for the NBA, NHL, and Major League Baseball last year.

Now, if only Troy High can get some emergency cheddar to live-stream their games.....!

News & notes

 Siena's women's basketball team was given an unexpected vacation---again----as their road trip to Quinnipiac was postponed for the 2nd time. Coupled with the previous announcement that Wednesday's game at Niagara was also postponed, the Lady Saints won't get back on the court until next weekend.

Meanwhile, the Siena men split their series with Marist, as they rebounded to beat the Red Foxes, 63-50, earlier today. CBA alum Jordan King has cooled off after a recent hot streak. King was held to 14 points in the two game series. 8 yesterday, and 6 today.

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While it isn't official yet, don't expect Troy High to have their home bowling match vs. CBA tomorrow due to an incoming snowstorm, which is currently blanketing New York City. A winter storm warning is in effect from 7 am to 7 pm tomorrow. with at least 6-10 inches expected.

An official announcement regarding classes, should be made public in the next few hours.

Update, 2/1/21, 4:17 pm.: The storm hasn't landed, and the match is on. We're hoping to get the results on Tuesday.

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UAlbany's women split their series with UMass-Lowell this weekend as well. Their winning streak was snapped at three this afternoon as the Lady River Hawks salvaged a split of the two game series. Local product Grace Heeps scored her only three points of the series late in the fourth quarter Saturday, and was held scoreless today.

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.......!