There's one thing I'll always be willing to admit to you: I don't know everything. I'm always trying to learn, no matter what it is. I was able to spend a lot of time in different places this weekend. Caught high school boys soccer, JuCo men's & women's hoops, along with Division II men's hoops. Didn't go to Cortland for girls soccer, but kept a close eye on it. I've learned over this weekend - or at least have been reminded of some things previously learned. Let me reflect:
1.) Downstate runs soccer. I mean, shoutout to WNY squads Greece Athena and International Prep in boys soccer and Arkport girls soccer taking home state titles, but it was all downstate heaven besides that. Section I took the individual award with 3 state champs - all girls soccer, with Somers, Bronxville, and Haldane winning in Classes A through C. Section IX took home a boys title - Rhinebeck rode one of the greatest soccer moments I've ever seen personally straight to a state championship in Class C. Long Island took home 3 titles as well, with Section XI's Commack and Mattituck winning boys titles in AA and B, and Massapequa taking the girls AA title out of Section VIII. Mind you, those downstate sections sometimes don't even have Class D schools. Out of the 4 sections, only one had a girls entry in D and 2 represented in the boys bracket. All Section 2 & 3 teams except for Schoharie, Poland, and Bolton took their losses from a downstate school. Whatever they do in the tri-state area, the rest of NY better get on that downstate diet!
2.) Don't kick the ball away after committing a foul to burn more time. Lansing learned that in the hardest of ways on Saturday. They broke a scoreless tie with 1:30 remaining in the Class C boys semifinals, and on Rhinebeck's last charge, an attacker was making a run up the right side towards the flag. A Lansing defender took him down and was called for a foul. Just a foul, nothing more... until he kicked the ball to the fence after the whistle was blown to try and let more time run down. The ref wasn't having it. Play was blown dead and the defender was given a yellow card with 11.8 showing, stopping the clock and letting Rhinebeck bring all numbers forward - even the goalie - for one last set piece. The free kick was served into the 6 yard box and headed home with 8.5 seconds left, sending the game into OT. In the 8th minute of OT, a beautiful Rhinebeck strike won the game. Rhinebeck went on to win the state title, but it would've been Lansing there if the kid just left the ball alone. Rhinebeck didn't really have any numbers up when the foul was called, and there was under 15 seconds left anyway. Even if the kid got up and took the kick, it would've been down to a few short seconds remaining on the kick and Rhinebeck would've had half the numbers up that they ended up having. Leave the ball alone, and Lansing is most likely playing World of Inquiry instead of Rhinebeck.
3.) The only place 'Section 3' football is better than 'Section 4' football is the Cortaca Jug. Ok, maybe a little harsh. At least Section 3 took a couple games this year, instead of the 0-5 from 2013. Henninger's win was very convincing - they're legit. Indian River, a team that housed everyone they played in Section III this year, even the AAs, won (just) 19-0 against a Union-Endicott team that was 3-6 coming in. It speaks to the strength of Section IV when a 3-6 team is going to give a team regarded as one of the top 3 or 4 in Section III, regardless of class, the best game they've had all year. That's where the luck ended for CNY. Homer ran through everyone with offense all year - Maine-Endwell held them to 10. Notre Dame's offensive was also explosive - held to 14 while being grounded & pounded to nearly 60 points. Tioga played hard for one half in their win over Dolgeville, which is the same result they've had since 2011. All I ever hear in Section III is how football is king, football this, football that. Well, my advice to you: might want to spend a week down in Section IV to see what you guys are missing, because the southern tier has been flexing on you for a while now.
4.) Don't sleep on Division II hoops. If you have a Division II school in your area, make it a point to watch some of their basketball games. If you like good hoops, it's fun. Talented guys who can all score, but also work hard and play defense. They take pride in what they do and really want to win. The difference between a JuCo with scholarship-level talent (Herkimer) and Division II schools is the effort. The best players on Herkimer's team and other JuCos can play D2 ball, but every guy on the 4 teams I watched Sunday worked harder than every guy I watched in the NJCAA so far. It's refreshing to watch guys sacrifice their bodies, play tough pressure defense up top, bodies banging down low, no easy layups, crisp sets on offense, unselfish fast breaks. If you love hoops, check out a Division II game. All the fun at half the cost of D1!
5.) At least Section II can hang its hat on football this year. 5 section champions, 5 advance to the state semifinals. Ok, ok. All of them except Shen practically got a bye since they were playing the north country. Section VII & X playing Section II might be worse than III playing IV. I know. But still, Shenendehowa, Queensbury, Schalmont, Hoosick Falls, and Cambridge/Salem still play at Dietz Stadium next weekend with the chance to advance to the Carrier Dome. Good for them. Hell, I might even want to go to the Dome if Shen/Henninger happens...
Monday, November 17, 2014
Knights Avoid Disaster, Eke Out a Home W
St. Rose 76, Bloomfield 73
Once you get to scholarship-level hoops, everyone can play. No lead is safe. The College of Saint Rose and their loads of freshmen got shown that today, squandering just about all of a 16 point lead in the final 10 minutes. However, they were able to step up and make just enough plays, and an untimely missed free throw from a Bloomfield team that was nearly perfect from the stripe helped the Golden Knights move to 2-0.
Both teams were in their 2nd game of a back-to-back, with St. Rose on the winning end and Bloomfield on the losing end of close games Saturday night. They both came out with the baskets as big as the State Capitol building, combining to hit 7 of their first 8 shots along with each sinking a pair of free throws. Jalaun Taylor had 8 in the first 3:33 for the home Golden Knights (wearing away jerseys) to push them up 14-7. Bloomfield got hot from beyond the arc to get a run going themselves - 2 Clarence White treys followed by a pair of left elbow 3s from Claude Blue all came in 2:37 of action, and were the first 12 of a 16-2 run that game Bloomfield its largest lead at 23-16. St. Rose responded with an 11-0 run of their own - 5 from Jack Jones and another 4 from Taylor - to give them a lead that Bloomfield would never get back. Treys from Jones and Julian Lipinski speared another 10-0 run to give St. Rose their first double-digit lead late in the half, and after Bloomfield cut it to 6, a Sam Eckstrom 3 point play and another trey from the 6'9" Jones pushed St. Rose up to their largest 1st half lead of 12 going into the locker room. Both teams were en fuego from deep, combining to shoot just under 50%. Bloomfield hit 6, St. Rose hit 7. Bloomfield's problem: they shot 46% from beyond the arc, 21% inside of it. Don't see that every day.
Back-to-back buckets by Max Weaver - one of only 5 non-freshmen on the St. Rose roster - put them up 50-34 to start the 2nd half. This matched the largest lead of the game, with the Golden Knights hitting it twice more. A Jones 3 point play made it 55-39 inside the 17 minute mark, and after Bloomfield quickly knocked the deficit down to 9, a quick 9-2 run in response ending with a Sam Eckstrom layup made it 66-50 in favor of St. Rose with 10:06 left. That's when the freshman-heavy home team learned that no lead is safe. The colors got Bloomfield right back into it - Blue & White combined for 12 straight, including 7/7 from the free throw line. A Marvin Williams basket finished off Bloomfield's 14-0 run to get all the way back to a 2 point game at 66-64 with 6:17 left. A Weaver floater ended a 4:10 scoreless stretch for St. Rose to end the run. A Maksis Uskans finish brought St. Rose back up 6 at 72-66 with 3:46 left, but 4 Williams free throws cut it back to 2. Jalaun Taylor responded with his only points of the half, a mid-range J that bounced home to make it 74-70. Bloomfield responded by getting to the line once again - Williams hit 2 more free throws with 51 seconds left. After a St. Rose turnover, Bloomfield got it back with 22 seconds left and a chance to tie. Claude Blue got the ball inside and was fouled going up with 3.1 seconds remaining - his 1st free throw bounced off to prevent the tie. Only Bloomfield's 3rd miss of the night, but a huge one. He made the second to cut it to 74-73, and they were forced to foul Jack Jones on the ensuing inbound pass. Jones buried both free throws, and a desperation half-court heave by Williams knocked off the backboard at the buzzer. St. Rose was led by freshman Jones, who finished with 18. Jalaun Taylor added 16, and Max Weaver chipped in 15 to move to 2-0. Bloomfield dropped to 0-2 in a pair of close losses. They were led by Claude Blue, the game's high scorer with 20. The starting backcourt added 33, with Clarence White scoring 17 and Marvin Williams adding 16.
The Stat Gun
75% of St. Rose's scorers tonight were freshman. They accounted for 54 of the Golden Knights' 76 points. Bloomfield only had 8 of their 73 from the fresh blood... It was a shootout at the OK Corral from deep in the 1st half. The teams combined for 17 made treys, 13 of them coming in the 1st half. They shot just under 50% in the 1st half, but only 20% in the 2nd... Bloomfield's offense was 3s and free throws. They hit 9 treys and went 24/27 at the line, only 11 field goals from inside the 3 point line on the night... I won't say the dude's name to protect the innocent, but Claude Blue put someone in the trunk in the 2nd half. Hammer time, and 1. The same guy went up a few minutes later for a block against him, and I swear his life flashed before his eyes for a second before giving up another 3 point play opportunity.
Bloomfield: Marvin Williams 4-6-16, Clarence White 4-6-17, Ignacio Diez 1-2, Matt Hall 4-2-12, Claude Blue 5-8-20, Nick Davidson 2-2-6. Totals 20-24-73.
St. Rose: Jamaal Greenwood 1-2, Max Weaver 5-4-15, Jalaun Taylor 6-2-16, Chris Dorgler 3-7, Jack Jones 6-3-18, Julian Lipinski 2-2-7, Sam Eckstrom 3-1-7, Maksis Uskans 2-4. Totals 28-12-76.
3-Point Field Goals: Bloomfield 9 (White 3, Williams 2, Hall 2, Blue 2), St. Rose 8 (Jones 3, Taylor 2, Weaver, Dorgler, Lipinski). Free Throws: Bloomfield 24/27 (Williams 6/6, White 6/7, Hall 2/2, Blue 8/10, Davidson 2/2), St. Rose 12/13 (Weaver 4/4, Taylor 2/3, Jones 3/3, Lipinski 2/2, Eckstrom 1/1).
Once you get to scholarship-level hoops, everyone can play. No lead is safe. The College of Saint Rose and their loads of freshmen got shown that today, squandering just about all of a 16 point lead in the final 10 minutes. However, they were able to step up and make just enough plays, and an untimely missed free throw from a Bloomfield team that was nearly perfect from the stripe helped the Golden Knights move to 2-0.
Both teams were in their 2nd game of a back-to-back, with St. Rose on the winning end and Bloomfield on the losing end of close games Saturday night. They both came out with the baskets as big as the State Capitol building, combining to hit 7 of their first 8 shots along with each sinking a pair of free throws. Jalaun Taylor had 8 in the first 3:33 for the home Golden Knights (wearing away jerseys) to push them up 14-7. Bloomfield got hot from beyond the arc to get a run going themselves - 2 Clarence White treys followed by a pair of left elbow 3s from Claude Blue all came in 2:37 of action, and were the first 12 of a 16-2 run that game Bloomfield its largest lead at 23-16. St. Rose responded with an 11-0 run of their own - 5 from Jack Jones and another 4 from Taylor - to give them a lead that Bloomfield would never get back. Treys from Jones and Julian Lipinski speared another 10-0 run to give St. Rose their first double-digit lead late in the half, and after Bloomfield cut it to 6, a Sam Eckstrom 3 point play and another trey from the 6'9" Jones pushed St. Rose up to their largest 1st half lead of 12 going into the locker room. Both teams were en fuego from deep, combining to shoot just under 50%. Bloomfield hit 6, St. Rose hit 7. Bloomfield's problem: they shot 46% from beyond the arc, 21% inside of it. Don't see that every day.
Back-to-back buckets by Max Weaver - one of only 5 non-freshmen on the St. Rose roster - put them up 50-34 to start the 2nd half. This matched the largest lead of the game, with the Golden Knights hitting it twice more. A Jones 3 point play made it 55-39 inside the 17 minute mark, and after Bloomfield quickly knocked the deficit down to 9, a quick 9-2 run in response ending with a Sam Eckstrom layup made it 66-50 in favor of St. Rose with 10:06 left. That's when the freshman-heavy home team learned that no lead is safe. The colors got Bloomfield right back into it - Blue & White combined for 12 straight, including 7/7 from the free throw line. A Marvin Williams basket finished off Bloomfield's 14-0 run to get all the way back to a 2 point game at 66-64 with 6:17 left. A Weaver floater ended a 4:10 scoreless stretch for St. Rose to end the run. A Maksis Uskans finish brought St. Rose back up 6 at 72-66 with 3:46 left, but 4 Williams free throws cut it back to 2. Jalaun Taylor responded with his only points of the half, a mid-range J that bounced home to make it 74-70. Bloomfield responded by getting to the line once again - Williams hit 2 more free throws with 51 seconds left. After a St. Rose turnover, Bloomfield got it back with 22 seconds left and a chance to tie. Claude Blue got the ball inside and was fouled going up with 3.1 seconds remaining - his 1st free throw bounced off to prevent the tie. Only Bloomfield's 3rd miss of the night, but a huge one. He made the second to cut it to 74-73, and they were forced to foul Jack Jones on the ensuing inbound pass. Jones buried both free throws, and a desperation half-court heave by Williams knocked off the backboard at the buzzer. St. Rose was led by freshman Jones, who finished with 18. Jalaun Taylor added 16, and Max Weaver chipped in 15 to move to 2-0. Bloomfield dropped to 0-2 in a pair of close losses. They were led by Claude Blue, the game's high scorer with 20. The starting backcourt added 33, with Clarence White scoring 17 and Marvin Williams adding 16.
The Stat Gun
75% of St. Rose's scorers tonight were freshman. They accounted for 54 of the Golden Knights' 76 points. Bloomfield only had 8 of their 73 from the fresh blood... It was a shootout at the OK Corral from deep in the 1st half. The teams combined for 17 made treys, 13 of them coming in the 1st half. They shot just under 50% in the 1st half, but only 20% in the 2nd... Bloomfield's offense was 3s and free throws. They hit 9 treys and went 24/27 at the line, only 11 field goals from inside the 3 point line on the night... I won't say the dude's name to protect the innocent, but Claude Blue put someone in the trunk in the 2nd half. Hammer time, and 1. The same guy went up a few minutes later for a block against him, and I swear his life flashed before his eyes for a second before giving up another 3 point play opportunity.
Bloomfield: Marvin Williams 4-6-16, Clarence White 4-6-17, Ignacio Diez 1-2, Matt Hall 4-2-12, Claude Blue 5-8-20, Nick Davidson 2-2-6. Totals 20-24-73.
St. Rose: Jamaal Greenwood 1-2, Max Weaver 5-4-15, Jalaun Taylor 6-2-16, Chris Dorgler 3-7, Jack Jones 6-3-18, Julian Lipinski 2-2-7, Sam Eckstrom 3-1-7, Maksis Uskans 2-4. Totals 28-12-76.
3-Point Field Goals: Bloomfield 9 (White 3, Williams 2, Hall 2, Blue 2), St. Rose 8 (Jones 3, Taylor 2, Weaver, Dorgler, Lipinski). Free Throws: Bloomfield 24/27 (Williams 6/6, White 6/7, Hall 2/2, Blue 8/10, Davidson 2/2), St. Rose 12/13 (Weaver 4/4, Taylor 2/3, Jones 3/3, Lipinski 2/2, Eckstrom 1/1).
Sunday, November 16, 2014
A Win is a Win: Generals Hold Off Late Rally
Herkimer College 78, Hudson Valley 63
If you asked Herkimer players or coach Matt Lee after the game, I'm sure there are plenty of things they weren't too pleased about. They had multiple opportunities to break it open, but didn't pull away for good until the last moments. But when all is said and done, the visiting Generals led wire to wire and gave Hudson Valley's Vikings their first loss of the season on their home court.
They say in basketball, it's best not to overthink. Do what you do best, and feed the hot hand. The Generals did that in the 1st half. Their press caused fits early, with HV burning a pair of timeouts in the first 3+ minutes. On the offensive end, it was Jamell Johnson's world and everyone else was just living in it. He scored 7 straight to give them an early 8-2 lead, and it kept on coming. The sophomore Finney product had 19 of Herkimer's 35 points in the half - when their offense stalled (often), it got bailed out numerous times by a Johnson finish. His bucket following back-to-back 3 point plays by Mohawk grads Kainan McCarthy and Carson Murphy gave the Generals their largest 1st half lead of 12. Much like the rest of the game though, the undefeated Vikings wouldn't go away. They scrapped throughout, and with 5 straight to close the 1st half, it was a manageable 35-28 margin.
The Vikings came out strong early in the 2nd half, with 3s by Codi Gorman and Imre Megyeri along with a Brendan Archer bucket cutting the deficit to 3. Herkimer then stretched their lead again, going on a 10-0 run over 2:46 of action to extend it to 13. The run extended to 14-2 with Pat Dorrian & Julio Galay finishes - which along with Dantre Langhorne's prior to that was 3 straight 3 point play opportunities with missed free throws - to push the lead to 53-38. The lead got to 16 with 8:47 remaining on an and 1 from Dan Owens (playing in his home area, a CBA graduate) before HV made one last push. The Vikings sustained a 13-3 run over 4 minutes of game time to work it back to a 6 point game. An Elijah Newsome bucket started it, and he had 8 of the 13 in that run. The run also saw the ejection of Herkimer PG Julio Galay, whistled for a flagrant 2 (yes, that's in more than just the NBA) foul on HV's Nhoel Deverson. The run was answered by Murphy, who reeled off 2 free throws, a breakaway dunk, and a floating finish in the matter of 59 seconds with just a pair of Newsome free throws in response from HV. In all, Herkimer went on an 11-2 run in a 3 minute stretch late capped by an alley-oop hammer from Kenny Woodard on a sideline out of bounds play to give them their largest lead of 17. Jamell Johnson had 20 to lead Herkimer. Carson Murphy (13) and Dan Owens (11) also had double digits for the Generals. Elijah Newsome had a big 2nd half and finished with 21 for HVCC, and Brendan Archer contributed an active 11.
Herkimer: Julio Galay 3-1-7, Carson Murphy 5-3-13, Jamell Johnson 8-1-20, Dan Owens 4-2-11, Jallah Tarver 1-2, Kenny Woodard 4-1-9, Dantre Langhorne 4-8, Pat Dorrian 1-3-5, Kainan McCarthy 1-1-3. Totals 31-12-78.
Hudson Valley: Elijah Newsome 8-3-21, Codi Gorman 1-3, Nhoel Deverson 2-2-7, Tyler Dahlin 3-2-8, Valdon Baptiste 1-2-4, Brendan Archer 4-3-11, Imre Megyeri 1-3, Garrett Pitcher 1-2, Blake Mosley 2-4. Totals 23-12-63.
Three-Point Field Goals: Herkimer 4 (Johnson 3, Owens); Hudson Valley 5 (Newsome 2, Gorman, Deverson, Megyeri). Free Throws: Herkimer 12/19 (Galay 1/3, Murphy 3/3, Johnson 1/2, Owens 2/2, Woodard 1/2, Langhorne 0/1, Dorrian 3/5, McCarthy 1/1); Hudson Valley 12/22 (Newsome 3/4, Deverson 2/2, Dahlin 2/5, Baptiste 2/2, Archer 3/9).
If you asked Herkimer players or coach Matt Lee after the game, I'm sure there are plenty of things they weren't too pleased about. They had multiple opportunities to break it open, but didn't pull away for good until the last moments. But when all is said and done, the visiting Generals led wire to wire and gave Hudson Valley's Vikings their first loss of the season on their home court.
They say in basketball, it's best not to overthink. Do what you do best, and feed the hot hand. The Generals did that in the 1st half. Their press caused fits early, with HV burning a pair of timeouts in the first 3+ minutes. On the offensive end, it was Jamell Johnson's world and everyone else was just living in it. He scored 7 straight to give them an early 8-2 lead, and it kept on coming. The sophomore Finney product had 19 of Herkimer's 35 points in the half - when their offense stalled (often), it got bailed out numerous times by a Johnson finish. His bucket following back-to-back 3 point plays by Mohawk grads Kainan McCarthy and Carson Murphy gave the Generals their largest 1st half lead of 12. Much like the rest of the game though, the undefeated Vikings wouldn't go away. They scrapped throughout, and with 5 straight to close the 1st half, it was a manageable 35-28 margin.
The Vikings came out strong early in the 2nd half, with 3s by Codi Gorman and Imre Megyeri along with a Brendan Archer bucket cutting the deficit to 3. Herkimer then stretched their lead again, going on a 10-0 run over 2:46 of action to extend it to 13. The run extended to 14-2 with Pat Dorrian & Julio Galay finishes - which along with Dantre Langhorne's prior to that was 3 straight 3 point play opportunities with missed free throws - to push the lead to 53-38. The lead got to 16 with 8:47 remaining on an and 1 from Dan Owens (playing in his home area, a CBA graduate) before HV made one last push. The Vikings sustained a 13-3 run over 4 minutes of game time to work it back to a 6 point game. An Elijah Newsome bucket started it, and he had 8 of the 13 in that run. The run also saw the ejection of Herkimer PG Julio Galay, whistled for a flagrant 2 (yes, that's in more than just the NBA) foul on HV's Nhoel Deverson. The run was answered by Murphy, who reeled off 2 free throws, a breakaway dunk, and a floating finish in the matter of 59 seconds with just a pair of Newsome free throws in response from HV. In all, Herkimer went on an 11-2 run in a 3 minute stretch late capped by an alley-oop hammer from Kenny Woodard on a sideline out of bounds play to give them their largest lead of 17. Jamell Johnson had 20 to lead Herkimer. Carson Murphy (13) and Dan Owens (11) also had double digits for the Generals. Elijah Newsome had a big 2nd half and finished with 21 for HVCC, and Brendan Archer contributed an active 11.
Herkimer: Julio Galay 3-1-7, Carson Murphy 5-3-13, Jamell Johnson 8-1-20, Dan Owens 4-2-11, Jallah Tarver 1-2, Kenny Woodard 4-1-9, Dantre Langhorne 4-8, Pat Dorrian 1-3-5, Kainan McCarthy 1-1-3. Totals 31-12-78.
Hudson Valley: Elijah Newsome 8-3-21, Codi Gorman 1-3, Nhoel Deverson 2-2-7, Tyler Dahlin 3-2-8, Valdon Baptiste 1-2-4, Brendan Archer 4-3-11, Imre Megyeri 1-3, Garrett Pitcher 1-2, Blake Mosley 2-4. Totals 23-12-63.
Three-Point Field Goals: Herkimer 4 (Johnson 3, Owens); Hudson Valley 5 (Newsome 2, Gorman, Deverson, Megyeri). Free Throws: Herkimer 12/19 (Galay 1/3, Murphy 3/3, Johnson 1/2, Owens 2/2, Woodard 1/2, Langhorne 0/1, Dorrian 3/5, McCarthy 1/1); Hudson Valley 12/22 (Newsome 3/4, Deverson 2/2, Dahlin 2/5, Baptiste 2/2, Archer 3/9).
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Most Valuable Thoughts: Section III Boys Hoops
Time for me to ramble.
Class AA
It'll be very interesting to see how AA plays out over the course of the year. Defending champ Proctor will be right back in the thick of things, with Tyvon Reed leading the way. The 6'2" freak athlete tweener was an all-state honorable mention in AA last year. Daquan Testamark, among others, will also be back, along with a very talented sophomore in Jalen Hawkins. He'll be brought up to the varsity and expect to start at point guard, taking over where J'Von Evans (now at Utica College) left off. We shall see what they do without J'Von and Ziggy Tracey (now at prep school). They do have competition. Last year's Henninger team was the worst they've had in a while, but they were young. Marquane Silvers graduated and is playing at Cazenovia, but that was their only real loss. They still have 7th team all-stater Romero Collier running the point, with athletes Terrence Walker & Destin Blunt ready to make sizable contributions. Maybe Shaitique Blatche is back after the issue last year? Not sure. Bishop Ludden will also be interesting - the Gaelic Knights moved up to AA after their recent success in Class A. They graduated a pair of 1,000 point scorers in Dan Kaigler (Division II Gannon) and Ben Hackett (Genesee CC), but still have 2 of the best bigs in the section in Zach Walser & Jack Rauch. I've been told they have a couple talented young freshman transfers in to help at the guard spot they so desperately need to be successful in AA, so we'll see how they progress. If you ask me, the most interesting team right now is Baldwinsville. They had a nice crew of juniors last year running the show, with Ben DiOrio and Cameron Skipworth in the backcourt and Devyn McLeod manning the blocks. They had a close battle with Union-Endicott in the season, who finished the season #11 in the state in AA. Look out for the Bees - they might be buzzing on the radar real quick! Who else will make an impact? C-NS lost a lot from last year's team that made it to the sectional final, but they still have all-stater Connor Evans. They were an underdog in the semis that beat F-M, who lost John Schurman (Binghamton) among others, but still have their all-state point guard Jake Wittig (if he's healthy). Nottingham has a year older & more mature Malik Zachery at the point with freshly Canisius-offered 6'7" Nathan Knight down low. I'll toss it up. Anyone's game.
Class A
With Ludden out of the picture, it looked like J-D's to lose for a minute. However, one private school leaves and another enters. Notre Dame gave Westhill their toughest game last year, a 3 point decision in the sectional finals. The Jugglers are now Class A's problem, and they're all back. Kevin Warmack leads the way, a 4th team all-state selection last year in Class B. The floor general still has the enforcer Joe Sullivan down low and firepower at the wing with Jerome Brabham, along with returning starters Alex Rushton & Cal Schaaf. J-D graduated Jafar Kinsey (Robert Morris), but they still have Dom DeRegis and Evan Dourdas. Put some pieces around those 2 (Isaiah Williams and the athletic big whose name I'm forgetting), and they'll be just fine for another battle for the title. Look out for Carthage up north, too. Walter Jeter is gone, but that means it's time for Peyton McLaurin to take over. I thought he was a little too reluctant to do that last year, but now he has to - and they were better when he took over games. Who else will challenge? Exactly how far can TJ Borza, Luke Moore, and Emmett Cavanaugh take Whitesboro? A little birdie in the sky told me Fulton will be tough. McLaurin is the only returning player who was an all-state selection in Class A last year - a lot of room for new heads to step up!
Class B
Ok, Notre Dame is out. Anyone want to step up and try to tangle with Westhill? You? You? Anyone? Didn't think so. There's 3 returning all-state players in Class B and 1 more that was an honorable mention selection. They're all Westhill kids. Oh boy. Jordan Roland, fresh off signing his NLI for George Washington, is the returning Class B state POY, and it's way more than just him. Fellow Division I prospect Tyler Reynolds was 2nd team all-state last year, and that might be selling him short. Jeff Lobello runs the show at point guard - the heady floor general was 1 of 2 players in Class B that got the all-state nod while scoring less than 10 points per game. Mr. OC is also back down low - Dan O'Connell was an honorable mention selection, and even Brian 'Tha Term' Daily and his 'I had so much espresso before I came here' energy on the court is back. Some of the best would-be returning players besides them in Class B are now gone - Bobby Leslie (Skaneateles) and Ross Gerber (Cazenovia) both went the prep route. Institute of Tech and Syracuse Academy of Science are always interesting, but it's really tough to see anyone messing with Westhill.
Class C
The defending champs are primed to make a repeat run. Waterville lost Jon Piersma and Tyler Lemery, but Sawyer's back. English is back. Williams is back. Zach Sawyer was a 2nd team all-state selection last year that basically turned into a better version of himself for the postseason. Where he played 2nd fiddle to Piersma to start the season, he was totally dominant after Game 18. Jake English will be the floor general for this year's squad, and certainly is capable of taking much larger of a load than he did last year. They surely aren't the far & away favorite, though. Fabius-Pompey lost Stewart Wright, but they're always tough. Tully lost Schoemaker, but they always find a way. MPH made a nice run last year, too. West Canada lost a lot, but they always have a good program and Bobby Davenport is back. The lone Division I commit in Class C is a Pulaski Blue Devil - look for them to challenge this year behind Lehigh signee Caleb Sedore. Weedsport still has JJ O'Connor. My dark horse this year in C... look out for Cooperstown. Christian Alexander was the 2nd best player in his league last year behind Sawyer as a sophomore. He averaged over 17 a game as the center, but the 6'4" fundamentally sound player is now more experienced as a wing after stepping out quite often for his AAU team. Where they went sour last year was ballhandling - the coach's kid can change that. Tyler Bertram could handle varsity presses as a JV kid, and he'll be expected to jump in and make huge contributions right off the bat - something that he can handle.
Class D
New York Mills is not the normal New York Mills. They always field a team that challenges, and it'll be the same this year with Terry Nichols (now one of the top players in the section in Class D) and Andrew Suprenant in the backcourt, but the lack of size and other potent scorers besides those two may prove very costly. My early favorite has to be Oriskany. They have the best returning player in the section in Class D in Ryan Schmadel. The junior is a scoring machine that would put up 20 a game in Class AA, too. The honorable mention selection was one of the big snubs of last year - I watched some of the guys placed above him. He was one of the top 10 in the state in Class D last season. Look for him to explode, and he's got a shooter in Anthony Warcup and point guard in Marcus Smithling back. Most of last season, they started 4 sophomores and a junior and made it to the sectional finals. Hamilton will be on their heels, with Logan Bailey, a much-improved Zach Wilcox, and Bryce Belanger back. Wilcox showed a great deal of improvement over the course of the summer, in particular, and he'll have a breakout senior year if the reigns are loosened a little bit. Sackets always challenges up north, and Copenhagen has Figueroa back. We'll see if the NYM dragon gets slayed by a CSC opponent or if the Marauders march on again.
Thank God there's no NFF.
Class AA
It'll be very interesting to see how AA plays out over the course of the year. Defending champ Proctor will be right back in the thick of things, with Tyvon Reed leading the way. The 6'2" freak athlete tweener was an all-state honorable mention in AA last year. Daquan Testamark, among others, will also be back, along with a very talented sophomore in Jalen Hawkins. He'll be brought up to the varsity and expect to start at point guard, taking over where J'Von Evans (now at Utica College) left off. We shall see what they do without J'Von and Ziggy Tracey (now at prep school). They do have competition. Last year's Henninger team was the worst they've had in a while, but they were young. Marquane Silvers graduated and is playing at Cazenovia, but that was their only real loss. They still have 7th team all-stater Romero Collier running the point, with athletes Terrence Walker & Destin Blunt ready to make sizable contributions. Maybe Shaitique Blatche is back after the issue last year? Not sure. Bishop Ludden will also be interesting - the Gaelic Knights moved up to AA after their recent success in Class A. They graduated a pair of 1,000 point scorers in Dan Kaigler (Division II Gannon) and Ben Hackett (Genesee CC), but still have 2 of the best bigs in the section in Zach Walser & Jack Rauch. I've been told they have a couple talented young freshman transfers in to help at the guard spot they so desperately need to be successful in AA, so we'll see how they progress. If you ask me, the most interesting team right now is Baldwinsville. They had a nice crew of juniors last year running the show, with Ben DiOrio and Cameron Skipworth in the backcourt and Devyn McLeod manning the blocks. They had a close battle with Union-Endicott in the season, who finished the season #11 in the state in AA. Look out for the Bees - they might be buzzing on the radar real quick! Who else will make an impact? C-NS lost a lot from last year's team that made it to the sectional final, but they still have all-stater Connor Evans. They were an underdog in the semis that beat F-M, who lost John Schurman (Binghamton) among others, but still have their all-state point guard Jake Wittig (if he's healthy). Nottingham has a year older & more mature Malik Zachery at the point with freshly Canisius-offered 6'7" Nathan Knight down low. I'll toss it up. Anyone's game.
Class A
With Ludden out of the picture, it looked like J-D's to lose for a minute. However, one private school leaves and another enters. Notre Dame gave Westhill their toughest game last year, a 3 point decision in the sectional finals. The Jugglers are now Class A's problem, and they're all back. Kevin Warmack leads the way, a 4th team all-state selection last year in Class B. The floor general still has the enforcer Joe Sullivan down low and firepower at the wing with Jerome Brabham, along with returning starters Alex Rushton & Cal Schaaf. J-D graduated Jafar Kinsey (Robert Morris), but they still have Dom DeRegis and Evan Dourdas. Put some pieces around those 2 (Isaiah Williams and the athletic big whose name I'm forgetting), and they'll be just fine for another battle for the title. Look out for Carthage up north, too. Walter Jeter is gone, but that means it's time for Peyton McLaurin to take over. I thought he was a little too reluctant to do that last year, but now he has to - and they were better when he took over games. Who else will challenge? Exactly how far can TJ Borza, Luke Moore, and Emmett Cavanaugh take Whitesboro? A little birdie in the sky told me Fulton will be tough. McLaurin is the only returning player who was an all-state selection in Class A last year - a lot of room for new heads to step up!
Class B
Ok, Notre Dame is out. Anyone want to step up and try to tangle with Westhill? You? You? Anyone? Didn't think so. There's 3 returning all-state players in Class B and 1 more that was an honorable mention selection. They're all Westhill kids. Oh boy. Jordan Roland, fresh off signing his NLI for George Washington, is the returning Class B state POY, and it's way more than just him. Fellow Division I prospect Tyler Reynolds was 2nd team all-state last year, and that might be selling him short. Jeff Lobello runs the show at point guard - the heady floor general was 1 of 2 players in Class B that got the all-state nod while scoring less than 10 points per game. Mr. OC is also back down low - Dan O'Connell was an honorable mention selection, and even Brian 'Tha Term' Daily and his 'I had so much espresso before I came here' energy on the court is back. Some of the best would-be returning players besides them in Class B are now gone - Bobby Leslie (Skaneateles) and Ross Gerber (Cazenovia) both went the prep route. Institute of Tech and Syracuse Academy of Science are always interesting, but it's really tough to see anyone messing with Westhill.
Class C
The defending champs are primed to make a repeat run. Waterville lost Jon Piersma and Tyler Lemery, but Sawyer's back. English is back. Williams is back. Zach Sawyer was a 2nd team all-state selection last year that basically turned into a better version of himself for the postseason. Where he played 2nd fiddle to Piersma to start the season, he was totally dominant after Game 18. Jake English will be the floor general for this year's squad, and certainly is capable of taking much larger of a load than he did last year. They surely aren't the far & away favorite, though. Fabius-Pompey lost Stewart Wright, but they're always tough. Tully lost Schoemaker, but they always find a way. MPH made a nice run last year, too. West Canada lost a lot, but they always have a good program and Bobby Davenport is back. The lone Division I commit in Class C is a Pulaski Blue Devil - look for them to challenge this year behind Lehigh signee Caleb Sedore. Weedsport still has JJ O'Connor. My dark horse this year in C... look out for Cooperstown. Christian Alexander was the 2nd best player in his league last year behind Sawyer as a sophomore. He averaged over 17 a game as the center, but the 6'4" fundamentally sound player is now more experienced as a wing after stepping out quite often for his AAU team. Where they went sour last year was ballhandling - the coach's kid can change that. Tyler Bertram could handle varsity presses as a JV kid, and he'll be expected to jump in and make huge contributions right off the bat - something that he can handle.
Class D
New York Mills is not the normal New York Mills. They always field a team that challenges, and it'll be the same this year with Terry Nichols (now one of the top players in the section in Class D) and Andrew Suprenant in the backcourt, but the lack of size and other potent scorers besides those two may prove very costly. My early favorite has to be Oriskany. They have the best returning player in the section in Class D in Ryan Schmadel. The junior is a scoring machine that would put up 20 a game in Class AA, too. The honorable mention selection was one of the big snubs of last year - I watched some of the guys placed above him. He was one of the top 10 in the state in Class D last season. Look for him to explode, and he's got a shooter in Anthony Warcup and point guard in Marcus Smithling back. Most of last season, they started 4 sophomores and a junior and made it to the sectional finals. Hamilton will be on their heels, with Logan Bailey, a much-improved Zach Wilcox, and Bryce Belanger back. Wilcox showed a great deal of improvement over the course of the summer, in particular, and he'll have a breakout senior year if the reigns are loosened a little bit. Sackets always challenges up north, and Copenhagen has Figueroa back. We'll see if the NYM dragon gets slayed by a CSC opponent or if the Marauders march on again.
Thank God there's no NFF.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Questions Only: This Weekend
Let's get right to it.
1.) Section III vs. Section IV football. Let's put it this way. Does Section III have a chance? The only class they've had success in over recent years has been AA, and even last year's CBA squad was knocked off by EFA-SS last year, which gave Section IV a clean 5-0 sweep. The small school games have been straight beatdowns. All 5 classes offer a new champion in Section III - and it's much of the same faces from the Southern Tier. Union-Endicott, Maine-Endwell, Chenango Forks, Tioga... all perennial powers, although it looks like M-E is far from the usual M-E this year. Union-Endicott, the Class B rep, hasn't lost a game in what, 4 years? Just about. Cazenovia gave them a heck of a battle at U-E last year, and it's Homer's chance this year. Chenango Forks & Waverly go back and forth winning C in Section IV, and the top-ranked team in the state gets a new Class C champ in Notre Dame this year. Tioga has won Class D in Section IV 4 years in a row, and Dolgeville marks their 4th different Class D opponent. They beat Westmoreland soundly in 2011 (55-14?), Sandy Creek in 2012 (I left that game at halftime, 40-0), Herkimer last year (43-14). See a pattern? Ahhh, let's see if Dolgeville can keep it under 4 touchdowns. For the record, I think Section III will do better this year than last - I mean, you can only go up anyway - but Section IV will still run the regional.
2.) Jamesville-Dewitt. Is it their year for something besides hoops? They're one of two schools in all of NYS with both boys & girls soccer making it to the state semifinals (Section IV's Lansing being the other). The girls team was basically expected to get to this point all year. Don't want to say the boys were an underdog because they were at the top of a pretty balanced field in Section III, but they weren't the prohibitive favorite in the way the Lady Rams were. Regardless, they're in the same spot: 2 wins away from a state title. They'll be competing 2&1/2 hours away from each other, with the boys battling the East Hampton Millionaires (ok, I'm assuming that's not their team name, but it sounds right) bright and early at 8:30 and the girls taking on Somers at 2:30. Both teams have won relatively convincingly in their sub-regionals and regional finals - the boys have outscored opponents 6-0 in 2 post-sectional games, and the girls have done it by a whopping 14-0. Do the Sir and Lady Red Rams have what it takes this weekend?
3.) Is Schoharie ticked because they're still flying under the radar? The Section II, Class C girls soccer champs closest call really came in the section quarterfinals. 7th seeded Stillwater gave them all they could handle, but the Indians won 1-0. They won the semis over Greenville by the same score, but it was a much more convincing win on the field. Another 1-goal win over the top seed (ranked #2 in the state at the time) Canajoharie in the finals, but they were up 2 until 3 minutes remaining. Then they beat Potsdam in regionals, 2-0. They haven't been making people take notice with gaudy numbers, but they keep on shutting teams out. Only 1 goal given up in postseason play and 9 all season. They keep on winning. They get Lansing in the semis, and I certainly hope the buzz will happen if they win that one. They're doing it with a lot of underclassmen. Hell, their leading scorer is a freshman & scorers 3 and 4 (both in double digits in goals & assists) are juniors. Let's see what the squad brings to Cortland this weekend.
4.) How many people watching high school soccer in Cortland on Saturday will wish they were partaking in Cortaca festivities instead? Ehh, I'm leaving that question alone.
5.) The usual powers won again in Section II football. Shenendehowa, Queensbury, Schalmont, Hoosick Falls, and Cambridge/Salem all brought home the hardware. I've made mention that Section II & Section III are very different in football. Long story short, Section III is more competitive. However, the top teams (as in literally the top team in each class, not the top few) in Section II are generally a bit stronger than the top ones in Section III. Where Section III teams have a dogfight to win the section and proceed to get blasted by the Southern Tier, Section II champs have a pretty easy go of it, but are strong enough to go much deeper into the state playoffs. How successful will they be this year? I'm interested to see if Schalmont can get over that hump and win the state in Class B. Let's see what Shen has to offer, too. CBA gave them a little more of a battle than I thought would happen last week. Not to skip ahead, but I'd love to make the trip to Dietz next Friday for Queensbury/Cornwall...
6.) You guys ready for another hell of an action-packed weekend? Bring it on!
1.) Section III vs. Section IV football. Let's put it this way. Does Section III have a chance? The only class they've had success in over recent years has been AA, and even last year's CBA squad was knocked off by EFA-SS last year, which gave Section IV a clean 5-0 sweep. The small school games have been straight beatdowns. All 5 classes offer a new champion in Section III - and it's much of the same faces from the Southern Tier. Union-Endicott, Maine-Endwell, Chenango Forks, Tioga... all perennial powers, although it looks like M-E is far from the usual M-E this year. Union-Endicott, the Class B rep, hasn't lost a game in what, 4 years? Just about. Cazenovia gave them a heck of a battle at U-E last year, and it's Homer's chance this year. Chenango Forks & Waverly go back and forth winning C in Section IV, and the top-ranked team in the state gets a new Class C champ in Notre Dame this year. Tioga has won Class D in Section IV 4 years in a row, and Dolgeville marks their 4th different Class D opponent. They beat Westmoreland soundly in 2011 (55-14?), Sandy Creek in 2012 (I left that game at halftime, 40-0), Herkimer last year (43-14). See a pattern? Ahhh, let's see if Dolgeville can keep it under 4 touchdowns. For the record, I think Section III will do better this year than last - I mean, you can only go up anyway - but Section IV will still run the regional.
2.) Jamesville-Dewitt. Is it their year for something besides hoops? They're one of two schools in all of NYS with both boys & girls soccer making it to the state semifinals (Section IV's Lansing being the other). The girls team was basically expected to get to this point all year. Don't want to say the boys were an underdog because they were at the top of a pretty balanced field in Section III, but they weren't the prohibitive favorite in the way the Lady Rams were. Regardless, they're in the same spot: 2 wins away from a state title. They'll be competing 2&1/2 hours away from each other, with the boys battling the East Hampton Millionaires (ok, I'm assuming that's not their team name, but it sounds right) bright and early at 8:30 and the girls taking on Somers at 2:30. Both teams have won relatively convincingly in their sub-regionals and regional finals - the boys have outscored opponents 6-0 in 2 post-sectional games, and the girls have done it by a whopping 14-0. Do the Sir and Lady Red Rams have what it takes this weekend?
3.) Is Schoharie ticked because they're still flying under the radar? The Section II, Class C girls soccer champs closest call really came in the section quarterfinals. 7th seeded Stillwater gave them all they could handle, but the Indians won 1-0. They won the semis over Greenville by the same score, but it was a much more convincing win on the field. Another 1-goal win over the top seed (ranked #2 in the state at the time) Canajoharie in the finals, but they were up 2 until 3 minutes remaining. Then they beat Potsdam in regionals, 2-0. They haven't been making people take notice with gaudy numbers, but they keep on shutting teams out. Only 1 goal given up in postseason play and 9 all season. They keep on winning. They get Lansing in the semis, and I certainly hope the buzz will happen if they win that one. They're doing it with a lot of underclassmen. Hell, their leading scorer is a freshman & scorers 3 and 4 (both in double digits in goals & assists) are juniors. Let's see what the squad brings to Cortland this weekend.
4.) How many people watching high school soccer in Cortland on Saturday will wish they were partaking in Cortaca festivities instead? Ehh, I'm leaving that question alone.
5.) The usual powers won again in Section II football. Shenendehowa, Queensbury, Schalmont, Hoosick Falls, and Cambridge/Salem all brought home the hardware. I've made mention that Section II & Section III are very different in football. Long story short, Section III is more competitive. However, the top teams (as in literally the top team in each class, not the top few) in Section II are generally a bit stronger than the top ones in Section III. Where Section III teams have a dogfight to win the section and proceed to get blasted by the Southern Tier, Section II champs have a pretty easy go of it, but are strong enough to go much deeper into the state playoffs. How successful will they be this year? I'm interested to see if Schalmont can get over that hump and win the state in Class B. Let's see what Shen has to offer, too. CBA gave them a little more of a battle than I thought would happen last week. Not to skip ahead, but I'd love to make the trip to Dietz next Friday for Queensbury/Cornwall...
6.) You guys ready for another hell of an action-packed weekend? Bring it on!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Where in the World Is Jeff? - Rest of 2014
Yeah, you read it right. Mapped out a hopeful schedule up until New Year's Eve - well, December 30. No games on 12/31. Note that I said 'hopeful schedule'. Things will get in the way: snow days, crap weather that I think twice about driving like a fool in, sickness, car troubles, hospital visits for working myself too hard. There's a number of days where I have a 6:00 & 7:00 game planned. Obviously, they overlap. The plan is to go with the flow on those; if the early game is good and I'm not itching to be at the late one, I stay until it ends. If it's not good, I leave. I at least plan on being there. Enough talk... let's see where the initial plan is!
***By the way, I took these schedules/game times off league websites generally. Viewmyschedule, SportsPak, Colonial & Wasaren websites, syracuse.com for Section III stuff. If you see your school on here and the time on your schedule doesn't jive with the time I have here, PLEASE TELL ME!!! I wouldn't want to make the trip for nothing because the schedule was off!***
11/12
Women's Basketball - ACP @ HVCC - 6:00
Men's Basketball - ACP @ HVCC - 8:00
11/15
Boys Soccer State Semifinals @ Middletown
Games of Interest: East Hampton/Jamesville-Dewitt - 8:30, Mattituck/Skaneateles - 9:15, World of Inquiry/Potsdam - 11:15
Women's Basketball - HCCC @ HVCC - 1:00
Men's Basketball - HCCC @ HVCC - 3:00
Men's Basketball - Wilmington @ St. Rose - 7:00
11/16
Girls Soccer State Finals @ Cortland
Games of Interest: Will bounce through them all - AA at 9:30, C at 10:30, A at 12:15, D at 1:15, B at 3:00
11/19
Boys Basketball - St. Thomas More @ Hoosac (Prep School) - 5:00
Women's Basketball - Utica @ RPI - 6:00
Men's Basketball - ACP @ Sage - 7:00
11/20
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Shenendehowa @ Tamarac - 4:00
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Watervliet @ Bethlehem - 6:00
11/21
Football - Class D Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 4:00
Football - Class A Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 8:00
11/22
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Hoosic Valley @ Troy - 9:00
Football - Class C Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 11:00
Football - Class B Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 3:00
Football - Class AA Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 7:00
11/23
Oneonta Mayor's Cup - TBD
11/24
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Galway @ Ballston Spa - 4:00
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Troy @ Shenendehowa - 5:30
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Columbia @ Maple Hill - 7:00
11/25
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Maple Hill @ Averill Park - 4:30
Women's Basketball - Adelphi @ St. Rose - 5:30
Men's Basketball - Adelphi @ St. Rose - 7:30
11/26
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Broadalbin-Perth @ Mohonasen - 9:30
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Mekeel @ Niskayuna - 11:00
Girls Basketball - Bishop Maginn @ Ballston Spa - 2:00
*maybe boys basketball scrimmage - Valley Central @ Red Hook instead?
Boys Basketball - Rensselaer Tournament (Rensselaer, Heatly, Ichabod Crane, Berne-Knox-Westerlo) - 6:00/7:30
11/28
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Amsterdam @ Guilderland - 10:00
Girls Basketball - Watervliet Tournament (Watervliet, Schenectady, Susquehanna Valley, Glens Falls) - 2:30/4:00
Boys Basketball - Mechanicville Tournament (Ravena, Lake George, Mechanicville, Lansingburgh) - 5:30/7:00
11/29
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Albany @ Guilderland - 10:30
Girls Basketball - Johnstown @ Mohonasen - 1:00
*Toss-up, depending on game times/matchups.. Cohoes or Ichabod Crane girls tournaments
12/1
Boys Basketball - CBA @ Watervliet - 7:00
*may do boys scrimmage, Our Lady of Lourdes @ Poughkeepsie instead
12/2
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Albany @ Ichabod Crane - 4:00
Girls Basketball - Mohonasen @ Averill Park - 6:00
Women's Basketball - Cazenovia @ Sage - 7:00
12/3
Girls Basketball - Hoosic Valley @ Ravena - 6:00
Girls Basketball - Troy @ CCHS - 7:00
12/4
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Lansingburgh @ Tamarac - 6:00
Girls Basketball - Hoosick Falls @ Albany Leadership Charter for Girls - 7:00
12/5
Girls Basketball - Ogdensburg @ Scotia - 5:30
Boys Basketball - Ogdensburg @ Scotia - 7:00
12/6
Boys Basketball - Gloversville @ Averill Park - 12:00
Boys Basketball - Ogdensburg @ Cohoes - 1:30
Boys Basketball - St. Laurent (Canada) @ CCHS - 4:00
Boys Basketball - Waterford Tournament (Tamarac, Stillwater, Duanesburg, Waterford) - 5:30/7:00
12/7
*Toss-up, depending on game times/matchups.. Albany girls tournament or Waterford boys
12/8
Boys Basketball - Glens Falls @ Fonda-Fultonville - 7:00
*may do boys basketball, Webutuck @ Coleman Catholic instead
12/9
Boys Basketball - Bethlehem @ Averill Park - 6:00
Girls Basketball - Averill Park @ Bethlehem - 7:00
12/10
Girls Basketball - Mechanicville @ Stillwater - 7:30
*may do girls basketball, FDR-Hyde Park @ Monroe-Woodbury instead
12/11
Girls Basketball - Berlin @ Cambridge - 4:00
Boys Basketball - Heatly @ Doane Stuart - 6:00
12/12
Girls Basketball - Niskayuna @ Guilderland - 6:00
Boys Basketball - Guilderland @ Niskayuna - 7:00
*may do boys basketball, Red Hook @ Saugerties instead
12/13
Boys Basketball - Poughkeepsie Tournament - All Day
12/15
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Housatonic @ Pine Plains - 5:30
12/16
Boys Basketball - Saratoga @ Columbia - 7:00
*may do boys basketball, FDR-Hyde Park @ Saugerties
12/17
Girls Basketball - Mohonasen @ Schalmont - 7:00
12/18
Girls Basketball - Fonda-Fultonville @ Cohoes - 7:00
12/19
Boys Basketball - Colonie @ Shaker - 7:00
Boys Basketball - CBA @ Albany - 7:30 (maybe end of it)
12/20
Boys & Girls Basketball - Saugerties Tournament - All Day
*may do girls basketball, Nottingham @ Troy - 2:30
12/22
Boys Basketball - Scotia Tournament - 4:30 (just first game)
Boys Basketball - Watervliet Tournament (Notre Dame, LaSalle, Nazareth, Watervliet) - 6:00, 7:30
12/23
(hi, Section 3)
Boys Basketball - Fowler @ RFA - 12:00
Boys Basketball - Hamilton @ Oriskany - 7:00
So yeah, this is where it gets dicey and I have chicken scratch all over my paper. I'll talk about Christmas tournament week with just a rough draft of places I'm mulling over hitting. They include:
12/26
Boys Basketball - Colonie Tournament - 5:30/7:00
Girls Basketball - Ballston Spa Tournament - ?
12/27
Girls Basketball - Amsterdam Holiday Showcase - I'm assuming all day
Girls Basketball - Schenectady @ Niskayuna - 2:00
Girls Basketball - Ballston Spa Tournament - ?
Boys Basketball - CBA Tournament - ?
Boys Basketball - Saratoga Tournament (Rice, Burr & Burton, Queensbury, Saratoga) - 6:30/8:15
12/28
Girls Basketball - Amsterdam Holiday Showcase - again, all day?
Girls Basketball - Bishop Maginn @ Niskayuna - 1:00
Girls Basketball - Westchester County Tournament - ?
Girls Basketball - Troy Tournament - ?
Girls Basketball - RFA @ Holy Names (Tournament) - 6:30
12/29
Girls Basketball - Colonie Tournament (Averill Park, Shaker, CCHS, Colonie) - 4:00/5:30
Boys Basketball - Schenectady Tournament - 6:00/7:30
Girls & Boys Basketball - Maple Hill Tournament - 3:00, 4:30, 6:00, 7:30
12/30
Boys Basketball - Granville Tournament (Fort Ann, Hadley-Luzerne, Mount St. Joseph, Granville) - ?
Boys Basketball - STOP DWI Tournament in Binghamton - All Day
Boys Basketball - Burnt Hills Tournament (LaSalle, Bishop Maginn, Saugerties, BH-BL) - 6:00/7:30
Girls Basketball - Queensbury @ Burnt Hills - 3:00 (maybe part of a tournament too?)
Well, that's a rough draft. You'll see me around. Let me know if I didn't mention your school in this, and I'll make sure I throw it in January's. I'm trying to get to every single school I possibly can this winter!
***By the way, I took these schedules/game times off league websites generally. Viewmyschedule, SportsPak, Colonial & Wasaren websites, syracuse.com for Section III stuff. If you see your school on here and the time on your schedule doesn't jive with the time I have here, PLEASE TELL ME!!! I wouldn't want to make the trip for nothing because the schedule was off!***
11/12
Women's Basketball - ACP @ HVCC - 6:00
Men's Basketball - ACP @ HVCC - 8:00
11/15
Boys Soccer State Semifinals @ Middletown
Games of Interest: East Hampton/Jamesville-Dewitt - 8:30, Mattituck/Skaneateles - 9:15, World of Inquiry/Potsdam - 11:15
Women's Basketball - HCCC @ HVCC - 1:00
Men's Basketball - HCCC @ HVCC - 3:00
Men's Basketball - Wilmington @ St. Rose - 7:00
11/16
Girls Soccer State Finals @ Cortland
Games of Interest: Will bounce through them all - AA at 9:30, C at 10:30, A at 12:15, D at 1:15, B at 3:00
11/19
Boys Basketball - St. Thomas More @ Hoosac (Prep School) - 5:00
Women's Basketball - Utica @ RPI - 6:00
Men's Basketball - ACP @ Sage - 7:00
11/20
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Shenendehowa @ Tamarac - 4:00
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Watervliet @ Bethlehem - 6:00
11/21
Football - Class D Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 4:00
Football - Class A Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 8:00
11/22
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Hoosic Valley @ Troy - 9:00
Football - Class C Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 11:00
Football - Class B Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 3:00
Football - Class AA Semifinal at Dietz Stadium - 7:00
11/23
Oneonta Mayor's Cup - TBD
11/24
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Galway @ Ballston Spa - 4:00
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Troy @ Shenendehowa - 5:30
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Columbia @ Maple Hill - 7:00
11/25
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Maple Hill @ Averill Park - 4:30
Women's Basketball - Adelphi @ St. Rose - 5:30
Men's Basketball - Adelphi @ St. Rose - 7:30
11/26
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Broadalbin-Perth @ Mohonasen - 9:30
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Mekeel @ Niskayuna - 11:00
Girls Basketball - Bishop Maginn @ Ballston Spa - 2:00
*maybe boys basketball scrimmage - Valley Central @ Red Hook instead?
Boys Basketball - Rensselaer Tournament (Rensselaer, Heatly, Ichabod Crane, Berne-Knox-Westerlo) - 6:00/7:30
11/28
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Amsterdam @ Guilderland - 10:00
Girls Basketball - Watervliet Tournament (Watervliet, Schenectady, Susquehanna Valley, Glens Falls) - 2:30/4:00
Boys Basketball - Mechanicville Tournament (Ravena, Lake George, Mechanicville, Lansingburgh) - 5:30/7:00
11/29
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Albany @ Guilderland - 10:30
Girls Basketball - Johnstown @ Mohonasen - 1:00
*Toss-up, depending on game times/matchups.. Cohoes or Ichabod Crane girls tournaments
12/1
Boys Basketball - CBA @ Watervliet - 7:00
*may do boys scrimmage, Our Lady of Lourdes @ Poughkeepsie instead
12/2
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Albany @ Ichabod Crane - 4:00
Girls Basketball - Mohonasen @ Averill Park - 6:00
Women's Basketball - Cazenovia @ Sage - 7:00
12/3
Girls Basketball - Hoosic Valley @ Ravena - 6:00
Girls Basketball - Troy @ CCHS - 7:00
12/4
Girls Basketball (Scrimmage) - Lansingburgh @ Tamarac - 6:00
Girls Basketball - Hoosick Falls @ Albany Leadership Charter for Girls - 7:00
12/5
Girls Basketball - Ogdensburg @ Scotia - 5:30
Boys Basketball - Ogdensburg @ Scotia - 7:00
12/6
Boys Basketball - Gloversville @ Averill Park - 12:00
Boys Basketball - Ogdensburg @ Cohoes - 1:30
Boys Basketball - St. Laurent (Canada) @ CCHS - 4:00
Boys Basketball - Waterford Tournament (Tamarac, Stillwater, Duanesburg, Waterford) - 5:30/7:00
12/7
*Toss-up, depending on game times/matchups.. Albany girls tournament or Waterford boys
12/8
Boys Basketball - Glens Falls @ Fonda-Fultonville - 7:00
*may do boys basketball, Webutuck @ Coleman Catholic instead
12/9
Boys Basketball - Bethlehem @ Averill Park - 6:00
Girls Basketball - Averill Park @ Bethlehem - 7:00
12/10
Girls Basketball - Mechanicville @ Stillwater - 7:30
*may do girls basketball, FDR-Hyde Park @ Monroe-Woodbury instead
12/11
Girls Basketball - Berlin @ Cambridge - 4:00
Boys Basketball - Heatly @ Doane Stuart - 6:00
12/12
Girls Basketball - Niskayuna @ Guilderland - 6:00
Boys Basketball - Guilderland @ Niskayuna - 7:00
*may do boys basketball, Red Hook @ Saugerties instead
12/13
Boys Basketball - Poughkeepsie Tournament - All Day
12/15
Boys Basketball (Scrimmage) - Housatonic @ Pine Plains - 5:30
12/16
Boys Basketball - Saratoga @ Columbia - 7:00
*may do boys basketball, FDR-Hyde Park @ Saugerties
12/17
Girls Basketball - Mohonasen @ Schalmont - 7:00
12/18
Girls Basketball - Fonda-Fultonville @ Cohoes - 7:00
12/19
Boys Basketball - Colonie @ Shaker - 7:00
Boys Basketball - CBA @ Albany - 7:30 (maybe end of it)
12/20
Boys & Girls Basketball - Saugerties Tournament - All Day
*may do girls basketball, Nottingham @ Troy - 2:30
12/22
Boys Basketball - Scotia Tournament - 4:30 (just first game)
Boys Basketball - Watervliet Tournament (Notre Dame, LaSalle, Nazareth, Watervliet) - 6:00, 7:30
12/23
(hi, Section 3)
Boys Basketball - Fowler @ RFA - 12:00
Boys Basketball - Hamilton @ Oriskany - 7:00
So yeah, this is where it gets dicey and I have chicken scratch all over my paper. I'll talk about Christmas tournament week with just a rough draft of places I'm mulling over hitting. They include:
12/26
Boys Basketball - Colonie Tournament - 5:30/7:00
Girls Basketball - Ballston Spa Tournament - ?
12/27
Girls Basketball - Amsterdam Holiday Showcase - I'm assuming all day
Girls Basketball - Schenectady @ Niskayuna - 2:00
Girls Basketball - Ballston Spa Tournament - ?
Boys Basketball - CBA Tournament - ?
Boys Basketball - Saratoga Tournament (Rice, Burr & Burton, Queensbury, Saratoga) - 6:30/8:15
12/28
Girls Basketball - Amsterdam Holiday Showcase - again, all day?
Girls Basketball - Bishop Maginn @ Niskayuna - 1:00
Girls Basketball - Westchester County Tournament - ?
Girls Basketball - Troy Tournament - ?
Girls Basketball - RFA @ Holy Names (Tournament) - 6:30
12/29
Girls Basketball - Colonie Tournament (Averill Park, Shaker, CCHS, Colonie) - 4:00/5:30
Boys Basketball - Schenectady Tournament - 6:00/7:30
Girls & Boys Basketball - Maple Hill Tournament - 3:00, 4:30, 6:00, 7:30
12/30
Boys Basketball - Granville Tournament (Fort Ann, Hadley-Luzerne, Mount St. Joseph, Granville) - ?
Boys Basketball - STOP DWI Tournament in Binghamton - All Day
Boys Basketball - Burnt Hills Tournament (LaSalle, Bishop Maginn, Saugerties, BH-BL) - 6:00/7:30
Girls Basketball - Queensbury @ Burnt Hills - 3:00 (maybe part of a tournament too?)
Well, that's a rough draft. You'll see me around. Let me know if I didn't mention your school in this, and I'll make sure I throw it in January's. I'm trying to get to every single school I possibly can this winter!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Girls Soccer Regional Roundup: 3 Each in Section 2 & 3 in Semis
Class AA
Bethlehem 2, Liverpool 1 (OT)
Class A
Jamesville-Dewitt 6, Scotia-Glenville 0
Jamesville-Dewitt 8, Massena 0
Class B
Westhill 2, CCHS 0
Westhill 3, Beekmantown 0
Class C
Schoharie 2, Potsdam 0
Lansing 2, Sauquoit 1
Class D
Bolton-Warrensburg 3, Eldred 1 (OT)
Poland 3, Milford 0
Great game on Saturday afternoon in Fulton between Section 2 and Section 3's Class AA representatives in regional finals. Bethlehem, out of Section II, and Liverpool, out of III, both were teams that most didn't expect to get to this point. At least 'Pool was somewhat of a contender - the 3rd seed still had to knock off the top 2 seeds in sectionals to be crowned - Bethlehem had nothing handed to them. Section 2's 6 seed beat the 3, 2, and 1 in succession to get here. The game resembled that of two teams with the kind of grit needed to battle through teams presumed as better. Well, that and two teams that were cold. Everyone was a step slower than usual. Liverpool got on the board first in the earlier stages of the 1st half when Emily Dorr put one inside the left post in the 18th minute. I could hear Bethlehem coach Tom Rogan addressing his team at half. Mental toughness was the message - through sectionals, they had jumped on their opponent early and had a halftime lead. This was the first time in the postseason that they had to play from behind. Toughness is what they showed. Kassie Hautau tied it up with 19:08 remaining (somewhat) off a corner kick - the corner bounced around like a pinball in the box for almost 15 seconds before being cleared. The ball quickly found its way to Hautau, who put it on frame and off the keeper's outstretched hand into goal. Miranda Manziano did a phenomenal job on the other end in goal to make sure Liverpool didn't regain the lead. She made 5 legitimate saves in the 2nd half, including a couple diving stops and sliding kick save. Dorr put a hard shot on goal with 13 minutes to play, but Manziano knocked it away with a diving save to her left. 5 minutes later, she did the same thing, diving to her left to stop a ball that had a tricky bounce to it. We got to see 20 extra minutes of soccer, but the winner happened in just over 2. Kaylee Rickert worked hard to win a ball on a hard run, and the toe poke toward goal snuck underneath a diving Julia Richey to make it 2-1 in favor of Bethlehem with 7:54 left in the first extra session. The Eagles were able to do a nice job through the rest of OT warding off pressure, as Liverpool was only able to get 2 shots off (1 on goal) in extra time. The run for the Eagles that can only be described as magical rolls on - the 3 seed, 2 seed, 1 seed, Section III champ, and now they get North Rockland (#5 in the state) at 9:30 AM on Saturday at TC3 in the semis. Oh, yeah. A team that's supposed to beat them. They've heard this story before.
There hasn't been any drama for J-D. I already wrote a story about the sub-regional game, where they blasted Scotia 6-0. Scroll down for that story if you're interested. As bad as that was, their regional final was even... worse? Yup. The Red Ram train is coming through to flatten anyone in their way, and Massena was on the blank end of an 8-0 smacking yesterday. One person taking over and running up her goal total?.. Nope. The game after 6 girls scored a goal apiece in the 6-0 win, 7 players contributed goals in this 8-0 win (Paige Sherling was the only one with 2) and 5 more had assists (Alex Catanzarite had 2). Think about that. Let it marinate. 12 people were in the scoring column for J-D. In a game. In the regional finals. Wait, what? Yeah. In all, 9 J-D players have scored in the 2 regional games. Pretty sure there isn't a soul that wants to line up opposite them right now. With Sayville, the #1 team in the state in Class A, knocked out by Shoreham-Wading River - and them being knocked out by Rockville Centre South Side - J-D is the favorite in the Class A state tournament. They will get a challenge in the semis, facing #3 Somers of Section I at 2:30 Saturday at TC3.
Westhill's been solid as a rock in Class B. I also already talked about their 2-0 win over CCHS, so scroll down more if you'd like to read about that. They locked up their next opponent in the same way, beating Beekmantown up north 3-0 yesterday to keep on rolling. Jayanna Monds buried two goals to lead the #1 ranked Warriors, giving her 3 and an assist in 2 regional games. Judging by tweets from some northerners, they.. erm... didn't exactly make friends with the Beekmantown girls? But that's irrelevant, I'd dance on the field all day if I dominated someone en route to the semis. Westhill is solid in every position, and they very rarely break down. If you want to have a chance against them, you either have to take advantage of every single time there's a breakdown or just make some phenomenal plays. Good luck. Section I's Bronxville, ranked 3rd in the state, will be the next team to give it a crack. That game is 12:00 Saturday at Cortland HS.
Ahh, the two smaller classes. In C & D, I get to talk a touch more because Section II & Section III reps don't play each other in regionals. 3 plays the southern tier, and 2 plays.. whoever gets there. In Class C, Section II got the winner of the north country. The north country stopped there. Schoharie got its 2nd straight win at the 'Burgh, beating Potsdam 2-0 yesterday. It was the usual suspects involved again, with Carrie Krohn & Seana Cleveland scoring and Kaitlyn Kendle handing out an assist. Schoharie now boasts 3 players with 20+ goals & 10+ assists on the season, and a 4th with 10+ & 10+. Only one of them (Kendle) is a senior, and her 25 goals are matched by Krohn (a freshman), who has 25 as well. Stillwater gave them everything they could handle in the quarterfinals. They must be wondering how far their season could've went if they were able to break through in that one. As a matter of fact, all of their Section II postseason games were 1 goal games, with this being the most "lopsided" in postseason play. Schoharie is battle tested and not afraid of close ones. They like to score early and then focus on shutting you out, and it's worked so far. They've given up just 1 goal in the postseason, and that was with 3 minutes left in the final. Only 9 have been scored on them all season, and I'm sure they'd like to keep it at that number in their game against Section IV's Lansing, 5:00 Saturday at Cortland HS. Lansing got there by beating Section III champion Sauquoit Valley 2-1 yesterday at Fulton. It was a hotly contested game that was the most physical of the three at G. Ray Bodley HS on this day. Lansing got on the board first after Megan Dean knocked one through in the 15th minute. The ball bounced out to her after the pinball effect on a corner and she finished the job. Sauquoit responded with 13:00 left in the 1st half off a corner as well. The ball ended up a little over 20 yards outside of goal, and then Elma Sarajlija happened. The youngster turned on it and sent a rocket right upper 90 with the left foot in what without question was the goal of the night, tying it up at 1. Sauquoit wasn't in full control, but they did have the better half of play. However, it didn't translate onto the scoreboard, and Lansing broke the tie midway through the 2nd half when Reilly Zajac put one home. Sauquoit brought the pressure, but couldn't get the equalizer. Another season coming up short in the state playoffs for a perennial Section III powerhouse.
Both state semifinals in Class D feature a team in my zone. I like it. Section II's Bolton/Warrensburg squad needed an extra 20 minutes, but were able to knock off Eldred 3-1. Eldred made it to the semis last year before getting ousted by Poland; they won't get the chance this year. Liv Seamans is now the leading scorer in Section II, and that won't change. She put home goals 44 and 45 in the extra session to help her squad roll forward. They play at 10 AM Saturday at Homer against Arkport, Section V's rep. B/W is currently #8 in the state; Arkport is at #5. One of Arkport's 3 losses this year... came to Poland. The top-ranked team in Class D advanced to the state semifinals for the 3rd year in a row with a 3-0 W over Milford. They weren't expected to get out of Section III (poor Remsen) in 2012. They did, and it resulted in a state title. They were perhaps expected to win the state title last year, but lost to Jasper-Troupsburg in the final. They're back, looking to go 2 for 3 in the finals. They dominated for all 80 minutes against Milford, who was ranked #4 in the state coming in as Section IV's representative. It took a little while for them to break through, but there was no question who was coming out on top. In the 20th minute, Mikayla Blumenstock (I mean, who else?) started off the scoring off a feed from Jordan Batson. Milford did everything they could to keep Poland off the board, bringing the vast majority of their team back to clog the middle of the field. Despite an 11-1 edge in shots, along with 4 corners, the clutter of defenders mixed with 3 solid saves by Rukiye Henderson held the score at 1-0 by half. Just over 5 minutes into the 2nd half, the other Blumenstock struck. 8th grader Keara is quickly showing why you should remember her name instead of just as 'Mikki's little sis'. Her emergence as the 3rd scoring option behind Mikki (47 goals) and Saige Hampston propels this team to a new level. Oh yeah, Saige. She scored too. The senior knocked one home with 10 minutes left, bumping the lead to 3-0 and effectively ending any thought of a comeback. Milford didn't quit - they nearly tallied with 30 seconds left - but it was all Poland. 20-3 edge in shots with 9 on goal, the ball in their attacking third for what seemed like every minute, they showed why they're tops in the state. For anyone who was at Franklin/Poland in 2012 in Fulton... everything about the two games lined up except for one goal. Fulton HS on a Saturday in November. Really cold. Poland played a Section IV team near Oneonta that wore purple. Dominated, but the other team never quit. Youth on both sides. The other one was 4-0; this one was 3-0. Only difference. Many of the Poland players that are factors now were factors then. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Tornadoes will have their chance to advance to their 3rd straight state final when they battle Chateaugay, 12:30 on Saturday at Homer. Poland beat Chateaugay 2 years ago in the state semi before winning the final. Let's see if history repeats itself.
Side Notes
Barring anything crazy, Kaitlin Robbins' career goals mark of 208 will not be standing after next year. Mikayla Blumenstock is at 159 and counting, 47 this season. A couple more goals next weekend and match the total next year, and she breaks it. The easiest option to pick for breaking it, though, is Queensbury junior Brittany LaPlant. She has 182, and if she didn't miss the last month of this season with a broken foot, she may be past it now... Section II & III, with 3 reps each in the semifinals, are just behind Sections I & V for most representatives. Section V has 4 teams through, with Class AA being the only one in which they were nipped by Section VI. Section I has teams in all but Class D semis, and that's because there isn't a Class D school in Section I... Three things are certain. Death, taxes, and either Chazy or Chateaugay being in the D semis. Chateaugay beat Chazy this year to get there... Look out for Rockville Centre South Side in the Class A bracket. Long Island's representative (Section VIII) that just beat the team that knocked off the top-ranked team in the state is no stranger to Cortland. RCSS girls soccer has won more state titles than any team in NYS, any school, any sport. Winning one this year would give the program number 18.
Bethlehem 2, Liverpool 1 (OT)
Class A
Jamesville-Dewitt 6, Scotia-Glenville 0
Jamesville-Dewitt 8, Massena 0
Class B
Westhill 2, CCHS 0
Westhill 3, Beekmantown 0
Class C
Schoharie 2, Potsdam 0
Lansing 2, Sauquoit 1
Class D
Bolton-Warrensburg 3, Eldred 1 (OT)
Poland 3, Milford 0
Great game on Saturday afternoon in Fulton between Section 2 and Section 3's Class AA representatives in regional finals. Bethlehem, out of Section II, and Liverpool, out of III, both were teams that most didn't expect to get to this point. At least 'Pool was somewhat of a contender - the 3rd seed still had to knock off the top 2 seeds in sectionals to be crowned - Bethlehem had nothing handed to them. Section 2's 6 seed beat the 3, 2, and 1 in succession to get here. The game resembled that of two teams with the kind of grit needed to battle through teams presumed as better. Well, that and two teams that were cold. Everyone was a step slower than usual. Liverpool got on the board first in the earlier stages of the 1st half when Emily Dorr put one inside the left post in the 18th minute. I could hear Bethlehem coach Tom Rogan addressing his team at half. Mental toughness was the message - through sectionals, they had jumped on their opponent early and had a halftime lead. This was the first time in the postseason that they had to play from behind. Toughness is what they showed. Kassie Hautau tied it up with 19:08 remaining (somewhat) off a corner kick - the corner bounced around like a pinball in the box for almost 15 seconds before being cleared. The ball quickly found its way to Hautau, who put it on frame and off the keeper's outstretched hand into goal. Miranda Manziano did a phenomenal job on the other end in goal to make sure Liverpool didn't regain the lead. She made 5 legitimate saves in the 2nd half, including a couple diving stops and sliding kick save. Dorr put a hard shot on goal with 13 minutes to play, but Manziano knocked it away with a diving save to her left. 5 minutes later, she did the same thing, diving to her left to stop a ball that had a tricky bounce to it. We got to see 20 extra minutes of soccer, but the winner happened in just over 2. Kaylee Rickert worked hard to win a ball on a hard run, and the toe poke toward goal snuck underneath a diving Julia Richey to make it 2-1 in favor of Bethlehem with 7:54 left in the first extra session. The Eagles were able to do a nice job through the rest of OT warding off pressure, as Liverpool was only able to get 2 shots off (1 on goal) in extra time. The run for the Eagles that can only be described as magical rolls on - the 3 seed, 2 seed, 1 seed, Section III champ, and now they get North Rockland (#5 in the state) at 9:30 AM on Saturday at TC3 in the semis. Oh, yeah. A team that's supposed to beat them. They've heard this story before.
There hasn't been any drama for J-D. I already wrote a story about the sub-regional game, where they blasted Scotia 6-0. Scroll down for that story if you're interested. As bad as that was, their regional final was even... worse? Yup. The Red Ram train is coming through to flatten anyone in their way, and Massena was on the blank end of an 8-0 smacking yesterday. One person taking over and running up her goal total?.. Nope. The game after 6 girls scored a goal apiece in the 6-0 win, 7 players contributed goals in this 8-0 win (Paige Sherling was the only one with 2) and 5 more had assists (Alex Catanzarite had 2). Think about that. Let it marinate. 12 people were in the scoring column for J-D. In a game. In the regional finals. Wait, what? Yeah. In all, 9 J-D players have scored in the 2 regional games. Pretty sure there isn't a soul that wants to line up opposite them right now. With Sayville, the #1 team in the state in Class A, knocked out by Shoreham-Wading River - and them being knocked out by Rockville Centre South Side - J-D is the favorite in the Class A state tournament. They will get a challenge in the semis, facing #3 Somers of Section I at 2:30 Saturday at TC3.
Westhill's been solid as a rock in Class B. I also already talked about their 2-0 win over CCHS, so scroll down more if you'd like to read about that. They locked up their next opponent in the same way, beating Beekmantown up north 3-0 yesterday to keep on rolling. Jayanna Monds buried two goals to lead the #1 ranked Warriors, giving her 3 and an assist in 2 regional games. Judging by tweets from some northerners, they.. erm... didn't exactly make friends with the Beekmantown girls? But that's irrelevant, I'd dance on the field all day if I dominated someone en route to the semis. Westhill is solid in every position, and they very rarely break down. If you want to have a chance against them, you either have to take advantage of every single time there's a breakdown or just make some phenomenal plays. Good luck. Section I's Bronxville, ranked 3rd in the state, will be the next team to give it a crack. That game is 12:00 Saturday at Cortland HS.
Ahh, the two smaller classes. In C & D, I get to talk a touch more because Section II & Section III reps don't play each other in regionals. 3 plays the southern tier, and 2 plays.. whoever gets there. In Class C, Section II got the winner of the north country. The north country stopped there. Schoharie got its 2nd straight win at the 'Burgh, beating Potsdam 2-0 yesterday. It was the usual suspects involved again, with Carrie Krohn & Seana Cleveland scoring and Kaitlyn Kendle handing out an assist. Schoharie now boasts 3 players with 20+ goals & 10+ assists on the season, and a 4th with 10+ & 10+. Only one of them (Kendle) is a senior, and her 25 goals are matched by Krohn (a freshman), who has 25 as well. Stillwater gave them everything they could handle in the quarterfinals. They must be wondering how far their season could've went if they were able to break through in that one. As a matter of fact, all of their Section II postseason games were 1 goal games, with this being the most "lopsided" in postseason play. Schoharie is battle tested and not afraid of close ones. They like to score early and then focus on shutting you out, and it's worked so far. They've given up just 1 goal in the postseason, and that was with 3 minutes left in the final. Only 9 have been scored on them all season, and I'm sure they'd like to keep it at that number in their game against Section IV's Lansing, 5:00 Saturday at Cortland HS. Lansing got there by beating Section III champion Sauquoit Valley 2-1 yesterday at Fulton. It was a hotly contested game that was the most physical of the three at G. Ray Bodley HS on this day. Lansing got on the board first after Megan Dean knocked one through in the 15th minute. The ball bounced out to her after the pinball effect on a corner and she finished the job. Sauquoit responded with 13:00 left in the 1st half off a corner as well. The ball ended up a little over 20 yards outside of goal, and then Elma Sarajlija happened. The youngster turned on it and sent a rocket right upper 90 with the left foot in what without question was the goal of the night, tying it up at 1. Sauquoit wasn't in full control, but they did have the better half of play. However, it didn't translate onto the scoreboard, and Lansing broke the tie midway through the 2nd half when Reilly Zajac put one home. Sauquoit brought the pressure, but couldn't get the equalizer. Another season coming up short in the state playoffs for a perennial Section III powerhouse.
Both state semifinals in Class D feature a team in my zone. I like it. Section II's Bolton/Warrensburg squad needed an extra 20 minutes, but were able to knock off Eldred 3-1. Eldred made it to the semis last year before getting ousted by Poland; they won't get the chance this year. Liv Seamans is now the leading scorer in Section II, and that won't change. She put home goals 44 and 45 in the extra session to help her squad roll forward. They play at 10 AM Saturday at Homer against Arkport, Section V's rep. B/W is currently #8 in the state; Arkport is at #5. One of Arkport's 3 losses this year... came to Poland. The top-ranked team in Class D advanced to the state semifinals for the 3rd year in a row with a 3-0 W over Milford. They weren't expected to get out of Section III (poor Remsen) in 2012. They did, and it resulted in a state title. They were perhaps expected to win the state title last year, but lost to Jasper-Troupsburg in the final. They're back, looking to go 2 for 3 in the finals. They dominated for all 80 minutes against Milford, who was ranked #4 in the state coming in as Section IV's representative. It took a little while for them to break through, but there was no question who was coming out on top. In the 20th minute, Mikayla Blumenstock (I mean, who else?) started off the scoring off a feed from Jordan Batson. Milford did everything they could to keep Poland off the board, bringing the vast majority of their team back to clog the middle of the field. Despite an 11-1 edge in shots, along with 4 corners, the clutter of defenders mixed with 3 solid saves by Rukiye Henderson held the score at 1-0 by half. Just over 5 minutes into the 2nd half, the other Blumenstock struck. 8th grader Keara is quickly showing why you should remember her name instead of just as 'Mikki's little sis'. Her emergence as the 3rd scoring option behind Mikki (47 goals) and Saige Hampston propels this team to a new level. Oh yeah, Saige. She scored too. The senior knocked one home with 10 minutes left, bumping the lead to 3-0 and effectively ending any thought of a comeback. Milford didn't quit - they nearly tallied with 30 seconds left - but it was all Poland. 20-3 edge in shots with 9 on goal, the ball in their attacking third for what seemed like every minute, they showed why they're tops in the state. For anyone who was at Franklin/Poland in 2012 in Fulton... everything about the two games lined up except for one goal. Fulton HS on a Saturday in November. Really cold. Poland played a Section IV team near Oneonta that wore purple. Dominated, but the other team never quit. Youth on both sides. The other one was 4-0; this one was 3-0. Only difference. Many of the Poland players that are factors now were factors then. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Tornadoes will have their chance to advance to their 3rd straight state final when they battle Chateaugay, 12:30 on Saturday at Homer. Poland beat Chateaugay 2 years ago in the state semi before winning the final. Let's see if history repeats itself.
Side Notes
Barring anything crazy, Kaitlin Robbins' career goals mark of 208 will not be standing after next year. Mikayla Blumenstock is at 159 and counting, 47 this season. A couple more goals next weekend and match the total next year, and she breaks it. The easiest option to pick for breaking it, though, is Queensbury junior Brittany LaPlant. She has 182, and if she didn't miss the last month of this season with a broken foot, she may be past it now... Section II & III, with 3 reps each in the semifinals, are just behind Sections I & V for most representatives. Section V has 4 teams through, with Class AA being the only one in which they were nipped by Section VI. Section I has teams in all but Class D semis, and that's because there isn't a Class D school in Section I... Three things are certain. Death, taxes, and either Chazy or Chateaugay being in the D semis. Chateaugay beat Chazy this year to get there... Look out for Rockville Centre South Side in the Class A bracket. Long Island's representative (Section VIII) that just beat the team that knocked off the top-ranked team in the state is no stranger to Cortland. RCSS girls soccer has won more state titles than any team in NYS, any school, any sport. Winning one this year would give the program number 18.
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