By Connor Wood

Coxsackie, NY-

Final- Catskill 74, Coxsackie Athens 63

The Catskill Cats traveled to Coxsackie to take on the Indians on the hardwood.

Catskill started the game on a 16-6 run, stunning the Indians defense.

        “We came out and did the things we needed to do early on” said Catskill coach Doug Lampman.

        “We came out flat and struggled to play as a team” Coach Tyronne Coleman of the Indians said.

Catskill ended with a first quarter lead of 22-10. However, this was not the end for the Catskill offense as they came out even more explosive in the second quarter, equaling their points in the first quarter. Catskill went into halftime up by a score of 44-24. At the half Justice Brantley of Catskill had 16 points, while Gil Bell of Coxsackie had 14 points.

The Indians were playing soft defense around the 3 point line and the Cats were taking advantage of the open opportunities.

Coxsackie came out of the half a different team chipping away at the lead one basket at a time. The Cats offense however, was too explosive and was able to stick with the Indians. The Indians were able to outscore the Cats 19-14 in the third quarter to draw closer. They entered the 4th quarter down 15, 58-43.

Coach Lampman stated “Our teams gotta learn how to play with the lead. We began to slow down and allowed Coxsackie to stick around”

Coxsackie continued their momentum in the 4th quarter as Kane Schrader was able to lead the attack scoring all 11 of his points in the quarter. Brantley however, continued draining shots and was able to close the game out for the Cats.

Coach Coleman when asked about the difference in halves said, “We outscored them in the second half. We can’t come out and play two quarters against four, especially against a team like that (Catskill).”

Brantley finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. “He had a remarkable night tonight” said Coach Lampman.

Gil Bell of Coxsackie finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds to cap off a good night for him.

Coxsackie looks to get back to the winning ways next Tuesday against Taconic Hills. As for Catskill, they look to keep their good start to the season going as they face off against Maple Hill next Wednesday.

By Troy Muller

Valatie-

The Ichabod Crane Riders got their third win of the season Tuesday night at home against the Cobleskill-Richmondville Bulldogs.

The Riders led all game long as the team got off to hot start and scored 16 points in the first quarter and never looked back. A few quick baskets in a row, including a three, helped them get out to an early lead.

 Another big reason why the Riders were able to jump out to a 16 to 4 lead was the turnovers. The Bulldogs fell behind in the first and turning over the ball too much was a big reason for that. Bulldogs head coach Carlin DeMarinis had this to say in her post-game interview.

“Some of it is experience with our younger players, and some of it is just taking better care of the ball.”

Continuing on, DeMarinis had this to say about her teams scoring.

“We had quarters where we started out, we scored only four points in the first quarter, then we have quarters that we scored ten. We need to string together quarters of double digits.”

After taking a 22 to 14 lead into halftime, the Riders outscored the Bulldogs 28 to 24, after the break, leading to a 50 to 38 win. It was more of the same in the second half for Adam Vooris and his team. In his post-game interview Vooris said that this win was because of team basketball.

“Team basketball. We had seven different players who register an assist today, so that’s team basketball. We played smart, we were patient and we hit the open shots.”

Ichabod junior Madison Graham lead the way for the Riders, scoring a team high 16 points. Twelve of those points came from beyond the arch, as she hit four threes’ in the game. Following behind Graham in scoring was Shannon Verbraska, with 10 points of her own.

For the Bulldogs, Jess Meade lead her team in scoring with 9 points, with six of them coming from beyond the arch. Her teammates Sabrina Pressley and Emma Osterhoudt both scored 8 points in the game as well.

Next for the Riders, they play Friday night at 7 p.m at Hoosick Falls. The Bulldogs also play Friday night, but at Duanesburg high school at 5 p.m.

By Connor Wood

Coxsackie, NY-

Final- Maple Hill 75, Coxsackie Athens 71

Starting Lineups

Maple Hill-  Erik Burns, Evan Kulpa, Tyler Hanrahan, Nate Mannion, Blake Decker

Coxsackie Athens-  Gil Bell  Tyler Oravsky, Aiden Boehm, Josh Keifer, Killian Schrader

The Maple Hill Wildcats traveled to Coxsackie Athens to take on the Indians. Each team came into the game with a 4-1 record looking to take over the number 2 spot in the Patroon Conference behind the 7-0 Catskill Cats.  

Maple Hill came out of the locker room hot, as they started the game on a 12-4 run. Coxsackie Athens’ Gil Bell, brought the Indians roaring back quick with their own 8-4 run, to close put the first quarter at 14-12. “They’re starting to trust themselves, and starting to play as a team” stated Coach Tyrone Coleman of the Indians.

The Wildcats used a 13-2 run to expand their lead to 25-14. Gil Bell was the top player for the Indians bringing them back into the game every time it looked as if Maple Hill was going to build upon their lead. The rest of the second quarter was back and forth. At halftime, the score was 35-25 Wildcats.

The Indians started the 2nd half with a whole different mentality. The team was really flowing on both sides of the ball. They started the 2nd half on a 8-2 run, before the Maple Hill defense was able to slow them down. The Indians were able to squeak out the quarter win 16-15, drawing them one point closer as we started the 4th quarter 50-41, Wildcats.

Maple Hill came out in the 4th trying to put the game away, as they started on an 8-4 run. The Indians defense was then able to step into gear and bring their team back into the game. “When our defense is playing up to par, we really frustrate teams.” said Coach Tryrone Coleman. However, a late game technical by Kane Schrader really swung the momentum Maple Hill’s way, and they never looked back closing out the game by a score of 75-71.

Nate Mannion was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, with a game high 27 points and 12 rebounds. Blake Decker was able to add 15 points to the total, with 3 three pointers and 7 rebounds. Evan Kulpa chipped in with 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Gil Bell was the leading scorer for the Indians, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Killian Schrader finished the game with 20 points.

The Indians look to bounce back next Friday as they travel to Rensselaer. As for the Wildcats, they improve to 5-1. They look to keep their momentum going next Friday, as they travel to Cairo to take on the Mustangs.

By Aidan Joly

SARATOGA SPRINGS – After the game was close for the first three quarters, Albany girls’ basketball turned it on in the fourth, leading them to a 62-51 triumph in a battle of state-ranked, undefeated teams on Thursday night at Saratoga Springs High School.

For the first 24 minutes of the contest, neither team was able to jump ahead of the other as the biggest lead seen in the first three quarters was a six-point advantage which was held by the Falcons in the first few minutes of the game. The two squads essentially traded basket-for-basket for the larger part of the game, headlined by Saratoga’s Kayla Lahart who had 10 points in the first half, and Albany’s Ahniysha Jackson and Leah Gonzalez, the pair combining for 22 of the Falcons’ 27 points before the break.

After the third quarter ended, the Falcons held a 43-42 lead. From there, they totally changed on both sides of the ball. They led by a slim margin midway through the fourth, leading 48-46 with less than five minutes to play. From there, it was Albany’s game to lose. They went on a 14-2 run in the span of just over four minutes, putting the game away. They included a pair of clutch three-pointers out of the hands of Jenna Citone and Junasia Lanier, who combined for 12 points in the fourth and 25 overall.

“A couple of our other girls stepped up. Jenna Citone comes in and hit a lot of big shots, and then Junasia Lanier on the defensive end and distributing the ball,” Albany head coach Decky Lawson said. “I’m just loving what I’m seeing tonight.”

This fourth quarter rally by Albany came without Jackson, their top scorer. She got her fourth foul of the game late in the third and had to come out of the game for the majority of the fourth quarter. She did come back in with less than two minutes to play and made some free throws, but Albany pulling away and winning it in the fourth makes it all the more impressive that it came without her.

“I thought that would have sort of rallied us a little bit and put us into ‘let’s go get some points’ and see what we can do until she comes back in, but we turned the ball over and they were aggressive,” Saratoga head coach Robin Chudy said.

Jackson finished the night with 16 points despite not playing much of the fourth. She was one of five Falcons, that scored in double digits, the only five Falcons scorers as Citone had 13, Lanier had 12 and Gonzalez finished with 11. For the Blue Streaks, Kerry Flaherty had 13 and Dolly Cairns and Lahart had 10 each.

The win puts Albany at 7-0 on the season, placing them as one of the best teams in the section and a real threat for the rest of the year. They play again on Saturday, taking on Clarkstown South on the road, a 1 p.m. start.

“The feeling is one game at a time. We’re not looking past anyone and we’re just trying to earn some respect,” Lawson said.

Saratoga is now 6-1 on the year. They will head out to central New York after Christmas, facing West Genesee on December 27 at 8 p.m.