CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 27

NCAA TOURNAMENT

FIRST ROUND

No.1 Seed Albany JCC – Bye

No. 2 Seed St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red – Bye

No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Panthers -- Bye

No. 4 Seed CTK Blue -- Bye

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 1

NCAA TOURNAMENT

SEMIFINALS

No. 1 Seed Albany JCC 44, No. 4 Seed CTK Blue 42

No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Panthers 40, No. 2 Seed St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red 29

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 6

NCAA TOURNAMENT

CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 1 Seed Albany JCC 49, No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Panthers 45

 

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 27

NIT TOURNAMENT

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Seed CTK White – Bye

No. 2 Seed CTK Royals – Bye

No. 3 Seed LaSalle 38, No. 6 Seed Averill Park Boars 24

No. 5 Seed Clifton Park Cobras 41, No. 4 St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White 37

 

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

NIT TOURNAMENT

SEMIFINALS

No. 2 Seed CTK Royals 49, No. 3 LaSalle 38

No. 1 Seed CTK White 48, No. 5 Seed Clifton Park Cobras 44

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 6

NIT TOURNAMENT

CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 1 Seed CTK White 45, No. 2 Seed CTK Royals 33

 

 

 

2023/2024 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA TOURNAMENT

TUESDAY, FEB. 27

First Round Play-In Game

No. 4 Seed (St. Clare's) 52, No. 5 Seed (Clifton Park Showcase Team) 47

 

FRIDAY, MARCH 1

Semifinal Round

No. 1 Seed (St. Mary's Ballston Spa) 73, No. 4 Seed (St. Clare's) 57

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Semifinal Round

No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Gamecocks) 55, No. 3 Seed (Averill Park Warriors) 39

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

2023/2024 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 1 Seed (St. Mary's Ballston Spa) 68, No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Gamecocks) 62

 

2023/2024 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Semifinal Round

No 1 Seed (CTK Team Colbert) 49, No. 4 Seed (CTK Team Harrigan) 30

No. 3 Seed (Schenectady JCC) 53, No. 2 Seed (CTK Team DeLima) 27

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

2023/2024 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 1 Seed (CTK Team Colbert) 44, No. 3 Seed (Schenectady JCC) 31

                     

ST. MARY’S BALLSTON SPA CAPTURED THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP ON SUNDAY, MARCH 3. ST. MARY’S BALLSTON SPA, THE LEAGUE’S REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION, DEFEATED THE CLIFTON PARK GAMECOCKS, 68-62, AT SHEN HIGH SCHOOL EAST TO TAKE HOME THE TITLE. PICTUERED, FRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT, ARE MIKE MOORE, BRODY BASHFORD, ETHAN CALDERON, THOMAS BOUYEA AND GABE PROPHET. BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, ARE HEAD COACH BILL BASHFORD, CAM BANKS, JOEL ROGERS, DEVIN BRUNDIGE, ZACHARY MOX AND ST. MARY’S BALLSTON SPA PROGRAM COORDIATOR TOM STEWART. ST. MARY’S BALLSTON SPA WAS 15-1 IN THE REGULAR SEASON AND 17-1 OVERALL.          

   

CTK TEAM COLBERT WON THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT CHAMPIONSHIP ON SUNDAY, MARCH 3, AT SHEN HIGH SCHOOL EAST, DEFEATING SCHENECTADY JCC,  44-31. FIRST ROW, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, ARE ANGELO LUBRANO, JACK MURPHY, LOGAN MCCABE, JAKE PENSEBENE AND DYLAN PHILLIPS. BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT, COACH JIM COLBERT, JOEY TUMONIS, DREW TOWNSEND, OSCAR COLBERT, LOGAN DOVER, SAM MANZELLA, ZACH GRAY AND ASSISTANT COACH JOE TUMONIS. NOT PICTURED: ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS MANZELLA. 

 

SCHENECTADY AND ALBANY/TROY 9-10 LEAGUES MERGE TO FORM CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE.

THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE, A PRODUCT OF THE MERGER OF THE SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE AND THE ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE WILL KICK OFF ITS SEASON ON THE WEEKEND OF DEC. 4-5. A TOTAL OF 12 TEAMS WILL DO BATTLE ON ALMOST ALL THE SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS IN DECEMBER, JANUARY AND FEBRUARY IN AN EFFORT TO CROWN A 2021-2022 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPION.

THE LEAGUE WILL PLAY THE MAJORITY OF ITS GAMES AT A CENTRALIZED SITE -- THE DAGS GYM IN DOWNTOWN SCHENECTADY. SHEN HIGH SCHOOL EAST, LASALLE AND ALGONQUIN MIDDLE SCHOOL IN AVERILL PARK MAY ALSO HOST AN OCCASIONAL 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE GAME.

CHRIST THE KING HAS ENTERED A WHOPPING THREE TEAMS IN THIS YEAR'S LEAGUE. ST. MARY'S BALLSTON SPA WILL BE WELL REPRESENTED WITH TWO TEAMS AS WILL CLIFTON PARK WHICH ALSO SPORTS A PAIR OF 9-10 SENIOR TEAMS. AVERILL PARK, LASALLE, ALBANY JCC AND ST. CLARE'S -- ALL PAST MEMBERS OF THE 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE COMMUNITY -- RETURN TO PLAY AGAIN. THE PERTH RED STORM WILL BE MAKING ITS DEBUT, PLAYING IN ITS FIRST 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE SEASON. 

OVERALL, THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE WILL HAVE CLOSE TO 130 PLAYERS CONTINUING THEIR BASKETBALL CAREERS ON LOCAL BASKETBALL COURTS.

THE LEAGUE WILL PLAY A 16-GAME REGULAR SEASON. ALL TEAMS QUALIFY FOR THE POST-SEASON PLAYOFFS. MOST LIKELY THE LEAGUE WILL SPLIT IT'S PLAYOFF FORMAT INTO TWO DIVISION WHICH HAS PROVEN TO BE VERY POPULAR IN PAST SEASONS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THERE WILL BE AN NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET AND AN NIT TOURNAMENT BRACKET WITH THE WINNER OF EACH BRACKET TAKING HOME A CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY.

AS ALWAYS, THIS WEB SITE WILL CARRY THE LATEST CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NEWS INCLUDING SCHEDULES, RESULTS, STANDINGS AND LEADING SCORERS.

THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE'S COMPANION LEAGUE, THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 11-12 LEAGUE, WILL ALSO RETURN TO PLAY IN THE 2021-2022 SEASON. THAT LEAGUE WILL FEATURE EIGHT AREA TEAMS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CAPITAL DISTRICT 11-12 LEAGUE, CHECK OUT THE LEAGUE WEB SITE AT  https://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=cap

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 23

NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY-IN GAME

No. 4 Seed (St. Gabriel’s NWO) 78, No. 5 Seed (Duanesburg Heat) 71

 

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

NCAA TOURNAMNET SEMIFINALS

No. 2 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 67, No. 3 Seed (St. Clare’s Garnet) 50

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 29

No. 4 Seed winner (St. Gab’s NWO) 57, No. 1 Seed (St. Gabriel’s Black) 54

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

No. 2 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 64, No. 4 Seed (St. Gab’s NWO) 60

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 23

NIT TOURNAMENT PLAY-IN GAMES

No. 3 Seed (Schenectady JCC) 77, No. 6 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) 58

No. 4 Seed (St. Clement’s) 53, No. 5 Seed (St. Kateri White) 40

 

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

NIT TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS

No. 3 Seed (Schenectady JCC) 54, No. 2 Seed (Duanesburg Saints) 39

 

SATURDAY, FEB, 29

NIT TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS

No. 1 Seed (St. Clare’s Raiders) 63, No 4 Seed (St. Clement’s) 55

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

NIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

No. 3 Seed (Schenectady JCC) 69, No. 1 Seed (St. Clare's Raiders) 43

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 8

CAPITAL DISTRICT NIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Schenectady JCC 71, St. Kateri Blue 65

 

 

2020 SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT CHAMPIONS: Schenectady JCC defeated the St. Clare's Raiders, 69-43, on Sunday, March 1, to win the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League NIT championship. Schenectady JCC then went on to defeat St. Kateri Blue of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, 71-65, on Sunday, March 8, to capture the Capital District Overall NIT championship. JCC's late winning run allowed the team to complete the season with a 10-10 record.

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Mary's Ballston Spa Red defeated the St. Gabriel's NWO, 64-60, on Sunday, March 1, at Shen High School East to win the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League championship. Pictured, back row, left to right, Head Coach Tom Stewart, Andrew Haight, Andrew Kramer, Jaxen Potter, Brady Dubay, Andrew Eisler, Matthew Stewart and Assistant Coach Tom Eisler. Front row, left to right, Ty Witherbee, Michael Miller, Matthew Hunt, Chase Santoro, Billy Bashford, Joe Toomey and Michael Desmond. Not pictured, Christopher Desmond. St. Mary's Ballston Spa Red, which tied for first place in the regular season with St. Gabriel's Black, ended up 17-2 overall in Capital District Senior League play.

 

 

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE MAKES IT A NEAR SWEEP IN ANNUAL BATTLE BETWEEN TWO LEAGUES

SKT White wins one-point thriller to help fuel impressive showing from Schenectady 9-10 teams

St. Mary's Ballston Spa Red, St. Gab's Black, St. Gab's NWO knock off top three from Albany/Troy

St. Clare's Garnet, Duanesburg Saints and Heat, Sch. JCC and St. Mary''s BSpa White also all prevail

  

(ALL GAMES SUNDAY, JAN. 26 AT LASALLE INSTITUTE IN TROY)

Schenectady No. 1 St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red 58, Albany/Troy No. 1 Hard Knocks 47

Schenectady No. 2 St. Gabriel’s Black 71, Albany/Troy No. 2 Clifton Park Chaos 49

Schenectady No. 3 St. Gabriel’s NWO 76, Albany/Troy No. 3 Clifton Park Ice 65

Schenectady No. 4 St. Clare’s Garnet 66 Albany/Troy No. 4 Averill Park Warriors 34

Schenectady No. 5 Duanesburg Heat 55, Albany/Troy No. 5 Clifton Park Ringers 44.

Schenectady No. 6 Duanesburg Saints 62, Albany/Troy No. 6 St. Kateri Blue 31 

Albany/Troy No. 7 Bethlehem Eagles 57, Schenectady No. 7 St. Clare’s Raiders 51

Schenectady No. 8 Schenectady JCC 62, Albany/Troy No. 8 LaSalle Cadets 45

Schenectady No. 9 St. Kateri White 43, Albany/Troy No. 9 CTK Royals 42

Schenectady No. 10 St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White 53, Albany/Troy No. 10 Troy Trojans 19

St. Gabriel’s Warriors knock off undefeated Clifton Park Gamecocks to lead the way over Albany/Troy 9-10; CTK White, St. Clement's, St. Clare's Gold, Duanesburg, Rebels also win 

 

TROY -- The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League proved to be just a bit too strong for the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Capital District Senior League Showdown Basketball Tournament that was played at the Russell Sage College Neff Center in Troy.

 

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League won six of the 10 head-to-head showdown games with the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League during a full day of highly competitive, hard-nosed basketball action.

 

Leading the way for the Schenectady side of things were the No. 1 seeded St. Gabriel’s Warriors who were victorious in their showdown meeting with the Albany/Troy No. 1 seeded Clifton Park Gamecocks. The Warriors won the fiercely contested game, 72-68, saddling the previously undefeated Gamecocks with their first loss of the season.

 

St. Gabriel’s ran out to as much as a 15-point lead early in the game. Clifton Park stormed back in the second half, and the teams traded leads and lost/gained opportunities down the stretch before St. Gabriel’s, now 16-1 overall on the season, prevailed. The Clifton Park Gamecocks now sport an overall record of 15-1.

 

EAGLES SOAR AGAINST ALPLAUS

 

The day couldn’t have started off with a more exciting game. The Bethlehem Eagles who had won only one game to date during the Albany/Troy regular season, turned back Alplaus of the Schenectady 9-10 League, 49-47, in a battle of No. 10 seeds. Bethlehem was behind virtually the entire game but came out on top on the strength of two foul shots from John Henry Walters with four seconds left in the game. Matt Revai led Bethlehem with 16 points and Walters finished with 13 points.

Albany/Troy won the next game in the senior showdown to go up 2-0 as Averill Park Gold defeated St. Clare’s Garnet, 52-45, in a meeting of No. 6 seeds.

 

Schenectady got its first victory in the Senior Showdown event to make it 2-1 when St. Clare’s Gold ran past the Clifton Park Fury of the Albany/Troy League, 58-41.

 

That win was quickly followed up by two more victories for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League. No. 9 seed Christ The King White turned back Albany/Troy’s Averill Park Green, 66-46, and then St. Gabriel’s won it’s nail bitter with the Clifton Park Gamecocks to make it 3-2 in favor of Schenectady.

 

 

CLIFTON PARK PANTHERS STRIKE BACK FOR ALBANY/TROY

 

Facing an almost must-win situation to keep Albany/Troy close in the showdown match up of the two leagues, the Clifton Park Panthers rose to the occasion and won their battle with Schenectady’s St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White. The battle of No. 2 seeds turned out to be somewhat anti climatic as the Panthers won, 64-50, over an undermanned Ballston Spa team. That gave both leagues three wins apiece. The Clifton Park Panthers are now 15-1 overall. St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White is now 13-3 overall.

 

The two leagues then traded victories in the next two matchups to make it 4-4. Duanesburg fought its way past Albany/Troy’s Clifton Park BBQ Chicken, 61-48, in a meeting between No. 3 seeds to give Schenectady a short-lived edge. Albany/Troy responded when St. Clare’s turned back Schenectady’s St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red, 40-36, in a match up of No. 8 seeds.

 

STRONG FINISH GIVES SCHENECTADY THE EDGE

 

That set the stage for the final two games of the Senior Showdown Tournament with senior league bragging rights hanging in the balance.

 

The day’s last two games went Schenectady’s way as the No. 4 seeded Rebels beat Albany JCC of the Albany/Troy league, 67-58, and Schenectady’s St. Clement’s powered its way past the East Greenbush Blue Devils, 65-47, in a battle of No. 7 seeds.

 

POINTS TO PONDER – There was one other game played Saturday during the Senior Showdown Tournament. That “friendly” match up pitted Schenectady’s No. 11 seed, St. Kateri against Schenectady’s No. 12 seed, Christ The King Blue. St. Kateri squeezed out a three-point win, 47-44, over CTK Blue in a game that went down to the game’s very last play … Turnout for the Senior Showdown Tournament games was strong as fans of their respective leagues turned out for the games in good numbers … Teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League all have one more game before their post-season playoffs begin on Sunday, Feb, 24 … Teams in the Schenectady 9-10 League also have make up games and regularly scheduled league games left to be played on Sunday, Feb. 10, and the following weekend on Feb. 16-17. Several key match ups remain that will help determine final playoff seedings. That league’s playoffs also start on Feb. 24 … The Schenectady 9-10 League as well as the Albany/Troy 9-10 League will each have a post-season NCAA Tournament that features each league’s upper tier teams battling for their respective league’s overall championship. In a first, the Schenectady 9-10 lower tier teams will join the Albany/Troy 9-10 lower tier teams in one overall NIT Tournament. All playoff pairings and schedule will be released shortly.

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY, FEB. 23

Play-In Game

No. 6 Seed (St. Clement’s) 69, No. 7 Seed (St. Clare’s Gold) 66

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 24

First Round

No. 6 Seed (St. Clement’s) 73, No. 3 Seed (Duanesburg) 63

 

MONDAY, FEB. 25

First Round

No. 1 Seed (St. Gabriel’s Warriors) receive a bye

No. 2 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) receive a bye

No. 4 Seed (Rebels) 71, No. 5 (St. Clare’s Garnet) 68

 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27

Semifinals

No. 2 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) vs. No. 6 Seed (St. Clement’s) at Spa Catholic, 7:00 p.m.; PPD. SNOW.

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Semifinals

No. 1 Seed (St. Gabriel’s Warriors) 65, No. 4 Seed winner (Rebels) 61 (OT)

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Semifinals

No. 2 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) 70, No. 6 Seed (St. Clement’s) 62

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 10

Championship

No. 1 Seed (St. Gabriel’s Warriors) 61, No. 2 Seed St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) 53

 

 

SENIOR 9-10 NIT INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

SUNDAY, FEB. 24

Play-in Game

No. 8 Seed (Bethlehem Eagles) 50, No. 9 Seed (CTK Blue) 31

First Round

No. 2 Seed (Alplaus) 67, No. 7 Seed (Averill Park Green) 66

No. 6 Seed (St. Kateri) 42, No. 3 Seed (St. Clare’s) 39

 

MONDAY, FEFB. 25

First Round

No. 1 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 53, No. 8 Seed (Bethlehem Eagles) 49

 

FRIDAY, MARCH 1

First Round

No. 4 Seed (CTK White) 54, No. 5 Seed (East Greenbush Blue Devils) 38

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Semifinals

No. 4 Seed (CTK White) 57, No. 1 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 39

No. 6 Seed (St. Kateri) 41, No. 2  Seed (Alplaus) 30

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Championship

No. 4 Seed (CTK White) 51, No. 6 Seed (St. Kateri) 43

 

NIT CHAMPIONS -- Christ The King White defeated St. Kateri, 53-41, in the championship game of the combined 2019 Senior League 9-10 NIT Tournament that was played Sunday, March 3, at Shen High School East. CTK White was coached by Head Coach Dan Vennard and Assistant Coach Gary Waldron (upper right). Players on the championship team were Matt Allen, Peyton Doyle, Patrick Horan, Aidan McGee, Anthony Sbardella, Alessandro Nardone, Collin Skelly, David Slover, Kyle Vennard and Garrett Waldron. The combined Senior League 9-10 NIT Tournament featured five teams from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and four teams from the Albany Troy 9-10 Senior League. CTK White and St. Kateri both represented the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League in what turned out to be an all-Schenectady 9-10 NIT final.  (Photo courtesy of CTK White).

NCAA CHAMPIONS -- St. Mary's Ballston Spa White (red uniforms) and the St. Gabriel's Warriors (white uniforms) met in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League NCAA championship game on Sunday, March 10, at Voorheesville High School. The St. Gabriel's Warriors took home the championship trophy on the strength of a 61-53 victory. The St. Gabriel's Warriors were coached by Head Coach Scott Brazee and Assistant Coach Pat Johnson. Players included (front row left to right) Sean Willis, Josh Goodwill, Owen Evans, Andrew Farnsworth, Joey Raucci and Nick Iuliano. Back row (left to right) Jack Allen, Ryan Brazee, Alonso McNeil, Kyle Cornell, Matt Batcher, Matt Cary and Colby Dodson. St. Mary's Ballston Spa White was coached by Head Coach Tom Stewart and Assistant Coach Tom Eisler. Players included Jack Staszak, Tommy Martin, Joe Toomey, Billy Bashford, Andrew Kramer, Michael Desmond, Matthew Stewart and Andrew Eisler. The St. Gabriel’s Warriors, who won the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Southern Division title with a 15-1 record, finished the season with an overall record of 18-1. St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White, which won the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Northern Division title with a 14-2 mark, ended the season with an overall record of 15-4. (Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s Ballston Spa).

2018-2019 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR SHOWDOWN TOURNAMENT

ALL GAMES AT RUSSELL SAGE NEFF CENTER IN TROY

SATURDAY, FEB. 9

   

GAME 1—

Albany/Troy No. 10 (Bethlehem Eagles) 49,
Schenectady No. 10 (Alplaus) 47

GAME 2—

Schenectady No. 11 (St. Kateri) 47,

Schenectady No. 12 (Christ The King Blue) 44

 

GAME 3—

Albany/Troy No. 6 (Averill Park Gold) 52,

Schenectady No. 6 (St. Clare’s Garnet) 45

 

GAME 4—

Schenectady No. 5 (St. Clare’s Gold) 58,

Albany/Troy No. 5 (Clifton Park Fury) 41

 

GAME 5—

Schenectady No. 9 (Christ The King White) 66,

Albany/Troy No. 9 (Averill Park Green) 46

 

GAME 6—

Schenectady No. 1 (St. Gabriel’s Warriors) 72,

Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park Gamecocks) 68

 

GAME 7—

Albany/Troy No. 2 (Clifton Park Panthers) 64,

Schenectady No. 2 (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) 50

 

GAME 8—

Schenectady No. 3 (Duanesburg) 61

Albany/Troy No. 3 (Clifton Park BBQ Chicken) 48

 

GAME 9—

Albany/Troy No. 8 (St. Clare’s) 40,

Schenectady No. 8 (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 36

 

GAME 10—

Schenectady No. 4 (Rebels) 67,

Albany/Troy No. 4 (Albany JCC) 58

 

GAME 11—

Schenectady No. 7 (St. Clement’s) 65,

Albany/Troy No. 7 (East Greenbush Blue Devils) 47

 

Duanesburg's Matthew McCauley (9) scores on a fast break layup in front of a charging

St. Clare's Garnet defender during a Schenectady 9-10 Senior League game that was played

Sunday, Dec. 9, at St. Gabriel's. Duanesburg won the hard-fought game, 66-58, to improve

to 3-1. With the loss, St. Clare's Garnet stands at 2-2 in league play. (Photo courtesy

of Stephanie McCauley of iSmilesStudios)

  

St. Mary’s Knights (13-2)

St. Kateri Blue (12-3)

St. Clare’s Golden Gophers (10-5)

Christ The King Royals (8-7)

St. Gabriel’s Saints (5-10)

St. Kateri Saints (5-10)

St. Mary’s Lightning (5-10)

St. Kateri White (2-13)

 

Round Robin Pool Play (Best Overall Record Wins/Tiebreakers if necessary)

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

All games played at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in downtown Troy

Game 1 -- East Greenbush Blue Devils 45, Clifton Park Storm 38

Game 2 – East Greenbush Blue Devils 46, Christ The King Royals 44

Game 3 – Christ the King Royals 51, Clifton Park Storm 44

East Greenbush Blue Devils are tournament champion via 2-0 record.

 

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY, FEB. 22

First Round Play-in Game

No 9 seed (St. John’s Blue) advanced over No. 8 seed (St. Kateri Tekakwitha B)

SUNDAY, FEB. 23
Quarterfinals
No. 3 seed (St. Clare’s A) 44, No. 6 seed (St. Gabriel’s Red) 38
No. 2 seed (St. Gabriel’s Black) 60, No. 7 seed (St. Clements) 43
No. 5 seed (St. Kateri Tekakwitha A) 52, No. 4 seed (St. Clare’s B) 48
No. 1 seed (St. John’s A) 55, No. 9 seed (St. John’s Blue) 35

SATURDAY, MARCH 1
Semifinals
No. 5 seed (St. Kateri Tekakwitha A) advances over No. 1 seed (St. John’s A)
No. 2 seed (St. Gabriel’s Black) 45, No. 3 seed (St. Clare’s A) 44

SUNDAY, MARCH 2
Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Championship
No. 2 seed (St. Gabriel's Black) 54, No. 5 seed (St. Kateri Tekakwitha A) 40

 

 

 

 

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

SATURDAY, FEB. 28

No. 1 Seed St. Kateri Tekakawitha (15-3) – Bye

No. 3 Seed St. John’s Eagles 64, No. 6 Seed St. Clement’s 57

No. 4 Seed St. John’s Blue Rayz 51, No. 5 Seed St. Gabriel’s 39

No. 2 Seed St. Clare’s Bandits 54, No. 7 Seed Schenectady YMCA 46

 

SEMIFINALS

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

John’s Eagles 57, St. Clare’s Bandits 54

St. Kateri Tekakawitha 71, St. John’s Blue Rayz 61

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

St. Kateri Tekakawitha 64, St. John’s Eagles 56

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 14

 

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 13

St. Mary’s Lightning 44, St Clare's Golden Gophers 42

St. Mary's Lightning -- Blowers, 15 points.

St. Clare’s Golden Gophers – Lemperle, 12 points.

St. Mary's Knights 82, St, Paul’s 76
St. Mary’s Knights -- John Graveley, 22 points; Mikey Gomez, 20 points; Andrew Giaimo,15 points.
St. Paul's -- Nick Richmond, 24 points; Lucas Esposito, 5 points.

St. Gabriel’s 77, St. Kateri Spartans 56 

 

St. Gabriel’s – Gannon and Kiernan, 8 points each.

 

THURSDAY, FEB. 11

St. John's Eagles 83, St. Mary’s Lightning 33

St. John’s Eagles -- Corbin, 26 points. 

St. Mary's Lightning -- Gregory, 10 points.

 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 10

Christ The King 88, St. Mary's Lightning 77
Christ The King -- Pierce Bright, 39 points; Brendon Dunn, 23; Jack Lumley, 15 points.

 

St. Mary's Lightning -- John Kenyon, 20 points; Riley Thomas, 19 points, Max Blowers, 15 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists.

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 7

East Greenbush Blue Devils 58, Christ The King 44

Christ The King -- Brendon Dunn, 24 points; Pierce Bright, 16 points.

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 6

St. Mary's Knights 85, St. Kateri White 52

St. Mary’s Knights -- John Graveley and Chris Parker, 17 points each.
St. Kateri White -- Ethan Caponong, 16 points.

 

St. Paul’s 54, St. Mary’s Lightning 51

St. Paul’s -- Deylon Edmonds, 3 points.
St. Mary’s Lightning – Blowers and Thomas, 16 points each.

St. Gabriel's 54, St. Kateri Blue 48
St. Gabriel’s -- Branson Otis, 18 points. 

St. Kateri Blue -- K.J. Cox, 20 points.

 

Christ The King 55, St. Clare's Golden Gophers 50

Christ The Kings -- Brendon Dunn, 23 points; Pierce Bright and Jack Lumly, 10 points each.

 

St. Clare's Golden Gophers -- Lambert, 14 points; Lemperle, 11 points; Hutton, 10 points.

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 31

St. Gabriel's 73. St. John’s Eagles 58

St. Gabriel’s -- Andrew Lemorta, 4 points.
St. John's Eagles -- Corbin Youngblood, 19 points.

 

St Paul’s 43, St. Clare’s 38
St. Paul’s -- Tim Rickert, 2 points.

St. Clare’s – Hutton, 16 points.

 

Christ The King 61, St. Mary's Knights 54

Christ the King -- Brendan Dunn, 27 points; Zach Mazdeka, 12 points.

St. Mary’s Knights -- Mikey Gomez, 21 points.

St. Kateri Blue 81, St. Kateri White 74 

St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox, 34 points.

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 30

St. Paul’s 58, Christ The King 57

St. Paul’s -- Peka Morris, 17 points.

Christ The King -- Brendan Dunn, 25 points; Pierce Bright, 18 points.

St. Gabriel's 72, St. Kateri White 43
St. Gabriel’s -- Dan Albright, 24 points.

St. Mary's Knights 57, St. Mary’s Lightning 46

St. Mary’s Knights -- Devin Valles, 18 points.
St. Mary's Lightning -- Max Blowers, 23 points.

 

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 24

St. Kateri Blue 55, St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 39
St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox, 23 points.

 

St. Kateri Spartans 95, St. Paul’s 80

St. Kateri Spartans -- Ibrahim Osman, 36 points.

St. Paul’s – Peka Morris, 31 points.

St. Gabriel's 61, Christ The King 46 

St. Gabriel’s -- Brandon Kiernan, 8 points.
Christ The King -- Brenden Dunn, 18 points.

 

St Mary's Lightning 53, St. Kateri White 51

St. Mary’s Lightning – R. Thomas, 17 points.

St. John's Eagles 66, St. Mary’s Knight 53

St. John’s Eagles -- Corbin Youngblood, 27 points. 

St. Mary's Knights -- Mikey Gomez, 13 points.

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 23

St. Kateri Blue 66, St. Mary’s Knights 53

St. Kateri Blue -- Aaron Whitley, 18 points.

St. Mary's Knights -- Devin Valles, 8 points.

 

 

St. John’s Eagles 86, St. Paul’s 53
St. Paul’s -- Nick Richmond, 17 points.

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 17

St. Paul’s 58, St. Gabriel’s 47

St. Paul’s -- Trevor Luciani, 7 points.
St. Gabriel's -- Jared Slovic, 14 points.

St. Mary's Knights 59, St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 56 (OT)
St. Mary’s Knights -- Deyvon Hill and Devin Valles, 11 points each.
St. Clare's Golden Gophers -- Jimmy Davis, 16 points.

 

St. Kateri Spartans 72, St. Kateri White 46

St. Kateri Spartans -- Colin Detrick, 19 points.
St. Kateri White -- David Guest, 13 points.

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 16

St. Gabriel's 62, St. Mary’s Knights 53

St. Gabriel’s -- Tim Woodward, 4 points.
St. Mary's Knights -- Devin Valles, 22 points.

St. Kateri Spartans 73, St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 46

St. Kateri Spartans -- Ibrahim Osman, 17 points. 

St. Clares Golden Gophers -- Jakob Lemperle, 11 points.

 

Christ The King 62, St. Kateri White 23

Christ The King -- Pierce Bright, 24 points; Brendan Dunn, 18 points.

 

St. John’s Eagles 83, St. Paul’s 61

St. Paul’s – Morris, 29 points.

 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 13

St. Kateri Blue 51, St. Mary's Lightning 49
St. Kateri Blue --  KJ Cox, 23 points.

 

 

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 10

St. Gabriel's 55, St. Mary’s Lightning 27

St. Gabriel’s -- Lorenzo Gannon, 10 points.

St. Mary's Lightning -- Max Blowers, 12 points.

St. Kateri Spartans 79, St. Mary's Knights 62

St. Kateri Spartans -- Ibrahim Osman, 24 points.

St. Mary’s Knights -- Chris Parker, 17 points.

St. Kateri Blue 62, St. Paul’s 52 

St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox, 20 points; Aaron Whitley, 18 points.

 

 

St. John's Eagles 62, Christ The King 57

Christ The King -- Pierce Bright, 24 points; Brendan Dunn, 21 points.

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 9

St. Kateri White 67, St. Mary's Knights 54

St. Kateri White -- C. Brown, 24 points.

St. Mary’s Knights -- Mikey Gomez, 11 points.

 

St. Kateri Spartans 67, St. John's Eagles 56

St. Kateri Spartans -- Jack Evans, 18 points.

St. John's Eagles -- Youngblood, 24 points. 

 

St. Gabriel's 71, St. Kateri Blue 36

St. Gabriel''s -- Dylan Pusz, 4 points.

St. Kateri Blue -- K.J. Cox, 21 points.

 

Christ The King 55, St. Clare's Golden Gophers 43

Christ The King --  Brendan Dunn, 25 points; Pierce Bright, 22 points.

 

St. Paul's 52, St. Mary's Lightning 36

St. Paul's -- Richmond, 20 points.
St. Mary's Lightning -- Blowers, 13 points.  

SUNDAY, JAN. 3

 

St Mary's Knights 62, Christ The King 58
St. Mary's Knights -- Mikey Gomez, 16 points.
Christ The King -- Pierce Bright, 18 points.

 

St. Kateri Blue 63, St. Mary's Lightning 31 

St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox, 20 points; Tim Schaffer, 18 points.

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 2

St Paul's 54, Christ The King 49
St. Paul's -- Nick Richmond, 14 points.

Christ The King -- Pierce Bright, 25 points.

 

St. Gabriel's 70, St. Kateri White 38

St. Gabriel's -- Luke Pusz, 11 points.

St. Kateri White -- Jack Murray, 11 points.

 

 

St. Kateri Spartans 66, St. Kateri Blue 36

St. Kateri Spartans -- Jack Evans, 16 points.

 

St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox, 22 points.

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 27

St. Gabriel's 77, St. Mary's Knights 51
St. Gabriel's -- Nick Howard, 15 points.
St. Mary's Knight's -- Mikey Gomez, 12 points.

 

St. Kateri Blue 64, St. Kateri White 50
St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox, 16 points.

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 26

St. Kateri Spartans 62, St. Mary's Lightning 36

St. Kateri Spartans -- Zion Kang, 12 points; Joe Hale, 9 points.

St. Mary's Lightning -- Max Blowers, 23 points.

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 20

St. Kateri Sparans 58, St. Gabriel’s 56

St. Kateri  Spartans -- Jack Evans, 23 points.

St. Gabriel's -- Dan Albright, 29 points.

 

St. Mary’s Knights 69, St. Paul’s 66
St. Mary's Knights -- Andrew Giaimo and Mikey Gomez, 17 points each.
St. Paul's – Tijawan Morris, 29 points.

St. Clare's Golden Gophers 67, St. Mary’s Lightning 24

St. Clare's Golden Gophers – Lemperle, 10 points. 

St. Mary's Lightning – Thomas, 10 points.

 

St. Kateri Blue 38, Christ The King 32 

St. Kateri Blue -- KJ Cox and Aaron Whitley, 8 points each. 

Christ The King -- Brendan Dunn, 16 points.

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 19

St. Gabriel’s 68, St. Paul’s 48

St Gabriel’s -- Branson Otis, 17 points.

St Paul’s -- Tom Rotchford, 6 points.

 

St. Kateri Spartans 83, St. Kateri White 30

St. Kateri Spartans -- Alec Ritzenthaler, 29 points.

St. Kateri White -- Jack Murray, 11 points.

St. Mary’s Knights 47, St. Clare's Golden Gophers 35

St. Mary's Knights -- Devin Valles, 8 points.

St. Clare’s Golden Gophers -- Kyle Lambert 11 points.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 16

 

Christ The King 67, St. Mary's Lightning 64
Christ The King -- Brendan Dunn, 32 points.
St. Mary's Lightning -- Riley Thomas, 15 points.

SUNDAY, DEC. 13

St. Gabriel's 53, St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 33
St. Gabriel’s -- Anthony Depoalo, 10 points.
St. Clare's Golden Gophers -- Carter Bach,  7 points. 

 

St Paul’s 79, St, Kateri White 51
St. Paul’s -- Nick Richmond, 21 points.
St. Kateri White -- Christian Brown, 11 points.

 

St. Helen’s Spartans 69, Christ The King 45

St. Helen’s Spartans --Alec Ritzenthaler, 18 points.

Christ The King -- Brendan Dunn, 18 points.

 

St. Mary's Knights 57, St. Kateri Blue 40
St Mary’s Knights -- Anthony Vicinanzo, 13 points. 

St. Kateri Blue -- Derek Meisner, 8 points.

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 12

St. Kateri Spartans 79, St. Paul’s 68
St. Kateri Spartans – Ibrahim Osman, 28 points.
St. Paul’s – Peka Morris, 23 points.

St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 34, St. Kateri Blue 26
St. Clare’s Golden Gophers – Lambert, 17 points.
St Kateri Blue – Aaron Whitley, 17points,

St. Gabriel's 78, Christ The King 35

St. Gabriel’s – Jared Slovic, 17 points.

Christ The King – Brendan Dunn, 17 points.

 

St. John's Eagles 56, St. Mary’s Knights 35

St. John’s Eagles -- Dylon Gotay, 13 points.
St. Mary's Knights -- Andrew Giaimo, 8 points.

St. Mary’s Lightning 43, St. Kateri White 30

St. Mary’s Lightning -- M. Blowers, 16 points.

 

St Kateri White -- E. Caponong, 9 points.

SUNDAY, DEC. 6

St. Gabriel's 45, St. Mary’s Ballston Spa 27

St. Gabriel’s -- Dan Albright, 13 points.

St. Mary's Ballston Spa -- Max Blowers, 10 points.

St Kateri White 64, Christ The King 59

St. Kateri White -- J. Murray, 23 points.

Christ The King – Brendan Dunn, 24 points. 

SATURDAY, DEC. 5

St. Kateri Spartans 59, St. Mary’s Knights 30

St. Kateri Spartans -- Alec Ritzenhaler, 13 points.

St. Mary's Knights -- Isaac Davila and Nate Lucente, 7 points each.

St Paul’s 44, St. Kateri Blue 33

St. Paul’s -- Chase Monroe, 12 points.

St Kateri Blue – Cox, 18 points,

 

St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 49. St. Kateri White 36

St Clare’s Golden Gophers – Lofrumento, 7 points.

SKT White – Guest, 10 points.

Christ The King gunning for one of two championships up for grabs in one-day shootout

The 2015-2016 Capital District 9-10 Senior League King of the Hill Tournament will have a field of seven teams, six from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League and one from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League.

The Tournament will be a one-day shootout affair on Sunday, Feb. 28, at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in downtown Troy.  Teams will battle for one of two King of the Hill trophies. The seven teams will be broken down into two pools, the NCAA Division and the NIT Division.

In the NCAA Division, three teams will take part in pool play format. The teams, all from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, are LaSalle, the Clifton Park Knights and the Greenville Spartans. In the NIT Division, Christ The King from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League, will go up against three teams from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League – Averill Park (Toomey), the Averill Park Downtowns and the East Greenbush Blue Devils.

DOUBLE-DIGIT VICTORIES ABOUND

The NCAA Division features three teams that had double-digit win totals during the regular season. LaSalle finished tied for first in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League’s West Division with a 14-5 mark.  LaSalle had its post-season hopes dashed early, getting upset in the first round in a dismal, low-scoring contest.

Greenville, which was ineligible for the Albany/Troy post-season playoffs due to league rules, also played in the West Division. The Spartans were a very respectable 12-7 and ended up in third place.

Much like LaSalle, the Clifton Park Knights also got a rude awakening in their first-round playoff contest. The Knights, who finished tied for second in the East Division with a solid 14-5 record, were bounced out early by the upstart Albany JCC Raptors.

SCHENECTADY REPRESENTED BY CHRIST THE KING

In the NIT Division, Christ The King carries the flag for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League as the league’s only representative in the Senior League King of the Hill Tournament. CTK finished the regular season in seventh place with a 6-12 mark. Christ The King, a team the was very competitive in the 10-team Schenectady League despite its record, won a play-in game but then was eliminated from post-season action in the next round.

CTK’s competition comes from the East Greenbush Blue Devils, the Averill Park Downtowns and Averill Park (Toomey).

East Greenbush, which was also ineligible for the Albany/Troy post-season playoffs, posted a 5-14 record during the regular season but shows a surprisingly easy non-league victory over Christ The King when the two teams hooked up in mid-season.

The Averill Park Downtowns and Averill Park (Toomey) followed similar roads all season long in opposite divisions of the Albany/Troy league.

The Downtowns were 10-9 and finished fifth in the East Division. The team then won its play-in game, but lost a tough, close game in the first round of the playoffs.

Averill Park (Toomey) did much the same, finishing in fourth place in the West Division. Like the Downtowns, AP (Toomey) won its play-in game and then was eliminated in the first round.

 

THE SCHEDULE: 

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 28

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE KING OF THE HILL TOURNAMENT

 

NIT DIVISION

(Advancement Format -- Winners play championship game; losers play consolation game)

 

Game One -- East Greenbush Blue Devils vs. Averill Park Downtowns at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 10:30 a.m.

Game Two -- Averill Park (Toomey) vs. Christ The King at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 11:35 a.m.

(If East Greenbush loses)

Championship Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 1:45 p.m.

Consolation Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 4:00 p.m.

If East Greenbush wins)

Consolation Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 1:45 p.m.

Championship Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 4:00 p.m.

 

NCAA DIVISION

(Pool Play Format – Best record wins; tiebreakers if needed)

 

Game One – LaSalle vs. Clifton Park Knights at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 12:40 p.m.

Game Two – LaSalle vs. Greenville Spartans at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 2:50 p.m.

Game Three – Clifton Park Knights vs. Greenville Spartans at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 5:05 p.m.

 

Tiebreakers – Overall Record, Head-to-Head, Points Allowed; Coin Flip 

 

2015-2016 SCHENECTADY 9/10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

SATURDAY, FEB. 20

No. 7 Seed Christ The King 73, vs. No. 10 Seed St. Kateri White 69

No. 8 Seed St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 56, No. 9 Seed St. Mary’s Lightning 53

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 21

SECOND ROUND

No. 1 Seed St. Kateri Spartans 66, No. 7 Christ The King 47

No. 2 Seed St. John’s Eagles 68, No. 8 Seed St. Clare’s Golden Gophers 45

No. 3 Seed St. Gabriel’s 61, No. 6 Seed St. Kateri Blue 48

No. 4 Seed St. Paul’s 68, No. 5 Seed St. Mary’s Knights 54

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 27

SEMIFINALS

No. 1 Seed St. Kateri Spartans 70, No. 4 Seed St. Paul’s 56

No. 3 Seed St. Gabriel’s 62, No. 2 Seed St. John’s Eagles 52 

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 28 

Schenectady 9/10 Senior League Championship Game

No. 3 Seed St. Gabriel’s defeated No. 1 Seed St. Kateri Spartans

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 28

(At Russell Sage College Robison Gym in Troy)

 

NIT DIVISION

(Advancement Format -- Winners play championship game; losers play consolation game)

 Game One -- Averill Park Downtowns 54, East Greenbush Blue Devils 51

Game Two -- Christ The King 43, Averill Park (Toomey) 35

Championship Game – Averill Park Downtowns 59, Christ The King 42

Consolation Game – Averill Park (Toomey) 62, East Greenbush Blue Devils 45

 

NCAA DIVISION

(Pool Play Format – Best record wins; tiebreakers if needed)

Game One – Clifton Park Knights 37, LaSalle 35

Game Two – Greenville Spartans 52, LaSalle 45

Game Three – Clifton Park Knights 50, Greenville Spartans 24

Clifton Park Knights win NCAA championship with 2-0 record.

St. Clare's Golden Gophers 58, Christ The King Royals 50 

St, Clare’s Golden Gophers -- Ian Parker, 7 points.

 

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 11

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 10

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 4

The St. Mary's Knights show off the team's championship trophy (above) and then their Senior League champion shirts after winning the 2016-2017 Schenectady 9-10 Senior League championship on Sunday, March 5 at Shen High School East. The St. Mary's Knights defeated St. Kateri Blue, 69-65, in the title game in a hard-fought battle that went down to the final minute of play. St. Mary's finished up the season with a 16-2 record. St. Kateri Blue, one of only two teams in the league to defeat the St. Mary's Knights during the regular season, ended up with a 14-4 mark.

 

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 25

NCAA FIRST ROUND

AT. ST. CLEMENT'S

No. 2 Seed St. Gabriel’s Saints 87, No. 7 Seed St. Clement’s Maroon 82

No. 3 Seed St. Clement’s Blue 73, No. 6 Seed St. Clare’s White 66

AT ST. GABRIEL'S

No. 4 Seed St. Gabriel’s Cavs 65, No. 5 Seed St. Kateri Tar Heels 62 (OT)

No. 1 Seed Duanesburg 64, No. 8 Seed Christ The King Blue 41

 

NIT FIRST ROUND

AT ST. GABRIEL

No. 4 Seed St. Mary’s Ballston Spa 34, No. 1 Seed Christ The King White 33

No. 3 Seed St. Clare’s Green 50, No. 2 Seed Alplaus 32

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 3

NCAA SEMIFINALS

AT DUANESBURG HIGH SCHOOL

No. 1 Seed Duanesburg vs. No. 4 Seed St. Gabriel's Cavs at Duanesburg High School, ppd.

No. 2 Seed St. Gabriel's Saints vs. No. 3 Seed St. Clement's Blue at Duanesburg High School, ppd.

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 4

NCAA SEMIFINALS

AT DUANESBURG HIGH SCHOOL

No. 4 Seed St. Gabriel's Cavs 75, No. 1 Seed Duanesburg 74

No. 3 Seed St. Clement's Blue receives a bye

 

NIT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

AT DUANESBURG HIGH SCHOOL

No. 4 Seed St. Mary's Ballston Spa 63, No. 3 Seed St. Clare's Green 57

 

SCHENECTADY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

AT DUANESBURG HIGH SCHOOL

No. 3 Seed St. Clement's Blue 87, No. 4 Seed St. Gabriel's Cavs 77

SEASON OPENS DEC. 1-2

A total of 12 teams will vie for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League championship trophy this upcoming season. The 2018-2019 campaign kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 1 with five games on tap.

on Sunday, six more games will be played and all 12 teams will have made their respective season's debut on the court.

Teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League will play a total of 16 regular-season games. The league, which provides good, healthy competition on the high school level for more than 120 area players, features two divisions of six teams each this year.

There is also a very good possibility that the very popular Capital District Senior League Showdown Tournament will return this season. That tournament pits teams from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League against the area's other 9-10 Senior League, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League. 

Don't miss out on updates, league schedules, player rosters, leading scorers and game results. Check back often.

 

Most seasons, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Playoffs are a cut and dried affair.

One team runs away and hides during the regular season and finishes first in the standings with an impressive record. Then that one team would sit back as the post-season playoffs unfold, play an easy first-round game and wait for all the other teams to knock each other off. Those “other” teams would cling to the desperate hope that something unusual or out of the ordinary would come into play and they could grab an upset victory when they eventually went up against the odds-on favorite to win it all.

Not so this season. And, it’s certainly not just a cliché to say the 2015-2016 Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Playoffs are wide open and on any given day, any team can beat any given team. It’s reality.

The league’s post-season playoffs start Saturday, Feb. 20, with two play-in games at O’Rourke Middle School in Burnt Hills.  The winners advance to Sunday’s first-round of the playoffs when four games will be played at St. Gregory’s School in Loudonville. 

THREE TEAMS SEEM LIKE THEY SHOULD BE TRI-FAVORITES

Just on paper, the St. John’s Eagles and the St. Kateri Spartans which shared the regular-season title with solid 16-2 records, as well as third-place St. Gabriel’s (15-3) even to the most cynical of observers are all at least strong co-favorites to win it all this year.

After all, they took turns beating each other during the regular season, and after a late scramble down the stretch, the St. John’s Eagles rose up to grab a piece of first place as they finished tied with the St. Kateri Spartans. Meanwhile, St. Gabriel’s was right there in third place as the race to the finish ended with what resembled a three-way photo finish in a horse race.

What’s also different this season is that the rest of the pack isn’t just the rest of the pack with little or no hope. In fact there isn’t just one other team lurking in the shadows, but three teams. And those three teams, which finished fourth through sixth in the standings, are extremely dangerous simply because of the fact that all three won nine or more games leading up to the post-season playoffs.

St. Paul’s leads that pack having gone 10-8 during the regular season. Next are St. Kateri Blue and the St. Mary’s Knights, two teams that posted identical 9-9 records.

NO CLEAR-CUT FAVORITE TO BE FOUND

But getting back to the three presumed tri-favorites, it’s hard for anybody to make any one of the three teams the clear-cut favorite.

The St. Kateri Spartans appeared destined to fulfill that role. SKT ripped off 15 victories in a row to start the season and the possibility of an undefeated regular season seemed well within reach. But then came a tough one-point loss to the St. John’s Eagles followed closely by a 21-point thumping administered by St. Gabriel’s.  Only a victory over Christ The King on the last night of the regular season kept the once seemingly invincible SKT Spartans from dropping completely out of first place.

Meanwhile, the St. John’s Eagles and St. Gabriel’s proved they both belonged by keeping pace step for step with the SKT Spartans. St. John’s, which opened the season with seven straight wins, squeezed past St. Gabriel’s early in the season by a slim four-point margin. St. John’s then turned around and lost to the SKT Spartans by 11, and then dropped a disappointing rematch with St. Gabriel’s in late January to the tune of a 15-point defeat.  But St. John’s bounced right back and wasn’t finished as evidenced by that gutty one-point win over the SKT Spartans that earned the team a share of first place once the dust had settled.

St. Gabriel’s followed much the same course, losing to both the St. John’s Eagles and the SKT Spartans in the first half of the season, but then beating both teams convincingly in the second half.  The one outlier, so to speak, was a surprising loss St. Gabriel’s suffered at the hands of St. Paul’s in mid-January, which in the end, cost St. Gabriel’s a chance for a share of first place.

PLENTY OF POINTS CAN BE SEEN AS PROOF POSITIVE

And speaking of St. Paul’s, that very win over St. Gabriel’s is proof positive that St. Paul’s is extremely dangerous going into the playoffs. St. Paul’s has been competitive with all three of the “top three” and has also shown the ability to put up points in bunches. The first time around, St. Paul’s lost by only 11 to the SKT Spartans and then put up 80 points in another shootout loss to the Spartans near the end of the regular season.  And that offensive outburst wasn’t a fluke as St. Paul’s scored 76 and 80, respectively, in its last two regular-season games.

As for St. Kateri Blue and the St. Mary’s Knights, nine wins by each team is nothing to overlook.

SKT Blue lost its first four games of the season, but then went 9-5 down the stretch. Included in that stretch run was an impressive outing against St. Gabriel’s when SKT Blue lost by only six points.

The 9-9 showing this season by St. Mary’s included two hard-fought losses, an 11-point loss to St. Gabriel’s and a 13-point defeat at the hands of St. John’s in the second half of the season. St. Mary’s also recorded one particularly impressive late-season win, an 82-76 victory over the previously mentioned and dangerous St. Paul’s.

THEN THERE IS ALWAYS THE MARCH MADNESS FACTOR

And if that isn’t enough to keep the top teams awake at night going into the playoffs, there are four other “wild-card” teams out there ready to stir up that March Madness pot that occasionally boils over with an unexpected upset or two.

Those four teams are the ones that kick off the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League post-season playoffs on Saturday in play-in games. No. 7-seeded Christ The King (6-12) takes on No. 10-seeded St. Kateri White (2-16) and No. 8-seeded St. Clare’s (4-14) meets No. 9-seeded St. Mary’s Lightning (3-15) in two contests at O’Rourke Middle School.

The winners advance to Sunday’s first-round of the playoffs which will be held at St. Gregory’s School in Loudonville. The four winners of those games advance to the semifinals which will be played on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Championship game will be played at Shen High School East on Sunday, Feb. 28.     

 

PLAYOFF POINTS TO PONDER: The 15 straight wins by the St. Kateri Spartans was easily the league’s longest regular-season winning streak. St. Gabriel’s and the St. John’s Eagles were next, each with seven-game win streaks. ..… The January 24 shootout between the St. Kateri Spartans and St. Paul’s, won 95-80 by SKT, was the biggest offensive explosion by two teams during the 2015-2016 season and is certainly one of the highest scoring games in Schenectady 9-10 Senior League history. ..… From the Hot & Cold department, both St. Gabriel’s and the St. John’s Eagles are hot having won nine of their last 10 games. Ice cold are St. Kateri White which hasn’t won since January 9 and the St. Clare’s Golden Gophers who haven’t tasted victory since January 16. Both teams have had their share of injuries and have been worn down as the second half of the season has unfolded. Also a little frosty are the St. Kateri Spartans who come into the playoffs having dropped two or their last three contests. ….. The St. Kateri Spartans and St. John’s Eagles were the league’s top two scoring teams with 1,270 and 1,237 points, respectively. St. Gabriel’s was easily the league’s best defensive team, giving up only 800 points in 18 games, a stingy and eye-popping 44.4 points per game average. …. From the Something Might Be Brewing Department, the St. Mary’s Lightning team had quite an accomplishment to hang its hat on during the regular season. St. Mary’s got whippped back in December, losing to the St. Clare’s Golden Gophers by 43 points, 67-24. Then St. Mary’s turned the tables on Feb. `13, beating St. Clare’s, 44-42, on a last-second desperation shot. That’s a 41-point turnaround.  Up next for the two teams is, you guessed, their third meeting in the play-in games on Saturday.    

League’s eight other teams are geared up for a championship run in a very competitive field

St. Helen’s Green will put its regular-season title on the line and eight other hungry teams will try to make a statement of their own as the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League post-season playoffs begin on Saturday, Feb. 25, with five games at St. Joe’s/IG Glenville.

St. Helen’s Green, the leader of the pack throughout much of the season in the nine-team league, finished up at 11-3 in the league and dropped into a three-way tie for first place on the last day of the regular season when it was upset by St. Paul’s. St. Helen’s Green was awarded the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs as it already had the tiebreakers over St. John’s and St. Clare’s.

Overall, St. Helen’s Green is 13-4 on the season and has beaten every team in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League at least once. St. Helen’s Green also owns an impressive win in the Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament where it beat the Troy CYO Lightning of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League. The Troy CYO Lightning is undefeated in league play and may very well turn out to be the best team in that 11-team league.

But in such a competitive field as this year’s Schenectady 9-10 Senior League playoffs feature, the question that needs to be answered is can St. Helen’s Green avoid another off outing and keep from being upset? During the regular season, St. Helen’s beat its closest competitors in the league, St. John’s, St. Clare’s and Our Lady Queen of Peace, in impressive fashion for six of its victories. But three of its four losses came against teams with losing records, having been surprisingly beaten by Guilderland, St. Paul’s and IC Glenville. St. Helen’s other loss came in a non-league game against St. Gabriel’s.

St. Helen’s Gold, IC Glenville battle for right to meet St. Helen’s Green

On Saturday, St. Helen’s must wait to find out which team it will be playing in the first round of the playoffs. St. Helen’s Green will play the winner of the No. 8-No. 9 seed play-in game. The Saturday morning play-in game will kick off the post-season action at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joe’s Scotia when No. 8 seed St. Helen’s Gold squares off against No. 9 seed and host IC Glenville.

The winner of that game becomes the first team to take a shot at upsetting St. Helen’s Green in a quarterfinal-round game at 12:30 p.m. at St. Joe’s Scotia.

St. Helen’s Gold was 3-11 in the league and 4-13 overall on the year. The team put things together down the stretch, going 4-5 in its last nine games, including a win in the Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament.

IC Glenville was only 2-12 in the league and 3-14 overall to become the No. 9 seed in the tournament, but one of those league wins, as previously mentioned, was a surprising victory over St. Helen’s Green.

No easy matchups for St. Clare’s, St. John’s or OLQP

In the three other quarterfinal round games on Saturday at St. Joe’s Scotia, No. 2 seed St. Clare’s battles No. 7 seed St. Paul’s at 11:10 a.m.; No. 3 seed St. John’s squares off against No. 6 seed Guilderland at 1:40 p.m.; and No. 4 seed Our Lady Queen of Peace clashes with No. 5 seed St. Gabriel’s at 2:50 p.m.

St. Clare’s won seven of its first eight games of the season, then stumbled a bit before winning five of its last six to finish at 11-3 in the league and 13-4 overall. St. Clare’s lost only to upper echelon teams, twice to St. Helen’s Green, once to St. John’s and once to St. Gabriel’s. The team also owns a hard-fought win in the Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament having beaten Mater Christi in probably the tournament’s most competitive game.

St. Paul’s won’t be an easy test for St. Clare’s despite the fact that St. Paul’s only went 5-11 in league play and 6-13 overall. St. Paul’s lost seven games by nine or less points during the season, and was in the game right until the end in the majority of its outings. St. Paul’s also has notched that regular-season ending upset win over St. Helen’s Green.

Much like St. Clare’s, St. John’s won seven of its first eight games, then hit some bumps in the road before winning six of its last seven games. That allowed St. John’s to finish up 11-3 in the league and a solid 13-4 overall.

St. John’s can’t take anything for granted in its quarterfinal round opponent in Guilderland. Guilderland was another team that was competitive in the majority of its games during the regular season. Guilderland was a disappointing 5-9 in league play and 6-11 overall, but one of its wins came at the expense of regular-season champion St. Helen’s Green.

No. 4 seed OLQP looms as every other team’s nightmare to play. The teams was competitive is just about every game it played going 8-6 in the league and 10-7 overall. All of the team’s losses came against the league’s top four teams, and six of those losses were by eight or less points losing to St. Clare’s by 4 and 8 points; to St. John’s by 3; to St. Helen’s Green by 5 and 6; and to St. Gabriel’s by 3.

St. Gabriel’s, which played as an independent in the league this season, is now legal under league rules and was placed as the No. 5 seed in the tournament after going 12-4 against Schenectady 9-10 Senior League teams and 13-4 overall. St. Gabriel’s lost only to the four teams above it the seedings, dropping games to St. Helen’s Green, St. Clare’s, St. John’s and OLQP.

The playoffs continue on Sunday with the semifinals at St. Helen’s at 2:00 and 3:15 p.m. The championship game is slated for Monday, Feb. 27, at Schalmont High School but that game may be moved to later in the week.

Clifton Park Red Storm, Averill Park Gold battle but come up short in Thursday night’s play-in games

Stillwater and Albany JCC picked up hard-earned victories as the Fourth Annual 9-10 Senior Showdown Tournament got under way Thursday night with two play-in games at Albany JCC.

Stillwater, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League No. 7 seed turned away a determined Clifton Park Red Storm team, the league’s No. 8 seed, 55-51. In the second game, Albany JCC, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League No. 9 seed, defeated Averill Park Gold, the league’s No. 10 seed, 45-34.

With the victory, both Stillwater and Albany JCC advanced to the main body of the Senior Showdown Tournament which will be held Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady.

Stillwater, now 6-6 on the season, advances and represents Albany/Troy as the No. 7 seed. Stillwater will square off against Schenectady 9-10 Senior League No. 7 seed, St. Paul’s (2-6 in the league and 2-8 overall), at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday at 9:45 a.m.

Albany JCC, now 5-7 overall, moves in the main body of the tournament as the Albany/Troy No 8 seed. Albany JCC will do battle with Schenectady 9-10 Senior League No. 8 seed IC Glenville at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. IG Glenville comes into that contest with an overall record of 1-8.

Stillwater and the Clifton Park Red Storm battled on even terms throughout most of their play-in game on Thursday at Albany JCC. In fact the Clifton Park Red Storm stormed out of the gate quickly and held an early lead in the game before Stillwater regrouped and carved out a 25-21 halftime lead.

In the second half, there was a tournament atmosphere evident as both teams traded baskets and took runs at each other. The game was in doubt right until the end when some late foul shots iced the contest for Stillwater.

Albany JCC took control of things early on in its meeting with Averill Park Gold as it ran out to a 27-12 halftime lead. In the second half, AP Gold mounted a late rally to get to within single digits, but in the end, Albany JCC had too many answers for AP Gold to overcome.

There is one more Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League play-in game on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Troy Boys Club in Troy at 10:30 a.m. when Averill Park Green and LaSalle square off. The winner earns the right to advance into the main body of the tournament for a game against Schenectady No 9 seed St. Helen’s Gold at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday at 2:45 p.m.

The Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament will feature eight other games on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons.

FOURTH ANNUAL SENIOR SHOWDOWN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, Feb. 2
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
Play-In Games
Albany/Troy No. 7 (Stillwater) 55, Albany/Troy No. 8 (Clifton Park Storm) 51
Albany/Troy No. 9 (Albany JCC) 45, Albany/Troy No. 10 (Averill Park Gold) 34
Saturday, Feb. 4
Albany/Troy No. 11 (Averill Park Green) vs. Albany/Troy No. 12 (LaSalle) at Troy Boys Club, 10:30 a.m. (winner advances as Albany/Troy No. 9 and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons at 2:45 p.m.)

Saturday, Feb. 4
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
No. 6 Schenectady (Guilderland) vs. No. 6 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Orange) at Bishop Gibbons, 8:30 a.m.

No. 7 Schenectady (St. Paul’s) vs. No. 7 Albany/Troy (Stillwater) at Bishop Gibbons, 9:45 a.m.

No. 5 Schenectady (Our Lady Queen of Peace) vs. No. 5 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Chaos) at Bishop Gibbons, 11:00 a.m.

No. 4 Schenectady (St. Gabriel’s) vs. No. 4 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Maroon) at Bishop Gibbons, 12:15 p.m.

No. 3 Schenectady (St. Clare’s) vs. No. 3 Albany/Troy (Mater Christi) at Bishop Gibbons, 1:30 p.m.

No. 9 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Gold) vs. No. 9 Albany/Troy (Averill Park Green/LaSalle winner) at Bishop Gibbons, 2:45 p.m.

No. 1 Schenectady (St. John’s) vs. No. 1 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Tropics) at Bishop Gibbons, 4:00 p.m.

No. 2 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Green) vs. No. 2 Albany/Troy (Troy CYO Lightning) at Bishop Gibbons, 5:15 p.m.

No. 8 Schenectady (IC Glenville) vs. No. 8 Albany/Troy (Albany JCC) at Bishop Gibbons, 6:30 p.m.

ALBANY JCC, TROY BOYS CLUB, BISHOP GIBBONS HOST EVENT THAT PITS ALBANY/TROY AGAINST SCHENECTADY IN SEEDED MATCHUPS

The annual Senior Showdown basketball tournament that pits the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League against the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League is, in a way, a lot like the NCAA Men’s Basketball March Madness Tournament. You seed the teams, you bring them together and put them on the basketball court in first-class facilities, and then you wait for the unexpected to happen.

Much like the NCAA tournament, form holds true in most cases as favorites win and surprising upsets occur in other cases when hungry underdogs rise up and take home a hard-fought victory in the Senior Showdown. In both the NCAA tournament and the annual Senior Showdown, no doubt, bragging rights are on the line.

This year’s Fourth Annual Senior Showdown is hosted by three facilities. Albany JCC is the site for two Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League play-in games on Thursday, Feb. 2. On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Troy Boys Club hosts a third Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League play-in game.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Feb. 4, Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady will host the main body of the tournament starting at 8:30 a.m. and running until 6:30 p.m. There will be nine games played at Bishop Gibbons and when the dust finally settles, the outcome of the No. 1 through No. 9 seeded games will determine which league goes home with bragging rights as the best senior basketball league in the area, at least for the 2011-12 campaign.

Top six teams from each league already looking each other squarely in the eye

The three play-in games were necessitated because the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League has 12 teams while the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League has nine. Thus, the first six seeded teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League automatically advance to take on the top six seeded teams from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons.

The No. 7 seed through No. 12 seed teams from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League must play their way into the main part of the tournament to take on the No. 7 seed through No. 9 seed from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League.

On Thursday, Feb. 2, No. 7 seed Stillwater (5-6 and in third place in the North Division) takes on No. 8 seed Clifton Park Storm (4-7 and in fifth place in the North Division) in the first of two Albany/Troy 9-10 play-in games at Albany JCC at 7:15 p.m. The winner of the Stillwater/CP Storm game advances as Albany/Troy No. 7 seed and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons against Schenectady No. 7 seed St. Paul’s (2-6, in sixth place in the league and 2-8 overall) at 9:45 a.m.

In the second game on Thursday at Albany JCC, No. 9 Albany JCC (4-6, in third place in the South Division and 4-7 overall) meets No. 10 Averill Park Gold (1-9, in fifth place in the South Division and 1-10 overall) at 8:30 p.m. The winner of that game advances as Albany/Troy No. 8 seed and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons at 6:30 p.m. against Schenectady No. 8 seed IC Glenville (1-7, in seventh place in the league and 1-8 overall).

In the third Albany/Troy play-in game on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Troy Boys Club, No. 11 seed Averill Park Green (3-7 and in last place in the North Division) meets No. 12 seed LaSalle (0-10, in last place in the South Division and 0-11 overall). The winner of that game gets a couple of hours to regroup and then takes on Schenectady No. 9 seed St. Helen’s Gold (0-7, in last place in the league and 0-8 overall) at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2:45 p.m.

The remaining six seeded games that will be played on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons will feature some interesting matchups that will help settle the issue as to which league goes home with bragging rights.

Guilderland, East Greenbush Orange kicks off full day of action

In the first game of the day, parents and fans can enjoy a morning cup of coffee and then be entertained by a battle of No. 6 seeds as East Greenbush Orange takes on Guilderland at 8:30 a.m. EG Orange is 4-6 and in fourth place in the North Division of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League. Guilderland, which is the only Schenectady team to have beaten first-place St. Helen’s Green in league play, comes into the game with a 4-5 league record and 4-6 mark overall.

In an 11:00 a.m. scheduled contest, Albany/Troy No. 5 seed Clifton Park Chaos meets up with Schenectady No. 5 seed Our Lady Queen of Peace. The Chaos is 7-3 and in third place in the North Division while OLQP is in fourth place in Schenectady at 6-4 (6-5 overall).

Next up at 12:15 p.m. is a meeting between No. 4 seeds. East Greenbush Maroon represents Albany/Troy and sports an 8-2 league mark (second place in the South Division) and 8-3 mark overall. St. Gabriel’s carries the flag for Schenectady. St. Gabriel’s plays as an independent in the Schenectady League and has a solid overall record of 9-3.

Top three guns in each league are primed for action

In the next three matchups, things get down to the nitty gritty as they say. Each league’s top three teams will square off in what should be entertaining games. Since the seedings were made approximately two weeks, the top three teams in both Albany/Troy and Schenectady have battled each other and the first, second and third seeds, it seems, could have changed after almost every game and you could probably make a case that any of the three teams could be the No. 1 seed from their respective leagues.

In any event, Albany/Troy No. 3 seed Mater Christi will do battle with Schenectady No. 3 St. Clare’s at 1:30 p.m. at Bishop Gibbons. Mater Christi has been on a tear of late and leads the North Division with a 10-1 mark. Mater Christi shows only a defeat at the hands of undefeated and South Division leader Troy CYO Lightning. St. Clare’s, 7-2 and 8-3 overall, is in second place in the Schenectady league and shows only losses to St. Helen’s, St. John’s and St. Gabriel’s.

In a battle of No. 2 seeds, previously mentioned Albany/Troy South Division leader Troy CYO Lightning goes up against Schenectady No. 2 seed St. Helen’s Green at 5:15 p.m. Troy CYO has only lost to the Clifton Park Tropics in a non-league contest and sports a sparkling 11-0 league mark and an 11-1 overall record. St. Helen’s has risen up and taken over first place in the Schenectady league since the pairings were made and can easily make a case that it should have been top seeded in the tournament. St. Helen’s suffered an early-season loss on the opening day of the season, bowing to Guilderland, but has since ripped off nine wins in its last 10 games in impressive fashion. St. Helen’s is 8-1 in league play and 9-2 overall.

And in the battle of No. 1 seeds, the powerful Clifton Park Tropics will meet St. John’s at 4:30 p.m. The Clifton Park Tropics are unbeaten in Albany/Troy 9-10 play and play in the league as an independent. St. John’s was in first place in the Schenectady league standings when the pairings were made. Since then, St. John’s has suffered a tough three-point loss to first-place St. Helen’s Green and split its two meetings with second-place St. Clare’s. St. John’s now sports a 7-3 league mark and an 8-4 overall record.

TOURNEY TIDBITS – In last year’s event, the Third Annual Senior Showdown that was held at Mont Pleasant Middle School, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League had the clear edge over Schenectady, winning eight of the nine meetings between the two leagues. The tournament was highlighted by a fierce battle of No. 1 seeds between St. Paul’s and Clifton Park Orange that was won by CP Orange. … Bishop Gibbons hosted the Second Annual Senior Showdown during the 2009-10 season. That event had the most games of any Senior Showdown as the two leagues squared off in head-to-head matchups and then the winners played in an advancement tournament to crown an overall champion. Albany/Troy won eight of 10 head-to-head matchups between the two leagues. Clifton Park White beat the Schenectady Basketball Club in a battle of No. 1 seeds, and then in the advancement part of the tournament, CP White slipped past the Troy CYO Lightning to take home the overall trophy. … Back in 2008-09, Schenectady had the upper hand winning the majority of the meetings between the two leagues in the first ever Senior Showdown that was hosted by the Schenectady Basketball Club at Mont Pleasant Middle School. The highlight of that season’s event was a showdown meeting between the Troy CYO Lightning and St. Gabriel’s No. 1. That classic battle was won by Troy CYO which eventually finished the 2008-09 senior campaign with an undefeated record. … This year, at each of the tournament’s three venues, there will be an admission charge to help cover the cost of hosting the tournament. At Bishop Gibbons, a full concession stand will offer snacks and drinks at affordable prices as the school is using the event as a fundraiser.

FOURTH ANNUAL SENIOR SHOWDOWN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, Feb. 2
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
Play-In Games
Albany/Troy No. 7 (Stillwater) 55, Albany/Troy No. 8 (Clifton Park Storm) 51
Albany/Troy No. 9 (Albany JCC) 45, Albany/Troy No. 10 (Averill Park Gold) 34
Saturday, Feb. 4
Albany/Troy No. 11 (Averill Park Green) vs. Albany/Troy No. 12 (LaSalle) at Troy Boys Club, 10:30 a.m. (winner advances as Albany/Troy No. 9 and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons at 2:45 p.m.)

Saturday, Feb. 4
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
No. 6 Schenectady (Guilderland) vs. No. 6 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Orange) at Bishop Gibbons, 8:30 a.m.

No. 7 Schenectady (St. Paul’s) vs. No. 7 Albany/Troy (Stillwater) at Bishop Gibbons, 9:45 a.m.

No. 5 Schenectady (Our Lady Queen of Peace) vs. No. 5 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Chaos) at Bishop Gibbons, 11:00 a.m.

No. 4 Schenectady (St. Gabriel’s) vs. No. 4 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Maroon) at Bishop Gibbons, 12:15 p.m.

No. 3 Schenectady (St. Clare’s) vs. No. 3 Albany/Troy (Mater Christi) at Bishop Gibbons, 1:30 p.m.

No. 9 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Gold) vs. No. 9 Albany/Troy (Averill Park Green/LaSalle winner) at Bishop Gibbons, 2:45 p.m.

No. 1 Schenectady (St. John’s) vs. No. 1 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Tropics) at Bishop Gibbons, 4:00 p.m.

No. 2 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Green) vs. No. 2 Albany/Troy (Troy CYO Lightning) at Bishop Gibbons, 5:15 p.m.

No. 8 Schenectady (IC Glenville) vs. No. 8 Albany/Troy (Albany JCC) at Bishop Gibbons, 6:30 p.m.

OLQP, St. Helen’s Green and St. John’s also show wins after initial eight games of season are played
Guilderland, St. Clare’s and St. Paul’s have risen to the top of the standings after the first weekend of play in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

Guilderland and St. Clare’s each posted a pair of victories as action in the nine-team league got underway. St. Paul’s only played once, but made the most of its opportunity by also posting a win.

Guilderland got to the top of the heap by besting St. Helen’s Green on Saturday and then slipping past IC Glenville on Monday to start out 2-0 on the young season. St. Clare’s also started out 2-0, trimming Our Lady Queen of Peace on Saturday and then outgunning St. Gabriel’s on Sunday.

St. Paul’s had the biggest offensive outburst of any Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League team in the first weekend of action, rolling up 86 points in a win over St. Helen’s Gold to start off the season with a 1-0 mark.

Three other teams bunched at 1-1 in early going

Elsewhere, OLQP, St. Helen’s Green and St. John’s went 1-1 in their initial outings of the season.

OLQP lost a close contest to St. Clare’s on Saturday, but then bounced back on Monday night to defeat St. Helen’s Gold. Similarly, St. Helen’s Green dropped its opener on Saturday, losing to Guilderland, but then regrouped and soundly defeated St. John’s on Sunday. St. John’s won its opener on Saturday, besting St. Gabriel’s, but then lost to St. Helen’s Green on Sunday.

IC Glenville, St. Gabriel’s and St. Helen’s Gold all have yet to break into the win column. IC Glenville lost a tough decision on Monday, losing to Guilderland in a close match. St. Gabriel’s lost to St. John’s and St. Clare’s and St. Helen’s Gold lost to St. Paul’s and OLQP.

POINTS TO PONDER – Eight more games are on tap in the second weekend of play, three games on Saturday, Dec. 17, three on Sunday, Dec. 18, and two more on Monday, Dec. 19. Saturday’s action features two games in the afternoon at IC Glenville and an evening contest at St. Gabriel’s. St. Helen’s hosts three games on Sunday afternoon and Schalmont High School will be the site with all the action on Monday night … It might be a bit early in the season to call any game a showdown. That said, there is one contest that can be at least called a showdown for bragging rights as the two St. Helen’s teams clash Sunday afternoon at St. Helen’s. Game time is 4:40 p.m. One thing that is sure, a St. Helen’s team has to win … The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League will take 11 days off as the Christmas holiday rolls around. The league will jump back into action and help usher in the New Year with a special four-game block of games on New Year’s Eve morning at IC Glenville.

St. Paul’s took another big step forward in its quest to claim the regular-season title in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League by defeating yet another one of its closest challengers while picking up a pair of victories during the league’s most recent play period.

St. Paul’s turned away second-place St. Helen’s, 50-35, and then collected a forfeit win over St. Gabriel’s #2 on Monday to improve its league-leading record to a perfect 11-0.

The win over St. Helen’s marked the second straight weekend that St. Paul’s has battled and defeated a key challenger that had a legitimate chance at catching the winners in the race for first place. Last week, St. Paul’s dispatched IC Glenville in similar fashion.

The victories over IC Glenville and St. Helen’s gave St. Paul’s a regular-season sweep of both teams. Not only did St. Paul’s give each team its third defeat of the season, but the winners left both teams in somewhat desperate need of help from the rest of the league to keep their fleeting first-place hopes alive.

St. Helen’s, which came into its meeting with St. Paul’s with only two defeats, didn’t go quietly in Sunday night’s game at St. Gabriel’s. In the first half, the two teams battled mostly on even terms with St. Paul’s struggling to pull away. But In the second half, St. Paul’s simply wore down its opponent, slowly but surely extending its lead on the way to an important victory.

The loss dropped St. Helen’s back into third place in the league standings with an 8-3 mark.

IC Glenville notches win No. 10; moves back into second place

IC Glenville took advantage, winning both of its games over the most recent play period. ICG beat St. Clare’s #1, 49-40, and then held off a determined Guilderland team, 61-51, to up its record to 10-3. The victories also moved ICG back into sole possession of second place in the standings.

Elsewhere, Guilderland used a last-second three-pointer to defeat Our Lady Queen of Peace, 47-45, on Monday as Guilderland bounced back from its loss to IC Glenville. The split of its two games left Guilderland at 6-5 on the year and in fourth place in the league.

OLQP, which also was upset over the weekend by St. Gabriel’s #2, saw its record fall to 7-6 on the year.

In other action, St. Clare’s #1 went 1-1, losing to IC Glenville but then beating arch-rival St. Clare’s #2, 60-56, for its sixth win of the season.

St. Gabriel’s #1 won its only outing of the play period, beating St. Clare’s #2, 42-33. The victory gave St. Gabriel’s #1 its third win of the season.

St. Gabriel’s #2 also has three wins with its third victory coming in a surprising 67-58 victory over OLQP on Sunday.

POINTS TO PONDER -- Only three teams have a mathematical chance of catching St. Paul’s for first-place honors -- IC Glenville, St. Helen’s and Guilderland. Guilderland, which has yet to play St. Paul’s, holds the key if anyone is going to accomplish what is beginning to look like an impossible task. Guilderland would have to beat St. Paul’s twice for anyone to even consider thinking they could catch St. Paul’s. … Compounding the problem of trying to make up ground on St. Paul’s is the fact that St. Helen’s and IC Glenville, the two teams with only three losses, also have yet to play each other this season. A split in their upcoming two-game series would border on being disastrous for both teams. … While St. Paul’s is on the verge of wrapping things up, the rest of the league isn’t simply sitting back and counting the days till the playoffs. Spirited games continue to be the norm. No one gave an inch in the St. Clare’s #1 vs. St. Clare’s #2 battle until the last few minutes when St. Clare’s #1 got some breathing room and the win. OLQP thought it would have an easy time of it in its meeting with St. Gabriel’s #2 but let things slip away in the second half. Once St. Gab’s #2 got the momentum it was like watching a freight train rush to the station. Then, who could have asked for more than Guilderland’s heart-stopping last-second three-pointer that carried that team them to victory Monday night.

Area Senior Leagues looking to expand, build off of 2010-2011 season that saw 31 teams take part

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and the Capital District 11-12 Senior League provide players who have graduated from CYO programs or any other Capital District Region youth basketball league but are not participating with their respective high school teams an opportunity to continue their hoop careers in a healthy, competitive atmosphere.

During the 2010-2011 season there were 10 teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, nine teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and 12 teams in the Capital District 11-12 Senior League.

The majority of games in the league are played on weekends on some of the very same gym floors that high school freshmen, JV and varsity teams compete on. League entry fees are determined by the number of teams in each league and the number of games that are scheduled.

Last year, St. Paul’s of Schenectady put together a perfect 19-0 season to win the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League regular season title. St. Paul’s also was crowned the league’s post-season champion, beating St. Helen’s of Niskayuna in the championship game that was played at Shen High School East.

Other teams that took part in that league during the 2010-2011 campaign were two teams from St. Gabriel’s of Rotterdam, two teams from St. Clare’s in Colonie, IC Glenville of Scotia, Guilderland and Our Lady Queen of Peace of Rotterdam.
Over in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, the regular-season title was won by Clifton Park Orange which put together a solid 15-3 record. Clifton Park Orange also won the post-season tournament in the Upper Division playoffs, beating out Troy CYO, the Schenectady Basketball Club and Clifton Park Black.

The rest of the league was broken up into two divisions for the post-season play. Albany JCC took home top honors in the Independent Division, beating out St. Catherine’s #2 and Christ The King of Guilderland. In the Lower Division playoffs, St. Catherine’s #1 won out over East Greenbush and Averill Park.

In the Capital District 11-12 Senior Basketball League, Clifton Park #1 and Clifton Park #2 finished first in the North and South Divisions, respectively, during the regular season. But both fell by the way side during the playoffs as Troy CYO #1 prevailed to take home the post-season tournament trophy.

Other teams that took part in the Capital District 11-12 Senior League were Albany JCC, St. John ‘s Valatie, Troy CYO #2, St, Mary’s of Ballston Spa, the Schenectady Basketball Club, The Clifton Park YMCA, St. Paul’s of Schenectady and East Greenbush #1 and East Greenbush #2.

Leagues for the 2011-2012 season will officially form as soon as possible after high school basketball tryouts have concluded in early November. The Senior League season begins in early December and ends in February. The season includes a mid-season tournament and playoffs.

Interested teams or perspective coaches should email Fuzzyjim111@aol.com or contact Senior League Commissioner Jim Fazzone at 281-0809 for more information about joining a Senior League. Informational meetings will be held at the Troy CYO Center and at St. Gabriel’s in Rotterdam in early November. Anyone interested in any of the leagues can also visit the following league web sites:
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=albtroy
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=schenectady
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=cap

St. Paul's defeated IC Glenville, 79-67, on Sunday, Feb. 27, at Shen High School East to win the 2010-2011 Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League post-season tournament. St. Paul's finished the campaign undefeated in Schenectady league play with a 19-0 record.

Wins don’t come easy as St. Gabriel’s #2, St. Gabriel’s #1, St. Clare’s #1, Guilderland go down fighting hard

The top four seeds all came out victorious Sunday in the first round of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs that were played at St. Gabriel’s but the wins sure didn’t come easy.

Top-seeded St. Paul’s, the league’s undefeated regular-season champion got much more of a game than it expected in its opening-round outing against No. 8-seeded St. Gabriel’s #2. St. Paul’s, normally accustomed to breezing by opponents and winning games by double digits with ease, found itself in a battle and couldn’t really completely shake loose from St. Gabriel’s #2 at any point in the game.

St. Gabriel’s #2, which won only three games during the regular season, got its shot at St. Paul’s by defeating No. 9-seeded St. Clare’s #2, 50-40, earlier Sunday in the play-in game at St. Gabriel’s. After waiting one time slot, St. Gabriel’s #2 made the most of its opportunity by fighting hard and staying close to powerful St. Paul’s.

But in the end, St. Paul’s had too much poise and too many weapons as the winners advanced to the semifinals on the strength of a 70-59 victory and improved to 17-0 on the season.

St. Gabriel’s #2, with its win and loss on Sunday, concluded the season with a 4-14 mark.

St. Gabriel’s #1, St. Clare’s #1 give St. Helen’s, IC Glenville stiff tests

In similar fashion, No. 2-seeded St. Helen’s and No. 3-seeded IC Glenville got unexpectedly pushed hard by St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #1, respectively, in their first-round contests.

St. Helen’s struggled a bit early and let St. Gabriel’s #1, the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, hang around much longer than it would have liked to. St. Gabriel’s #1, which won only four games during the regular season, battled hard before dropping a 58-48 decision.

St. Helen’s improved to 13-4 on the season. St. Gabriel’s #1 ended the season at 4-13.

IC Glenville found itself in a dogfight with No. 6-seeded St. Clare’s #1. IC Glenville appeared to be on its way to advancing to the semifinals as it led throughout most of the game. But St. Clare’s #1 kept chipping away at the IC Glenville lead and actually tied the game in the final two minutes of play as it kept getting key rebound after key rebound. Only a last-minute burst by IC Glenville saved the winners from being upset as they took home a 59-51 victory.

With the win, IC Glenville improved to 12-5. St. Clare’s #1 finished up at 6-11.

In the fourth and final first-round playoff game played Sunday at St. Gabriel’s, Our Lady Queen of Peace surprisingly had an easier time of things, turning away Guilderland, 74-56. One would have expected that the meeting between the league’s No. 4 and No. 5 seeds would have been much closer, but it turned out not to be the case.

Rugged OLQP proved to be too much to handle as it upped its record to 10-7. Guilderland ended up 9-8 on the season.

OLQP now advances to the semifinals and earns the right to take on St. Paul’s. That game will be played Saturday, Feb. 26, at IC Glenville at 1:45 p.m.

St. Helen’s and IC Glenville will square off yet again in the other semifinal round game at IC Glenville on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. When St. Helen’s and IC Glenville take to the court on Saturday, it will mark the third time in 15 days the two teams have played each other. St. Helen’s won both of the regular-season meetings with IC Glenville to capture second place in the league standings.

The winners of Saturday’s semifinal-round games will advance to the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League championship game, which will be played at Shen High School East on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 5:00 p.m.

Roberts, Schellenger, Jackson combine for 55 points to offset 33-point effort from ICG’s Oliver

St. Paul’s stayed with a tried-and-true formula for victory -- balanced scoring and pressure defense -- and held off a pesky IC Glenville squad, 79-68, to win the championship of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League post-season playoffs that was played Sunday, Feb. 27, at Shen High School East.

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League’s championship game between St. Paul’s and IC Glenville kicked off the night’s festivities that also saw Clifton Park Orange win the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League title and Troy CYO #1 earn the Capital District 11-12 Senior Basketball Leagues championship.

St. Paul’s got balanced scoring from three big guns. Bebeto Roberts pumped in 20 points, Zach Schellenger added 19 more, and Richard Jackson scored 16 for the winners.

While the trio was scoring and maintaining a lead throughout much of the game, the rest of the St. Paul’s players simply turned up the defensive pressure whenever it was needed to keep IC Glenville on its heels.

St. Paul’s needed both the scoring and the defense to hold off IC Glenville. In the first half, the teams battled mostly on even terms and IC Glenville even led at times despite the fact that it was facing an uphill battle throughout as it dressed only seven players for the title game.

In the second half, St. Paul’s kept the pressure on and eventually IC Glenville simply ran out of gas. Whenever ICG got close and got the deficit to single digits, St. Paul’s simply turned up the pressure and got things back to a more comfortable double-digit lead.

Brent Oliver was a workhorse for IC Glenville, taking game-high honors in the scoring department with 33 points. Joe Girard and Lucas Teti also scored in double figures for IC Glenville as each player had 13 points.

St. Paul’s, which also won the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League regular-season title, finished the campaign undefeated in Schenectady League play with a 19-0 record. The team’s only loss of the season came in the Third Annual Senior Showdown Tournament in early January when it lost a two-point heart-breaker to eventual Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League champion Clifton Park Orange.

St. Paul’s got to Sunday’s championship game by ousting Our Lady Queen of Peace, 55-45, on Saturday in the semifinals that were played at IC Glenville. OLQP ended the season at 10-8 in Schenectady league play and 10-9 overall.

IC Glenville reached the championship contest by surprising St. Helen’s, 59-44, in the other semifinal-round match. IC Glenville finished 13-6 in league play and 13-7 overall. St. Helen’s ended up 13-5 and 13-6 overall.

POINTS TO PONDER -- A sometimes boisterous crowd of fans as well as the St. Paul’s coaching staff enjoyed the championship win in a game that was played on the big court at Shen High School East. Two faces that were noticeably missing from the picture were those of head coach Dale Gozalkowski and his son Cole. The family went on a week’s vacation to sunny Florida, but got stranded when flights to the Albany area were canceled during the Capital District’s most recent storm and they couldn’t make it back on time for Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship game. … St. Paul’s as well as six other area senior teams are entered in the first ever Senior Showdown 2: King of the Mountain Tournament that will be held March 5-6 at St. Gregory’s School and Albany JCC. St. Paul’s, which shows only that one loss to Clifton Park Orange, is hoping for another shot at the only team to beat them this year, and it could come about if both teams reach the finals of the tournament. … OLQP gave St. Paul’s a good run for its money in the semifinals, and is also looking for another shot at the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League’s top team. OLQP is the other Schenectady team entered in the two-day King of the Mountain Tournament. … Hats off to ICG and Brent Oliver and company for battling until the end in Sunday’s title game. The undermanned squad put up a gallant fight. Oliver’s slashing drives and steady jump shots, which produced 33 points, were even more impressive when you consider that St. Paul’s knew going into the game that he was the one player it had to stop to win the game.

First-place St. Paul’s now stands one win away from undefeated regular season

With only two days of action and four league games to go, so much has been decided yet so much is still at stake as the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League regular season comes to a close.

The regular-season champion has long been decided. No one has been able to derail the St. Paul’s express, which has led from start to finish and now stands at 15-0 and only one win away from a perfect regular-season record. St. Paul’s also has clinched the No. 1 seed in the post-season playoffs.

Most of the other teams in the league are also in a comfort zone, having already locked up their respective seeds and playoff pairings for the upcoming post-season tournament.

But what is still very much up in the air and at stake is second place in the league standings as well as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds for the playoffs.

IC Glenville and St. Helen’s are battling head-to-head and on track to collide on Saturday in a showdown at IC Glenville. IC Glenville went into last weekend’s action in second place, but watched as St. Helen’s soundly beat them, 55-37, and leapfrogged over them and into second place on Saturday.

Then on Sunday, Our Lady Queen of Peace rose up and dumped St. Helen’s, 55-48, to reverse things again, sending St. Helen’s back into third and pushing IC Glenville back into second place.

All of that left IC Glenville with a slim half game lead in the fight for second place. ICG is now 11-4. With the split of its two games, St. Helen’s is now 10-4.

Last day of the regular season holds key for IC Glenville, St. Helen’s

Next up are the final two play days and the final four games of the regular season.

It all starts Thursday night when St. Helen’s takes on St. Clare’s #2 in a makeup game at Albany JCC at 7:30 p.m. A win in that game moves St. Helen’s into a flat-footed tie for second with IC Glenville. That victory also would set the stage for a Saturday afternoon winner-take-all showdown between IC Glenville and St. Helen’s. The winner of that game would finish second and have the No. 2 seed for the post-season playoffs.

Should St. Helen’s fail to get by St. Clare’s #2 on Thursday, it wouldn’t diminish the importance of the Saturday’s meeting with IC Glenville. St. Helen’s would then have to win on Saturday to force a tie between the two teams and by virtue of already having beaten ICG, would claim second place. A victory in Saturday’s showdown by IC Glenville would give Glenville second place by itself and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

St. Paul’s, Guilderland collect twin victories

Elsewhere in last weekend’s action, St. Paul’s rolled past St. Clare’s #2 and St. Clare’s #1 to improve to 15-0. Only a return match with St. Clare’s #2 stands in the way of St. Paul’s finishing the regular-season campaign with a perfect 16-0 mark.

Guilderland won twice, beating St. Gabriel’s #1`, 42-34, on Saturday, and running past St. Clare’s #2 on Sunday, 61-47. The twin victories left Guilderland at 8-7 and in fifth place in the standings, one game behind OLQP. OLQP finished the season in fourth place at 9-7 after its win over St. Helen’s.

In other action, St. Gabriel’s #1, which got soundly beaten by St. Gabriel’s #2 the first time the two teams met, returned the favor by dumping an undermanned St. Gabriel’s #2 team. The victory by St. Gabriel’s #1 gave the team four league victories on the season. It also allowed the team to clinch the No. 7 seed for the playoffs and avoid the play-in game.

POINTS TO PONDER – Besides the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, the only other seeds that have yet to be decided are the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds which will go to St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Clare’s #2. Which team finishes No. 8 or No. 9 is important to both teams as neither one really wants to finish last in the league, but as far as the pairings go, the final result is of little consequence. The two teams will play each other in the play-in game on Sunday, Feb. 20, at St. Gabriel’s no matter how they finish in the standings. … One of the more interesting matchups is already set for the playoffs in the quarterfinals. No. 4 OLQP is scheduled to battle No. 5 Guilderland. The outcome of mid-seed pairings such as this one are always difficult to predict as the game is usually a tossup based on regular-season track records. Such is true here: OLQP beat Guilderland by 12 in early January, but Guilderland got its revenge, winning by 2 in late January. … St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #1 will both be keeping an eye on the St. Helen’s vs. IC Glenville clash. St. Gabriel’s #1 is the No. 7 seed and takes on the winner of that game. St. Clare’s #1 is the No. 6 seed in the playoffs and will draw the loser of that game. In both cases, St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #1, despite below .500 records in the regular season, have been surprisingly competitive against both St. Helen’s and IC Glenville.

IC Glenville, St. Helen’s continue to win but hopes of finishing first are officially dashed

It’s official. St. Paul’s is the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League regular-season champion.

St. Paul’s took care of business, winning the only time it took to the court in the most recent play-period, and then picked up a forfeit win to up its unblemished league record to 13-0 and clinch the regular-season championship.

St. Paul’s defeated Guilderland, 62-28, on Saturday, which, in reality, signaled that no one was going to catch the winners in the race for first-place honors even though two teams still had a mathematical chance of accomplishing that feat.

Then when Guilderland announced it could not field a team for Thursday’s second meeting of the regular season with St. Paul’s, St. Paul’s official became the regular-season champion. Even though IC Glenville and St. Helen’s had games to play and could tie St. Paul’s record-wise, they couldn’t overcome the fact that St. Paul’s had swept the season series with both teams and held the tiebreaker should the teams have ended up deadlocked in the standings.

St. Paul’s still has some business to take care. Three games remain on the regular-season schedule – two games with last-place St. Clare’s #2 and one game with sixth-place St. Clare’s #1. That is all that stands in the way of keeping St. Paul’s from finishing undefeated in league play.

By virtue of clinching first place, St. Paul’s guarantees itself of the No. 1 seed for the upcoming post-season playoffs. St. Paul’s will play the winner of the play-in game on Sunday, Feb. 20, at St. Gabriel’s.

IC Glenville, St. Helen’s match each other with hard-fought victories

Elsewhere in league play, IC Glenville and St. Helen’s both won in their only outings of the play-period but the victories were far from easy to accomplish.

IC Glenville outfought Our Lady Queen of Peace, 72-66, to notch win No. 11 on the season. IC Glenville is now 11-3 and in second place in the league standings.

St. Helen’s also had a fight on its hands, but prevailed, beating upset-minded St. Gabriel’s #1, 53-43. The victory pushed St. Helen’s to 9-3 on the year and kept the team in third place in the league standings.

In other action in the play period, OLQP bounced back on Monday night to defeat St. Clare’s #1, 45-31. The split of its two games left OLQP at 8-7 on the season but pushed the team back into fourth place in the standings.

St. Clare’s #1 is now 6-9 and in sixth place in the standings.

Guilderland, with its two losses, now stands at 6-7 on the year and currently resides in fifth place in the league.

St. Gabriel’s #1, despite its loss to St. Helen’s, remained in seventh place at 3-9, just ahead of St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Clare’s #2.

St. Gabriel’s #2, which forfeited twice, is now 3-12 and in eighth place.

St. Clare’s #2, which got credit for a forfeit win, is 2-10 and now has hope, with three games still to play, of escaping the basement and possibly even finishing seventh in the standings while avoiding the play-in game.

POINTS T0 PONDER – The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League returns to play games at St. Gregory’s School in Loudonville on Saturday, Feb. 12, marking the third time this season the league has been fortunate enough to have that facility for games. Despite the travel, by most accounts the site has become a popular stop for teams with its spacious, bright court, and has been a welcome addition to the lineup of courts the league uses which includes St. Gabriel’s, IC Glenville, Mt. Pleasant Middle School and Albany JCC. … While St. Paul’s may have locked up the No. 1 seed, a number of seeds for the upcoming playoffs remain up in the air. Most intriguing at this point is the battle for the No. 2 seed between second-place IC Glenville and third-place St. Helen’s which have yet to play this season. The two teams battle Saturday, Feb. 12, at St. Gregory’s at 6:15 p.m. and then go back at it in the league’s final 2010-2011 regular-season game on Saturday, Feb. 19, at IC Glenville at 3:15 p.m. The two teams are tied in the all-important loss column, but IC Glenville has two more wins to its credit at this point. Suffice to say that the two head-to-head meetings may very well decide who gets the No. 2 seeding. … There is also an interesting battle shaping up for the No. 7 seeding. Normally, finishing seventh in a nine-team league isn’t a big deal, but in this case, not only will the team that finishes in seventh place avoid a play-in game, but it will also avoid playing the No. 1 seed, powerful St. Paul’s, in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs. Currently, St. Gabriel’s #1 holds down seventh place with a 3-9 mark. However, eighth-place St. Gabriel’s #2 (3-12) could jump up to seventh place and even ninth-place St. Clare’s #2 (2-10) can vault past both St. Gabriel’s teams. St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #2 both have four regular-season games remaining, while St. Gabriel’s #2 only has one contest left. All kinds of scenarios are possible, but a serious winning or losing streak by either St. Gabriel’s #2 or St. Clare’s #2 or both could dramatically change the landscape in the bottom third of the league. Highlighting the games remaining for those three teams is the battle of St. Gabriel’s on Sunday, Feb. 13, when St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Gabriel’s #2 square off in a head-to-head showdown at St. Gabriel’s at 8:30 p.m.

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoff schedule has been announced. All nine teams in the league make the playoffs.

There will be a first-round play-in game on Sunday, Feb. 20, that will pit the No. 8 seed vs. the No. 9 seed at 3:00 p.m. at St. Gabriel's. Following that game, the winner will join the other seven seeded teams to form a field of eight. Those four quarterfinal-round games also will be played on Sunday, Feb. 20, at St. Gabriel's.

The four surviving winners will advance to the semifinals. Those two games will be played on Saturday, Feb. 26, at IC Glenville at 1:45 and 3:00 p.m.

The winners of those two games advance to the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League championship game. That game will be played as part of Senior League Championship Sunday at Shen High School East on Sunday, Feb. 27. The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League championship game will be played at Shen High School East at 5:00 p.m.

Following that game will be the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League third-place game at 6:15 p.m., the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship game at 7:30 p.m. and the Capital District 11-12 Senior League championship game at 8:45 p.m.

Here is the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League Playoff schedule:

SUNDAY, FEB. 20

FIRST ROUND PLAY-IN GAME
No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed at St. Gabriel’s, 3:00 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS
No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 seed at St. Gabriel’s, 4:15 p.m.
No. 1 seed vs. No. 8-9 seed winner at St. Gabriel’s, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed at St. Gabriel’s, 6:45 p.m.
No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed at St. Gabriel’s, 8:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEB. 26

SEMIFINALS
No. 1-8-9 seed winner vs. No. 4-5 seed winner at IC Glenville, 1:45 p.m.
No. 2-7 seed winner vs. No. 3-6 seed winner at IC Glenville, 3:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEB. 27

FINALS
No. 1-8-9 seed winner vs. No. 4-5 seed winner vs. No. 2-7 seed winner vs. No. 3-6 seed winner, at Shen High School East, 5:00 p.m.

St. Helen’s escapes with pair of victories to stay in contention in race for top honors in league

St. Paul’s powered its way to two more impressive wins, including an important victory over one of its closest challengers, in the most recent action in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League.

St. Paul’s defeated St. Gabriel’s #1 with relative ease on Saturday, Jan. 22, and then returned to action on Sunday to post a key win over IC Glenville, one of two teams that went into the weekend with a legitimate chance of catching St. Paul’s in the race for top honors in the league.

The wins over St. Gabriel’s #1 and IC Glenville gave first-place St. Paul’s a 9-0 mark. More importantly, despite the fact that IC Glenville won its other two games during the most recent play period, the loss it suffered gave the team its third defeat of the season.

Equally important is the fact that St. Paul’s has now beaten IC Glenville twice to complete a sweep of the season’s series between the two teams. The only way IC Glenville can get back into contention for first place with only six league games remaining is for it to get help from other teams in the league when they play St. Paul’s.

That help could conceivably start to come this Sunday when St. Paul’s meets St. Helen’s. St. Helen’s is the other team with a legitimate shot at catching St. Paul’s in the standings at this point in the season.

St. Clare’s #1, St. Gabriel’s #2 narrowly miss in upset bids

St. Helen’s kept its hopes alive, dodging the upset bullet not once but twice over the play period, by squeezing past St. Clare’s #1, 39-35, on Saturday, and then holding off a game St. Gabriel’s #2, 44-40, on Sunday to improve its record 8-2.

The pair of wins left St. Helen’s alone in second place in the standings with an 8-2 record. IC Glenville, with the two wins and that costly defeat, slipped back into third place and is now 8-3.

Elsewhere in league action, Our Lady Queen of Peace and Guilderland both won twice to keep pace with the league leaders.

OLQP turned away St. Clare’s #2 on Sunday and St. Gabriel’s #1 on Monday to improve to 7-4 and strengthen its hold on fourth place.

Guilderland scored a basket with three seconds left in the game to carve out a 42-40 victory over St. Gabriel’s #2 on Saturday and then got by St. Clare’s #1 with surprising ease on Monday to move to 5-4 on the season.

St. Clare’s #1, which had been on a roll of late, got a win over St. Gabriel’s #1 but suffered two disappointing losses at the hands of St. Helen’s and Guilderland to settle back to 5-7 on the season.

In other action during the three-day play period, St. Gabriel’s #1, St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Clare’s #2 all continued to find the going tough. Both St. Gabriel’s teams went 0-3 over the three-day play period and St. Clare’s #2 went 0-2.

POINTS TO PONDER – The league swings back into action with two games on tap at IC Glenville on Saturday. Sunday’s slate at St. Gabriel’s has four games including the battle for St. Clare’s bragging rights when St. Clare’s #1 and St. Clare’s #2 do battle at 6:10 p.m. That helps set the stage for the third game on the schedule that has St. Helen’s looking to upset the St. Paul’s apple cart at 7:20 p.m. … While there is no doubt that St. Paul’s has been the hottest team in the league with its nine-game winning streak, St. Helen’s hasn’t exactly been cold. St. Helen’s comes into Sunday’s key meeting with St. Paul’s having won six of its last seven. … Close, competitive games continue to be the norm in the league. A total of 11 games were played over the last three-day play period and three games were decided by four or less points. And, nine of the 11 games were decided by 10 or less points.

TEAM…………………..........W……L…...Pct…GTP
x-St. Paul’s……….……………16……0…..1.000
St. Helen’s…………..…………12……4……750
IC Glenville…………………...11……5… .688
Our Lady Queen of Peace……..9……7… ...563
Guilderland……………………9……7……563
St. Clare’s #1………………….6……10….…375
St. Gabriel’s #1……………….4……12…..…250
St. Gabriel’s #2…………..……3…..13…..…188
St. Clare’s #2…………….……2…..14…..…125
x-Clinched regular-season title and No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

SUNDAY, FEB. 20
FIRST ROUND PLAY-IN GAME
No. 8 seed (St. Gabriel’s #2) 50, No. 9 seed (St. Clare’s #2) 40

QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 seed (St. Paul’s) 70, No. 8 seed (St. Gabriel’s #2) 59.
No. 2 seed (St. Helen’s) 58, No. 7 seed (St. Gabriel’s #1) 48
No. 3 seed (IC Glenville) 59, No. 6 seed (St. Clare’s #1) 51
No. 4 seed (Our Lady Queen of Peace) 74, No. 5 seed (Guilderland) 56

SATURDAY, FEB. 26
SEMIFINALS
No. 1 seed (St. Paul’s) 55, No. 4 seed (Our Lady Queen of Peace) 45
No. 3 seed (IC Glenville) 59, No. 2 seed (St. Helen’s) 44

SUNDAY, FEB. 27
FINALS
No. 1 seed (St. Paul’s) 79, No. 3 seed (IC Glenville) 67

Win by St. Gabriel’s #2, strong efforts by St. Paul’s, IC Glenville lone bright spots for Schenectady

SCHENECTADY -- If there was any doubt as to which Capital District area 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League was stronger this season it was quickly dispelled in the Third Annual Senior Showdown Basketball Tournament that was held Saturday, Jan. 15, at Mt. Pleasant Middle School.

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League won just about every game in sight in the tournament en route to making a statement that, at least for the 2010-2011 season, that it is the stronger of the two leagues.

Albany/Troy was victorious in eight of the nine meetings with its Schenectady counterpart in the tournament that pitted each league’s teams against the other’s in a No. 1 through No. 9 seeding.

Albany/Troy won the No. 1-seed through No. 8-seed matchups with most wins coming in impressive fashion.

In the long anticipated showdown meeting between the No. 1 seeds, Clifton Park Orange rallied to hand St. Paul’s of Schenectady its first loss of the season, winning 48-46; in a battle of No. 2 seeds, Troy CYO rolled past St. Helen’s of Schenectady, 59-44; No. 3-seeded St. Catherine’s #2 squeezed past IC Glenville of Schenectady, 43-42; in a meeting of No. 4 seeds, Albany JCC ran past Our Lady Queen of Peace of Schenectady, 84-47; No. 5-seeded Schenectady Basketball Club had little problem with Guilderland of Schenectady, winning 80-43; in a clash of No. 6 seeds, Clifton Park Black turned back Gabriel’s #1 of Schenectady, 60-30; No. 7-seeded Christ The King dispatched St. Clare’s #1 of Schenectady, 54-41; and in a game that brought the No. 8 seeds together, St. Catherine’s #1 dumped St. Clare’s #2 of Schenectady, 60-46.

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys League could claim victory only in the No. 9-seed battle where St. Gabriel’s #2 drew blood, beating the Albany/Troy No. 9 seed, East Greenbush, 43-34.

The win by St. Gabriel’s #2 and strong showings by St. Paul’s in the No. 1-seed game and IC Glenville in the No. 3-seed contest were the lone bright spots for the Schenectady league.

Late rally by Clifton Park Orange proves to be too much for St. Paul's

St. Paul’s, the most dominate team in the Schenectady League to date, went into the tournament with an unblemished 5-0 record and appeared to be on the way to victory in its matchup with Clifton Park Orange, the No. 1 seed from Albany/Troy.

St. Paul’s led throughout much of the game and in seemingly easy fashion carved out double-digit leads almost at will. Whenever Clifton Park Orange would make a run, St. Paul’s would turn up the heat with its full-court press and build its lead back up.

But in the game’s final minutes, Clifton Park Orange put one last rally together and slowly but surely chipped away at the St. Paul’s lead. In the end, turnovers turned out to be the demise for St. Paul’s as CP Orange showed why it is the No. 1 team in the Albany/Troy League by turning up the defensive pressure and coming away with a hard-earned 48-46 victory.

In sharp contrast, St. Gabriel’s #2 started out slowly in its meeting with East Greenbush of the Albany/Troy league and trailed throughout much of the first half. East Greenbush, which defeated Averill Park in the Albany/Troy “play-in” game between that league’s No. 9- and No. 10-seeded teams, sliced through the St. Gabriel’s defense for easy baskets. But in the second half, it was all St. Gabriel’s as the Schenectady team pulled away for a comfortable win.

Schenectady’s other strong showing came in a hard-fought battle between Albany/Troy’s St. Catherine’s #2 and IC Glenville that went right down to the wire. In the end, St. Catherine’s #2 prevailed by the slimmest of margins, winning 43-42.

The other six matchups between the two leagues were simply all Albany/Troy. All six victories were by double-digit margins. Troy CYO, Albany JCC, Christ The King, the Schenectady Basketball Club, Clifton Park Black and St. Catherine’s #1 all pushed the ball up the court and used opportunistic offensive attacks to produce relatively easy victories.

POINTS TO PONDER – The victory by Clifton Park Orange marked the third straight year the No. 1 seed from Albany/Troy has won the tournament’s marquee game. That victory allows the winner to lay claim to being the Capital District’s top 9-10 senior team. Previous winners of the No. 1-seed game (Clifton Park White in 2009-2010 and Troy CYO in 2008-2090) both went on to win the Albany/Troy regular-season championship as well as their league’s post-season playoff tournament. … As far as league dominance is concerned, the pendulum continues to swing in Albany/Troy’s favor. Three years ago, Schenectady lost in the No.1 seed game, but won the majority of showdown games. Last year, Albany/Troy not only claimed victory in the No. 1 seed game, but got the better of Schenectady in winning most of the tournament games. This year, however, it was decidedly Albany/Troy. … The Schenectady Basketball Club, which hosted the first Senior Showdown Tournament during the 2008-2009 season, proved once again to be a worthy host. The Mt. Pleasant Middle School, with its central location in Schenectady and its twin courts, is a popular place for Senior Showdown players, coaches and fans. Many in attendance were happy to be playing and watching basketball on the big Mt. Pleasant courts and there was plenty of talk about expanding next year’s tournament to a two-day event similar to the one hosted by Bishop Gibbons High School during the 2009-2010 season.

With the first half of the regular season completed for the majority of clubs in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League, St. Paul’s has clearly emerged as the team to beat.

St. Paul’s has a perfect 7-0 record and stands alone on top in the standings for the nine-team league. St. Paul’s has had a relatively easy time of things, powering out to seven straight victories, all by double digits. The team has used a smothering full-court press as well as a potent offensive attack to subdue its opponents.

Most victories for St. Paul’s have been by a margin of 20 or more points. Only Our Lady Queen of Peace has been able to keep things relatively close, losing by 15, 68-53, the second time the two teams met this season on Monday, Jan. 17.

OLQP, one of only four teams in the league with a winning record, went down fighting till the end in Monday’s tilt. The outcome of that game marked the second time this season that St. Paul’s has beaten OLQP. Back in December, OLQP lost to St. Paul’s, 84-63.

IC Glenville, St. Helen’s share second place

The two other teams in the league with winning records, St. Helen’s and IC Glenville, stand tied for second place in the standings with solid 6-2 records.

St. Helen’s jumped out of the gate with two victories before getting ambushed by St. Paul’s on Dec. 19. St. Helen’s bounced back, winning three straight but then lost a tough battle to OLQP, losing 64-56, on Sunday, Jan. 16. Most recently, St. Helen’s turned back Guilderland to improve to 6-2 and stay in the hunt for first place in the league.

IC Glenville also started strong, winning four straight before getting smacked by St. Paul’s on Jan. 2. Since then, IC Glenville has won two out of its next three including an impressive 65-63 decision over OLQP on Jan. 8. That left IC Glenville at 6-2 and in shouting distance of challenging St. Paul’s for first place.

OLQP stands in fourth place in the league with a 5-4 record. The team has been competitive in just about every one of its games to date with three of its losses coming at the hands of St. Paul’s and IC Glenville. One of OLQP’s wins was an impressive 64-56 victory over second-place St. Helen’s on Jan. 16.

St. Clare’s #1 bounces back nicely from slow start

St. Clare’s #1 got off to a somewhat disastrous start, losing four of its first five games. But since then, the team has righted the ship and posted three wins in its next four outings. The club stands at 4-5 and in fifth place in the standings.

Guilderland, which has been following a win one, lose one type of pattern, holds down sixth place in the league with a 3-4 mark.
Guilderland has hung tough in most of its games including two solid efforts in a pair of nine-point losses to IC Glenville and St. Helen’s.

St. Gabriel’s #1 (2-6), St. Gabriel’s #2 (2-7) and St. Clare’s #2 (1-6) are next in line.

St. Gabriel’s #1’s two wins have come by the slimmest of margins, one-point victories over St. Clare’s #1, 67-66, and St. Clare’s #2, 39-38. St. Gabriel’s #1 was involved in another one-point nail-biter, by came out on the short end of that contest, losing to IC Glenville, 45-44.

St. Gabriel’s #2 has had its share of close games, winning one (42-40 over St. Clare’s #1) by two points and losing three games by 7 or less points.

St. Clare’s #2 started out slowly losing its first four, but then got in the win column at the expense of St. Gabriel’s #2. St. Clare’s #2 won that game, 41-34.

POINTS TO PONDER: St. Gabriel’s #2 was the lone team from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League to draw blood in the Third Annual Senior Showdown Tournament that was hosted by the Schenectady Basketball Club and played at Mt. Pleasant Middle School on Jan. 15. St. Gabriel’s #2 defeated East Greenbush of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League in a battle of No. 9 seeds. … Speaking of a showdown, the clash of No. 1 seeds, St. Paul’s from Schenectady and Clifton Park Orange from Albany/Troy started off slowly but then turned into a classic battle that went down to the wire. Clifton Park Orange, which went into the game with a 7-1 mark, was behind for almost the entire game before rallying to escape with a 48-46 win. The victory by CP Orange marked the third straight year that an Albany/Troy team has won the No. 1 seed game. … Getting back to the Schenectady 9-10 regular-season race, tied-for-second-place IC Glenville and St. Helen’s have head-to-head matchups coming up with St. Paul’s, the team they are both trying to overtake for first place in the league. IC Glenville takes a shot at knocking St. Paul’s down a peg when the two teams meet on Sunday, Jan. 23, at St. Gabriel’s. St. Helen’s gets its chance to do the same when it collides head on with St. Paul’s on Sunday, Jan. 30, in another game that will be played at St. Gabriel’s. … St. Paul’s has put up some big numbers in its games, but lopsided wins haven’t been the norm in the league during much of the first half of the season. In fact, the majority of games have been close, hard-fought battles. To date, 36 games have been played and 16 of those games have been decided by nine points or less. And, to better put things in focus as to how tight things have been, consider that three games have been decided by four points, three other games were decided by only two points and three more battles were decided by just one point.

The calendar might have said Feb. 21 but there is no doubt that it is March – March Madness, that is – as far as the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs are concerned. Those playoffs opened Sunday afternoon at St. Gabriel’s with four games on tap and what an opening it was.

Just ask IC Glenville head coach Glenn Oliver or his counterpart at St. Paul’s, Dale Gozackowski. For that matter, ask just about anyone who was in attendance Sunday at St. Gabriel’s who witnessed the epic battle between IC Glenville and St. Paul’s. They will certainly tell you it was as good an example of March Madness as you can fine when it comes to “win or go home” post-season tournament play.

A day later, IC Glenville’s Oliver admitted he was still “weak in the knees” after his team somehow pulled out a pressure-packed double overtime victory over St. Paul’s, winning 58-57 to advance to Thursday night’s semifinals at Mt. Pleasant Middle School.

Also advancing to Thursday night’s semifinals with first-round wins on Sunday were the top-seeded Schenectady Basketball Club which easily ran past No. 8-seeded St. Clare’s #2; No. 2-seeded St. Helen’s which defeated No. 7-seeded St. Gabriel’s #1; and No. 4-seeded St. Clare’s #1 which battled its way past No. 5-seeded St. Gabriel’s #2.

First half sets stage for what was to come for St. Paul’s, IC Glenville

St. Paul’s, which won just six of its 14 league games during the regular season, came primed for Sunday’s first-round playoff meeting with IC Glenville, a team that had finished the regular season tied for second place in the league with an impressive 10-4 record.

St. Paul’s led by as many as eight points in the first half of the tightly played game. The second half was more of the same until it seemed as if IC Glenville had finally gained enough control and found itself with a six-point lead with just 30 seconds to play.

But St. Paul’s got two consecutive three-points from T. Taylor and suddenly the two teams were going into overtime with the threat of elimination staring each team squarely in the face.

Brent Oliver sank two foul shots with less than a minute to go in the first overtime to give IC Glenville another seemingly safe lead; this time a three-point advantage. But St. Paul’s was far from done as B. Roberts drained a three-pointer to send the contest reeling into double overtime.

There, St. Paul’s grabbed the advantage in the see-saw affair and appeared headed to the semifinals when it carved out a four-point lead with only 30 seconds left to play.

Fine finds a way to get it done in second overtime for IC Glenville

But now it was IC Glenville’s turn to make a statement and say it wasn’t done. Lucas Teti drained a straight-on three-pointer, and then ICG got a crucial defensive stop. That stop led to a quick break up court that ended with Connor Andrews sending Brandon Fine to the basket for what turned out to be the game-winning layup.

With 5.8 seconds left, St. Paul got off one last shot but it missed as the buzzer sounded.

Oliver led the way for IC Glenville with 20 points. Fine’s winning basket gave him 14 for the game.

With the win, IC Glenville now stands at 11-4 on the year and will take on St. Helen’s in Thursday night’s semifinals at Mt. Pleasant Middle School at 6:30 p.m.

Taylor and Roberts led St. Paul’s with 12 points each. St. Paul’s finished the season with a 6-9 mark.

St. Helen’s uses balanced attack to defeat St. Gabriel’s #1

St. Helen’s earned its way into a semifinal-round meeting with IC Glenville by running past St. Gabriel’s #1 with relative ease. St. Helen’s used a balanced scoring attack to subdue St. Gabriel’s #1 and improved to 11-4 in the process.

Jeremy Tomisman scored eight for St. Helen’s and Joe Scorzella and Colby Majewski had seven points apiece.

John Verhayden took home game honors with 18 points for St. Gabriel’s #1 which ended up the campaign at 3-12.

Schenectady Basketball Club, St. Clare’s #1 move on to semifinals

Elsewhere, the Schenectady Basketball Club lived up to its No. 1 seeding, cruising past St. Clare’s #2 to advance to Thursday night’s semifinals.

SBC is now 14-1 on the year. St. Clare’s #2 closed out the season winless at 0-15.

In Sunday’s other first-round game, St. Clare’s #1 battled its way into the semifinals and earned itself another shot at SBC by beating St. Gabriel’s #2.

The hard-earned victory pushed St. Clare’s #1 back over the .500 mark at 8-7. St. Gabriel’s #2 ended up the season at 7-8.

St. Clare’s #1 and the Schenectady Basketball Club will meet in the semifinals Thursday night at Mt. Pleasant Middle School in the nite cap at 7:30 p.m.

PLAYOFF POINTS TO PONDER -- Thursday night’s semifinal game that pits IC Glenville and St. Helen’s against each other for the third time this season holds the potential of yet another March Madness classic. St. Helen’s won both regular season meetings, winning 60-55 on Jan. 16, but then needed a basket from Jeremy Tomisman with just five seconds left in the game to win 45-43 on Feb. 14. That victory on the last day of the season deprived IC Glenville of finishing alone in second place and left the two teams tied in the standings. Can you say OT? …. SBC shows no signs of letting up, having now won eight games in a row. Back in December, St. Clare’s #1 was no match for SBC, losing by a wide margin, but in early February, there were some uneasy moments for SBC when St. Clare’s #1 hung around much longer than expected in the first half. In the end, SBC wore down St. Clare’s #1 and the prospects of that happening again are good but St. Clare’s #1 certainly won’t go down without a fight. … Sunday’s loss to St. Clare’s #1 wrapped up what turned out to be a somewhat lackluster season for St. Gabriel’s #2 and head coach Dave Minbiole. St. Gabriel’s #2 came into the 2009-2010 campaign as the two-time defending Schenectady County 9-10 Senior Basketball League champion but Minbiole just couldn’t get his troops to put things together as far as wins and losses were concerned for extended stretches like he had in the past. Then again, the play of SBC, St. Helen’s and IC Glenville might have had something to do with that. … St. Paul’s might have been disappointed with its 6-9 record, but the club can certainly point to several positives during the season including a strong game against powerful SBC and its double-overtime thriller with IC Glenville. … St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Clare’s #2, undoubtedly the league’s two youngest teams, didn’t achieve a large measure of success in the win column, but coaches Ken Wilson and Dave Bushey, respectively, and their staffs had their teams there ready to play day in and day out which bodes well for next season when the teams return with a year of experience under their belts. … Thursday night’s semifinal round survivors will advance to Senior League Championship Sunday that will be hosted by the Clifton Park Senior Basketball Club and its director, Frank Massa, Sunday, Feb. 28, at Shen High School East, time to be announced.

Does anyone realistically have a shot at beating the Schenectady Basketball Club in the upcoming Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs that begin Sunday afternoon at St. Gabriel’s?

On paper, the answer would appear to be a definitive “no” unless Clifton Park White of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League suddenly showed up to take part in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs.

Clifton Park White is the only area 9-10 Senior Basketball League team to have beaten SBC this season, turning the trick not once but three times. Clifton Park White beat SBC in the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament at Bishop Gibbons in early January and also took the measure of SBC in two regular-season meetings while SBC was playing a non-league schedule against teams from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

But obviously, Clifton Park White will not be at St. Gabriel’s on Sunday to take part in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs. That leaves the other seven teams in the Schenectady league still searching for an answer to that initial question.

Only one blemish on an otherwise perfect regular season

The biggest problem any team in the post-season playoffs has in facing the Schenectady Basketball Club is the fact that SBC is good – make that very good – and the team is not only talented but deep – make that very deep. Its only blemish on its 13-1 regular-season record came when the team missed a scheduled game with St. Gabriel’s #2 and was forced to forfeit.

Besides that, it has basically been smooth cruising for SBC throughout most of the regular season.

Most teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League have about five “horses,” so to speak, and have a starting five that can take to the court and not be embarrassed in facing the Schenectady Basketball Club.

On several occasions, teams such as IC Glenville and St. Helen’s, which finished tied for second place in the league with 10-4 records, have given SBC all it could handle in stretches of their games with the powerful club. That was especially true in last Thursday’s showdown meeting between SBC and St. Helen’s when St. Helen’s refused to roll over and play dead in a game that eventually went to SBC and helped clinched the regular-season league title for the Schenectady Basketball Club.

The same holds true for St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Clare’s #1 which ended up tied for fourth place in the league standings with 7-7 records. Surprisingly, at times both battled SBC on even terms during their games with the potent team.

But in the end, none of those teams has the depth to match SBC and therein is found the biggest problem when trying to fashion a game-plan for a post-season meeting with the Schenectady Basketball Club.

If SBC fears anything it just might be another meeting with St. Paul’s

One team that hasn’t been mentioned up to this point is St. Paul’s which SBC may secretly fear – at least to some extent. In their first regular-season meeting back in December, SBC rolled over St. Paul’s in much the same fashion as it has with most of the teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League this season, winning by 42 points, 72-30.

But in the second regular-season meeting between the two teams in late January, it was a much different story. In that game, St. Paul’s actually led for a good portion of the first half. In the second half, the score kept fluctuating somewhere between a six- to 15-point advantage for SBC with St. Paul’s making continued attempts at regaining the lead.

In the end, SBC chalked up a 68-54 victory. Yes, a loss for St. Paul’s but a considerable improvement over the first time the two teams meet back in December.

SBC’s first-round opponent in this Sunday’s first-round of the playoffs that will be played at 6:45 p.m. at St. Gabriel’s is St. Clare’s #2 and that match up would appear to be a mismatch to say the least. St. Clare’s #2 is winless on the season and has lost both of its regular-season meetings with SBC by wide margins. But then again, stranger things have happened.

In the league’s other first-round playoff games, No. 2-seeded St. Helen’s will take on St. Gabriel’s #1, the No. 7 seed which finished up with a 3-11 record at 4:15 p.m.; No. 3-seeded IC Glenville will battle the always dangerous St. Paul’s, the No 6 seed at 5:30 p.m.; and in the contest that would appear to be just about even on paper, No. 4-seeded St. Clare’s #1 will clash with No. 5-seeded St. Gabriel’s #2 at 8:00 p.m.

PLAYOFF POINTS TO PONDER – St. Helen’s would appear to have a big edge in its first-round meeting with St. Gabriel’s #1, a team that only won three times this season, but St. Helen’s has been erratic at times despite its 10-4 record and St. Gabriel’s #1 owns a quality win in a upset victory over St. Paul’s. … For St. Paul’s to somehow get a shot at the Schenectady Basketball Club, it would have to come up with two quality wins of its own. It would have to upset IC Glenville in the first round and then mostly likely meet and have to beat potent St. Helen’s in the semifinals. IC Glenville poses a distinct problem for St. Paul’s, having fashioned two impressive five-game winning streaks during a 10-4 regular-season campaign while its four losses came in games against the league’s top two teams, SBC and St. Helen’s. But then again, St. Paul’s only lost to ICG by eight and 13 points during a 6-8 regular season… St. Helen’s was awarded the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and IC Glenville received the No. 3 seed on the outcome of the two head-to-head regular-season meetings between the teams. Both of those games were won by St. Helen’s, but the difference was a mere seven points, 45-43 and 60-55. … St. Clare’s #1 vs. St. Gabriel’s #2 might very well be the most intriguing first-round playoff matchup. Both teams were 7-7 during the regular season and the teams split their two regular-season meetings. … Following the four first-round playoff games at St. Gabriel’s, the semifinals will be played on Thursday, Feb. 25, at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. On Sunday, Feb. 28, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League will crown its champion as part of Senior Championship Sunday at Shen High School East. The Albany/Troy 9-10 and the Capital District 11-12 Senior Basketball Leagues also will crown their champions on that same day.

The Schenectady Basketball Club, taking care of business like it has right from the start of the regular season, clinched the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League regular-season title with a flourish over the league’s last three-play dates.

On Thursday, SBC turned away its closest challenger, defeating St. Helen’s in a solidly played showdown game. Then over the weekend, SBC cruised to two relatively easy victories, defeating St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Gabriel’s #1, to end up 13-1 league play.

SBC, the league’s No. 1 seed going into Sunday’s post-season playoffs at St. Gabriel’s, won its last seven regular-season games.

Meanwhile, St. Helen’s almost self-destructed after the tough loss to SBC on Thursday that left St. Helen’s and IC Glenville tied for second place in the league with identical 9-3 records.

Tomisman saves the day for St. Helen’s with game-winning basket

With second place in the league standings still very much up for grabs entering the weekend’s play, St. Helen’s came up short on Saturday in its next outing and was upset by St. Clare’s #1.

Meanwhile, IC Glenville got 16 points from Brent Oliver and beat St. Paul’s, 47-39, on Saturday. That left IC Glenville in the driver’s seat and in second and dropped a stunned St. Helen’s back into third place.

The schedule maker must have known something in advance back in December as Saturday’s results also set the stage for a Sunday night showdown between the two teams at St. Gabriel’s on the last night of the regular season.

In classic fashion, the battle for second place went right down to the last play of the game when Jeremy Tomisman scored the winning basket with just five seconds remaining to give St. Helen’s a heart-stopping 45-43 win over IC Glenville.

The victory left both teams tied for second place with 10-4 records. St. Helen’s, which beat IC Glenville earlier in mid-January, was awarded the No. 2 seed in the playoffs because of the head-to-head record between the two teams.

Liam Byme led St. Helen’s with 15 points in its key win over IC Glenville. Rich Homenick added nine points for the winners.

Brandon Fine had 12 and Oliver tallied 11 for IC Glenville which had a five-game winning streak come to an end with the defeat.

St. Gabriel’s #2, St. Clare’s #1 end up deadlocked for fourth place

Elsewhere on the final weekend of the regular season, St. Clare’s #1 and St. Gabriel’s #2 took turns, much like St. Helen’s and IC Glenville did with second place, trying to win or give away four place in the league standings.

The two teams came into the weekend tied for fourth place with identical 6-6- records. On Saturday, St. Gabriel’s lost to SBC, 86-42, while St. Clare’s #1 was upsetting St. Helen’s. That, for the time being, put St. Clare’s in the driver’s seat and alone in fourth place and dropped St. Gabriel’s #2 back into fifth place.

But on Sunday, St. Gabriel’s #2 defeated St. Clare’s #2, 58-38, and St. Clare’s #1 was forced to share fourth place when it was beaten by St. Paul’s, 50-39.

That action left both clubs tied at 7-7. St. Clare’s #2 was awarded by No. 4 seed and St. Gabriel’s #2 the No. 5 seed in the playoffs due to the point differential in the team’s two regular-season meetings which were split. Ironically, the seedings really don’t carry any significant weight as the two teams will play each other in the first round.

In the loss to SBC, Jordan McTee scored 15 and Mike Korszun added 10 to lead the way for St. Gabriel’s #2. Hundley took game honors for SBC with 23 points.

In the win on Sunday over St. Clare’s #2, McTee broke loose for 19 points and Tyler Beck and Joey Rielly backed him with 10 points each. Smith had 12 and Walsh had 10 for St. Clare’s #1.

In the St. Paul’s win over St. Clare’s #1 on Sunday, Gozalkowski scored 11 and Cassetta netted 10 for St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s finished the regular season with a 6-8 mark.

St. Clare’s #1 was led by Hoffman who had 12 points.

In other action, St. Gabriel’s #1 picked up its third win of the season, beating St. Clare’s #2 for the second time this season. The victory improved St. Gabriel’s #1’s record to 3-11 and left St. Clare’s #2 winless on the season.

POINTS TO PONDER – The first round of the post-season playoffs will now be played at St. Gabriel’s on Sunday, Feb. 21. Game times will be 4:15, 5:30, 6:45 and 8:00 p.m. The games were originally scheduled to be played at Mt. Pleasant Middle School on Saturday, Feb. 20, but the school is closed because of the President’s Week break. …. Of the four first-round matchups, two are very intriguing to say the least. In a battle of No. 3 and No. 6 seeds, IC Glenville takes on St. Paul’s and St. Clare’s #1 and St. Gabriel’s #2 square off in a matchup of the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. … The semifinals are scheduled to be played on Thursday, Feb. 25, at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball Championship game will be one of three games played at Shen High School East on Senior Championship Sunday on Sunday, Feb. 28. That same night, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League and the Capital District 11-12 Senior Basketball League also will crown champions at Shen High School East.

BASKETBALL CAREERS CONTINUE IN CAPITAL DISTRICT SENIOR LEAGUESThe Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and the Capital District 11-12 Senior League provide players who have graduated from CYO programs or any other youth basketball league but are not participating with their respective high school teams an opportunity to continue their hoop careers in a healthy, competitive atmosphere.

For the 2010-2011 season, there were 10 teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, nine teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and 12 teams in the Capital District 11-12 Senior League.

The majority of games are played on weekends on some of the very same gym floors that high school freshmen, JV and varsity teams compete on. League entry fees are determined by the number of teams in each league and the number of games that are scheduled.

Leagues for the 2011-2012 season will officially form as soon as possible after high school basketball tryouts have concluded in November. The Senior League season begins in December and ends in March. The season includes a mid-season tournament and playoffs.

Interested teams or perspective coaches should email Fuzzyjim111@aol.com or contact Senior League Commissioner Jim Fazzone at 281-0809 for more information about joining a Senior League. They can also visit the following league web sites: http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=albtroy
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=schenectady
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=cap

St. Helen’s got exactly what it wanted from this past weekend’s Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League action -- a chance to have destiny in its own hands.

That was exactly the outcome after St. Helen’s trimmed St. Paul’s, 61-47, to capture a crucial victory that kept the winners only one game behind first-place Schenectady Basketball Club heading into Thursday’s showdown between the two teams.

St. Helen’s and the Schenectady Basketball Club will square off Thursday night at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

A win in that game would propel St. Helen’s into a first-place tie with the Schenectady Basketball Club and the two teams would each have two remaining games to play on the last weekend of the regular season.

From there, St. Helen’s could do no worse than a tie for first place if it won its remaining games. With destiny in its own hands, all St. Helen’s would have to do is beat two of the other upper echelon teams, fourth-place St. Clare’s #1 on Saturday, Feb. 13, and third-place IC Glenville on Sunday, Feb. 14.

That won’t exactly be an easy task, but right now St. Helen’s isn’t worrying about that. Instead, the team is focusing on getting into that position where two weekend wins would at least give it a share of first place.

To accomplish that, St. Helen’s must first defeat the Schenectady Basketball Club Thursday night.

Setting up all of this was the crucial win over pesky St. Paul’s on Saturday. Imre Megyeri saw to that, pumping in 19 point to lead St. Helen’s to an unexpected easy win. Liam Byrne and Stefano Knapp chipped in with 11 points each to help move red-hot St. Helen’s to 9-2 in the league and 10-4 overall. The victory was the sixth in a row for St. Helen’s.

St. Paul's got a solid game from Roberts who scored 22 points. The loss left St. Paul’s at 5-7 on the year in the league. It was the sixth time in the last seven games that St. Paul’s has gone down to defeat after a promising 4-1 start.

SBC, Glenville just keep on winning

SBC rolled past winless St. Clare’s #2 in its lone outing over the weekend to improve to 10-1 in the league. The win was the fifth in a row for SBC.

Elsewhere, IC Glenville stayed right with the leaders, winning twice to up its third-place record to 9-3. On Saturday, IC Glenville struggled in the first half in trying to subdue a determined St. Clare’s #1 team, but then broke things open in the second half to secure the victory.

Connor Andrews led the way for IC Glenville with 16 points. Tom Dinovo scored 13 for St Claires #1.

On Sunday, IC Glenville got credit for a forfeit win when St. Gabriel’s #2 did not field a team. IC Glenville has now won four games in a row.

IC Glenville still has an outside shot at first place but in contrast to St. Helen’s, does not have destiny in its own hands. To get a piece of first place, IG Glenville would not only have to win twice this coming weekend, but would also need not only for St. Helen’s to beat the Schenectady Basketball Club but for St. Helen’s and SBC to lose at least one of their other remaining two games they have left on the regular season schedule.

In the other league game played over the Super Bowl weekend, St. Gabriel's #2 got past St. Gabriel's #1, 46-35, on Saturday. Jordan McTee scored 18 points in the second half and finished with 23 for the game. Mike Korszun added 12 points for St. Gabriel’s #2, now 6-6 on the year and tied for fourth place with St. Clare’s #1.

Joey DeLuca had 13 points and Kenny Wilson collected 9 for St. Gabriel’s #1, now 2-10 on the season.

The top three teams continued to take care of business and slowly widen the gap between them and the rest of the teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League following action on Jan. 30-31.

The Schenectady Basketball Club won its only game to remain in control of things in first place in the league at 9-1; St. Helen’s collected two wins to retain its hold on second place at 8-2; and third-place IC Glenville won its only outing to improve to 7-3 and stay in the hunt in the race for first-place honors.

The remaining five teams, for the most part, continued to slowly settle back away from the top three and all are all but mathematically eliminated from any chance of catching the Schenectady Basketball Club for first place with only two weeks of play remaining in the regular season.

The Schenectady Basketball Club stayed on track in its only game this past week, breaking up a close game with a scoring burst early in the second half to defeat St. Clare’s #1. The win upped SBC’s record to 9-1 in league play.

St. Helen’s stays right on the heels of Schenectady Basketball Club

St. Helen’s inched closer to SBC in the standings, posting two solid wins in its two league games and running its current win streak to five in a row. Surprisingly, St. Helen’s ran past St. Gabriel’s #2 with relative ease. Then, St. Helen’s turned away St. Gabriel’s #1 to move to 8-2 in league play.

Imre Megyer pumped in 16 points and Liam Byrne scored 13 to propel St. Helen’s to its win over St. Gabriel’s #2. Mike Korszun had 16 for St. Gabriel’s #2.

In the victory over St. Gabriel's #1, Byrne tallied 17 points to pace the St. Helen’s attack. Rich Homenick chipped in with 8 points.

IC Glenville solidified its hold on third place, soundly defeating St Clare's #2 in its only outing of the weekend.

Lucas Teti led the way for 7-3 IC Glenville with 11 points.

St. Paul’s actually kept pace with the leaders, easily beating St. Clare’s #2 in one of two games it had on the schedule. There was no report on the St. Paul’s vs. St. Gabriel’s #1 game.

In the win over St. Clare’s #2, Roberts led St. Paul’s with 14 points. Bassotti topped St. Clare’s #2 with 8 points.

Hoffman, DiNovo combined for 42 points in St. Clare’s #1 victory

Elsewhere in league action, St Clare's #1 bounced back in impressive fashion from its loss to Schenectady Basketball Club, rolling over St. Gabriel’s #2 on Sunday. Jeremy Hoffman exploded for 26 points to lead the way for St. Clare’s #1. Phil DiNovo chipped in with 16 points for the winners who are now 6-5.

Mike Korszun and Tyler Beck had 11 each and Josh Trahan had 10 for St. Gabriel’s #2. Coupled with the loss to St. Helen’s, St. Gabriel’s #2 is now 5-6 in league play.

St. Gabriel’s #1 remained in seventh place in the league, losing in the only game that was reported of its two it had on the schedule. St. Gabriel’s #1 is still ahead of St. Clare’s #2 which lost twice last weekend.

POINTS TO PONDER – St. Helen’s faces a must-win situation on Saturday when it takes on potent St. Paul’s at Mt. Pleasant Middle School at 1:00 p.m. St. Helen’s needs a victory to keep its hopes of catching the Schenectady Basketball Club alive. St. Helen’s and SBC are scheduled for a showdown meeting on Thursday, Feb. 11, at Mt. Pleasant Middle School at 7:00 p.m. … IC Glenville also faces a pair of must-win games if it is to keep pace with the other two league leaders. On Saturday, IC Glenville faces a stiff test when it takes on dangerous St. Clare’s #1 at Mt. Pleasant Middle School at 3:30 p.m. On Sunday, IC Glenville swings right back into action, taking on St. Gabriel’s #1 in the lone league contest that will be played on Super Bowl Sunday. That game will be played at St. Gabriel’s at 3:45 p.m.

The Schenectady Basketball Club cruised to a pair of victories in Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League action on Jan. 23-24, defeating one of its main contenders for first place honors in the league in the process.

SBC rolled past IC Glenville, 68-38, on Saturday and then turned back a game St. Paul’s team, 68-54, on Sunday to improve to 8-1 in league play. Overall, SBC is 8-2.

D. Jackson and C. Hundley had 18 each to pace the SBC attack in the win over IC Glenville.

Derrick Smith scored 15 for IC Glenville.

In the game against St. Paul’s, SBC found itself in an unusual situation it hasn’t been in much of this season, actually trailing through part of the first half to an opportunistic St. Paul’s club. St. Paul’s matched SBC play for play and basket for basket for the first 16 minutes of action, and led by two or three points on more occasions than SBC would have liked.

With 11 minutes left in the game, St. Paul’s still only trailed by six points after mounting a crisp run at SBC. But from that point on, SBC’s superior depth wore down St. Paul’s.

Coupled with a loss to St. Gabriel’s #2 on Saturday, St. Paul’s fell to 4-5 in the league and 4-6 overall.

On Sunday, IC Glenville bounced back from Saturday’s loss to SBC, holding off St. Gabriel’s #2, 59-54. The hard-earned victory left ICG in third place in the league at 6-3. Overall ICG is 6-4.

St. Helen’s, St. Clare’s #1 both gain ground in standings

St. Helen’s, which entered the weekend tied for second place with IC Glenville, trimmed St. Clare’s #2, 50-38, in its only league action to improve to 6-2 in league play and 7-4 overall. The victory left St. Helen’s alone in second place, one game back of SBC in the race for first place honors.

In other action, St. Clare’s #1 picked up two much-needed victories, barely beating St. Gabriel’s #1, 47-45, in a game that went down to the last play, and then turning away St. Clare’s #2, 56-39. The twin wins left St. Clare’s #1 at 5-4 in the league, good for a tie with St. Gabriel’s #2 for fourth place.

St. Gabriel’s #2 appeared headed up higher in the standings when it defeated St. Paul’s on Saturday. In that win, Jordan McTee scored 23 and Mike Korszun netted 14. T. Taylor had 13 and Tilman and Gozalkowski had 10 each for St. Paul’s.

But on Sunday, IC Glenville jumped out to an early lead and St. Gabriel’s never really recovered. St. Gabriel’s #2 got close on several occasions but could not maintain enough momentum to recapture the lead.

St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #2 were far from pushovers in their games this past weekend. St. Gabriel’s #1 gave Clare’s #1 all it could handle before losing yet another close game, this time by two points.

St. Clare’s #2, which has yet to win this season, gamely hung around in both its games before being subdued.

POINTS TO PONDER – St. Gabriel’s #2 had been red-hot, winning five straight prior to its tough loss to IC Glenville. The win by ICG snapped a modest two-game losing streak for that club. …. St. Helen’s and St. Clare’s #1 have been pretty hot themselves over the past two weekends. St. Helen’s has collected three straight victories since losing to the Schenectady Basketball Club and St. Clare’s #1 has won three of its last four. … On the downside of things, St. Paul’s is now suffering through a four-game losing streak. … League action resumes this Saturday with four games at Mont Pleasant Middle School and on Sunday with three games at St. Gabriel’s. Probably the most interesting tilts on tap involve St. Helen’s taking on both teams from St. Gabriel’s. Needless to say, St. Helen’s cannot afford another loss if it is to have any chance at catching the Schenectady Basketball Club for first place.

Clifton Park White continued to make the case that it might just be the top Capital District Senior 9-10 Basketball team after action on Jan. 23-24.

CP White, which turned away Troy CYO Lightning Thursday night in impressive fashion to continue to make the statement that it might be the best team in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, did much the same Sunday afternoon when it beat the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League’s leading team, the Schenectady Basketball Club, 75-68, in what is considered a non-league game for both teams.

The win marked the third time this season CP White has beaten SBC. CP White defeated SBC back in early December by 15 points when the two teams opened their respective seasons. Then, in the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament on Jan. 2-3 at Bishop Gibbons High School, Clifton Park White, representing the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, ran away from the Schenectady Basketball Club, representing the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, winning by 25 points.

CP White didn’t run away with things in Sunday’s meeting with SBC. In fact the game was easily the best of the three meetings to date between the two powerful clubs, with CP White carving out a hard-fought 75-68 decision.

Trevor Hennigan led the way for Clifton Park White with 16 points. Pe’Airr Perry knocked in 12 and Teddy Van Galen contributed 10 points for the winners who are now 12-0 on the season. CP White, which leads the Albany/Troy Senior Basketball League with a 6-0 record, did not have any league games this past weekend.

SBC is now 6-2 in games when it is playing as a non-league member of the Albany/Troy Senior Basketball League.

With two more weeks of the 2009-2010 season completed, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League standings are starting to take some definite shape as to which teams have gotten off to the strongest starts and which teams have gotten off to slow starts.

The Schenectady Basketball Club went 3-1 over the last two weeks to rise up and take over first place on its own. SBC was tied for first with St. Helen’s following play in the month of December, but took things into its own hands on Jan. 10, defeating St. Helen’s in a head-to-head match.

Prior to that on Saturday, Jan. 9, SBC turned back St. Clare’s #2. The first place club then earned a win and a loss on Jan. 16-17. The loss came when SBC forfeited to St. Gabriel’s #2; the win came over St. Gabriel’s #1.

All of that action left SBC alone at the top of the standings with a 6-1 record.

St. Helen’s, IC Glenville right on the heels of Schenectady Basketball Club

Meanwhile, St. Helen’s and IC Glenville picked up two wins each, but losses suffered over the last two weeks forced both teams to settle into a second-place tie in the league standings at 5-2.

St. Helen’s got surprised by St. Paul’s prior to its showdown loss to the Schenectady Basketball Club.

Tillman tallied 14 points to pace the St. Paul’s attack. Liam Byrne had 14 points to lead all scorers for St. Helen’s.

This past weekend, St. Helen’s bounced back in impressive fashion from its two defeats, beating IC Glenville in a key matchup and then holding off a determined St. Clare’s #1 team to carve out its 5-2 record.

IC Glenville appeared on a roll and looking like the team that would mount the most serious challenge of SBC for first place when it took home two hard-earned victories on Jan. 9-10, beating St. Clare’s #1 and then St. Paul’s.

In the win over St. Clare's #1, Brent Oliver paced the IC Glenville attack with 18 points. Dinovo scored 19 points for St Clare's #1.

In the victory over St. Paul’s, Fine led IC Glenville with 17 points. Gozalkowski scored 11 points for St Paul’s.

But IC Glenville's five-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt when St. Helen’s rose to the occasion and defeated IC Glenville this past weekend, leaving both teams deadlocked for second place at 5-2. Byme scored 19 to pace the St. Helen’s attack. Oliver scored 22 for IC Glenville.

St. Gabriel’s #2 gains momentum with three straight victories

The big gainer over the past two weeks was a resurgent St, Gabriel’s #2 team which posted three victories in three outings. One win came via its forfeit over SBC. The other two victories came at the expense of St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #2.

In the battle between the two St. Gabriel’s teams, Mike Korszun scored 28 to led St. Gabriel’s #2 to victory. Jack Verhayden had 14 for St. Gabriel’s #1.

In the game against St. Clare’s #2, Jordan McTee broke loose to score 19 points and Conner McDermott added 17 to pace the St. Gabriel’s #2 attack. Samuals had 19 for St. Clare's #2.

The three wins improved St. Gabriel’s #2 to 4-3 on the year after a 1-3 start to the season, and vaulted the team into a fourth-place tie in the standings with St. Paul’s. St. Gab's #2 has now posted four straight wins counting a victory in late December.

St. Paul’s, now also 4-3, was riding high after upsetting St. Helen’s back on Jan. 9, but that euphoria didn’t last long. The next night, IC Glenville soundly defeated St. Paul’s and then this past weekend, St. Clare’s #1 ran away from St. Paul’s, leaving St. Paul’s with a two-game losing streak.

The impressive win by St. Clare’s #1 over St. Paul’s took the sting out of its other two losses during the last two weeks of action to IC Glenville and St. Helen’s, and improved St. Clare’s #1’s record to 3-4 in the league.

Dinolo tallied 15 to lead the way for St. Clare’s #1 in its win over St. Paul’s. Gozalkowski led St. Paul’s with 12 points.

St. Gabriel’s #1 wins nail-biter for first victory of the season

In other league action over the past two weeks, St. Gabriel’s #1 broke into the winning column for the first time this season, beating St. Clare’s #2. In its other two outings, St. Gabriel’s #1 lost to the Schenectady Basketball Club and St. Gabriel’s #2.

St. Gabriel’s #1’s win over St. Clare’s #2 came in an exciting two-point game that went right down to the last play of the game. St. Gab’s #1 is now 1-6.

The heart-breaking loss was the closest St. Clare’s #2 has come to tasting victory this season. St. Clare’s #2 is now 0-7.

POINTS TO PONDER – Saturday’s four games at Mont Pleasant Middle School mark the beginning of the second half of the 2009-2010 season for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League. Probably the most interesting matchup on Saturday pits second-place IC Glenville against first-place SBC at 4:45 p.m. IC Glenville stayed with SBC in the first half of the season-opening game between the two teams in mid-December before SBC ran away with things in the second half. … St. Gabriel’s #2 also has two interesting matchups, playing St. Paul’s on Saturday and IC Glenville on Sunday, two teams it lost to the first time around and two teams it needs to beat at this point in the season if St. Gab’s #2 is going to continue its winning ways and make some noise as far as first place is concerned. … This weekend’s start of the second half of the season is also a pivotal time for St. Clare’s #1. St. Clare’s #1 plays St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #2, two teams it has already beaten. Two wins against teams below it in the standings could push St. Clare’s #1 back into the thick of things in the standings.

Clifton Park White, the top seed from the Albany Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, defeated the Schenectady Basketball Club, the top seed from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, on Saturday, Jan. 2 in the first round of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Basketball Tournament that was played at Bishop Gibbons High School. Clifton Park White then defeated the Troy CYO lightning in Sunday's championship game to win the Senior Showdown Tournament.

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League got the best of things over the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League and Albany/Troy’s Clifton Park White was crowned tournament champion in the Second Annual Senior Showdown that was held Jan. 2-3 at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady.

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League won 8 of 10 head-to-head match ups with the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League in the expanded, two-day, 14-game event. The solid showing was a reversal of the 2008-2009 first-ever Senior Showdown Tournament that saw the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League win five of eight meetings with the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League. There was no individual champion crowned in the 2008-2009 one-day tournament.

Clifton Park White’s hard-fought victory in the championship game over fellow league member Troy CYO Lightning allowed the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League to stake claim as to having the area’s top 9-10 senior league team for the second straight year.

During the 2008-2009 season, while the bulk of the head-to-head meetings were won by the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, the Troy CYO 9-10 senior team, representing Albany/Troy 9-10 as its league’s No. 1 seed, made its claim to being the area’s best senior team by beating Schenectady’s No. 1 seed, St. Gabriel’s #1.

Clifton Park White impressive in championship game

Clifton Park White left little doubt that it is indeed one of the area’s best, if not the best, 9-10 senior team by beating the No. 1 seeded Schenectady Basketball Club in the opening round of the two-day tournament on Saturday. CP White then posted three straight wins against Albany/Troy league rivals on Sunday to take home the trophy.

In the quarter finals, Clifton Park White turned back Albany JCC to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, CP White outgunned a stubborn East Greenbush team to reach the finals on the strength of two relatively easy wins.

In the finals, Troy CYO Lightning made it anything but easy for Clifton Park White. In fact for most of the first half, Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White traded basket for basket in a duel of powerful offenses. But in the second half, CP White’s relentless attack wore down Troy CYO Lightning and allowed CP White to cruise to victory.

Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League teams won early and often

In Saturday’s first-round action which pitted the eight teams of each league against each other in a seeded format, Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League teams surprised by winning six of seven head-to-head meetings.

Clifton Park White out dueled the Schenectady Basketball Club in the tournament’s first game, a battle between the two leagues top seeded teams.

In the day’s second game, an exhibition between St. Helen’s and the Schenectady Basketball Club from which St. Helen’s advanced win or lose, SBC bounced back to take an easy win.

After that, it appeared that Clifton Park White’s win over Schenectady’s top team simply showed the way for the remaining Albany/Troy teams that were in the tournament.

Albany/Troy’s East Greenbush won the battle of No. 4 seeds, ousting St. Paul’s. St. John’s Valatie, also from the Albany/Troy 9-10 League, followed suit and advanced by beating St. Clare’s #2 in a meeting of No. 6 seeds.

In a battle of No. 3 seeds, Troy CYO Lightning began its impressive run to the championship game by turning back IC Glenville of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

St. Clare’s #1 gets Schenectady on the board

St. Clare’s #1 broke through for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, ousting St. Catherine’s in a battle of No. 5 seeds.

But the winning streak for Schenectady teams was short-lived. No. 7 seeded Clifton Park Red turned by St. Gabriel’s #2 and No. 8 Albany JCC surprised St. Gabriel’s #1 to post its first victory of the season. The two wins put the finishing touches on a solid showing by the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

In the second round, there were two more head-to-head meetings between the two leagues. Surprising East Greenbush got past St. Clare’s #1 of Schenectady to advance to an all Albany/Troy semifinal meeting. On the other side of the brackets, St. Helen’s of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League turned back St. John Valatie to give Schenectady its only hope in the semifinals.

But in the tournament’s last head-to-head meeting between the two leagues, Troy CYO Lightning turned away a determined St. Helen’s to advance to an all Albany/Troy championship game.

TOURNEY TIDBITS – The hard-fought battle between Clifton Park White and Troy CYO Lightning in the championship game is nothing new for those two Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League programs. Both programs were at the top of the Albany/Troy standings last year and they advanced to the league’s championship game. ….. The Schenectady Basketball Club, which also plays in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League on a non-league basis, might be scratching its collective head wondering how it is going to beat Clifton Park White. The two teams have already met once in the regular season in the Albany/Troy League with CP White coming out on top. That leaves one remaining meeting between the two powerful teams. …. Besides the obvious successes by CP White, Troy CYO and St. Helen’s to reach the finals and semifinals, respectively, there were several other positives teams could take home from the tournament. Certainly a pair of solid wins by East Greenbush tops the list. First-round victories by St. John‘s Valatie, Clifton Park Red and Albany JCC bodes well for all three clubs as they look to find a way to move up in the Albany/Troy regular-season standings. JCC, in particular, has to be happy as the team tasted victory for the first time this season. On the Schenectady side, St. Clare’s #1’s victory over St. Catherine’s solidifies St. Clare’s #1’s middle of the pack standing in the Schenectady league and fuels hopes the team can crack into the upper level of the standings.

Saturday, Jan. 2
Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
At Bishop Gibbons High School
Senior Showdown First Round – Albany/Troy vs. Schenectady
Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) defeated Schenectady No. 1 (Schenectady Basketball Club)

Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning) defeated Schenectady No. 2 (IC Glenville)

Albany/Troy No. 3 (Schenectady Basketball Club) defeated Schenectady No. 3 (St. Helen’s)
NOTE: Since, SBC plays in both leagues, St. Helen’s advances, win or lose.

Albany/Troy No. 4 (East Greenbush) defeated Schenectady No. 4 (St. Paul’s)

Schenectady No. 5 (St. Clare’s #1) defeated Albany/Troy No. 5 (St. Catherine’s)

Albany/Troy No. 6 (St. John’s Valatie) defeated Schenectady No. 6 (St. Clare’s #2)

Albany/Troy No. 7 (Clifton Park Red) defeated Schenectady No. 7 (St. Gabriel’s #2)

Albany/Troy No. 8 (Albany JCC) defeated Schenectady No. 8 (St. Gabriel’s #1)

Second Round – Single Elimination
Albany/Troy No. 4 (East Greenbush) vs. Schenectady No. 5 (St. Clare’s #1)

Sunday, Jan. 3
Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
At Bishop Gibbons High School
Second Round – Single Elimination
Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning) defeated Albany/Troy No. 7 (Clifton Park Red)

Schenectady No. 3 (St. Helen’s) defeated Albany/Troy No. 6 (St. John’s Valatie)

Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) defeated Albany/Troy No. 8 (Albany JCC)

Semifinals – Single Elimination
Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning) defeated Schenectady No. 3 (St. Helen’s)

Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) Albany/Troy No. 4 (East Greenbush)

2009-2010 Senior Showdown Championship Game
Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) defeated Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning)

St. Helen’s and the Schenectady Basketball Club have established themselves as the teams to catch after three weeks of play in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

Both teams are undefeated after the month of December and sport 3-0 records. The two teams were scheduled to collide head on right after Christmas but the game had to be rescheduled because of a scheduling conflict.

The teams closest to catching St. Helen’s and SBC are St. Paul’s and IC Glenville. Both St. Paul’s and IC Glenville are 3-1. Each club shows a defeat at the hands of the Schenectady Basketball Club.

St. Clare’s #1 is next in the standings, having posted two wins to date. St. Gabriel’s #2 follows, having collected one win in December. St. Clare’s #2 and St. Gabriel’s #1 round out the standings. Each team is still looking for its first victory of the 2009-2010 campaign.

SBC has raced out to its 3-0 start behind a pressure, full-court defense that has fueled a fast-break offense. SBC has won with relative ease, posting three lopsided victories over IC Glenville, St. Clare’s #1 and St. Paul’s.

Meanwhile, the wins by St. Helen’s haven’t been by as big a number, but they have been equally as impressive. St. Helen’s has dispatched St. Clare’s #2, St. Gabriel’s #2 and St. Gabriel’s #1 with relative ease.

The lopsided losses that IC Glenville and St. Paul’s suffered at the hands of the Schenectady Basketball Club didn’t seem to have any lingering effects. Both teams brushed off their defeats and went about taking care of business and each club posted three wins against the rest of the league.

IC Glenville got the better of St. Clare’s #2, St. Gabriel’s #2 and St, Gabriel’s #1 to improve to 3-1. St. Paul’s did likewise, beating St, Gabriel’s #2, St. Gabriel’s #1 and St. Clare’s #2 to also move to 3-1.

St. Clare’s #1 got its first win on the first day of the season, running past St. Gabriel’s #1 and then got post arch-rival St Clare’s #2 for its second victory. St. Gabriel’s #2 uncharacteristically lost its first three games before pulling out a hard-fought victory over St. Clare’s #1 in late December.

St. Clare’s #2 and St. Gabriel’s #1 have both yet to get a victory. St. Clare’s #2 has come the closest to getting into the win column, losing a heart-breaking one-point decision to St. Paul’s on Dec. 29.

The eight teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League took a break from league play, taking part in the Second Annual Senior Showdown Basketball Tournament that was held at Bishop Gibbons on Jan. 2-3.

League play for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League resumes on Saturday, Jan. 9, when four games will be played at the Mont Pleasant Middle School. Three more league games will be on tap for Sunday, Jan. 10, at St. Gabriel’s.

The Saturday schedule at Mont Pleasant is highlighted by a meeting between St. Helen’s and St. Paul’s that will help break up the log jam at the top of the league standings. Also on tap is the battle of St. Gabriel’s as St. Gab’s #1 and St. Gab’s #2 clash. Other games have St. Clare’s #2 taking on SBC and IC Glenville meeting St. Clare’s #1.

On Sunday, the much anticipated meeting between St. Helen’s and SBC will take place at St. Gabriel’s at 7:30 p.m. Another contest between upper echelon teams is also on the schedule at St. Gabriel’s as St. Paul’s squares off against IC Glenville. A meeting between St. Clare’s #2 and St. Gabriel’s #1 rounds out the schedule.

POINTS TO PONDER – Some creative scheduling and some generous extra gym time provided by IC Glenville at St. Joe’s in Scotia allowed the St. Helen’s/SBC makeup to be fit into the schedule. Originally, SBC was to have played St. Gabriel’s #2 on Sunday, Jan. 10, at St. Gabriel’s. However that game was moved to Saturday, Jan. 16, at St. Joe’s at 1:00 p.m. That opened up a slot on Sunday, Jan. 10, for the St. Helen’s/SBC game to be played,

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Saturday, Jan. 9
At Mont Pleasant Middle School
St. Helen’s vs. St. Paul’s, 1:00 p.m.
St. Clare’s #2 vs. SBC, 2:15 p.m.
IC Glenville vs. St. Clare’s #1, 3:30 p.m.
St. Gabriel’s #2 vs. St. Gabriel’s #1, 4:45 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 10
At St. Gabriel’s
St. Paul’s vs. IC Glenville, 5:00 p.m.
St. Clare’s #2 vs. St. Gabriel’s #1, 6:15 p.m.
St. Helen’s vs. SBC, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 16
At St. Joe’s/IC Glenville
SBC vs. St. Gabriel’s #2, 1:00 p.m.
St. Paul’s vs. St. Clare’s #1, 2:15 p.m.
St. Helen’s vs. IC Glenville, 3:30 p.m.