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It's great to hear that Jimmer Fredette will be playing locally against UVM in Glens Falls. As a BYU fan and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I would love to be the first in line to get tickets. The problem is, only about 7,000 people will get them, and that is unfortunate because you have that many people in Glens Falls alone that will want to see the former GHS standout and then about that many throughout the region who will want to see the "face" of their church come to the region in a once-in-a-lifetime northern New York swing (maybe they'll come back when Lawrence is playing for the, but he's going to have to do a lot of work on his jumper). Hopefully, the Cougs will play a week-long series that will also see them play at the Times Union Center.
Something caught my eye when I was on the state sportswriters site looking for the girls all-state teams.
Heading into late January, there were five schools in Class D that were undefeated. Out of those five teams, one got beat before the post season started, one got beat in the sectional quarterfinals, we all know who got beat in their sectional finals, one got beat in the regional semifinals and the final one got beat in the regional finals.
So, not only did none of the undefeated teams win the state title - none of them made the final four.
Maybe there is something to the idea of having a loss or two before you get to the point of the season where losing is not an option, but I;'d still go for the undefeated season any day.
By the way, no news yet on the all-state team. If St. Clair makes the team, I'll let you know.
Just saw the Mountain West All-Conference team. Jimmer Fredette was not named the conference player of the year??????? The honor went to some guy out of New Mexico???? I know they won the conference, but please, the only guy in your conference that got any national run and he does not get player of the year??? Fredette was also an all-american! in local terms, this would be if anyone but Brittany Sr. Clair was named the MVP of the Adirondack League - it just would not be right, just as Jimmer not being conference player of the year is not right!
No. 13 Argyle (17-3) vs. No. 3 Whitehall (20-0) Argyle Jacquelyn Miller - 16.8 PPG Shelby Graham - 10.6 PPG Lexi McWhorter - 6.5 PPG Hannah Kennedy - 5.4 PPG Whitehall Brittany St. Clair - 21.5 PPG Maria McKee - 13.1 PPG Katie Paddock - 6.0 PPG Mackenzie Trevellyan - 4.8 PPG Breakdown - Both teams are getting some good performances from role players (Lexi McWhorter for Argyle, Mackenzie and Loren Martell for Whitehall). In the Whitehall home game, the bog key was rebounding. Whitehall CAN NOT allow as many offensive rebounds and second chance points as they did against the Scots in that game, or it could be a long day for the Railroaders. On defense, there is no secret - stop Miller or stop St. Clair - simple as that. It could very well come down to the who has the biggest night that was least expected to. Prediction - A great game!
The top team in Class D girls basketball, South Kortright, fell 27-25 to Jefferson last night in the Section IV playoffs, ending their season at 18-1. This leaves three unbeaten teams in the state of New York in Class D: new #1 Elba will play Jasper-Troupsburg on Friday in the Section V DD championship game, with the winner facing the Class D winner to advance to the state quarterfinals. The new #3 is Westport - my home town. They play Lake Placid in the Section VII class D finals in Plattsburgh Friday. If they win, they will play Harrisville in Plattsburgh on March 10 for the right to go to the state quarterfinals. As for the new #2, well, I think you know who that is.
The varsity girls are headed to HVCC for a game against Argyle in the Section II/Class D finals. They beat Heatly 59-40 in the semifinals, with Brittany St. Clair scoring 22 and Maria McKee adding 11. What has been a good sign for them is contributions from throughout the lineup, with good rebounding by Katie Paddock and scoring from Nea Wescott, Mackenzie Trevellyan and Loren Martell. Everyone has been waiting for Trevellyan to break out, and this is a great time to do it. By the way, the slideshow of state finals day two is up, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hVqgJ7F5us
Before I begin, I will have the pictures from day two of the state wrestling tourney up tomorrow. No. 4 Heatly (16-4) vs. No. 1 (state No. 3) Whitehall 19-0 Tuesday, March 2, 7:30 p.m. Adirondack Community College Hornets Melissa Heffern - 16.0 PPG, 16 3's Stasha Cuzdey - 10.7 PPG, 21 3's Adrianna Brown - 9.2 PPG, 36 3's Erica Gross - 9 3's Railroaders Brittany St. Clair - 21.4 PPG, 14.5 RPG, 4.3 APG Maria McKee - 13.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG Katie Paddock - 5.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG Mackenzie Trevellyan - 4.6 PPG Quick thoughts: The Railroaders have the height advantage, which is nothing new for them. They also have the depth advantage, with the bench averaging more points for Whitehall then for Heatly, which is helped by the play of Carly Nichols and the continuing improvement of Paige Mason. Prediction: Healty is the best outside shooting team Whitehall has seen all year, but being able to put taller and faster defenders on the shooters should shut the three-ball down for the Hornets. If everyone plays their game, Whitehall should win and advance to the finals.
Here's the last updates from states. Anything else (pics, etc.) I will put up later. 112 - John Diekel fought hard but was beaten by teach fall (16-1) by Nick Tighe. John finishes in sixth place at his first state championships. 125 - Curt Thompson was only able to score an escape in the third period, with Ryan Osleeb scoring and escape, takedown and penalty point to score a 4-1 victory. Thompson finishes sixth in his third and final championship appearance as a Railroader. 160 - Travis Beayon Was down after one period, but scored a flurry of points to take a 8-2 lead into the third quarter and score a 9-4 win to finish in fifth place in his final match as a Railroader. 171 - Zach Diekel pinned Brandon Mills at the 2:58 mark to finish in fifth place.
Here's the results of the semifinals in the consolation bracket: 112 - John Diekel got a very poor call against him in the first period, and Tom Page took advantage in scoring a 5-0 win against John in the semis. Page scored all of his points in the third period, while John could have had just as many in the first if it was not for a quick-fire stalemate call by the official. Things are going real fast, so I really don't know who is going to face John in the sixth place match. 125 - Curt Thompson could have had a takedown right before the end of the first period, but was unable to finish it. Patrick Hogan then scored four points in the second period and got one more in the third as he defeated Curt 5-2. Curt will next wrestle for fifth place. 160 - It came down to a first period fall, unfortunately. Travis Beayon was taken down by Ray Wang in the first period and no more points were scored in the 2-0 defeat. Travis will now wrestle for fifth place. 171 - Zach Diekel scored an early takedown against Jon Glennon, and then the two battled. Glennon scored five points in the second period on a takedown and back points, while Zach scored four points to start the third before Glennon got a reversal and finished out a 8-6 win. Zach will now wrestle for fifth place.
Here we go, it's day two and we're set to go with four consolation quarterfinal match-ups. Here's what we got (refresh this page for updates): 112 - John Diekel found himself down 2-0 after a takedown by Sam Recco after the first quarter, but choose top in the second period and scored three back points to take the lead. An extra point on a stall call in the third would finish the scoring at 4-2 in favor of Diekel. John will next face first round opponent Tom Page in the consolation semifinals. 125 - As expected, there was not much scoring in Thompson-Borst III. Evan started the scoring in the second with an escape, but Thompson was able to score a reversal early in the third period and hold on for the 2-1 victory. Curt will face Patrick Hogan in the consolation semifinals. 160 - Travis Beayon scored four points in the second period and fought through a reverse in the third to score a 4-2 victory. Travis was injured in the middle of the second, but was able to get the back points after the injury timeout. Travis will face Ray Wang in the consolation semifinals. 171 - Zach Diekel was tied 2-2 after on period against Arnold Gomez, with no scoring in the second period. In the third, Zach scored four quick points and then kept pushing the pace with takedowns to score the 10-5 victory. Zach will now face Jon Glennon in the consolation semifinals.
There is now a slideshow up on our video blog with shots from the first round and quarterfinals of the state wrestling tournament with John Diekel, Curt Thompson, Travis Beayon, Zach Diekel and Grant Gebo. We'll have some more shots and maybe a little post game from today, so keep in touch. Here's the link for day one slideshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjU_rkui2k8
Here's what happened at states while I was at the girls game: 112 - John Diekel picked up a pair of falls, scoring a tech fall against Cory Necketopoulos and a fall at 1:21 against Joey Paddock. He will face Sam Recco in the consolation quarterfinals tomorrow morning. 125 - Section II Battle III will take place tomorrow morning, as Curt Thomspon rebounded with a major decision against Gerardo Alvarez. His "reward;" a third meeting in four weeks against Evan Borst - the rubber match! 160 - Travis Beayon pinned Vin Desousat at 4:47 to advance to face Neal Vecellio in the consolation quarters tomorrow morning. 171 - Zach Diekel scored a 13-2 major decision against Kasten Carter and will face Arnold Gomez in the consolation quarters. 215 - Grant Gebo scored a 9-3 decision against Jake Edington in his first wrestle-back, but his season ended when Noah Sibley scored a 3-1 victory against him in the second round. So, four are still in the mix for a podium spot along with Granville's Karl Palmer. Wrestling starts tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.
Here is the link to the post-game video from the Lady Railroaders win against Fort Edward on Friday night. It was a very good game for the team and everyone got a chance to play heading into the Section II/Class D semifinal against Heatly on Tuesday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flEtdaL8dWY
Three into the quarters - here's how they did: 125 - The top seed Quinton Murphy was the first to do what he was supposed to. After two top seeds were upended and two more challenged, Murphy jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period and scored a 10-4 win against Curt Thompson. Thompson worked hard to keep off his back, but was unable to get any prolonged offense. Curt will face the winner of the Kyle Underwood and Gerardo Alvarez in the second round of wrestlebacks tonight. 160 - Travis Beayon came out early and had a 3-0 lead early in the second period, but Zach Zupan fought back to tie the score at 4-4- heading into the final period. Zupan then got an escape after choosing to go down to start the period and that it how it remained, with Beayon dropping a 5-4 decision. Travis will face the winner of the Vin Desousa and John Wood match later tonight in the wrestlebacks. 171 - A very rough quarterfinal round was capped off when Zach Diekel suffered a 11-6 defeat by Austin Hayes. Hayes scored early and often as he built a 6-2 lead that Zach was not able to come back from. Zach will now face the winner of the Nevin Parish and Kasten Carter match later tonight in the wrestlebacks.
As you can tell by the title, Al Aubin beat Beecher Baker with a last second take down to advance to the consolation finals. However, he was unable to score in the third place match, falling 1-0 to Cody Bruno. The last five standing go tonight in the championship round with trips to the state tourney on the line. Good luck.
It didn't start pretty, but the Whitehall contingent went 5-1 in the semifinals, putting the teams record at 15-3 over the first three rounds and first round of wrestle backs. Here's what happened: 103 - Al Aubin took an early lead, but was unable to hold on in dropping at 7-2 decision to Freddy Pechette. Aubin will face a familiar foe in Beecher Baker in the consolation semifinals. 112 - John Diekel scored a pin at 1:39 and will face Noah Valastro tonight in the Section II/Division II championship match. Noah is the top seed. 125 - Curt Thompson scored an 8-1 victory over Taylor Treadgold, and will face friend and rival Evan Borst in the championship match. After last week's result, Borst is the top seed. 160 - Travis Beayon scored a 4-0 decision over Nick Waytkus, and will face Dave Kohls in the championship match. Travis is the top seed. 171 - Zach Diekel recorded a 10-3 decision over Erik Franklin and will face Dustin Hallock in the championship match, Zach is the top seed. 215 - Grant Gebo scored a 4-1 win over Adam Biron and will face Nick Gwiazdowski in the championship match. After last week, Nick entered as the top seed. I'll report back after the consolation bracket is finished up with.
The Railroader grapplers went 6-1 in the quarterfinals, so there were no big surprises. Here's how it went down: 103 - Al Aubin went into the third round with Daniel Jardine before scoring a fall at the 4:54 mark. He will face Freddy Pechette tomorrow in the semifinals. 112 - John Diekel picked up career win 100 with a 16-0 tech fall over Zachary Shaw. He will face Connor Lawrence in the semifinals. 125 - Curt Thompson scored a fall at 1:46 over Matt McKnight and will now face Taylor Treadgold in the semifinals. 145 - Codie Bascue was defeated by fall at 1:20 against Jake Oswald, but made some moves early that almost led to an escape. He will face a familiar opponent, Zach Baer, in the consolation opening round. 160 - Travis Beayon dropped Branden Goyer and got the fall at 1:32. He will face Nick Waytkus in the semifinals. 171 - Zach Diekel scored a 10-3 decision against Nick Ecuyer in the quarters, and will face Erik Franklin in the semifinals. 215 - Grant Gebo scored a pin at 2:12 against Zack Haynes. He will face Adam Biron in the semifinals. Wrestling starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. I won't get to see Codie in his first wrestle back, so here's to another win against Baer so I will see him tomorrow. Off to the boys game.
A very good opening round for the Railroaders at the Section II wrestling championships. Here's how it went down: 103 - Two seed Al Aubin pinned Dan Bernhard in the third period, will face Daniel Jardine of Hadley in the quarters. 112 - Two seed John Diekel pinned Zac Crankshaw in 48 seconds, will face Zach Shaw in the quarterfinals. 125 - Two seed Curt Thompson received a bye, will face Matt McKnight in the quarterfinals. 145 - Codie Bascue was moved up to the eighth seed after all wrestlers signed in, he received a bye and will face top seed Jake Oswald in the quarterfinals. 160 - Top seed Travis Beayon pinned Nick Wilsey in 1:16 and will face Branden Goyer in the quarterfinals. 171 - Top seed Zach Diekel pinned John Hecht in 2:28, will face Nick Ecuyer in the quarterfinals. 215 - Two seed Grant Gebo received a bye, will face Zack Haynes in the quarterfinals. I'll be back with as many results as I can get before I head back to Whitehall for the boys game tonight.
Sorry it has been a few day since my last post - I also had a post that did not go through for some reason, but that's neither here or there. Went to the Whitehall softball game agianst Argyle last night. It was a very well played game and I thought the Railroaders looked alright against the Scots. It was also one of those times when you see a coach preach and preach something and when it clicks, stuff starts happening. When the team started to focus more on making contact than taking big swings, they started getting baserunners and had the Argyle pitcher in trouble in each of the last three innings, but were never able to get runs across the plate. I remember having this same challenge against Crown Point when I coached. I would keep saying that you had to hit one of the first two pitches because they were going to be fastballs and they were going to be strikes. What happens: strikes one and two looking, then a whiff on a nasty breaker. Once they got the notion of swing early in their heads, though, they started to pulverize the pitchers (it also helped that these players were really, really good). Over to golf, I was able to play the best round of my life at Westport the other day - not because I pared the past two holes, but because I played nine with my son for the first time. He did alright, got the ball off the ground and hit some good shots. Scored 88 (10 for the first eight holes and an 8 on the par-3 ninth).
This weekend, Virginia is for wrestlers at the Junior Nationals. Here are the local results from yesterday. Curt Thompson made it to the quarterfinal round in the Junior bracket at 119, scoring 11-2, 9-2 and 4-2 wins before dropping a 7-6 match against a kid from Maryland (he beat kids from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Alabama). Grant Gebo, in the sophomore bracket, won his first match against a kid from Tennessee 9-2 before falling to a kid from New Jersey with 17 seconds left in the match. Zach Diekel got beat in his frist round match 9-2 against a kid from West Virginia in the freshman bracket. John Diekel has yet to wrestle in the middle school bracket. See what they say tomorrow.
Alright, so I am in no pools this year other than my annual who gets to pick where we go to dinner between me and my wife, but here is my bracket. East - Upsets in the first round: 9 Tennessee, 11 VCU. Sweet 16 teams: Pitt, Florida State, Villanova, Texas. Elite 8 teams: Pittsburgh v. Villanova, with 'Nova going to the final four. South - Upsets in first round: 9 Butler, 12 Western Kentucky, 10 Michigan. Sweet 16: UNC, Western Kentucky, Arizona State, Oklahoma. Elite 8 - UNC v. Oklahoma, with UNC advancing to the final four. Midwest - Upsets in first round: 9 Siena, 11 Dayton, 10 USC. Sweet 16: Louisville, Wake Forest, Kansas, Michigan State. Elite 8: Louisville v. Michigan State, with Louisville heading to the final four. West - Upsets in first round: 9 Texas A&M (that's right, I am picking against Jimmer and the BYU Cougars, who have been terrible in the tourney the last three years), 12 Northern Iowa, 11 Utah State, 14 Cornell. Sweet 16: UConn, Washington, Utah State, Memphis. Elite 8: UConn v. Memphis, with memphis advancing. Final 4: Unc beat Villanova, Louisville defeats Memphis. In the title game, I am going with the fact that Ty Lawson should be healthy by then and if so, UNC will be able to handle the Lousiville pressure. Sorry, cousin Mark, but my pick is the Tar Heels.
With a very tight paper this week, there were a few things that will be held over and stuff that didn't get in. With that said, here is something I found while looking through the New York State Wrestling media guide, which said that there have been 14 Railroaders to place at the state tournament, with the first being Paul Diekel in 1980 and the most recent being his son, Zach, with a fourth place finish this year. Here is the list: According to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association records, 14 members of the Whitehall varsity wrestling team have placed at the state championship event, with three claiming a state title: Paul Diekel – 1980 third place finisher at 145; 1981 State Champion at 167. Kevin Parrott – 1981 fourth place at 138; 1982 fourth place at 138. J.P. Epifino – 1984 sixth place at 91. Mark Sabo – 1985 fourth place at 145 (placed sixth at 138 in 1983 for Granville). Kevin Gebo – 1985 third place at 155 Stephen Palmer – 1986 sixth place at 138 Christopher Terry – 1988 sixth place at 126; 1990 sixth place at 138. Jamie Huntington – 1990 sixth place at 215; 1991 sixth place at 215; 1992 State Champion at 215. Jason Gordon – 1997 sixth place at 275. Dan Bishop – 2003 second place at 103; 2004 second place at 103; 2005 State Champion at 112. Jerrick Jones – 2004 sixth place at 125. Curt Thompson – 2008 fourth place at 112. Tyrell White – 2009 sixth place at 103. Zach Diekel – 2009 fourth place at 171.
Here's a blow-by-blow for the final match of the night for the Railroaders, Dave Richer against Zach Diekel for third place in the 171 weight division. Before it begins though, let me give some props to Bob Diekel. Before Ty White's match, Brendan Gollup came to him from the mat next to him and was scared because his coaches were no where to be found. Bob quickly called for his brother Paul, who helped Terry White coach Ty in his match while Bob sat in Gollups' corner. Something that he didn't have to do, but was a great show of sportsmanship and respect for the fellow wrestlers of Section II. And now we begin with the consolation final. First period - Richer gets a takedown with 40 seconds to go in first period. Richer rides out with a 2-0 lead. Second - Zach defers, Richer goes down. Richer gets an escape for 3-0. Diekel gets two for the takedown for 3-2. Richer gets two for a reversal, and then gets three back points for 8-2. richer comes close to getting the pin but the buzzer saves Zach. Richer leads 11-2. Third period - Zach goes neutral, looking for a pin, basically. Diekel gets the takedown, but Richer gets his back off the floor before Zach can get back points. Richer gets a reversal for 13-4. Richer ends the period with three back points to win third place by the score of 16-4. Zach finishes as the fourth place finisher with a record of 39-7.
Zach Diekel was immediately followed by Ty White, so here are the results: Zach Diekel vs. Cody Reed. The sides remained scoreless through the first period, with Zach getting a reversal in the second to make the score 2-0. Reed scored an escape before the end of the second, but there would be no scoring in the third and Diekel advanced to the consolation finals to face unranked Dave Richer, who has cruised through the second day of the tourney, even beating defending 171 state champion Cody Hutcheson. Consolation fifth place match: Ty White vs. Kevin Strong In the second period, White got a takedown for a 2-0 lead, but Strong got the reversal to make the score 2-1 heading into the final period. In the third, Strong gave White an escape for a 3-1 lead, but then made the most of going neutral in the final 10 seconds, scoring a takedown and two backpoints to finish out a 5-3 win. White finished the event in sixth place and ended the season with a record of 39-8.
In a rematch of the first round, Jared Crast took revenge as he pinned Ty White 1:03 into the second period. The duo had a good match in the first period, with the two grappling for position just before the end of teh period. Crast was able to score a reversal about 45 seconds into the second and held it for the pin about 15 seconds later. White will wrestle for fifth place in teh consolation finals, I will let you know his opponent when I do the results of the Zach Diekel vs. Cody Reed match.
Here is a recap of the matchup in the wrestlebacks between Brian Piarulli (40-2 sixth seed) and Zach Diekel (37-6 eighth seed): First period - no scoring, Diekel goes to the down position to start the second. second period - Zach scores a reverse to give him a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. Third period - Piarullu starts on the bottom and records a reversal to tie the score at 2-2. Diekel is able to get the point for an escape and then scores a quick takedown for a 5-2 lead. Piarulli was able to get a reversal as time expired in the match, but was unable to get all the way back as Zach scored the 5-2 victory. In the consolation semis, Zach will face second-seeded Cody Reed, who fell 5-2 to state finalist Vinny Gallo (that name ring a bell). Gallo will face Tyler Beckwith in the finals, who looked unstoppable in recording his third fall of the tournament, this one of the technical variety over the man who beat him in last years championship game. The only wrestler that Beckwith has not beaten by a fall is - Zach Diekel (it was a 11-1 major decision).
The first day of the state wrestling tournament is now over, here is what the rest of the day had in store. Zach Diekel was unable to unseed the top ranked wrestler at 171, Tyler Beckwith. While I think that Zach was a better wrestler than Beckwith, he was the stronger of the two and any time Zach made a move that would have put anyone else on the floor, Beckwith stayed up. Diekel then moved on to the consolation bracket, where he matched up against Gouvvernoue's Carson Gates and made easy work of him, scoring a 9-0 major decision. He will face Brian Piarulli in the second round of the consolation brackets tomorrow. For Curt Thompson, though, his season is over after dropping an 8-4 decision to Tyler Marlow. Wrestling starts tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the semifinals, where Ty White will look to make the finals against eighth seed and undefeated Colton Dalberth of Marion. Wreslteback happen throughout the day, and the championship matches start at 6 p.m. tomorrow night. Good night, and good luck to Ty and Zach, and congratulations to Curt Thompson for another great season on the mats.
This was not a matter of who won the game, but who lost it. The girls team was leading by as much as eight points against Canajoharie tonight, but were not able to keep the leading, losing 43-42 to the Lady Cougars. The Railroaders were not able to stand up to the Canjo pressure, and they were outscored 16-12 in the final quarter. In terms of a fatigue factor, it was canceleed out because Canjo used only one sub the entire night. While it was a tough night for the girls, it was a big night for Brittany St. Clair, who recorded the seldom seen quadruple double with 12 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and 12 blocked shots (along with three steals). Katie Paddock and Mackenzie Trevellyan each had seven points, while Maria McKee and Carly Nichols each scored six. The team ended the season at 18-4.
The Web crashed as I was writing the blog entry, but I will say that Ty scored a 10-6 win against Lance Brown, making it two South Jefferson wrestlers to fall at the hands of Ty in one day. Ty will next face the eighth seed Colton Dalberth, who beat top-seeded Colton Perry 3-0 in the quarterfinals. The good news, Dalberth is the eighth seed. The bad news, he is 42-0, but Ty can pick up his 40th win of the season tomorrow - oh, and a trip to the state finals. Curt's up next, be back in a second.
Zach Diekel recorded a pin with 45 seconds left in the second period to advance to the 171 quarterfinals against Ivan Carlson. His reward - a match-up against top-ranked and undefeated Tyler Beckwith, who took less than one minute to pin his very over-anxious opponent. Qurters start immediately following the first round, so I will be back soon with the Tyrell White Lance Brown match report for a trip to tomorrow's semi-finals.
Here is what happened in the first Whitehall match of the day. First period - White got early take down and back points to take a 4-0 lead, but Crast got a takedown later to make the score 4-2 at the end of the first. Second period - Crast cut the difference to one point with an escpae after white defered and he choose down, but White scored another takedown to make the score 6-3. White almost had back points before the whistle, but was not able to get him over. Third period - White choose neutral and scored a takedown and back points for a 10-3 lead. Crast got a reversal for a 10-5 score, but White was able to counter any move for a potential pin or back points and advance to the second round with the 10-5 win. Do not know who ty will face in the quarters yet. will put it on with Curt's results.
They're getting ready to start the state tournament, and here are the brackets that the boys will face. 103 - Ty White, as the fourth seed, will wrestle Jared Crast from South Jefferson in the first round, which will happen pretty quick. He could then face a second South Jefferson wrestler in Lance Brown, who faces Brad Mayville of Bishop Kerney. If White advances past them, he would most likely face Colton Perry in the semifinals. 119 - Curt Thompson, also the fourth seed, will face Danny Arnell from Oyster Bay in the opening round. If he advances, he will face either Derek Pfluger of Sandy Creek or Vinnie Napierski of Attica. A semifinal would most likely be against top seed Matt Peters of East Aurora. 171 - This puppy is deep, and Zach Diekel will start as the eighth seed facing Ivan Carlson of Red Hook in the first round. If he advances, he will most likely face the top seed in the division, Tyler Beckwith of Greene, who faces Leonard Dul of Mineola. I'll write after each match. Here we go.
The girls won 63-29 against Waterford this evening, and will now play Canajoharie on Friday at Maple Hill High School. The team only trailed at 2-0 and 2-1, and once Maria McKee hit a shot to put the team up 3-2, they never looked back, outscoring the Fordians 18-7, 27-7, 20-8 and 9-8 in each of the four quarters. top stats for the game: the team had 56 rebounds total, led by Brittany St. Clair's 13 and 10 each from Mackenzie Trevellyan, Katie Paddock and McKee. St. Clair also led the team with 23 points, while McKee scored 17 points, Paddock added eight points and senior Shelby Cuomo scored six in her final home game (senior Brittany Sheldrick scored a pair). St. Clair also had six assists and five blocked shots along with two steals. Trevellyan, Nea Wescott, Paddock and Paige Mason also had a pair of pilfers. As for starter Wescott and reserve Mason, the duo did their job against Fordian sharp-shooter Jackie Sorenson, holding her to four free throws in the first half and not allowing her to score from the field until two minutes to go in the third quarter. Sorenson ended up with 10 points, six of which were meaningless. The Cougars are led by Emilie Liddle, who scored 26 points in their opening round game against Mayfield and is the teams leading scorer. Sarah Blood scored 16 in the game and Mackenzie Stahler added nine. Stahler is the second leading scorer on the team, with blood third and Caitlyn Mosher fourth, all over 100-points on the season. First-look ananlysis: I don't lnoe if they are as tiny as it says they are based on the stats, which list Liddle as a 5'2" sophomore center - she has not hit a three pointer all year, and if she is a 5'2" center, then the Railroaders height is a big time advantage. If she happens to be 6'2", this could be a tough one. mosher is the three-point expert as a starter, with some long range shooting coming off the bench (she's listed as a 5'9" forward, also a sophomore). Sara Blood is a 5'6" senior forward. I'd say if Liddle is little, there's your Wescott-Mason player of the night. If she's taller, the duo will have to keep Mosher from scoring outside while Britt and Katie work on the inside. I'll be at the game at Maple Hill, since it is only 10 miles between the two sites.
Here are the seedings for the three Whitehall wrestlers for Friday's state tournament. All three guys were seeded in the top eight. 103 - Ty White received the fourth seed in the state tourney, right behind Noah Valastro, who beat him in last weekend's finals. The top two seeds are Colton Perry of Windsor, who finished third last year at 96-pounds; and Arik Robinson of Peru, the 2008 champion at 96. 119 - Curt Thompson also received the fourth seed in his weight class, well ahead of Evan Borst, the man who beat him last week at the Civic Center. The top three seeds are Matt Peters of East Aurora; Quinton Murphy of Holley, who is the defending state champion at 103; and Pat Hogan of Peru. 171 - Zach Diekel will enter the state tourney as the eighth seed and will have a lot of work to do in what could be the strongest bracket of the entire event. The top four seeds are last years runner-up at 171 Tyler Beckwith; Cody Reed of Walton; Kyle Roosa of Allegany Limestone; and Brian Piarulli from IHC. The 171 defending state champion, Cody Hutcheson of Bath, is ranked sixth - the defending champ is ranked sixth, and one of the best wrestlers I have seen is ranked eighth - that's depth. I'll be on site from the word go tomorrow morning and will write after each round of the tourney.
The Section II Class C first round game between Whitehall and Waterford (still coincidental, not ironic) will be up in the air until about 1 p.m., according to athletic director Keith Redmond. Coach said that he will talk to the village at that time to see how the water situation is progressing. If they come to the conclusion that the game can be played in Whitehall, then it will tip at 6 p.m. in the high school gym. If they feel the water system will not be ready by 6 p.m., then the game will be played at Fort Ann High School with a tip time on 6:30 p.m. As soon as I hear anything, I will post it here.
The wrestlers who will take place in the state tournament in Albnay have been announced, and while there are no brackets as of yet, let's take a look at whose in the three weight classes that have Railroaders in them. 103 - Ty White in the second at-large birth in the field, with a record of 37-5 and coming off a Section II and state appearance last year. Other noteables in his bracket (record-wise) include: 40-0 Colton Dalbert of Marion (Section V, finished fourth at states last year at 96-lbs.), 45-4 Jared Crast of South Jefferson (III; at-large 3), 41-6 Lance Brown, also of South Jefferson (how did one school get two kids in at the same weight class???), 39-5 Kevin Strong of Frewburg (VI), 38-5 Austin Keough of Warsaw (V, top rated at-large), 33-0 Arik Robinson of Peru (my home Section VII and defending state champion at 96-lbs.), 33-2 Colton Perry of Windsor (IV, finished third last year at 96-lbs.) and 31-2 Brad Mayville of Bishop Kerney (V). 119 - Curt Thompson also enters the tournament as the second at-large qualifier with a record of 39-6 and is in a bracket with plenty of state championship experience, he hmself finishing fourth last year at 112-lbs. Other top qualifiers include 51-7 Vinnie Napierski of Attica (V, third at-large qualifier), 46-1 Matt Peters of East Aurora (VI), 45-5 Derek Pfluger of Sandy Creek (III, third place finisher last year at 103), 43-1 Quinton Murphy of Holley (V, defending state champion at 103), 43-3 Tyler Marlow of Pal-Mac (V, top ranked at-large and the man who beat Thompson last year for third place at 112), 39-4 Patrick Hogan of Peru (VII), 35-8 Evan Borst (II, perhaps you've heard of him), 33-1 Danny Arnell of Oyster Bay High (VIII) and 31-2 Danny Gromley of Bainbridge - Guilford/Afton (IV, finish sixth last year at 112). 171 - Zach Diekel enters the tournament as the Section II champion with a record of 35-5 and a very convincing win over runner-up Vinny Gallo (35-3, received final at-large bid to state tourney). however he also enters a bracket that returns the top two finishers from states last year in runner-up Tyler Beckwith of Greene (IV, 40-0 this season) and state champion Cody Hutcheson of Bath (V, 42-2 this season). Other record noteables include 49-4 Luke Pariso from Attica (V), 40-6 Dave Richer of Gowanda (VI, second at-large) 38-1 Brian Piarulli of IHC (III), 37-3 Cody Reed of Walton (IV, third at-large), 35-3 Kyle Roosa of Allegany Limestone (VI), 35-7 Ivan Carlson of Red Hook (IX) and 32-8 Carson Gates of Gouveneur (X). As soon as we know the draws, I will post them here. I will also be on after I get home from the girls basketball game with fresh coverage from their Section II Class C opening round game against Waterford.
The Whitehall Railroaders are the Section II Division II champions after the 141-123 team point win over Duanesburg. However, the individual finals did not go well for the team. Here is the recap: 103 - Ty White got a takedown 1:20 into the first period, with Valastro recording a reversal 15 seconds later. Valastro almost got back points at the end of the first, but it ended 2-2. White started the second quarter in the down position and stayed there throughout the period, keeping the score 2-2. In the third, Valastro started down and was given a point when White chose neutral. Valastro then got a takedown 10 seconds into the quarter to give him a 5-2 lead. White got the escape with 57 seconds left in the period to cut the lead to 5-3, and then scored a takedown with 10 seconds left that tied the score. However, Valastro was awarded a reversal and took a 7-5 lead that held to down White. 119 - In the third classic matchup of the season, Curt Thompson and Evan Borst again went through the first period with no score. In the second period, Curt started in the down position and recorded a reversal for a 2-0 lead with :50 remaining in the period. Evan got an escape with 20 seconds remaining, making the score 2-1 heading into the final period. Evan almost scored a reverse on Thompson with about 55 seconds remaining in that period, but Curt was claaed for a hand lock with 20 seconds reamining to tie the score at 2-2. Borst then scored a reversal with less than 10 seconds left, giving him the 4-2 win and pulling his team to within seven points of the Railroaders. However, the next two Duanesburg wrestlers could not pick up wins, and the team title was clinched. Borst also was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in Division II. 171 - The most anticipated matchup of the night was a laugher, with Zach Diekel scoring points left and right against Vinny Gallo. Diekel started with an escape at the 1:20 mark of the second period. He then scored a takedown with 35 seconds left in the period. Zach then gave up a point to start the third period in the neutral position, and then went to work scoring a takedown and six back points to finish off an 11-0 win and qualify for Albany next weekend. While Diekel is going to Albany for sure, many think that he will be joined by Thompson, who will receive a wild card bid. Coach Diekel is also hoping for bids to be awarded to White, John Diekel and Travis Beayon. "They all wrestle tough and deserve tp go," he said. Once again, congrats to the Railroaders.
It's staying close til the end, here is what happened in the consy's 112 - John Diekel was more dominate in the second time around against Abby Roth, scoring a 7-0 win. Here's a my best effort blow-by-blow of his match for third against Zach Winney - - Diekel scores a takedown 20 seconds in; gets the pin 10 seconds later to finish in third place with a record of 33-11. 130 - Eric Ripley was sent to the fifth place match after a tough match against Aaron Dudley. Once again, it was a situation where there was no score for two periods and then a move won it late - unfortunately for the other team. Blow by blow of fifth place match against Chris Holt - - (This may be hard, Grant and Rip are going at the same time - I'm writing as we go then will post all at once) No score in first, Ripley chooses down after opponent defers; Holt rides Ripley out for entire period, chooses down to start third; Holt gets reversal at 1:20 to get a 2-0 lead; Ripley gets an escape point with 13 left; this is too crazy, as Gebo has his man down, Ripley records a fall and rides out for the fifth place win and finishes at 29-9. 152 - Again, a tight match that was decided late, Nate LaGoy fell to the kid with the long last name from Johnstown. LaGoy then wrestled in the fifth place match. Blow by blow of fifth place match against Alberto Beltran - - LaGoy scores two points for a fall seven seconds in; gets two back points before Beltran gets an escape point for 4-1; Beltran defers, LaGoy chooses down to start second; LaGoy gets two points for reversal 30 seconds in for 6-1; Beltran gets an escape with 50 seconds to go for 6-2; A near fall for Beltran is ruled out oif bounds; Beltran gets his fall with nine seconds left for 6-4 as the period ends; Beltran chooses neutral to start final period; Beltran ties things up with a takledown with 1:08 to go in third; LaGoy gets an escape with 55 left for 7-6; LaGoy gets fall with 40 seconds left for 9-6; Adds three back points with 20 seconds left for 12-6; rides out to finish in fifth place with a season record of 35-8. 160 - Travis Beayon scored a fall in the second period against Kyle mcKeighan to advance to the consolation championship. Blow by blow of third consolation final against David Kohls - - Beayon scores a takedown 30 seconds in, gets the pin 32 seconds into the round to finish in third place and end the season with a record of 36-8. 215 - Grant Gebo had a great match against Granville's Walter Foster, taking a close decision against him with a late takedown. Blow by blow of consolation championship match against Luke Albrecht - - (see above for degree of difficulty) No score in the first, Grant chooses down to start second; Gebo gets an early escape to start second 1-0; No more scoring in second, Albrecht chooses down to start third; escape for Albrecht a minute in ties score at 1-1; Gebo gets fall with 20 seconds left, wins the match and third place with a season record of 30-7. That was a very exciting 30 seconds to watch. Overall, the Railroaders went 3-2 in the semis, with Duanesburg (in the lead at the start of the round) going 1-2 and Johnstown going 3-1 in the round. In the final consolation round, Whitehall went a perfect 5-0 (three thirds, two fifths), while Duanesburg went 3-0 (one third, two fifths) and Johnstown went 2-2 (one third, two fourths, one fifth). Whitehall should be in the lead heading into the championship round with their best three (White, Thompson and Zach Diekel) set to defend their spot in the state tournament. Johnstown has a pair of finalst, while Duanesburg has four, with one match-up being the Thompson-Borst showdown.
The state qualifier semifinals are done, and it was mixed results for the Railroaders in the semis and consolation rounds. Here we go: 96 - Al Aubin wrestled scoreless with John Mazza in the consolation quarterfinals, but it was Mazza who scored the takedown and back points to get the win and advance. Aubin went 2-2 at the tournament to finish his season at 17-16. 103 - Ty White gave up some points, but broke out of the hold of Mike McNally in the third period to nail an impressive pin and make it to the finals. With a record of 37-4, he will face second seed Noah Valastro (27-4) for the right to go to Albany. 112 - John Diekel was able to defeat Kyle Mulcahy, and will get another shot at defeating Warrensburg's Abby Roth in the consolation semifinals. 119 - Curt Thompson pinned Kyle Myers with 1:19 to go in the second period, and set up the rematch of the tournament with Thomspon at 39-5 facing 34-8 Evan Borst in the championship round. In two matches, Thompson holds a 5-2 advantage in points. 130 - In a Class D rematch, Randy White took his revenge on Ripley, scoring a 12-3 win and advancing to the finals. Ripley will face Aaron Dudley in the consolation semifinals. 152 - Nate LaGoy won his match last night and followed that up with a 15-5 win over Greg Roth to advance to the consy semis to face Johnstown's Jake (I will not even try to spell it). This is a big match as the two schools are neck-and-neck for the team title. 160 - In a match similar to Aubin's, Travis Beayon wrestled hard for two periods against Dustin Hallock, but Hallock was able to win the third period and the match. Beayon will face Kyle McKeighan in the consy semis. 171 - Perhaps the two best wrestlers in the tournament will meet in this final, as Vinny Gallo did his part and Zach Diekel earned his chance to face Gallo with a 10-4 decision. Diekel's record now stands at 34-5, while gallo sits at 35-2. 215 - Greg Mollnow at 36-1 on the season denied Grant Gebo a shot at Logan Rock in the championships, beating Gebo with a big third period. Gebo will face Granville's Walter Foster in the consolation semis. The battle for first: Whitehall and Johnstown both had six wrestlers in the semifinals, with Whitehall advancing three and Johnstown only advancing two (Duanesburg may have gotten back into the mix with three or four in the finals). Whitehall has three in the finals and five still alive in the consolation bracket, so the next two consolation rounds will go a long way to telling who will be in the lead points-wise as the championship round starts. I'll write again between consolation finals and the championship round.
The Whitehall wrestlers had a decent first day at the Section II state qualifier, with six of the nine advancing to the semi-finals, which start at 10 a.m. Saturday. Here's what went down today: 96 - Al Aubin (18-16) went 2-1 on the day and wrestled into the consolation quarterfinals. Aubin took a 3-0 decision against Kyler Harrington in the opening round before being pinned 38 seconds into the match by top seed Brendan Goldup. He then opened the consolation round with a majority over Gus McCauliffe. 103 - Smooth sailing for Ty White (36-4), who recorded a fall in the quarterfinals against Kiernan Martin. He will face 30-9 Mike McNally in the semi-finals with Kody Shaw (32-7) and Noah Valastro (27-4) in the other half. 112 - This is where the upset of the day happened for the Railroaders, as John Diekel (30-11) dropped a 9-8 decision to Tyler Pavlin in the quarterfinals. John was clearly upset at his performance and took it out on Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George's Joe Plante in the consolation round with a quick pin. 119 - Curt Thompson (38-5) won an 8-2 decision against Donovan Santisieban in the quarterfinals and will face 33-8 Kyle Myers in the semis. Evan Borst (33-8) will face Donny Ratliff (27-13) in the other. 130 - Eric Ripley (28-7) opened his day with a win by fall against Dakota Sims in the opening round. Ripley then scored a 6-5 decision over George Featherstonghaug in the quarters. Ripley's reward will be a re-match of the Class D finals against Randy White (34-8) in the semis. Top seed Mark Gillen (13-0) will face Chris Holt (32-3) in the other semi. 152 - Nate LaGoy (32-7) lost for the second time in as many weeks against Jerry Clark in the quarterfinal round. I do not know what happened in the consolation round, but will let you know first thing in the morning. 160 - Travis Beayon (34-7) looked like a man possessed with a win by fall against Tony Cook. He will face 35-2 Dustin Hallock in the semifinals, with the other bracket featuring top seed Taylor Robichaud (31-3) facing Jim Sheedy (30-9). 171 - Zach Diekel (33-5) won his quarterfinal match against Clint Dumoulin, and will face 33-3 Josh Stone in the semis. Top seed Vinny Gallo (34-2) will face Adam Biron (28-6) on the top half of the bracket. If both Diekel and Gallo advance, expect fireworks in the championship match. 215 - Grant Gebo (29-6) took a decision in his quarterfinal match against Will Schouten, and will face 36-1 Greg Mollnow in the semi finals. Once again, if Gebo can get past the next round, he will most likely get his chance at redemption against Logan Rock, 34-2, who will face 22-15 Luke Albrecht in the semis. I'll be there early tomorrow for all of the action. Six in the finals and I would guess the other three still alive in the wrestle backs. Also, if not in the lead, Whitehall is close to the overall team points lead.
Alright, so nine members of the Whitehall varsity wrestling team have a shot at states, with a 10th rumored to also get in as an alternate on Friday. Here's where they stand: At 96, Al Aubin is not one of the top four seeds in the event, while the kid who beat him, Curt Rowley of Duanesburg, is ranked third. Aubin said that his goal is to get down there and place, which would be excellent for a first-year varsity wrestler. 103: Ty White is the top seed in the bracket, with Noah Valastro from Hudson Falls being the second seed. White beat Valastro 7-4 when the two teams met earlier this year. 112: John Diekel goes into the the tournament as the No. 2 seed behind Joey Perisco of Ravena. This bracket is an every-other between north and south, with Warrensburg's Abby Roth, who Diekel beat in the D title match, ranked as the fourth seed. 119: Curt Thompson is the one seed and must face the challenge of beating the same man three times in order to get to the state tournament, where he would be one of the favorites to capture a title. Duanesburg's Evan Borst is the two seed, and in their two matches Thompson won both by a combined score of 5-2, a score that would be considered low for a single match. Needless to say, this could be the match of the tournament. 130: Eric Ripley will have to get past Johnstown's Mark Guillen, according to the seeds. Ripley is ranked second in the bracket and will be wrestling for his career as a senior captain on the team. 160: Travis Beayon will hit the Civic Center mats as the two seed, behind Hoosick Falls' Taylor Robichaud in the bracket. 171: I will admit that I do not know the rest of Section II, but I do know this - Zach Diekel is a great wrestler. Thus my surprise when I saw that he was the two seed behind Vinny Gallo of Schalmont. This could be another great match-up, then. 215: Grant Gebo will go into the Civic Center as the third seed with only one thing on his mind - another shot at Warrensburg's Logan Rock, the top seed in the bracket and the consensus pick to make it to the Times Union Center at 215. This would be a huge upset in everyone's mind - except Grant's. So there you have it. We will let you know anything about the alternates (Jake Rovelli, Matt Evans, Brett Christian and Troy Rollins) as soon as we know anything for certain (as I said, it is rumored that one of them is in, but since I do not know for sure, I am not going to say anything). Good luck, boys.
The pairings have been announced for the Section II Class C girls basketball tournament, and the Whitehall Lady Railroaders will be facing one of the best scoring guards in Section II when they open play at home as the fourth seed against the 13th seeded Waterford Fordians next Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. The Lady Fordians (7-11 according to the Times Union Web site) are led by junior guard Jackie Sorenson, who has put up some big games this season, scoring 23 points against Germantown, 22 points against Hawthorne Valley (twice), New Lebanon and Doane Stuart --- ---Alright, time for a tangent. When I went to last years boys sectionals and saw the program, I laughed for 20 minutes straight when I saw the page with Doane Stuart on it. Their nickname is the Thunder Chicken? (Does this mean that there is only one Thunder Chicken in the world since the name is not plural) That has officially replaced the South Jordan High Beetdiggers as the best nickname ever! I can just picture them coming out to play in their gym (which I hope is called the Thunder Coupe), busting through the giant paper egg that the cheerleaders are holding up (the chick-ettes, mind you) to their heavy metal theme song, "Thunder Clucked."--- --- Sorry about that, back to the preview: Sorenson also scored 20 against Berlin and Loudonville Christian. Through the 19 reported game, she has averaged 15.3 PPG and appears to do it from inside the arch, reportedly only hitting 14 three pointers all season. The other top scorers for the Fordians include junior forward Alisa Walek, who has scored 12 points against Hawthorne Valley (twice), Berlin and Heatley; junior center Lindsey Wright and junior guard Jen Heins. First glance analysis, the Fordians do not have the height to compete with the Railroaders. Their tallest player is senior center Alex Brazille - Whitehall has four of those, and they all start. What the Railroaders will need to do is contain Sorenson, which will be the primary responsibility of guards Nea Wescott and Paige Mason, who has worked her way into the rotation as the back-up defensive stopper. Getting the ball inside should not be a problem, but Whitehall should also look to get Maria McKee going. If they are going to have a long sectional run, McKee has to be able to hit the outside jumper, and a first round boost of added confidence would go a long way. Defensively, I would love to see a 32-minutes of Hades approach to the games throughout sectionals - their teenagers, they'll heal, so press from the word go and don't let up until the game is over or the route is well underway. Should the Railroaders advance, they will play the winner of the fifth seed Canajoharie against the 12th seed Mayfield, again at home in Whitehall on Friday, Feb. 27 (translation: with the expectation that the Railroaders will have at least one member of their wrestling team in Albany and Tyke's Fishing tournament on March 1, the last weekend of February could be even busier than the one we just had). Good luck, girls.
There was no half point this time around. Well, actually there was. But there were so many points in between that it didn't really matter as Whitehall captured the Section II Class D Championship on their home turf on Saturday night. I wanted to blog from the event, but there was no way to get the computer going there and Whitehall had so many grapplers going at the same time I could never get away. Heres the deal. Let's start with six individual sectional champions: Ty White (103), John Diekel (112), Curt Thompson (119), Eric Ripley (130), Travis Beayon (160) and Zach Diekel (171). Al Aubin (96) and Grant Gebo (215) were second place finishers. Nate LaGoy (152) finished in third place, rounding out the Whitehall Super-Sectional contingent at the Civic Center next week. So congrats to the wrestlers and good luck next weekend. See you at Winter Festival.
Lake George wins the League title 33-24. It wasn't a good fourth quarter.
After 3 Lake George 25, Whitehall 18 St. Cair 4 PF, Anderson 4 PF, Stover 3 PF
Well, second verse, same as the first. The girls team once again fell behind by double digits to Lake George before scoring. What is more strange this time is what happened after. The first quarter ended with an exchange of baskets and Whitehall trailing 12-4. The next two points in the game were scored at the 1:31 mark on a Katie Paddock basket. Lake George didn't score until 27 seconds lect in the half on a free throw. At halftime the score is 14-9, Lake George (that's not a typo, its 14-9). Britt has 3 fouls on her, but so does Stover and No. 22 from Lake George. The problem is, the Warriors kept the lead without Stover in the game for over five minutes. St. Clair and McKee are going to have to dominate the second half if the Railroaders stand a chance. I'll let you know when it goes final.
We are currently between Whitehall games at the Civic Center, with the boys team falling 46-31 to Johnsburg in the first game of the day here. Chris Therrien led the way with 13 points for the Railroaders, while Corey Christian had 11 rebounds in the loss. The girls team will play Lake George at about 9 p.m. tonight. The key is not to come out flat like they did the first time in January. I'll write at halftime and after the game.
Thanks to my new toy, I can now blog from pretty much anywhere, including the Civic Center for tonights games. Right now I am at the boys game, with the Railroaders trailing to Johnsburg 18-11 with 5:04 to go in the first half. I'll write more at the end of this game plus pre-halftime and postgame for the girls champiohsip against Lake George. Tomorrow, I will post before and during the wrestling finals.
The Whitehall girls basketball team won a nail-bitter tonight, scoring a 40-36 win over the Hartford Lady Tannagers. The team trailed at the conclusion of the first three quarters, 11-6, 20-18 and 28-26, but outscored Hartford 14-8 in the fourth. Despite being under the weather coming off a flu bug, Brittany St. Clair led her team to the title, recording her fourth triple-double of the year with 20 points (that's half of 40), 15 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, five assists, one steal, four bags of popcorn sold and escorting several people to their seats. Maria McKee added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Katie Paddock added 11 rebounds, six on the offensive glass. Overall, the Railroaders out rebounded the Tannagers 40-27 (yes, as many rebounds as points), had 10 assists to the opponents 7, and blocked 13 shots compared to three. On the other hand, Hartford held a 13-6 edge in the steals department. The win captures the Adirondack League Eastern Division title, which means a rematch with Lake George next Friday at the Civic Center. For Hartford, Miriam Nestle had 12 points and six steals, while Lydia Jones and Kaitlin Tripp each had eight rebounds and Lindsey Davis scored eight off the bench. The Railroaders now have two not-as-competitive games against Fort Ann and Fort Edward, both are at home, and the team needs to not worry about hurting feelings and start getting ready for the post-season. If that means a 60-point victory instead of a 30-point one, then that's what they need to do to make sure that they are physically and mentally ready for Lake George and the Class C tourney.
Went to the bowling and wrestling last night. The bowling team is improving their scores over the first three games of the season, but were just overpowered last night by Hoosick. As for wrestling, the team looked dominating at times in their win over South Glens Falls, which coach Bob Diekel said was an excelent way to start th season. Two of the three state fnalist looked at the top of their game, with Curt Thompson and Zach Diekel each picking up a win. Ty White didn't get a chance to wreslte, with the Bulldogs forfieting that wieght division. Final score: 38-27 Whitehall.
You could say that it was revenge for the night before. The Whitehall girls basketball team dominated Salem in a similar way the Salem boys team dominated Whitehall, with Britt St. Clair, Mackenzie Trevellyan and Maria McKee all scoring in double figures. One thing I noticed last night was the ease at which St. Clair and Trevellyan play together. They know where each is on the court and make good passes that lead to good shots. It was almost Stockton-to-Malone-ian. Also, Katie Paddock pulled down 16 rebounds last night. It doesn't atter if you're playing a team that could lose all their games or win all their games, 16 rebounds against anyone is very impressive.
After the dedication of Clint Taft Memorial Field at the rec center yesterday, I headed over and watched the boys team play their first game of the season, and for three quarters, there wasn't much to watch. However, the team cut a 20-point deficitto five with one minute left to play, but were not able to get over the hill, losing 49-41 to Bolton. Defesnively, this team can pressure the ball and force turnovers. They are a fast squad, but lack the big time threat from the outside. On the inside, Cory Christian scored 16 points against a group of three players who were all taller than him and grabbed 7 rebounds. He should have a good season.
I forgot to get something up for the girls on Wednesday, so here is a little extra on their season preview. As noted in the headline of the story in the paper, the key for this team will be their height. There are four players who will play the 4-5 positions on the floor, and I think that the Railroaders are going to surprise some teams with their offensive sets this season. In the past, the way to beat Whitehall has been to go to a 2-3 zone and pack it in around St. Clair - but this year there will be more bigs to defend so if you concentrate on just Brittany, there will be Mackenzie Trevellyan and Katie Paddock on the week side to pick up some easy offensive boards and put-backs. Also, the team will look to use St. Clair's athleticism more on the perimeter as well. The main question the girls have is when will their point guard, senior Shelby Cuomo return. She has tried to come back form a soccer injury already but keeps suffering set-backs. Hopefully, she will be out there soon. I'll write about the boys team after I see them play Bolton today at 2 p.m.
In the first of our enhanced previews for the 2008-09 winter sports season, I am going to grapple with the wrestling program. Last year was the first time I had really covered wrestling at any level, and I was very impressed with the sport. So was my son, who I took to one match and had plenty of blurry pictures afterwards because he was jumping all over me while watching the Railroaders matches. First of all, it is obvious that the 1/2-point loss to Duanesburg in last years' Class D finals is still on their minds. How could it not be, that's the slimmest of possible margins you could lose by. Add to that the fact that now sophomore Grant Gebo had his guy in the finals flipped, turned and begging for mercy on the floor and was awarded NO POINTS - costing him the match and the team the title, and this is a team that knows they can get the job done. Add in the fact that the Class D finals will be held in the friendly confines of Whitehall, and this team is very anxious to get started. There is a lot of talent returning from the 2007-08 team, starting with the three state finalist who return to the squad in Curt Thompson, Zach Diekel and Ty White. Each will be moving up at least one weight class this year and will face new challenges, including the target that each wrestler in the league and section will picture on their backs. Overall, it should be a pretty good year for the Railroaders on the mat, with several wrestlers having their sites set on a Class D title as well as a birth into the state tournament, to be held this year back at the Times Union Center. Also, a preliminary thank you to Victoria Diekel, who will again serve as our wrestling expert. She definitely helped me get into the sport with terminology and stats and was a great help covering the state tourney in Rochester last season.
Well, the final game of te 2008 season saw the Railroaders take an early lead, only to watch it xlip away in a 40-18 loss to finish the season at 0-9. First off, in a way, this season was not a failure. Everyone knew that this was going to be an extremely tough year for the team, and those who didn't were fooling themselves. It had to be touhg for Kevin McDonald and Justin Phillips, the only two seniors that even saw a glimpse of the varsity field last season. I heard someone say that this team was a very good JV team, which means it still has some simmering to do. Second, the drive in the third quarter showed somehting. They'll learn, they'll advance, and they'll grow. The team was coached well this year, and now the players know what to epect. There's still two years of buulding to go before thereturns start to be seen, as far as I can tell.
In a seasonm where there have been many frustrating days, the Whitehall cross country and soccer teams picked up some huge victories on he eve of homecoming. First off, congratualtions to the Adirondack Lague Champion boys cross country team, who took the title in Queensbury yesterday. I talked with Curt Thompson on Wednesday and he was almost prophetic, saying that he would finish third and the team would take the title. For the girls soccer team, it came down to a penalty kick in the first overtime on the foot of Lindsay Aubin, who drilled it into the back of teh net and helped Witehall score a 3-2 win over Duanesburg in the first round of the Section II Class C playoffs. Britt St. Clair and Paige MAson also scored goals, while Britt Shelrick stopped eight shots. heur next opponent is top-seed Maple Hill. Personally, this is where you put five defenders and four midfielders back and play for kicks with Sheldrick in net, who has stopped 2-of-3 this year. The girls play Saturday in Maple HIlls at 3 p.m.; the cros country team now preps for sectionals, while football kicks off at 1 p.m. against a mad Rennselaer team, who lost a one-pointer against Lake George last weeek ad is looking to get back on the winning track.
The soccer pairings are out for the Class C Section II tourney, and Whitehall will be traveling to Duanesburg to take on a school that has been their long time rivals in wrestling. Offensviely, the Railroaders welcome the return of Brittany St. Clair, who has scored seven goals to go with a pair of assists (16 points) this season. Whoever, the offensive punch drops after that, with Aerial Ramey (two goals) next leading scorer. Defensively, Brittany Sheldirck boasts a goals against average under 2.00, a save percentage over 85-percent and has recorded three shutouts along with stopping two out of three penalty kicks she has faced. Having her in the net, however, means that the team has to go into their bench of the defensive line. So what does Whitehall have to do to beat Duanesburg - it's pretty much standard answers. First, control the midfield, which is a concern not only because of their depth but because they were unable to do that against their last opponent, Greenwich, who had wide open runs between the 30's. Offensively, no shot is a bad shot. Pepper the net from as far away as you can. Defensively, keep the ball between them and the goalie. Good luck to the Railroaders, who if they advance will take on top seed Maple Hills on Saturday at 3 p.m.
I didn't get the chance to comment on the Whitehall football game until now, but I am probably in the minority that thought there were some good things that came out of their 39-0 loss to Canajoharie last Friday night. First, they held the Cougars to ZERO points in the first quarter. Here are some of the other Whitehall first quarter totals, opposition score first: 6-0 (Salem), 20-0 (Bishop Gibbons), 21-0 (Lake George), 21-6 (Warrensburg), 24-0 (Fort Edward). So while I was wrong in the fact that every team had scored more than 20 points in the opening quarter on them this season, I wasn't far off. Second, they continue to move the ball. They can go from 30-to-30 with the best of them, but then something comes over the team and that's as far as they go. Big penalties, dumb penalties and, of course, turnovers. That I won't make an excuse for, you cannot turn the ball over EIGHT times in one game. So Friday night is Spa Catholic, and the Railroaders are looking for their first win of the season. It could happen, but the Railroaders are going to have to play their best game of the season. Spa Catholic is also 0-6, but they play in the mush tougher southern division of Class D, have scored more points and given up fewer. According to coaches and others, this game will be replayed in three weeks as the crossover game on a Thursday night.
I think I may have to stay away from the football games from now on. The proof: in the two games that I have been to, I have seen a total of 0 points scored by the Railroaders. In the two games I have not been to (last Saturday I had a wedding to attend), the Railroaders have scored 20 points. Kevin McDonald is looking to continue the line of top-level running backs for the Railroaders. With his 145 yard performance, McDonald is now averaging over 100 yards per game. He'll have to do a lot in order to hit the 1,000 yard mark, but it is a possibility. On the soccer front, the injuries just keep mounting. Heading into their 2-1 loss against Salem yesterday, there was a chance that the Railroaders would send a team out that had never scored a goal in varsity play with the absence of Britt St. Clair, Shelby Cuomo, Mary Foote and Chelsea Steves. However, congratulations go to Brianna Cook, who scored her first varisty goal against Salem. The cross country team has been competitive throughout teh season, but is still looking for someone to step up in the five spot. The top four runners are consistent, but they need five to beat some of the better teams in the league. The golf season is over, and Tim Tipton joined Travis Beayon as qualifiers for the first day of the Adirondack League tournamnet. Neither advanced, but both had solid regular seasons. Everything is on the road this week, so I will get in touch with coaches on Monday to review the week.
I went to the cross country meet and soccer game yesterday and saw some good events. At the cross country meet, I was on the back side of the golf course taking pictures and it looked like a North Warren kid was going to catch up with Curt Thompson on the uphill. That was not the case though, and by the time I got back down to the clubhouse Curt had a solid lead and was able to cruise to the finish line in first place. The First four runners had storng top 10 finishes, but the North Warren team had the depth needed to pull out a pretty close win. At soccer, the 4-1 score was a little misleading because the Railroaders controled the tempo of the game throughout. The lone goal came when, as I'm told, Katie Paddock did her best sweep the leg technique on a Hadley-Luzerne player, giving the oppositon a penalty kick which they hit. Offensively, Brittany St. Clair has scored four of the team's seven goals, with Shelby Cuomo scoring two and Mary Foote tallying the other goal. Cuomo leads the team in assists with two. Next up for me sports wise will be the football game Saturday. See you there.
I lost track of my weekend, so here we are after the village board meeting talking football (a welcome relief). It was a 32-0 blanking of the Railroaders in Salem Saturday under the clouds and between the raindrops. The team had its chances in the first half, but the whistle was against them. I can't make any statement about the holding call that denied Kevin McDonald the first score of the season, but the illegal forward pass call was a joke. Almost as bad as getting called for throwing the ball in the air on the game tying touchdown (My college team won because of that, but it was still a bad call). The second half...not so much. The secondary was exposed, and the post game meeting had one theme - get in better shape. It didn't help that the Salem defnders were confusing Tommy Pollinger for a pinata, leading to the team calling on backup Brice Cook. Pollinger took three very hard hits in the game. That could not have been a fun Sunday morning. This week the team plays Bishop Gibbons. Here's for better weather and an understanding of what is and isn't a backwards pass.
The Whitehall girls soccer team got off to a 1-0-0 start with a very impressive 2-0 win over Hudson Falls tonight. Shelby Cuomo got the scoring started late in the first half when she got the rebound off a shot from Paige Mason, and Cuomo set-up the second goal when she dribbled in to about 5-yards out and sent a perfect cross to Brittany St. Clair, who connected from short range. On both goals, the midfielders started the play by gaining control of 50/50 balls. St. Clair started the momentum on the first goal, and Mary Foote got control of the ball and started the second goal scoring play in motion by finidng Shelby. The team also answered the goalie question with a strong performance from Brittany Sheldrick, who stopped a penalty kick two minutes into the second half and made another sprawled out save later in the half. While the seniors did what seniors do, the duo on the left side of sophomores Brianna Cook and Paige Mason showed a lot of promise. Cook showed that she can control the ball in the midfield, and Mason could turn out to be the top offensive threat of the future for the Railroaders. Overall though, the game ball would go to Sheldrick. The teammates I talked to said that she gave the whole team a boost of confidence with her performance in goal. They'll need it against a tough team in Greenwich Friday. This is a tough non-league schedule, and even if there are a few set-backs, this schedule will get them ready for the sectionals. The next soccer game I will be at is next Friday against Glens Falls. Good luck on Friday. The next overall gameday for me will be in Salem for the football season opener. I'll write when I get home.
The Whitehall 2008-09 athletic campaigns officially kicked off with the golf team hosting Hadley-Luxerne at the Skene Valley CC last night. Hillary Fenton halfed her nine-hole match against Josh Densimore, and picked up the only 1/2 point for the railroaders. The squad was made up of five new golfers than the team that won he Adirondack League Eastern Division title last season. The golf team will be traveling to Fort Edward today for a 4:15 p.m. start. This is different from the original schedule beacuse there was a conflict with a golf tournament that is being held at Skene. Also today, the girls soccer team "kicks" off its 2008 season against Hudson Falls at 4:15 p.m. on the elementary field. The girls team has a very tough non-league schedule, which should prepare them well for another deep run into the Section II tourney. It starts tonight. I will be at the game and have a recap tomorrow morning.
Coming to work in Granville this morning and was stopped by a truck. They were keeping the road clear on Route 12 until the fire department got there because there was a high-tension wire that fell down. This happened about 7:45 a.m. and the fire department was arriving as I was heading for my alternate route to work. Have fun avoiding the rain drops today. This is one of the few types of days I’m glad I work inside.
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