Matt Zanotta follows through on a home run swing during a game this summer with the South Troy Dodgers at Geer Field. (Photo by Mike McMahon - The Record).

Matt Zanotta, a 2010 Guilderland High School graduate, who currently attends prep school at Northfield-Mount Hermon in North Hermon, Mass., has made a verbal committment to play college baseball at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Zanotta hit a Section II record 18 home runs at Guilderland in the spring and followed that with another powerful summer season with the South Troy Dodgers.

High school '10: 88 AB, 47 R, 42 H, 5 2B, 4 3B, 18 HR, 56 RBI, .477 BA, 8 SB
Summer '10: 32 G, .340 BA, 26 RBI, 7 HR
Fall '10: 9 G, .348 BA, 5 RBI, MVP of Battle of the Border Tournament

A first team all-state first baseman this spring, Zanotta was also named the Suburban Council's Player of the Year.

Bryant, a member of the  Northeast Conference, announced it would make the jump to Division I in 2007. Bryant begins its third season at the D-I level in the spring and looks to defend its regular season NEC title.


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Despite a lack of wireless internet during the games, here is a recap of the Coaches vs. Cancer High School Challenge at Siena College Sunday afternoon.
Brothers and head coaches Guy DiBacco (Lansingburgh) and Orlando DiBacco (Bishop Maginn) led their teams to victories.

Lansingburgh's Salaam Knight leaps for a layup over Cohoes' Reggie Johnson during Sunday's Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge game at Siena College. Knight scored 12 points and was named the game's Most Outstanding Player. (All photos by Tom Killips - The Record).

Lansingburgh played without 6-foot-10 senior center Tyler Hammett, and junior sensation Sajae Pryor was limited to just three points with a sore thumb. Up stepped Knight to take care of the scoring in a 56-21 Colonial Council victory over the Tigers.

"There was a lot of pressure on me because Sajae had two good games leading up to this one and he wasn’t doing what he had to do," Knight said. "He told me to step up and I had to step up."

Lansingburgh's Marcus Little slashes his way between Cohoes defenders Eric Maxwell (left) and Nate Monson (right) during Sunday's action at Siena.

Everyone on the roster except Blake Mosley scored at least two points, but Mosley added three nifty assists in the second half for the Knights. The fact that the Knights can get the job done without Hammett and a less-than-healthy Pryor has to be an uplifting thought for sectionals if those two fall into foul trouble late in a key game.

Guy DiBacco, hopes however, that both will be back ASAP.

"Hopefully it’s just temporary. He (Pryor) struggled holding on to the ball in the second half," DiBacco said. "We had the trainer here look at it and it doesn’t seem to be anything other than a normal jam. Holding on to the ball with a weaker thumb and tape is just something he’ll have to get used to."

Lansingburgh's Dominic Fruscio floats through the lane during Sunday's game against Cohoes at Siena. He scored four points and made four assists as the sixth man.

For the full story on the Lansingburgh-Cohoes game, make sure to pick up Monday's edition of The Record.

LANSINGBURGH 56, COHOES 21

Cohoes (21): Fogarty 1-0-3, LeMay 2-2-6, Shivers 4-1-9, Maxwell 0-1-1, Skaarup 0-2-2. Totals: 7-6-21.
Lansingburgh (56): Drake 2-0-5, Knight 5-2-13, Little 1-0-2, Pryor 1-1-3, Nichols 2-0-5, Fruscio 1-1-4, Garner 1-0-2, J.Jones 1-0-2, O.Jones 6-0-12, Laustrup 1-1-3, Luce 2-0-5. Totals: 23-5-56.
Cohoes (4-7, 4-10) 6 3 4 8 - 21
Lansingburgh (10-1, 13-2) 10 12 19 15 - 56
3-point goals: Cohoes 1 (Fogarty 1). Lansingburgh 5 (Drake 1, Knight 1, Nichols 1, Fruscio 1, Luce 1).

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Sunday's other games certainly were exciting. Guilderland's Ryan Ochs scored a game-high 24 points as the Dutchmen held off a feisty Mohonasen team, 46-39, in a Suburban Council showdown.

It was a fun back-and-forth game as the lead changed four times and the score was tied on seven other occasions.

GUILDERLAND 46, MOHONASEN 39

Guilderland (46): Brown 1-0-2, Gallo 2-3-8, Drislane 0-4-4, Ochs 9-4-24, Murray 4-0-8. Totals: 16-11-46.
Mohonasen (39): B.Manikas 1-2-4, Kruzinski 3-1-8, Sisson 2-2-7, Brown 3-0-7, Dalton 2-1-5, Tallman 1-0-3, Schaninger 1-3-5. Totals: 13-9-39.
Guilderland (5-7, 6-8) 9 12 14 11 – 46
Mohonasen (3-9, 4-10) 11 12 9 7 – 39
3-point goals: Guilderland 3 (Ochs 2, Gallo 1). Mohonasen 4 (Kruzinski 1, Sisson 1, Brown 1, Tallman 1).

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In the late games featuring Albany's private schools, Bishop Maginn certainly made a statement and the Albany Academy team, well it did, too.

Maginn clung to a narrow lead throughout the game but Newburgh, the reigning New York State Class AA champions and the current No. 2 team in the state, surged ahead by a point with 5:34 to play in the fourth quarter.

That was when Chris Jeffers took over. The Maginn senior scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds in the final period, willing the Griffins to a 60-56 victory over the Goldbacks.

It was a bit of a retribution victory for Maginn in two ways. One, Newburgh had knocked them off a season ago downstate and two, the Griffins lost a game to Big 10 rival Friday night in the Collar City.

"They beat us last year when we went to their house," Jerel Scott, the game's Most Outstanding Player, said. "We knew when they came back we had to beat them in a statement game. This is a new beginning for us."

BISHOP MAGINN 60, NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY 56

Newburgh (56): Cousar 4-4-12, Henderson 1-0-2, Scurlock 5-0-11, Bouton 2-3-7, McMillan 4-0-8, Johnson 5-1-11, Hopper 2-1-5. Totals: 23-9-56.
Bishop Maginn (60): Scott 5-0-12, Petruccione 4-1-11, Fields 3-1-7, Jeffers 5-4-14, Scurry 7-0-14, Johnson 1-0-2. Totals: 25-6-60.
Newburgh (7-2) 6 20 19 11 – 56
Bishop Maginn (9-3, 11-3) 11 18 16 15 – 60
3-point goals: Newburgh 1 (Scurlock 1). Bishop Maginn 4 (Scott 2, Petruccione 2).

In the final game of the day, the Nichols School of Buffalo stormed to a first quarter lead against Albany Academy and never looked back, defeating the Cadets 65-43.

University of Virginia-bound Will Regan scored 19 points and snared 22 rebounds in 26 minutes for Nichols (11-5), the No. 12 ranked Class A team in the state.

Still, Albany Academy has raised over $30,000 for the American Cancer Society the past two years by hosting this event and no matter the results on the court, the Cadets (7-8) certainly made a difference in the community.

"I’m going to look in the mirror because I didn’t do a good job and I asked them to look in the mirror, too," Academy head coach Brian Fruscio said. "That’s how we get better. It was our day as an institution, but it wasn’t our day as a basketball team."

For more on these games, check out Monday's edition of The Record.

NICHOLS 65, ALBANY ACADEMY 43

Nichols (65): Regan 8-2-19, Clauss 2-3-7, MacKinnon 1-2-5, Vandegriff 5-2-12, Wier 9-1-20. Totals: 25-10-65.
Albany Academy (43): White 3-2-9, Currie 1-0-2, McCarthy 1-0-3, Benocs 4-0-8, Hart 5-6-18, Alley 0-1-1, Davis 1-0-2. Totals: 15-9-43.
Nichols (11-5) 14 13 16 22 – 65
Albany Academy (7-8) 6 11 11 15 – 43
3-point goals: Nichols 3 (Regan 1, MacKinnon 1, Wier 1). Albany Academy 4 (Hart 2, White 1, McCarthy 1).

Here is a complete list of the All-Academic and All-Challenge teams announced after the games Sunday.

All-Academic team

Josh LeMay – Cohoes
Dominic Fruscio – Lansingburgh
Brian Manikas - Mohonasen
Michael Drislane – Guilderland
Eddie Hopper – Newburgh
Dylan Tully - Maginn
Matt Filanova – Albany Academy
Andrew McKinnon – Nichols Schools

All-Challenge team

Josh LeMay – Cohoes
Salaam Knight – Lansingburgh, Most Outstanding Player
Quinton Brown – Mohonasen
Anthony Gallo – Guilderland
Ryan Ochs – Guilderland, Most Outstanding Player
Devon McMillan – Newburgh
Jarrod Scurlock – Newburgh
John Scurry – Maginn
Jerel Scott – Maginn, Most Outstanding Player
Nolan Hart – Albany Academy
David Benocs – Albany Academy
Conner Vandegriff – Nichols School
Stan Wier – Nichols School
Will Regan – Nichols School, Most Outstanding Player

La Salle, looking for its fourth Section II Class AA title in five years, fell in overtime Friday night against Empire Division No. 4 seed Guilderland.

Click here to read how Guilderland upset No. 1 seed La Salle Friday night.

Guilderland’s Matthew Ward (5) pulls away from La Salle’s Vinny Planz during Friday’s Section II Class AA playoff game at La Salle. (Tom Killips — The Record)

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Hoosick Falls senior Alex Hansen was excited about Friday's Section II Class C quarterfinal against Canajoharie - one way or another, it would be his final game on Ken Baker Field. Well, Hansen lived up to his 'Beast Mode' nickname, rushing for 254 yards and four touchdowns in a 36-0 victory. (Photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

"This was my last game on this field," Hansen said. "I had so much emotion coming into this game that I couldn’t even control it."

Hoosick Falls advances to face the winner of Saturday's Granville-Fonda game in the Section II Class C semifinals Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m on Stillwater High School's new FieldTurf surface.

Hansen looks for running room behind linemen Hutton Rasmus (left), Mat Mulvihill (56) and a diving David Couch (right). Through eight games, Hansen has accumulated 1,183 rushing yards on 150 attempts, scoring 19 touchdowns.

Hoosick Falls quarterback Mike Brewster is the Panthers' changeup option in the backfield. He added 79 yards and a rushing touchdown on eight attempts and completed four of seven passes for 50 yards.

Also a starting outside linebacker, Brewster and fellow outside linebacker Kevin McMahon did a great job of forcing Canajoharie's Dylan Slater back to the middle of the field, where he ran into the Panthers' middle linebackers.

"We just had to keep (Slater) contained," Brewster said. "We don’t have 11 stars on our team, we just have 11 average guys who spend every day in the weight room in the summer. If everybody does their job, we’ll be successful."

Check out the full story in Saturday's edition of The Record.

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Check out the updated brackets here.