Thursday, March 4, 2010

Maple Hill and Hoosick Falls to meet in Class C final

It will be a battle between No. 1 and No. 2 Sunday afternoon in the Section II Class C title game, but Maple Hill, the defending champion, almost didn't make it there.
The Wildcats trailed a tough Schoharie team by nine points early in the fourth quarter and Maple Hill, which typically plays with such energy and swagger, looked lost out there.
But Chris Despart capped a crazy Maple Hill rally with the game-tying and go-ahead three-pointers from in front of the Maple Hill bench. The Wildcats scored 20 unanswered points and closed out the game on the free throw line, winning, 55-48.

To read the full story on the Maple Hill and Hoosick Falls boys, click here.

Maple Hill's Sean Danaher fights for a rebound during Wednesday's Section II Class C semifinal victory over Schoharie at the Glens Falls Civic Center. (Boys photos by Ed Burke - The Saratogian).

Hoosick Falls senior Kevin McMahon led the way in a rout of Voorheesville, scoring 18 points for the Panthers in the 59-42 victory.

It's going to be a great Class C final, as Hoosick Falls and Maple Hill proved themselves to be the top C teams in the area after looking like it all season.

Both teams use all five players on the floor to their advantage, which will make this game just an absolute pleasure to watch. The battle between Danaher and McMahon is going to be interesting, because McMahon has outside game. Do the Panthers keep him on the perimeter, allowing Danaher to crash the boards, or do they try to slide McMahon into the post as much as possible.

The only mismatch here is experience. All five Maple Hill starters were key contributors to the state runner-up squad a season ago, while Hoosick Falls starts three sophomores. Still, the way Hoosick Falls dismantled Voorheesville mean the Panthers are ready to go.

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Catholic Central's Maria Foglia splits the Shenendehowa defenders during Wednesday's Section II Class AA semifinal at Hudson Valley Community College. Shen won and will face Shaker in Saturday's final. (Girls photos by Tom Killips - The Record).

CCHS ran into early trouble and never recovered, losing to Shen, 49-35.

In the other semi, Shaker upset Colonie. For Ryan Kircher's recap of those games, click here.

The last time Shen and Shaker played in the regular season, it came right down to the buzzer. Emily Weber hit the game-winning shot as time expired, lifting the Lady Plainsmen over the Blue Bison. Click here to read that story.

We should have a great day Saturday afternoon at HVCC, with the Averill Park girls vs. Holy Names early and Shen and Shaker later.

Lashana Tolliver of Watervliet drives past Schuylerville defender Sarah Palmer while competing in a Section II Class B quarterfinal at Watervliet High School.

Watervliet made sure it didn't need two overtimes again in its second straight year of facing Schuylerville in the Section II Class B quarterfinal round.

Watervliet won, 46-30, setting up a date with No. 13 Ravena, which topped Colonial Council rival Cohoes by a point in overtime.

Mechanicville and No. 7 Hudson Falls are on the other side of the bracket, making a Watervliet/Mechanicville final a distinct possibility.

For that story, written by The Saratogian's Sam Hollingsworth, click here.

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Sorry for the lack of a post last night. I was trying to put up some video in lieu of the write-up, but since I can't edit video yet on my machine and was out of the office, I wasn't able to get pictures or put anything up.

Look for live chats from the games Friday through Tuesday night and posts in between. Thanks for reading and please let me know if there is anything you would like to see here in particular.

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