Saturday, March 6, 2010

Maple Hill knocks off Hoosic Valley; Friday night roundup from HVCC




Members of the Maple Hill High School girls basketball team celebrate after winning the 2009-10 Section II Class CC title. (Photo by Tom Killips - The Record).

Aretha Franklin's hit single 'Respect' blared from the public address system prior to the fourth quarter of Friday's Section II Class CC girls basketball championship game between Maple Hill and Hoosic Valley.

In a rematch of last season's Section II Class CC-C playoff, that was exactly what Maple Hill earned in the final four minutes of the game.

Maple Hill defeated the four-time defending Section II champions by giving them a taste of their own medicine, using a pressing man-to-man defense to limit the Indians to one field goal in the final 5:13 of the game, capping it off with a 41-35 victory in front of a spirited crowd at Hudson Valley Community College.

Maple Hill, (21-0), the No. 1 ranked team in the state, still felt like it had something to prove until it could beat Hoosic Valley, which had been the premiere small-school girls basketball program in Section II for the past four years.

Maple Hill's junior center Katie Roth battles against Hoosic Valley's Jessica Lanoue during Friday's game at Hudson Valley Community College. Roth, the Class CC tournament MVP, scored 21 points and snared 143 rebounds in Friday's game.

Roth was dominant at times, but the Indians hung two or three defenders over her all night. Kristen DerGurahian made the most of her opportunities outside, sinking a trio of three-point shots en route to nine total points. Her trey with 4:20 remaining put the Wildcats ahead by two, which was a lead they never relinquished.

Maple Hill's Erin Mosher looks to make a move around Hoosic Valley's Whiteny Kugler during Friday's game. Mosher made a key steal and layup late in the game to help seal the deal for the Wildcats.

Next up for Maple Hill is Class C champion Greenwich, the 2009-10 Wasaren League regular season champion. The Witches can score tons of points and sophomore guard Dani DeGregory will be hard to stop.

Do the Wildcats try to use a 2-3 zone and play aggressive on the perimeter, letting Roth clean up the mess if DeGregory drives? Or do they just stick with the man-to-man and hope Jessica Dailey or Kristen DerGurahian plays the game of their life defensively?

Either way, the Class CC/C playoff - set for 6 p.m. Monday at Adirondack Community College in Queensbury - will be an interesting game.

2010 Section II Class CC All-Tournament Team:
J'Vanay Santos, Jr., Albany Academy for Girls
Monica Compton, Soph., Schenectady Christian
Rachel Moore, Soph., Hoosic Valley
Whitney Kugler, Soph., Hoosic Valley
Anna Racz, Sr., Maple Hill
MVP - Katie Roth, Jr., Maple Hill

2010 Section II Class C All-Tournament Team:
Sara Anderson, Sr., Lake George
Allison Palludi, Sr., Duanesburg
Marian Bates, Jr., Berne-Knox-Westerlo
Maddy Fitzgerald, Sr., Greenwich
Emily Eddy, Sr., Greenwich
MVP - Dani DeGregory, Soph., Greenwich

For the full story on these games, check out Saturday's editions of The Record and The Saratogian. I also took some video and will try to edit that up as soon as I can.

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Friday also featured a pair of Class B semifinals, and Watervliet and Mechanicville will continue their bitter rivalry in the title game Monday.

Watervliet turned away No. 13 Ravena and Mechanicville topped No. 7 Hudson Falls as the Cinderella seeds were weeded out of the postseason.

"It is what it is. Colonial Council basketball," said Watervliet head coach Gordie Johnson. "Physical. Aggressive. Whoever makes the least amount of mistakes wins. I guess tonight that was us, in the first half, at least."

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For more on these games, see Saturday's editions of The Record and The Saratogian.

If you can't make it to the girls title games Saturday, tune in here as I will be bringing you updates. Since I won't have to file a story right away, I will try to keep the updates coming as quick as possible.

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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Fogarty does it all for the Tigers against Ravena

Cohoes junior running back was that kind of intense all afternoon against Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Saturday, scoring all three touchdowns in a come-from-behind 21-14 victory for the Tigers. (Photos by Tom Killips - The Record).

Fogarty scored on a reverse handoff as time expired in the second half (Josh Floeser ran out of bounds on a 22-yard scamper with 1.2 seconds remaining to set up the play), as the Tigers made it 14-7 heading into halftime.

Fogarty scored a 15-yard rushing touchdown in the third and returned an interception for a touchdown on the Indians' ensuing drive, capping the Tigers comeback in a 21-14 victory at Alumni Field.

"We do that play a lot because in game situations like that, where we really need a score, we use that play," said Fogarty of the reverse. He finished with 125 rushing yards on 19 attempts.

Ravena's Cory Watts scores his second touchdown of the game, giving the Indians a 14-0 lead early in Saturday's game.

Ravena’s (0-2, 1-3) Mike Garza (16 attempts, 84 yards) and Cory Watts (16 attempts, 66 yards) paced the Indians’ ground attack.

Cohoes (1-1, 3-1) hosts Hudson (0-1, 3-1) Friday in their second annual Homecoming under the lights.

A poor week of practice hampered them coming into the Ravena game, which led to a lackadaisical effort in the first half. The Tigers are putting full pads on Monday afternoon, getting ready for a short week of tough preperation for another talented Reinfurt Division opponent in Hudson High, which lost to Lansingburgh 56-6 Friday night.

"We definitely have work to do," senior lineman Josh LeMay said. "We definitely have to work to do and we have to take it out next week and stop making the same mistakes."

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