WEEK IN REVIEW: BOYS' BASKETBALL

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports

02-17-10 - 4:27 p.m. - This week marked what was supposed to be the final week of the regular season for the Patroon Conference and the Central Hudson Valley League, but a midweek snow day meant that some Patroon Conference games would slide over to the beginning of next week.

Friday hosted a trio of games with major impact on league titles, and the outcomes gave us two league winners. Ichabod Crane had a chance with two victories in their final two games to earn at least a split with Maple Hill for the Patroon Conference crown, but the Riders loss to Catskill Friday combined with Maple Hill’s victory over Rensselaer gave the Wildcats the crown. Both the boys and girls of Maple Hill won the Patroon Conference title this year.

In the Central Hudson Valley League, the Germantown girls wrapped up a league title earlier Friday night, and the boys tried to do the same against Columbia County rival New Lebanon. The winner of the Clippers-Tigers clash would be named the CHVL champion and the Clipps avenged an earlier season loss to bring home the title. Check out the Game of the Week for more details on this game.

MONDAY

Berlin at New Lebanon

The Tigers kept pace with other league leaders after a 46-32 win at home on Monday. New Lebanon fell behind by 2 after one quarter before tying the game up heading into the half. The Tigers built up a 4-point lead in the third before pulling away in the final eight minutes.

Bryan Potter finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Tigers, while Kyle McHugh added 10 in the win. Mike Gavrity led four other scorers with 9 points.

TUESDAY

New Lebanon at Loudonville Christian

Taking on one of the other teams in the league, the Tigers picked up a big road win on Tuesday, outlasting Loudonville Christian 58-53. The Tigers jumped out to a big 15-4 lead after one quarter and pushed their lead to 12 going into the half and 13 heading into the fourth before having to withstand a big fourth-quarter run by the home team.

Bryan Potter led the way with 16 points, while Mike Gavrity added a trio from deep and 15 points. Five other players scored for the Tigers, including Todd Ferguson, Kyle McHugh, and C.J. Trombley, who finished with 9, 8 and 7 respectively.

Hawthorne Valley at Waterford

Coming into this game, the visiting Wildcats had won three of their last four, and the home-standing Fordians had won five of six, but on this night, it was the visitors who left with the win. Hawthorne Valley jumped on top early and never looked back, as they outscored Waterford in every quarter but the third to post a 54-41 win.

Christian Peterson and Sjaak Smeele each finished with 14 points to lead the Wildcats, while Alan Gallardo added 10.  Max Ocean added 7, and Emil DeJong put in 6 in the win.

Heatly at Germantown

The Clippers kept up their winning ways on their quest for a league title after an easy 77-54 win over Heatly on Tuesday.  Germantown came flying out of the gates, putting up 20 first-quarter points, and kept up a strong pace, putting in double digits in all of the final three quarters.

Cody Broast scored a game-high 23, while Larry Niebling added an equally impressive 22. Thomas Griffin put in 17, and five other Clippers got in on the scoring.

Word of Life at Columbia-Greene

THURSDAY

Taconic Hills at Greenville

The Titans only win this season came at home against the Spartans, and the Spartans had yet to notch a victory, but that changed Thursday when Greenville earned a 48-36 home victory. Greenville had strong first and fourth quarters to pick up the win.

Six players scored for the Titans, with Mike Jacobsen and Chris Filli leading the way with 14 and 10 respectively. 

Columbia Green at Hudson Valley

The Twins fought down to the wire on the road against Hudson Valley on Thursday but fell in the waning seconds. After battling back and forth the entire contest, CGCC fell 66-64.

The big four—Eli Tillerson, Kamal Ramos, Robbie Jones, and Mike Marcelin—again led the way for the Twins. Jones finished with 18 points, while Ramos added 15. Tiller finished with 14 points, and Marcelin chipped in with 11.

FRIDAY

New Lebanon at Germantown

Check out our Game of the Weel for a full recap of this game that pit two Columbia County rivals going at it toe to toe for the Central Hudson Valley League title.

Cairo-Durham at Taconic Hills

The Mustangs ruined senior night for the home-standing Titans, knocking them off 69-51. The Titans were held to just 4 and 9 points in the first two quarters before they got their offense going in the second half, but it was too late to make up the deficit.

Six players scored for the Titans, with Dylan Dotterer pumping in 17 and Mike Jacobsen adding 13 in his final game for the Titans.

Greenville at Chatham

The Panthers closed out their final home game of the year in style with a 51-24 win over the Spartans. Chatham outscored the visitors in all four quarters and posted double digits in every quarter while holding Greenville to single digits in three of four stanzas.

Brandon Johnson scored a game-high 17 points to lead Chatham, while Will Gauthier added 14 in the win. Five other players scored for the Panthers including Junha Shin who finished with 7.

Hudson at Coxsackie-Athens

The Bluehawks picked up a solid road win on Friday, heading to Coxsackie and bringing home a 55-38 win. Hudson trailed by 2 after a quarter and 3 after a half, but came firing out of halftime to blow the game wide open.

Larell Roberts scored a game-high 18 points, while Jeff Crank added 12 and Talib Barksdale added 11 in the win.

Ichabod Crane at Catskill

Needing a win to keep pace with Maple Hill for a share of the league title, the Riders fought back in the fourth to force overtime but came up short, falling 68-61 to the Cats. The Riders battled back from down 5 with just over a minute left, but when it came to overtime, they couldn’t get the offense going and were outscored 7-0 in the extra period.

Derick Horn scored a game-high 22, while Chris Larm added 19 in the loss. Only four other players got in on the scoring for the Riders, with Josh Ingham leading that group with 9.

High Mowing at Hawthorne Valley

The Wildcats hosted an out-of-conference, out-of-section game on Friday and picked up their fourth straight win to end the regular season. The Wildcats started well, and the game was close throughout, but they did enough to earn the hard fought 55-52 win.

Christian Peterson led the way with 15 points, and Alan Gallardo and Sjaak Smeele each added 13. Emil DeJong was one of three other players to score for the Wildcats with 10 points.

SECTIONAL PREVIEW

Ichabod Crane:  The Riders finished off the week with a loss to Catskill and still have a makeup with Rensselaer to play.  The loss to the Cats was bad enough. A fourth loss of the regular season could be a backbreaker for the Riders. Before the loss to Catskill, the Riders were in contention for a top two or three seed in Class, but the loss to the Cats is really going to hurt them I think. With a win against the Rams, the Riders to earn a home game and a fourth to sixth seed, but a loss to the Rams could send them spiraling down anywhere from the seven to eleven. Class A is deep and unpredictable. Iit won’t be easy for the Riders, but they should be hoping to avoid seeing Averill Park for as long as possible.

Hudson:  The Bluehawks finished up their season on a high note which will be big for seedings. Class B has a couple of really strong teams in Fonda, Watervliet, and Schuylerville, and although their record is good, I rate Catskill a little below those top-tier teams. After those four, there are a lot of squads bunched tightly together. I could see Hudson getting seeded anywhere from about eighth to tenth, but I expect them to get a home game and a tough second round matchup.

Chatham:  I’m hearing the Panthers will elect not to play in sectionals this year. If they did, they’d likely be in some sort of play in game, but for such a young team, I’d think any playoff experience is better than no playoff experience.

Taconic Hills:  The Titans finished with just one win and will almost definitely not be participating in postseason play. If they did, they’d be in a tough play in game and that would only get them into an even tougher next matchup.

Germantown:  Fresh off a league title, the Clippers are right in the thick of things in the highly competitive Class D. My feeling is the Clipps are one of three teams with a legit reason for being the top team and one of four teams who could bring home the crown. My gut feeling is the Clippers get seeded second and will have a fantastic final four matchup against Sharon Springs.

New Lebanon:  The Tigers came up just short in their quest for the CHVL league title, but I think they are still positioned to get the fourth seed in Class D. The Tigers have enough talent to make their potential final four matchup with Argyle a great game, and I’m sure the Tigers wouldn’t mind getting their hands on Germantown again, this time with a Class D title on the line.

Hawthorne Valley:  The Wildcats are playing terrific down the stretch, and I think they are in prime position to earn a home game with the way they’ve been playing. Their seeding range is about as wide as anyone's in Section II, and I could see the Wildcats going anywhere from six to twelve, although probably closer to the seven/eight spot. The Wildcats are playing well and confident right now and have some really good size as they go 6' 7", 6' 2", 6' 2" up front.

POWER RANKINGS

1  Germantown (previously 2):  Won the CHVL crown outright with a win over NL

2  ICC (previously 1):  Will not earn a share of the Patroon title after loss to Cats

3  New Lebanon (previously 3):  Came up just short of the CHVL title

4  Hudson (previously 4):  Have the talent to be better than they are

5  Hawthorne Valley (previously 5):  Playing very well right now

6  Chatham (previously 6):  Beat Greenville but fell to C-D to end their year

7  Taconic Hills (previously 7):  Had a chance for their second win but came up short