News & notes

 For the 4th time this season, Siena College's women's basketball team is on pause due to COVID-19, and their weekend series vs. Niagara has been cancelled. The Lady Saints are still planning on playing in the MAAC tournament next week.

Cross fingers & pray.

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Updating Wednesday's LaSalle-Mohawks game. Brendan Witte & Jagger Sessa had the goals for the Cadets (4-4), as they lost in overtime. Unfortunately, as per normal, scores are not appearing in the morning paper the next day due to space considerations.

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Wednesday's high school basketball scoreboard:

Suburban Council (men):

Schenectady 69, Shaker 56. We spoke too soon when we said Troy had clinched the Gray division. The Patriots are still 2 games out with 2 to play, but Troy holds the tiebreaker, having beaten the Patriots to start the season.

Troy 76, Ballston Spa 62. Alex Wolfe led Troy with 16 points. Marquis Hamby had 13, and Josh Rodriguez added 12.

Shenendehowa 56, Colonie 41.

Niskayuna 69, Albany 54.

Bethlehem 54, Averill Park 48.

Saratoga 51, Guilderland 42.

Suburban Council (women):

Shaker 66, Schenectady 32. 

Averill Park 74, Bethlehem 68.

Burnt Hills 40, Columbia 37.

Troy 53, Ballston Spa 27. Jenalyse Alarcon was the only one in double figures for Troy---again---with 17.

Shen 73, Colonie 27.

Saratoga 80, Guilderland 63. The Lady Streaks were happy to be back on the court. Natasha Chudy led all scorers with 36 points.

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The College of St. Rose ended its men's basketball season with a 78-73 win over American International. The Golden Knights (4-3) got contributions from former Section II stars Keegan Zoller (Ballston Spa), who had 13 points, and Shane O'Dell (Schalmont), who added 10.

Send these dogs to the kennel! (Ballston Spa vs. Troy, 3/3/21)

 It's safe to say that these Scotties were Ken'l Rationed.

Ballston Spa's basketball teams have not had a good season. Both the men & women are under .500 in the final week of the regular season (more on that shortly), and, to make things worse, the men had to host Suburban Council Gray division leader Troy, while the women came to Zotto Gym, hoping to catch the Lady Horses in a bad position after a blowout loss to Cambridge on Monday.

Sorry, but they're barking up the wrong trees.

Troy's women held Ballston Spa to nothing more than kibbles & bits through three quarters, as they built up a 42-13 lead. How bad was it? The Lady Scotties' quarter totals consisted of 6, 2, and 5 points leading into the fourth quarter. Then, they outscored Troy, 14-11, mostly against the second unit, but it wasn't nearly enough, as Troy rolled, 53-27. The Lady Horses (5-3 Suburban Council, 5-4 overall) will travel to Shaker on Friday, then close at home on Sunday vs. Bethlehem. The game's been moved for reasons known only to the two schools.

Over in Ballston Spa, Troy jumped out to a big lead at halftime as well, but coach Richard Hurley made a rare tactical error in the third quarter, pulling his starters about two minutes in to give the second unit some minutes. Problem is, the Scotties chewed the lead down to 9 after three quarters, prompting Hurley to bring the lead dogs back into the game to close the deal.

Troy clinches a tie for its 3rd Gray division title with a 76-62 win, moving to 8-2 on the season with two games to go.

Here's the video:

And the women's game:

The Suburban Council's tournament begins Monday, with both the men's & women's tournaments at Shenendehowa. The pairings will be announced, likely after Sunday's Troy-Bethlehem women's game.

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I don't want to think LaSalle's hockey team got a little too cocky after sweeping the Capital District Jets over the weekend, but sometimes, the Cadets do play down to the level of their competition. Case in point was today's matinee against the Mohawks, which went to overtime before the visitors won the game, just 40 seconds into the extra session, 4-3.

With a weekend series vs. CBA left on the schedule, the Cadets' chances of catching Bethlehem for the South division title just fizzled down to nothing.

News & notes

 Updating information from Monday:

UAlbany is currently initiating a nationwide coaching search to find a successor for Will Brown, who parted company with the school on Monday. Assistants Josh Pelletier and Jon Iati are among the candidates. Iati is currently listed as the interim coach even though the Great Danes' season ended on Sunday.

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The Albany Times-Union, in reporting on Monday's Averill Park-Shenendehowa women's basketball game, is noting that the Suburban Council will have a post-season tournament next week to make up for the lack of sectionals.

What that means for Troy High is that their women's home game vs. Saratoga, which was cancelled on Saturday due to COVID issues, will not be made up, and the Lady Horses will only see Albany and/or Guilderland in the tournament, depending on seedings, which will be announced next week.

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Monday's basketball scoreboard:

Suburban Council (men):

Troy 47, CBA 42: Josh Rodriguez led Troy with 16 points.

Schenectady 57, Colonie 55.

Shen 72, Averill Park 37.

Niskayuna 61, Ballston Spa 38.

Columbia 63, Bethlehem 54. The Blue Devils picked up their first win of the season, but are locked in the Gray division cellar.

Albany 71, Guilderland 59.

Troy leads the Gray division at 7-2, and should lock up a 3rd division title should they take care of business and beat Ballston Spa, Shaker, & Bethlehem. They have a 2 game lead on Schenectady with 3 to play.

Non-league (women):

Cambridge 57, Troy 33. Jenalyse Alarcon led all scorers with 18 points in a losing effort for Troy. Sophie Phillips led Cambridge with 16, with sister Lily and Schuyler Nolan adding 11 each.

Suburban Council (women):

Shen 63, Averill Park 34. With three games left, the Plainswomen have clinched the Blue division. Rylee Carpenter led Shen with 21 points. Meghan Huerter added 15.

Shaker 54, Burnt Hills 34.

Albany 84, Guilderland 71.

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Troy has released its volleyball schedule for the spring (Fall II) season.

Unfortunately, the Lady Horses will open the season with Shen on March 16 at home.

The schedule:

March 16: Shen.

March 18: @ Schenectady.

March 24: @ Colonie.

March 26: @ Guilderland.

March 30: Albany.

April 1: @ Ballston Spa.

April 5: Shaker.

April 7: @ Niskayuna.

April 9: @ Columbia.

April 13: Burnt Hills.

April 15: Bethlehem.

April 19: Senior Day vs. Averill Park.

April 23: @ Saratoga.

The school has not yet released its football schedule, with games set to start March 19, and a baseball/softball schedule has not yet been released as of press time.

Playing under the moon like brothers (CBA @ Troy, 3/1/21)

 Coming off a narrow loss to Saratoga on Saturday afternoon, Troy High welcomed old foe Christian Brothers Academy to Zotto Memorial Gym tonight, looking to get back on the winning track. The Brothers were also coming off a tight loss over the weekend, in their case, a three point heartbreaker to Niskayuna on Friday.

Troy came out firing right away, jumping to a 4-0 lead before suddenly going ice cold over a five minute stretch in the 1st quarter. However, Troy took the lead at the end of the frame, and led, 25-14, at halftime.

In the 3rd quarter, CBA used a 20-9 advantage to tie the game, and briefly led on two different occasions in the 2nd half, but couldn't hold the lead. Josh Rodriguez & Alex Wolfe hit some key baskets late, and Troy held on for a 47-42 win, sending the Brothers to their 3rd loss in their last 4 games. 

Enjoy the video:

Troy goes on the road to play Ballston Spa on Wednesday before coming home to play Shaker on Friday.

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After Saturday's home game vs. Saratoga was postponed due to COVID, Troy, on short notice, scheduled a road game for the women against Cambridge tonight. We've seen this happen at the college level with Siena and UAlbany this season, so this is not a surprise.

On paper, a Class A school should be able to beat a lower class school like Cambridge. However, recent history reminds us that this is not always the case, as we've seen Class B schools like Schalmont getting the better of Troy in both football and basketball.

Not only that, but, as we've already seen this season, Troy's women have not been able to adjust as well to the condensed schedule, with 4 games a week instead of 2, and have been blown out twice in as many weeks by Shenendehowa and Averill Park. In contrast, the boys have been able to adjust to the pro-style scheduling, hence a 7-2 record after tonight's win.

Keep in mind, too, that the Lady Indians just started their season within the last week or so, and thus have fresher legs. The same lack of focus and cohesion on both sides of the ball, as a result, proved costly to the Lady Horses, who dropped their second straight, 57-33. Troy was outscored, 13-4, in the fourth quarter, as an indicator of how badly the Lady Horses (4-4, 4-3 Suburban Council) played. Troy can't afford to continue in this direction when they have a winnable game against Ballston Spa up next on Friday:

Scope the video:

News & notes

 If you were hoping to see the Albany Patroons play basketball this spring, it's not going to happen.

The team announced over the weekend that they are opting out of the 2021 campaign. The Washington Avenue Armory seats as many as 3,000 people, well below the 10,000 seat capacity for arenas that are reopening elsewhere. In addition, the Armory is hosting mass vaccinations for COVID-19 for residents in Albany & Rensselaer counties, so that would've forced the Patroons to find an alternate site, and they already decided that, due to past history, the Times-Union Center is not an option.

During the Patroons' glory years, the team moved into the then-Knickerbocker Arena in 1990, but they couldn't attract more fans, and thus, the team ultimately moved out of town.

We'll see the Pats in 2022.

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The America East tournament is underway, and, for the 4th straight season, UAlbany's men's team can't get past the quarter-final round.

The men's team was eliminated by Hartford on Sunday. However, the women have advanced to the quarters, as their season continues. Both teams will finish the season below .500. Men's coach Will Brown's contract is up for renewal, and you have to believe school officials will consider the extenuating circumstances (i.e. COVID) in evaluating the Danes' performance under Brown this season. If Brown goes, don't be surprised if son Jackson (Catholic Central) transfers and follows his father out the door.

Update, 2:23 pm: Will Brown & UAlbany have agreed to part company after 20 seasons, per Rodger Wyland on his WTMM radio show. Whether or not Jackson Brown stays past this season depends on the freshman's plans after the season.

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While we're still waiting for confirmation on Saturday's women's game between Troy & Saratoga, Ryan Meikle's club will hit the road tonight for a non-league game outside their classification.

According to James Allen of the Albany Times-Union, Troy will pay a call on the Phillips twins, Lily & Sophie, and the Lady Indians of Cambridge. Game time is 7 pm. The Lady Horses will then return home to play Ballston Spa on Wednesday night.

Update, 2:07 pm.: Troy AD Paul Reinisch confirms the Troy-Saratoga women's game was postponed.

High school scoreboard, 2/27

 Men's basketball:

Saratoga 61, Troy 60. Chris Dufort led all scorers with 25 points for the Blue Streaks. Alex Wolfe led Troy with 17 points, and Josh Rodriguez added 15.

CBA 67, Schenectady 64.

Bethlehem 49, Niskayuna 45.

Shenendehowa 46, Albany 36.

Colonie 51, Averill Park 50.

Ballston Spa 63, Columbia 57.

Shaker 59, Guilderland 46. Stats for this game were not reported.

Also:

LaSalle suffered its first loss under Greg Davis, losing to Green Tech, 69-61. The Eagles, as recently as a couple of weeks ago, had been having problems finding opponents in this pandemic-ravaged season. As an independent, Green Tech had it the toughest. Looking at the game, it's easy to see why schools have been reluctant to schedule the Eagles. LaSalle falls to 4-1 with the loss.

Women's basketball:

Schalmont 58, Ichabod Crane 38. Payton Graber broke the school's career scoring record  for women, and finished with 22 points.

Also:

Guilderland 72, Shaker 64.

Averill Park 63, Colonie 52. Amelia Wood, after being shut down by Troy the night before, led with 22 points.

Shenendehowa 76, Albany 61. The Huerter sisters combined for 38 points (Meghan led all scorers with 24, Jillian added 14).

It appears the Saratoga-Troy game was either postponed or cancelled, the second game in 24 hours for the Blue Streaks to be called off. They were supposed to play Shaker on Friday, and that, too, was postponed. COVID, anyone? The games will likely be made up the week of March 8.

CDHSHL:

Bethlehem won't finish the season undefeated. CBA saw to that with a 2-1 win to split their series.

LaSalle picked up a game on Bethlehem in the standings by sweeping the Capital District Jets, 3-2. The game was moved to the Albany County Hockey Training Facility, which is home to CBA, virtually last minute due to problems with the ice at Frear Park.

David Clemenzi got the hosts on the board first with under 3 minutes left in the first period, but (Moves Like) Jagger Sessa tied the score less than 30 seconds later. After Shaun Branon put LaSalle in front, Cameron (Holy) See knotted the game for the Jets, but it was Nathan Harriman who put the game winner past Phil Ryan in the third period to win it for the Cadets (4-3 overall, 4-2 division). Assuming Frear Park's ice is repaired in time, the Cadets will return Wednesday to play the luckless Mohawks, and then will welcome CBA on Friday before returning to the Albany County Hockey Facility for the finale next Saturday morning.

Also, the CDHSHL has rescheduled their post-season Delvecchio Cup tournament. Instead of spending three days in Glens Falls, the league will revert to a more traditional model, as quarter-final games will start March 10, making it imperative that LaSalle run the table to have at least one home playoff game. According to the schedule on LaSalle's HomeTeamsOnline page, the quarters (& presumably, semi-finals) are set for March 10-11, with the finals in Glens Falls, as scheduled, on March 13.

You could blame it on the rain (Troy @ Saratoga, 2/27/21)

 They say the early bird catches the worm.

Normally, that wouldn't apply in high school sports, but if you're a Troy High fan, you have every reason to believe the Flying Horses were the worms this afternoon, caught by the birds in the form of the Blue Streaks of Saratoga.

Less than 24 hours after dispatching Averill Park, Rich Hurley's Flying Horses arrived at Saratoga, expecting the game to start as scheduled at 12:45 pm. However, due to a weather forecast calling for sleet & freezing rain later this afternoon, the starting times for both the junior varsity & varsity games were moved up. The JV game, advertised for 11 am, tipped off at 10:30 am instead. Thus, the varsity game started at high noon. The Horses never led, and every time they came close, Saratoga's defense shut them down.

It wasn't helping, either, that the officials were calling a lot of ticky-tack fouls on Troy, and the disparity in the first half, with Saratoga whistled for just 1 foul, was offensive in and of itself. The game was called a little more evenly in the second half, which gave Troy a chance to mount a comeback, but a last second shot rimmed out, and the Blue Streaks escaped with a 61-60 victory, snapping Troy's four game winning streak.

There is just no way Troy was looking past the Streaks, and ahead to old nemesis CBA, which comes to Zotto Memorial Gym on Monday night.

Edit, 12/3/21: Saratoga has privatized the video.

Last week, Columbia's YouTube stream never started during the boys' varsity game in East Greenbush. Today, it's Troy's turn to have their stream unavailable. We'll have the result of the women's game tomorrow.

The remaining schedule for the Troy men (6-2):

Monday: CBA.

Wednesday: @ Ballston Spa.

Friday: Shaker.

Next Saturday: @ Bethlehem.

Games vs. Albany & Guilderland will likely be scheduled this week.