THE DAY IS HERE.

It's championship Saturday in Section II and we should all be very excited and mutually promise to not use the "you can't do that" cheer in any of our respective games. Deal? Ok, good.

Now that we've all decided to come up with slightly more original cheers, let's break down the eight title games that are on the line today.

For those interested, I'll be camping out for three boys games at the Glens Falls Civic Center - Hoosic Valley/Saratoga Catholic, Voorheesville/Broadalbin-Perth and Troy/Scotia. If you want consistent updates and an inevitable review of the latte I buy from Coffee Planet in downtown Glens Falls, follow along at @LauraAmato.

Happy championships everyone!
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The Suburban Council has announced its all-star teams for the 2013-2014 boys basketball season.

Columbia junior standout Jahlil Nails was named Player of the Year after a season that saw him break a handful of Blue Devils records including the single-season scoring and single-game scoring record.

Averill Park's David Pugliese was named coach of the year.

Under the cut, check out the three Suburban Council all-star teams as well as the exceptional senior team. Congratulations to everyone on an absolutely wonderful season.
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By now, you've heard what happened.

If you haven't heard, let me be the first one to tell you; the Columbia and Guilderland boys basketball teams played a FIVE overtime game in the Class AA semifinals at the Times Union Center on Wednesday night. Section II basketball chairman Mike Lilac said it was the longest game in Section II history.

Two and a half hours after the game had first tipped, the Dutchmen held on for the 102-100 victory. But that's not what I want to talk about (write about?) here. If you're looking for a 900 word recount of the actual game, you can click here for my game story.

Right now, I'd like to take a moment to talk about what it takes to play FIVE overtimes. That's 20 extra minutes of play. That's more than an extra half of basketball. Right now, I'd like to collectively process what I can say was, without a doubt, the greatest high school game I've ever covered.

Right now, I'd like to talk about why last night was awesome.
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Guess what? There are more basketball games on Thursday night.

Since there are games and I have a laptop, I've once again broken down the semifinals for the matchups. If you are so inclined, you can see all of the breakdown under the cut. Also, for future reference, I'll be heading up to the Glens Falls Civic Center for the Class A boys games. Plan accordingly.

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'Tis the all-star season and we've got our latest roundup of the area's top players right here.

For the second straight year, Lindsay Mannion was named the Patroon Conference MVP and for good reason. The junior guard once again led Maple Hill in scoring and the Wildcats clinched their eighth straight league title this past season.

Under the cut check out the first and second teams and congratulations to everyone on a tremendous season.

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Since there are only so many places I can be at one time, I thought instead of trying to run everywhere for preview stories, I'd do a breakdown via capsule form on the upcoming semifinals.

Under the cut, you can check out the deal for Wednesday's games and then tomorrow I'll be back with Thursday's games. Plan your lives accordingly.

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After 27 years with the Shaker boys basketball program, and 33 total years spent on the sidelines, veteran coach Jeff Holmes has decided to step down from his position. 

"It was pleasure to coach so many great young men, including two of my own sons," Holmes said via e-mail on Tuesday afternoon. "I had supportive administration and parents who trusted me to do what I thought was best for the program. And, I have had outstanding colleagues as coaches in our program through the years."

Holmes coached Shaker to a Section II championship in 1991-92 and consistently coached the Bison to Suburban Council success. 

This season, the Bison finished 13-7 overall and wrapped up the season on Saturday with a 61-58 to loss to Green Tech in the Class AA quarterfinals at Hudson Valley Community College. As a team, Shaker averaged 61.35 points per game, led by senior guard Andrew Holmes' 15.55 average.

Although Holmes is stepping away from the sidelines, he has plans to continue teaching in the North Colonie District. Most importantly though, Holmes knows that he is leaving the Shaker program in good hands. 

"I feel that are program is great shape with very good teams and great kids at the JV, Frosh, and Modified level," Holmes said. "I feel confident the district will hire a great coach eager to lead and carry on a tradition that we worked so hard to build."

At this point, Shaker has yet to announce a new coach for the varsity team. 

For Holmes though, the veteran coach is simply ready to have some free time in his schedule and the opportunity to see his children compete without being the one drawing up their plays. 

"I am ready to spend time doing other things in my life along with things that I want to do more of, like spending time with my family," Holmes said. "My wife has had the difficult task of being married to a coach who has put in an abundance of time in coaching and deserves more.  And, I am eager to watch my three sons continue their education and athletic careers."

It's ranking time!

We may be going through the Section II postseason but the rest of NYS is shaping up for the next tournament and it's interesting to see where we all stand.

So, as per usual, check out the top five under the cut as well as any and all Section II teams. And make sure you click this link to see the entire rankings list.

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The Big 10 boys basketball all-star team was announced on Monday afternoon, naming Catholic Central sophomore Anthony Mack as Player of the Year.

The accolade came on the heels of Catholic Central's first Big 10 title since 1982. Mack also scored his 1,000th career point this season.

Under the cut check out the rest of the team and congratulations to everyone on a fantastic season!

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We have survived the first two days of the Section II basketball tournament! Congratulations everyone!

Let's all take a moment to metaphorically pat each other on the back. Now, that we've gotten past that, let's acknowledge that these past two days were perhaps some of the most exciting, upset-inducing and dramatic games that we've seen all year, let alone in the postseason. 

So with quarterfinals on the schedule over the course of the next three days, it seems like a good chance to see where we all stand heading into the weekend. Under the cut, I broke down all five classes on both the girls and boys side with up-to-date schedules and matchups as well. 

I'll be at games every day for the next three days, accepting iced caramel latee donations on the sidelines at HVCC. 'Tis the season, right?

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Just a few hours before the annual Section II wrestling media day, the at-large bids for area grapplers looking to compete in the NYS championship were announced.

At-large bids are determined by a formula that recognizes each wrestler's overall season record, with bonus points added to include past state and sectional finishes as well as power points on the strength-of-section.

Check out the newest competitors from Division I and Division II under the cut.

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We've got our latest round of girls basketball rankings from the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Now, this is important, these rankings ONLY go through February 16. So anything that happened last night in the first round of the Section II tournament ARE NOT included here.

With the disclaimer out of the way, you can now check out the top five in each class as well as any and all area teams under the cut. If you want to read the entire rankings list, this is the link.

Happy rankings!

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Another Tuesday, another round of NYS boys basketball rankings from the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Not too much change in regards to Section II squads, but still a pretty solid showing from the local teams. To see the top five in each class and the rankings of any and all area squads, just click under the cut.

If you want to check out the entire ranking list, you can click this incredibly convenient link. Happy rankings and happy first official round of sectionals!
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'Tis the season for all-star announcements.

Germntown sophomore Tyler Fuchs grabbed MVP honors while, Loudonville Chrstian wrapped up the sportsmanship award.

Check out the first, second and honorable mention teams under the cut and congrats to everyone!

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It's that time of the year again.

As we prep for the upcoming craziness of postseason tournaments across a handful of sports, the Capital District High School Hockey League gets bonus points for being the first to release its all-star lists.

Shen forward Peter Russo earned Player of the Year honors. To see the entire list, check it all out under the cut. Congratulations to everyone on an awesome season!

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They wrestled today!

The first round of the Section II State Qualifier Meet is in the books from the Glens Falls Civic Center and the matches for Sunday's semi-finals are set up.

Now, unfortunatley, I won't be at the semis or championships on Sunday afternoon, but if you're looking for some hard-hitting wrestling coverage go ahead and click the follow button for Stan Hudy and Chris Maley.

Look there are even links here!
Stan Hudy: https://twitter.com/stanhudy
Chris Maley: https://twitter.com/Cmale730

To see the matchups for both Division I and II semis just click under the cut. Happy wrestling!

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It's another round of rankings!

Now, keep in mind that these records only go through February 9th, but with sectionals slated to begin on Saturday these state-wide rankings are starting to get really interesting.

Check out the top five teams in each class under the cut as well as any and all Section II squads that made the list.

To see the entire rankings, go ahead and click right here.

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And you guys thought we were done with seeding information for today.

With news of the impending SNOWSTORM OF ICE AND DOOM coming on Thursday, the wrestling committee decided to release the seeds for this weekend's state qualifying tournament tonight.

The top four seeds in each weight class are listed under the cut. The whole two-day event gets underway at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Saturday at 10 a.m. and let's all say a little prayer that it doesn't snow and we don't repeat last year's one-day extravaganza.

If all goes according to plan, we'll have championships on Sunday and wrestlers heading to the New York State championship.

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Photshop'ed brackets!

The girls postseason gets underway next Saturday, February 15th and if you want to accurately plan where and when you should be places, check out the lovely photoshop'ed brackets under the cut.

Unless otherwise noted, the top seed is the home team for games.

HAPPY SECTIONALS.

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IT'S TOURNAMENT TIME.

I typed as quickly as humanly possible and we have our first round of absolutely lovely PHOTOSHOP BRACKETS!

Under the, check out who's taking on who and plan your lives accordingly. Games get underway on Saturday February 15th for the boys and the first full round starts on Tuesday February 18th.

Unless otherwise noted, the top team on the bracket is the home team. So, keep that in mind when playing.

Happy postseason everyone.

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Hey. Hey guys. Did you know that sectioanls are happening soon? No?

BASKETBALL SECTIONALS START THIS FRIDAY.

That's right. This Friday. That means that the Section II basketball seeding meeting is this Wednesday.

This all starts tomorrow.

So, what can we expect? Well (according to e-mails sent out from Section II officialls today) seeds for the boys and girls tournament should be released around 12:30'ish. Once things are officially released, I'll start tweeting out the top seeds and some matchups that I think could be potentially interesting.

Then, and this is obviously the most important part, there will be PHOTOSHOP BRACKETS up on this blog as quickly as I am able to get them here.

Now, the last round of games are tonight, so there could be some possible changes as far as seeds, but just for kicks, lets' take a moment to examine what might possibly end up happening tomorrow afternoon. It's all under the cut.
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Guys. It's the last Tuesday of the regular season! It's the last Tuesday of the regular season and the New York State Sportswriters Association has released its latest round of boys basketball rankings.

Today is a good day.

Also, Section II has a No. 1 ranked team. But you'll have to check it out under the cut to find out. In addition to all of that (as if you needed anything else) the top five teams in each class and the rest of the ranked area teams are also under the cut.

Happy last day of the regular season everyone.
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Did you guys hear? There's some wrestling happening on Saturday.

In fact, there's a lot of wrestling happening on Saturday. In five different locations. For hours. With the chance to call yourself a Section II champion and earn a berth to the state qualifiers next weekend at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

So, how does all this wrestling break down? Let's examine that. Everything gets underway at 9:30 a.m. with events happening at the following schools:
Division I Class I (Class A) - Shaker
Division I Class II (Class B) - Burnt Hills
Division II Class I (Class CC) - Glens Falls
Division II Class II (Class C) - Granville
Division II Class III (Class D) - Warrensburg

Now, the top six finishers in Division I will advance to next weekend's two-day extravaganza while the top four finishers in Division II advance.

Under the cut, you can check out the seeds (in order) of each class for Saturday's event. Things are starting to trickle in now - on Thursday evening - and I'll continue to update until it's all here. Happy wrestling!

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The New York State Publich High School Athletic Association announced on Thursday that Tim Monette, a senior soccer and baksetball player at Northville HS, has been named the 2014 Spirit of Sport winner for New York State.

Monette now qualifies to for the National Federation of State High School Associations national award and is given to a student-athlete, coach, adminstrator or trainer who has demonstrated the postiive spirit of sport on an doff the court.

“It is an honor to have Tim as our State winner for this prestigious award,” said Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA Executive Director said in a press release. “Throughout his fight with cancer and continuing treatment, Tim continues to give 110% to the game of basketball, his team, and his community. He has shown us all how to overcome adversity, and has demonstrated admirable sportsmanship, while exceeding normal expectations.”

Monette, who was the Section II Class D goalkeeper of the year in 2012 and 2013, was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma in November after a cancerous tumor in his abdomen was discovered following the soccer season. He began chemotherapy immediately after the discovery and continued to play basketball throughout the treatment.

After the community rallied around Monette and his desire to continue basketball, Northville has allowed the senior standout to compete in games when he is cleared by docots.

NFHS will announced the national winner of the Spirit of Sport award in late June.

We've got a new round of rankings to report!

The New York State Sportswriters Association has released its latest listing of girls basketball rankings with a solid showing by Section II squads.

To see the top five in each class, as well as all area teams, check it all out under the cut. There's also this handy link if you want to see the entire list.

Keep in mind, these records only go through February 2nd, so it DOESN'T include anything that happened on Tuesday night. End of disclaimer.
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Tuesday basketball rankings time!

The New York State Sportswriters Association has released its latest round of boys basketball rankings and there's some Section II movement happening here.

This is when the rankings start to get really interesting. We're only about a week and a half removed from the Section II tournament, so it's a good idea to start checking out some of the other top teams in the state as well.

If you want to do just that and see the top five teams in each class, as well as the rankings for all of our local squads, just check it all out under the cut.

To see the entire rankings list, go ahead and click this convenient link.
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