PLANS BEING MADE TO FORM ONE 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE WITH LIMITED NUMBER OF TEAMS FROM FORMER SCHENECTADY AND ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUES

 

IF YOU ARE A TEAM, ORGANIZATION, OR COACH WITH 9TH AND 10TH GRADERS INTERESTED IN PLAYING IN THE 2021-2022 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE, YOU MUST CONTACT LEAGUE ADMINISTRATOR JIM FAZZONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BY EMAILING FUZZYJIM111@AOL.COM

 

THE LEAGUE WILL MOST LIKELY PLAY AT ONE CENTRALIZED SITE FROM DEC. 4 THROUGH FEB. 6. TEAMS MUST REGISTER AND BE WILLING TO PAY LEAGUE FEES BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS. LEAGUE FEES WILL INCLUDE LEAGUE ADMINISTRATION, THE LEAGUE WEB SITE, ALL REFEREE FEES AND A SMALL FEE TO RENT A FACILITY FOR EACH GAME.

 

THE LEAGUE FEES WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF TEAMS AND GAMES PLAYED BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO EXCEED $900 A TEAM. PLEASE NOTE, THE NUMBER OF TEAMS WILL BE LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN NINE TEAMS. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT INTERESTED TEAMS CONTACT THE LEAGUE ADMINISTRATOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

 

IF THERE IS ENOUGH INTEREST, A 2021-2022 CAPITAL DISTRICT SENIOR LEAGUE MAY BE ABLE TO FORM IF A SITE IS AVAILABLE.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT JIM FAZZONE AT FUZZYJIM111@AOL.COM

 

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 23

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA TOURNAMENT

PLAY-IN GAME

No. 4 Seed (Averill Park Warriors) 34, No. 5 Seed (Clifton Park Ringers) 32

 

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA TOURNAMENT

SEMIFINALS

No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Ice) 55, No. 3 Seed (Clifton Park Chaos) 39

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 29

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA TOURNAMENT

SEMIFINALS

No. 1 Seed (Hard Knocks) 64, No. 4 Seed (Averill Park Warriors) 41

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Ice) 66, No. 1 Seed (Hard Knocks) 50

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 23

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT TOURNAMENT

SEMIFINALS

No. 2 Seed (Bethlehem Eagles) 44, No. 3 Seed (LaSalle Cadets) 23

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 29

No. 1 Seed (St. Kateri Blue) 59, No. 4 Seed (CTK Royals) 52

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT TOURNAMENT

NIT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

No. 1 Seed (St. Kateri Blue) 64, No. 2 Seed (Bethlehem Eagles) 60 (2OT)

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 8

CAPITAL DISTRICT NIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Schenectady JCC 71, St. Kateri Blue 65

 

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: The Clifton Park Ice defeated the Hard Knocks, 65-50, on Sunday, March 1, at Shen High School East to capture the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship. Pictured, from left to right front row: Greg Sweet, Ben Garrett, Gabe Perino, Quinn Riley and Evan Hickey. Back row, left to right, Head Coach Mike Hickey, Jack Griffen, Gavin O’Connor, Peter Gelsomino, Will Barbagelata and assistant coaches Colin Sweet and Dave Barbagelata. The Clifton Park Ice, the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, finished second in regular-season action with a 14-2 record. Overall, the Clifton Park Ice was 16-3 in Capital District area senior league play.

 

 

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 ALMOST COMES UP EMPTY IN ANNUAL BATTLE BETWEEN TWO LEAGUES

Bethlehem Eagles lone Albany team to "draw blood "in beating St. Clare's Raiders 

Top three from Albany/Troy 9-10 all go down in defeat to Schenectady's best in Showdown

CTK Royals lose one-point thriller in lone other positive showing by Albany/Troy teams 

 

(ALL GAMES SUNDAY, JAN. 26 AT LASALLE INSTITUTE IN TROY)

Schenectady No. 1 St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red 58, Albany/Troy No. 1 Hard Knocks 47

Schenectady No. 2 St. Gabriel’s Black 71, Albany/Troy No. 2 Clifton Park Chaos 49

Schenectady No. 3 St. Gabriel’s NWO 76, Albany/Troy No. 3 Clifton Park Ice 65

Schenectady No. 4 St. Clare’s Garnet 66 Albany/Troy No. 4 Averill Park Warriors 34

Schenectady No. 5 Duanesburg Heat 55, Albany/Troy No. 5 Clifton Park Ringers 44.

Schenectady No. 6 Duanesburg Saints 62, Albany/Troy No. 6 St. Kateri Blue 31

Albany/Troy No. 7 Bethlehem Eagles 57, Schenectady No. 7 St. Clare’s Raiders 51

Schenectady No. 8 Schenectady JCC 62, Albany/Troy No. 8 LaSalle Cadets 45

Schenectady No. 9 St. Kateri White 43, Albany/Troy No. 9 CTK Royals 42

Schenectady No. 10 St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White 53, Albany/Troy No. 10 Troy Trojans 19

 

Clifton Park Gamecocks come up just short in losing to St. Gabriel’s Warriors in battle of No. 1 seeds; Bethlehem Eagles, AP Gold, CPark Panthers, St. Clare's carve out wins for Albany/Troy 9-10

 

TROY -- The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League proved to be just a bit too strong for the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Capital District Senior League Showdown Basketball Tournament that was played at the Russell Sage College Neff Center in Troy.

 

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League won six of the 10 head-to-head showdown games with the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League during a full day of highly competitive, hard-nosed basketball action.

 

Leading the way for the Schenectady side of things were the No. 1 seeded St. Gabriel’s Warriors who were victorious in their showdown meeting with the Albany/Troy No. 1 seeded Clifton Park Gamecocks. The Warriors won the fiercely contested game, 72-68, saddling the previously undefeated Gamecocks with their first loss of the season.

 

St. Gabriel’s ran out to as much as a 15-point lead early in the game. Clifton Park stormed back in the second half, and the teams traded leads and lost/gained opportunities down the stretch before St. Gabriel’s, now 16-1 overall on the season, prevailed. The Clifton Park Gamecocks now sport an overall record of 15-1.

 

EAGLES SOAR AGAINST ALPLAUS

 

The day couldn’t have started off with a more exciting game. The Bethlehem Eagles who had won only one game to date during the Albany/Troy regular season, turned back Alplaus of the Schenectady 9-10 League, 49-47, in a battle of No. 10 seeds. Bethlehem was behind virtually the entire game but came out on top on the strength of two foul shots from John Henry Walters with four seconds left in the game. Matt Revai led Bethlehem with 16 points and Walters finished with 13 points.

Albany/Troy won the next game in the senior showdown to go up 2-0 as Averill Park Gold defeated St. Clare’s Garnet, 52-45, in a meeting of No. 6 seeds. Ben Ferlito led the way for Averill Park Gold with 17 points. Satchel Carroll had 11 points for the winners.

 

Schenectady got its first victory in the Senior Showdown event to make it 2-1 when St. Clare’s Gold ran past the Clifton Park Fury of the Albany/Troy League, 58-41.

 

That win was quickly followed up by two more victories for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League. No. 9 seed Christ The King White turned back Albany/Troy’s Averill Park Green, 66-46, and then St. Gabriel’s won it’s nail bitter with the Clifton Park Gamecocks to make it 3-2 in favor of Schenectady.

 

 

CLIFTON PARK PANTHERS STRIKE BACK FOR ALBANY/TROY

 

Facing an almost must-win situation to keep Albany/Troy close in the showdown match up of the two leagues, the Clifton Park Panthers rose to the occasion and won their battle with Schenectady’s St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White. The battle of No. 2 seeds turned out to be somewhat anti climatic as the Panthers won, 64-50, over an undermanned Ballston Spa team. That gave both leagues three wins apiece. The Clifton Park Panthers are now 15-1 overall. St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White is now 13-3 overall.

 

The two leagues then traded victories in the next two matchups to make it 4-4. Duanesburg fought its way past Albany/Troy’s Clifton Park BBQ Chicken, 61-48, in a meeting between No. 3 seeds to give Schenectady a short-lived edge. Albany/Troy responded when St. Clare’s turned back Schenectady’s St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red, 40-36, in a match up of No. 8 seeds.

 

STRONG FINISH GIVES SCHENECTADY THE EDGE

 

That set the stage for the final two games of the Senior Showdown Tournament with senior league bragging rights hanging in the balance.

 

The day’s last two games went Schenectady’s way as the No. 4 seeded Rebels beat Albany JCC of the Albany/Troy league, 67-58, and Schenectady’s St. Clement’s powered its way past the East Greenbush Blue Devils, 65-47, in a battle of No. 7 seeds.

 

POINTS TO PONDER – There was one other game played Saturday during the Senior Showdown Tournament. That “friendly” match up pitted Schenectady’s No. 11 seed, St. Kateri against Schenectady’s No. 12 seed, Christ The King Blue. St. Kateri squeezed out a three-point win, 47-44, over CTK Blue in a game that went down to the game’s very last play … Turnout for the Senior Showdown Tournament games was strong as fans of their respective leagues turned out for the games in good numbers … Teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League all have one more game before their post-season playoffs begin on Sunday, Feb, 24 … Teams in the Schenectady 9-10 League also have make up games and regularly scheduled league games left to be played on Sunday, Feb. 10, and the following weekend on Feb. 16-17. Several key match ups remain that will help determine final playoff seedings. That league’s playoffs also start on Feb. 24 … The Schenectady 9-10 League as well as the Albany/Troy 9-10 League will each have a post-season NCAA Tournament that features each league’s upper tier teams battling for their respective league’s overall championship. In a first, the Schenectady 9-10 lower tier teams will join the Albany/Troy 9-10 lower tier teams in one overall NIT Tournament. All playoff pairings and schedule will be released shortly.

 

 

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA TOURNAMENT

SUNDAY, FEB. 24

First Round

No. 1 Seed (Clifton Park Panthers) receive a bye

No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Gamecocks) receive a bye

No. 3 Seed (Clifton Park BBQ Chicken) 53, No. 6 Seed (Averill Park Gold) 47

No. 4 Seed (Albany JCC) 33, No. 5 (Clifton Park Fury) 29

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Semifinals

No. 1 Seed (Clifton Park Panthers) 56, No. 4 Seed  (Albany JCC) 43

No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Gamecocks) 72, No. 3 Seed (Clifton Park BBQ Chicken) 41

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Championship

No. 2 Seed (Clifton Park Gamecocks) 57, 1 Seed (Clifton Park Panthers) 53

 

 

SENIOR 9-10 NIT INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

SUNDAY, FEB. 24

Play-in Game

No. 8 Seed (Bethlehem Eagles) 50, No. 9 Seed (CTK Blue) 31

First Round

No. 2 Seed (Alplaus) 67, No. 7 Seed (Averill Park Green) 66

No. 6 Seed (St. Kateri) 42, No. 3 Seed (St. Clare’s) 38

 

MONDAY, FEFB. 25

First Round

No. 1 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 53, No. 8 Seed (Bethlehem Eagles) 49

 

FRIDAY, MARCH 1

First Round

No. 4 Seed (CTK White) 54, No. 5 Seed (East Greenbush Blue Devils) 38

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Semifinals

No. 4 Seed (CTK White) 57, No. 1 Seed (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 37

No. 6 Seed (St. Kateri) 41, No. 2 Seed (Alplaus) 30

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Championship

No. 4 Seed (CTK White) 51, No. 6 Seed (St. Kateri) 43

 

NIT CHAMPIONS -- Christ The King White defeated St. Kateri, 53-41, in the championship game of the combined 2019 Senior League 9-10 NIT Tournament that was played Sunday, March 3, at Shen High School East. CTK White was coached by Head Coach Dan Vennard and Assistant Coach Gary Waldron (upper right). Players on the championship team were Matt Allen, Peyton Doyle, Patrick Horan, Aidan McGee, Anthony Sbardella, Alessandro Nardone, Collin Skelly, David Slover, Kyle Vennard and Garrett Waldron. The combined Senior League 9-10 NIT Tournament featured five teams from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and four teams from the Albany Troy 9-10 Senior League. CTK White and St. Kateri both represented the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League in what turned out to be an all-Schenectady 9-10 NIT final.  (Photo courtesy of CTK White).

2018-2019 CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR SHOWDOWN TOURNAMENT

ALL GAMES AT RUSSELL SAGE NEFF CENTER IN TROY

SATURDAY, FEB. 9

 GAME 1—

Albany/Troy No. 10 (Bethlehem Eagles) 49,
Schenectady No. 10 (Alplaus) 47

GAME 2—

Schenectady No. 11 (St. Kateri) 47,

Schenectady No. 12 (Christ The King Blue) 44

 

GAME 3—

Albany/Troy No. 6 (Averill Park Gold) 52,

Schenectady No. 6 (St. Clare’s Garnet) 45

 

GAME 4—

Schenectady No. 5 (St. Clare’s Gold) 58,

Albany/Troy No. 5 (Clifton Park Fury) 41

 

GAME 5—

Schenectady No. 9 (Christ The King White) 66,

Albany/Troy No. 9 (Averill Park Green) 46

 

GAME 6—

Schenectady No. 1 (St. Gabriel’s Warriors) 72,

Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park Gamecocks) 68

 

GAME 7—

Albany/Troy No. 2 (Clifton Park Panthers) 64,

Schenectady No. 2 (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White) 50

 

GAME 8—

Schenectady No. 3 (Duanesburg) 61

Albany/Troy No. 3 (Clifton Park BBQ Chicken) 48

 

GAME 9—

Albany/Troy No. 8 (St. Clare’s) 40,

Schenectady No. 8 (St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red) 36

 

GAME 10—

Schenectady No. 4 (Rebels) 67,

Albany/Troy No. 4 (Albany JCC) 58

 

GAME 11—

Schenectady No. 7 (St. Clement’s) 65,

Albany/Troy No. 7 (East Greenbush Blue Devils) 47

  

Round Robin Pool Play (Best Overall Record Wins/Tiebreakers if necessary)

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

All games played at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in downtown Troy

Game 1 -- East Greenbush Blue Devils 45, Clifton Park Storm 38

Game 2 – East Greenbush Blue Devils 46, Christ The King Royals 44

Game 3 – Christ the King Royals 51, Clifton Park Storm 44

East Greenbush Blue Devils are tournament champion via 2-0 record.

 

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 9
Clifton Park Game Cocks 66, East Greenbush Blue Devils 40
East Greenbush Blue Devils -- Hawkins, 15 points; Cook 12, points.

SUNDAY, DEC, 3

East Greenbush Blue Devils 47, Averill Park (Brown) 39
East Greenbush Blue Devils – Hawkins, 16 points; Cook, 14 points; Blake, 7 points.

SATURDAY, DEC. 2
Clifton Park Game Cocks 49, Averill Park (Durocher) 48
Clifton Park Game Cocks --Justin Eckeler, 22 points.

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

NOTE: No. 1 Clifton Park Buckeyes receive a first, second-round bye..

NOTE: The Bethlehem Blazers have opted out of the playoffs and will not take part.

 

NIT TOURNAMENT

FIRST ROUND

SUNDAY, FEB. 25

No. 1 Seed Clifton Park Supreme 77, No. 8 Seed Averill Park (Criscione) 31

No. 2 Seed Clifton Park Game Cocks 60, No. 7 Seed Averill Park (Brown) 43

No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Black 57, No. 6 Seed East Greenbush Blue Devils 36

No. 5 Seed Albany JCC 55, No. 4 Seed Averill Park (Durocher) 29

 

NIT TOURNAMENT

SEMIFINALS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3

No. 1 Seed Clifton Park Supreme 51, No. 5 Seed Albany JCC 35

No. 2 Seed Clifton Park Game Cocks 39, No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Black 29

 

NIT TOURNAMENT

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

MONDAY, MARCH 5

No. 1 Seed Clifton Park Supreme 60, No. 2 Seed Clifton Park Game Cocks 59

 

(NIT winner qualifies to play Clifton Park Buckeyes for the overall Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship if both teams agree to play)

 

 

Clifton Park Supersonics 49, East Greenbush Blue Devils 32

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 28

Averill Park (Toomey) 57, East Greenbush Blue Devils 50

Averill Park (Toomey) -- Jason Reed, 16 points; Ryan Baker, 14 points.

 

Clifton Park Supersonics 62, Averill Park (Centanni) 61
Clifton Park Supersonics -- Sean Konarski, 19 points; Reggie Durden, 11 points.

 

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 22

Clifton Park Supersonics 53, Albany JCC 40
Clifton Park Supersonics -- Brendan Fallon, 10 points; Joe Meyer, 9 points.
Albany JCC -- Mysonne Coleman, 14 points. 

 

East Greenbush Blue Devils 58, East Greenbush (Rohl) 30
East Greenbush Blue Devils -- Rainville, 16 points; Remington, 12 points.

Tri City Titans 58, Clifton Park Storm 35 

 

 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18

Averill Park (Leonard) 47, Cap City Scrappers 46
Averill Park (Leonard) -- Matt Atherholt 14 points; Joe Sloshbergh, 12 points.

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 15

Averill Park (Toomey) 55, Averill Park (Leonard) 50
Averill Park (Toomey) -- Wes Doscher and Jeremy Gregware, 14 points each.

Clifton Park Supersonics 49, Clifton Park Cobras 39
Clifton Park Supersonics -- Sean Konarski, 20 points; Evan Bean, 16 points.

SATURDAY, JAN. 14

Tri City Titans 71, Albany JCC 58
Tri City Titans -- Jimyh Evans, 24 points; Kaylon Dickson 23, points; Jason Freitas, 10 points.
Albany JCC -- Lonnie Waters, 19 points.

Clifton Park Supersonics 49, Averill Park (Leonard) 41
Clifton Park Supersonics -- Evan Bean, 17 points; Jeff Swift. 12 points.

Averill Park (Toomey) 42, Cap City Scrappers 37

 

Averill Park (Toomey) -- Jeremy Gregware, 10 points; Ty Mazzeo, 5 points; Triston Lincoln, 4 points.

 

 

SUNDAY, JAN. 8

Averill Park (Toomey) 62, JCC 58

Averill Park (Toomey) --  Jason Reed, 22 points; Ryan Baker, 15 points; Wes Doscher, 16 rebounds.

Albany JCC -- James Wiltse, 16 points.

 

Clifton Park Cobras 58, Averill Park (Milanese) 36

Averill Park (Milanese) -- Joe Milanese, 14 points; Colin Rescott, 10 points.

 

Tri City Titans 57, Clifton Park Supersonics 46

Tri City Titans -- Lasheen Lewis, 13 points; Marcus Shelton, 10 points.
Clifton Park Supersonics -- Jeff Swift, 14 points; Reggie Durden and Sean Konarski, 8 points each.

 

SATURDAY, JAN. 7

Averill Park (Toomey) 41, Averill Park (Milanese) 38

Averill Park (Toomey) -- Ryan Baker, 14 points; Jason Reed, 8 points.

Averill Park (Milanese) -- Joe Milanese, 11 points; Kyle Reason, 10 points.

 

Cap City Scrappers 52, Clifton Park Supersonics 45

Cap City Scrappers – Rahsier Chandler, 20 points.

Clifon Park Supersonics -- Jeff Swift, 10 points; Evan Bean and Sean Konarski, 9 points each.

 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4

Cap City Scrappers 59, Albany JCC 56
Albany JCC -- James Wiltse, 16 points.

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 18

Tri City Titans 59, Averill Park (Leonard)  42
Tri City Titans – Marcus Shelton, 12 points; Kaylon Dixon and Jimyh Evans, 10 points each.

Averill Park (Toomey) 53, Clifton Park Supersonics 42
Averill Park (Toomey) – Jason Reed, 22 points; Ryan Baker, 12 points and 25 rebounds.
Clifton Park Supersonics – Evan Bean, 12 points; Joe Meyers, 8 points.

Albany JCC 52, East Greenbush (Rohl)  46

Albany JCC – Evan Kirk, 18 points.

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 17

Averill Park (Leonard) 49, Albany JCC 42

Averill Park (Lenard) -- Dom Huneau, 15 points.

Albany JCC --Nick Dugan, 14 points.

 

Tri City Titans 49, Averill Park (Toomey) 35

Tri City Titans – Marcus Shelton, 10 points; Frank Myers, 5 points.

Averill Park (Toomey) --- Wes Doscher, 10 points; Jason Reed, 9 points.

 

Averill Park (Milanese) 50, East Greenbush Blue Devils 47

 

Averill Park (Milanese) – Milanese, 15 points; Morin, 11 points.

 

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 11

East Greenbush Blue Devils 71, Averill Park (Leonard) 63

East Greenbush Blue Devils – Rainville, 22 points; Remington, 19 points; Nista, 10 points.

 

Averill Park (Centanni) 50, Albany JCC 43

Albany JCC -- James Wiltse, 15 points.

 

Averill Park (Toomey) 50, East Greenbush 36

Averill Park (Toomey) -- Jason Reed 12 points; Ryan Baker, 11 points.

Tri City Titans 68, Averill Park (Milanese) 34
Tri City Titans -- Frank Myers, 7 points; Mitchel Rheeman and Christian Brown, 6 points each.

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 10
Averill Park (Toomey) 30, Averill Park (Centanni) 22
Averill Park (Toomey) -- Jason Reed, 11 points.

Tri City Titans 46, East Greenbush (Rohl) 18
Tri City Titans – Jimyh Evans, 10 points; Christian Brown, 7 points; Dylan Eichmann, 6 points.

Clifton Park Knights 51, Albany JCC 33
Albany JCC -- Mysonne Coleman, 9 points.

Clifton Park Supersonics 58, Averill Park (Milanese) 40

Clifton Park Supersonics -- Cameron McGarry, 12 points; Vinny Scott, 11 points.

 

SUNDAY, DEC. 4

Albany JCC 53, Averill Park (Milanese) 42
Albany JCC -- Mysonne Coleman, 11 points.

Averill Park (Milanese) -- Nick Maggio, 11 points; Joe Milanese, 9 points. 

 

Averill Park (Toomey) 53, Clifton Park Storm 35

Averill Park (Toomey) -- Jason Reed, 12 points.

 

Averill Park (Leonard) 45, Averill Park (Centanni) 44

Averill Park (Leonard) -- Nate White, 14 points; Matt Atherholt, 9 points. 

Averill Park (Centanni) -- Jack Wendall, 21 points.

 

Tri City Titans 59, Clifton Park Cobras 39

Tri City Titans -- Jimyh Evans, 8 points.

 

Clifton Park Supersonics 39, East Greenbush Blue Devils 36
Clifon Park Supersonics -- Sean Konarski. 10 points;  Joe Meyer, 8 points.

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 3

Averill Park (Leonard) 50, Clifton Park Storm 30

Averill Park (Leonard) – Matt Atherholt and Joe Slosbergh, 15 points each.

 

East Greenbush Blue Devils 46, Albany JCC 45

East Greenbush Blue Devils – Rainville, 19 points; Remington 11 points; O’Dell, 8 points.

Albany JCC -- Lonnie Walters, 13 points.

Tri City Titans 68, Averill Park (Centanni) 36

Tri City Titans -- Marcus Shelton, 15 points; Kaylon Dickson 12 points.

 

Clifton Park Knights 45, Averill Park (Toomey) 28
Averill Park (Toomey) -- Ryan Baker and Jason Reed, 7 points each.

 

Clifton Park Supersonics 55, East Greenbush (Rohl) 11

Clifton Park Supersonics -- Eric Sawicki, 10 points; Reggie Durden, 9 points.

SATURDAY, FEB. 25

PLAY-IN GAME

Clifton Park Storm 41, Averill Park (Milanese) 23

SUNDAY, FEB. 26

QUARTERFINALS

Clifton Park Knights 52, Clifton Park Storm 24

Averill Park (Toomey) 49, Averill Park (Centanni) 39

Clifton Park Cobras 55, Averill Park (Leonard) 44

Clifton Park Supersonics 46, Albany JCC 42

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

SEMIFINALS

Clifton Park Knights 70, Clifton Park Cobras 65

Clifton Park Supersonics 40, Averill Park (Toomey) 37

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP 

Clifton Park Knights 54, Clifton Park Supersonics 45

 

 

 

KINGS CROWNED CHAMPIONS -- The Clifton Park Kings captured the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League Championship by defeating the St. Clement's Saints, 52-43, Sunday, Feb. 28, at Shen High School East. The Clifton Park Kings, the No. 3 seed in the West Division, upset No. 1-seeded LaSalle in the first round of the playoffs, 28-24, on Sunday, Feb. 21. The team then upended the No. 2-seeded Albany JCC Rocks, 42-21, in the West Division Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Clifton Park Kings who finished in fourth place in the West Division with a 7-12 regular-season record, completed their Cinderella-like run and three-game sweep through the playoffs by stunning the St. Clement's Saints who were the No. 1 seed in the East Division. Pictured, from left to right in the bottom row, are Sam Garrity, Tyler Paul, Brendan Fallon, Colin Amodeo and Zanin Klapija. Pictured, in the top row from left to right, are head coach Joe Michaud, assistant coach Dan Parkard, players Jack Perdek, Aziz Amin, Brain Burns and Justin Michaud and assistant coaches John Perdek and Jacob Molnar.

Tri City Titans (13-1) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. East Greenbush Blue Devils.

Clifton Park Knights (12-2) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. Clifton Park Supersonics.

Clifton Park Supersonics (10-4) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. Clifton Park Knights.

Averill Park Toomey (10-4) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. Clifton Park Cobras.

Clifton Park Cobras (10-4) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. Averill Park (Toomey).

Cap City Scrappers (8-7) – Games remaining (0).

Averill Park Leonard (7-7) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. East Greenbush (Rohl).

Averill Park Centanni (5-9) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 13 vs. East Greenbush Blue Devils.

Albany JCC (5-9) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. Clifton Park Storm.

East Greenbush Blue Devils (4-9) – Games remaining (2): Feb. 12 vs. Tri City Titans; Feb. 13 vs. Averill Park (Centanni).

Averill Park Milanese (3-11) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 13 vs. East Greenbush (Rohl).

Clifton Park Storm (2-12) – Games remaining (1): Feb. 12 vs. Albany JCC.  

East Greenbush Rohl (2-11) – Games remaining (2): Feb. 12 vs. Averill Park (Toomey); Feb. 13 vs. Averill Park (Milanese).

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 16
EAST DIVISION
No. 1 seed Schenectady Basketball Club receives a bye.
No. 2 seed Guilderland 60, No. 7 seed Clifton Park Sabers 50
No. 3 seed East Greenbush 40, No. 6 seed St. John’s Valatie 26
No. 4 seed Troy CYO Thunder 50, No. 5 seed Averill Park Wannabee Warriors 46
WEST DIVISION
No. 1 seed Clifton Park Lightning receives a bye.
No. 2 seed Troy CYO Lightning receives a bye.
No. 3 seed Averill Park Warrior Nation 42, No. 6 seed Stillwater 33
No. 5 seed Albany JCC 42, No. 4 seed Clifton Park 41 (OT)

SATURDAY, FEB. 22
EAST DIVISION
No. 2 seed (Guilderland) 34, No. 3 seed (East Greenbush) 27
|No. 1 seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) 59, No. 4 seed (Troy CYO Thunder) 50
WEST DIVISION
No. 2 seed (Troy CYO Lightning) 49, No. 3 seed (Averill Park Warrior Nation) 41
No. 1 seed (Clifton Park Lightning) 61, No. 5 seed (Albany JCC) 43

TUESDAY, FEB. 25

Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League West Division Championship Game

WEST DIVISION

No. 1 seed (Clifton Park Lightning) 54, No. 2 seed (Troy CYO Lightning) 33

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 1

Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League East Division Championship Game

EAST DIVISION

No. 1 seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) 67, No. 2 seed (Guilderland) 33

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 2

Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League Championship Game

East Division champion (Schenectady Basketball Club) 38, West Division championship (Clifton Park Lightning) 35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT DIVISION PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY, FEB. 21

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Seed LaSalle (5-11) receives a bye

No. 2 Seed Mater Christi (5-11) receives a bye

No. 5 St. John’s Valatie 56, No. 4 Averill Park White 49 (OT)

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

No. 3 Averill Park Blue 52, No. 6 Albany JCC 24

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 28

SEMIFINALS

Mater Christi 49, Averill Park Blue 41

LaSalle 36, St. John’s Valatie 23

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NIT DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

LaSalle 39, Mater Christi 38

 

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA DIVISION PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Seed Clifton Park Wolves (15-1) receives a bye

No. 2 Seed Clifton Park Sky Hawks (13-3) receives a bye

No. 3 Seed Guilderland YMCA (12-4) receive a bye

No. 5 Seed Troy Lightning 61, No. 4 Seed Clifton Park Warriorz 52

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 28

SEMIFINALS

NCAA DIVISION

Guilderland YMCA 49, Clifton Park Sky Hawks 36

Troy Lightning 55, Clifton Park Wolves 52

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE NCAA DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

Troy Lightning 52, Guilderland YMCA 51 

LaSalle -- Corbin LaFleur and Chris O'Keefe, 13 points each. 

 

Clifton Park Raiders 44, Albany JCC Raptors 14
Albany JCC Raptors -- Joe McCarthy and Naasih Brown, 5 points each.

Albany JCC Rocks 55, St. Henry's 24
Albany JCC Rocks -- Kapri Scott, 16 points.

St. Clement’s 54, Averill Park Team Kyrie 35
St. Clement’s Saints – Ostrander, 16 points.
Averill Park Team Kyrie – Deo, 12 points.

Clifton Park Knights 49, Averill Park Downtowns 41
Averill Park Downtowns -- Kyle Hunter, 14 points; Preston Wait, 10 points; Connor Hicks, 9 points.

Six Albany/Troy teams gunning for one of two trophies up for grabs in one-day shootout

The 2015-2016 Capital District 9-10 Senior League King of the Hill Tournament will have a field of seven teams, six from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League and one from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League.

The Tournament will be a one-day shootout affair on Sunday, Feb. 28, at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in downtown Troy.  Teams will battle for one of two King of the Hill trophies. The seven teams will be broken down into two pools, the NCAA Division and the NIT Division.

In the NCAA Division, three teams will take part in pool play format. The teams, all from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, are LaSalle, the Clifton Park Knights and the Greenville Spartans. In the NIT Division, Christ The King from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League, will go up against three teams from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League – Averill Park (Toomey), the Averill Park Downtowns and the East Greenbush Blue Devils.

DOUBLE-DIGIT VICTORIES ABOUND

The NCAA Division features three teams that had double-digit win totals during the regular season. LaSalle finished tied for first in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League’s West Division with a 14-5 mark.  LaSalle had its post-season hopes dashed early, getting upset in the first round in a dismal, low-scoring contest.

Greenville, which was ineligible for the Albany/Troy post-season playoffs due to league rules, also played in the West Division. The Spartans were a very respectable 12-7 and ended up in third place.

Much like LaSalle, the Clifton Park Knights also got a rude awakening in their first-round playoff contest. The Knights, who finished tied for second in the East Division with a solid 14-5 record, were bounced out early by the upstart Albany JCC Raptors.

SCHENECTADY REPRESENTED BY CHRIST THE KING

In the NIT Division, Christ The King carries the flag for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League as the league’s only representative in the Senior League King of the Hill Tournament. CTK finished the regular season in seventh place with a 6-12 mark. Christ The King, a team the was very competitive in the 10-team Schenectady League despite its record, won a play-in game but then was eliminated from post-season action in the next round.

CTK’s competition comes from the East Greenbush Blue Devils, the Averill Park Downtowns and Averill Park (Toomey).

East Greenbush, which was also ineligible for the Albany/Troy post-season playoffs, posted a 5-14 record during the regular season but shows a surprisingly easy non-league victory over Christ The King when the two teams hooked up in mid-season.

The Averill Park Downtowns and Averill Park (Toomey) followed similar roads all season long in opposite divisions of the Albany/Troy league.

The Downtowns were 10-9 and finished fifth in the East Division. The team then won its play-in game, but lost a tough, close game in the first round of the playoffs.

Averill Park (Toomey) did much the same, finishing in fourth place in the West Division. Like the Downtowns, AP (Toomey) won its play-in game and then was eliminated in the first round.

 

THE SCHEDULE:

SUNDAY, FEB. 28

CAPITAL DISTRICT 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE KING OF THE HILL TOURNAMENT

 

NIT DIVISION

(Advancement Format -- Winners play championship game; losers play consolation game)

 

Game One -- East Greenbush Blue Devils vs. Averill Park Downtowns at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 10:30 a.m.

Game Two -- Averill Park (Toomey) vs. Christ The King at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 11:35 a.m.

(If East Greenbush loses)

Championship Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 1:45 p.m.

Consolation Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 4:00 p.m.

If East Greenbush wins)

Consolation Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 1:45 p.m.

Championship Game at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 4:00 p.m.

 

NCAA DIVISION

(Pool Play Format – Best record wins; tiebreakers if needed)

 

Game One – LaSalle vs. Clifton Park Knights at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 12:40 p.m.

Game Two – LaSalle vs. Greenville Spartans at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 2:50 p.m.

Game Three – Clifton Park Knights vs. Greenville Spartans at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 5:05 p.m.

 

Tiebreakers – Overall Record, Head-to-Head, Points Allowed; Coin Flip 

 

 

KINGS CROWNED CHAMPIONS -- The Clifton Park Kings captured the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League Championship by defeating the St. Clement's Saints, 52-43, Sunday, Feb. 28, at Shen High School East. The Clifton Park Kings, the No. 3 seed in the West Division, upset No. 1-seeded LaSalle in the first round of the playoffs, 28-24, on Sunday, Feb. 21. The team then upended the No. 2-seeded Albany JCC Rocks, 42-21, in the West Division Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Clifton Park Kings who finished in fourth place in the West Division with a 7-12 regular-season record, completed their Cinderella-like run and three-game sweep through the playoffs by stunning the St. Clement's Saints who were the No. 1 seed in the East Division. Pictured, from left to right in the bottom row, are Sam Garrity, Tyler Paul, Brendan Fallon, Colin Amodeo and Zanin Klapija. Pictured, in the top row from left to right, are head coach Joe Michaud, assistant coach Dan Parkard, players Jack Perdek, Aziz Amin, Brain Burns and Justin Michaud and assistant coach John Perdek and player Jacob Molnar. 

 

 

 

 

THE 2015-2016 ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SUNDAY, FEB. 14

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

EAST DIVISION

No. 1 Seed St. Clement’s (11-5; 14-5) receives a bye

No. 2 Seed Clifton Park Knights (11-5; 14-5) receives a bye

No. 3 Seed Albany JCC Raptors (8-8; 10-9) receives a bye

No. 4 Seed Averill Park Downtowns 60, No. 5 Seed Averill Park Team Kyrie 26

SATURDAY, FEB. 20

WEST DIVISION

No. 1 Seed Albany JCC Rocks (13-3; 14-5) receives a bye

No. 2 Seed LaSalle (12-4; 14-5) receives a bye

No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Kings (7-9; 7-12) receives a bye

No. 4 Seed Averill Park (Toomey) 58, No. 5 Seed St. Henry’s 37

SUNDAY, FEB. 21

SEMIFINAL ROUND

EAST DIVISION

No. 1 Seed St. Clement’s 63, No. 4 Seed Averill Park Downtowns 60 

No. 3 Seed Albany JCC Raptors 63, No. 2 Seed Clifton Park Knights 51 

WEST DIVISION

No. 1 Seed Albany JCC Rocks 65, No. 4 Seed Averill Park (Toomey) 41 

No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Kings 28, No. 2 Seed LaSalle 24 

SATURDAY, FEB. 27

DIVISIONAL FINALS

EAST DIVISION

No. 1 Seed St. Clement’s 66, No. 3 Seed Albany JCC Raptors 54

WEST DIVISION

No. 3 Seed Clifton Park Kings 42, No. 1 Seed Albany JCC Rocks 21

SUNDAY, FEB. 28

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP 

Clifton Park Kings 52, St. Clement's Saints 43

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 16

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

PLAY IN GAMES

No. 1 seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) receives a bye

No. 2 seed (Clifton Park Big Purple) receives a bye

No. 3 seed (Troy CYO Thunder) receives a bye

No. 4 seed (Clifton Park Saints receives a bye

No. 5 seed (Averill Park Blue) receives a bye

No. 6 seed (East Greenbush) receives a bye

No. 7 seed (Clifton Park Hawks) receives a bye
No. 8 seed (Averill Park Gold) 36, No. 9 seed (Averill Park Purple) 27

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 17

QUARTER FINALS

No. 1 seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) 68, No. 8 seed (Averill Park Gold) 29

No. 2 seed (Clifton Park Big Purple) 59, No. 7 seed (Clifton Park Hawks) 37

No. 3 seed (Troy CYO Thunder) 59, No. 6 seed (East Greenbush) 45

No. 5 seed (Averill Park Blue) 60, No. 4 seed (Clifton Park Saints) 38  

 

SATURDAY, FEB. 23

SEMIFINALS

No. 1 seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) 58, No. 5 seed (Averill Park Blue) 44
No. 3 seed (Troy CYO Thunder) 62, No. 2 seed (Clifton Park Purple) 51

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 24

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHP GAME

No. 1 seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) 65, No. 3 seed (Troy CYO Thunder) 46

 

 

In two shorts weeks, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League post-season playoffs have gone from totally predictable to totally unpredictable.

How so?

First, two weeks ago, the league’s powers to be decided in the best interests of all and for fair competition, that the powerful Clifton Park Raiders were to be moved up into the Capital District 11-12 Senior League Playoffs.

Next, the remaining 13 teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League perked up their collective ears and closed out the regular season with a rush – a rush to finish at or near the top or as close as possible in both the East and West Divisions.

The old adage, “Finish Strong” was clearly evident.

The end result is a wide-open post-season playoff picture where it’s hard to count any team out.

AVERILL PARK DOWNTOWNS GOT THINGS GOING

The post-season playoffs actually started back on Sunday, Feb. 14, when the Averill Park Downtowns eliminated Averill Park Team Kyrie,  60-26, in the East Division’s play-in game.  The West Division will hold its play-in game on Saturday, Feb. 20, when No. 4-seeded Averill Park (Toomey) takes on No. 5-seeded St. Henry’s at Russell Sage College Robison Gym at 4:40 p.m.

The Averill Park Downtowns and the winner of the Averill Park (Toomey)/St. Henry’s contest advance to Sunday’s first-round of the playoffs where they will join six other teams. Games will be played at St. Gregory’s School in Loudonville and at Shen High School East in Clifton Park.   

PLAYOFFS WOULD HAVE BEEN NO CONTEST

Had the Clifton Park Raiders stayed in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League playoffs, you could have bet the mortgage on the powerful team to win it all and you wouldn’t have lost a second of sleep worrying about the outcome.

The CP Raiders were simply too fast, too strong and too deep for the rest of the teams in the league.  The club went 19-0 and easily won the East Division title with little resistance. The CP Raiders carved out an impressive five-game advantage over its next closest rivals in the East, the Clifton Park Knights and the St. Clement’s Saints who both posted nothing-to-be-ashamed-of 14-5 records but simply couldn’t match the Raiders.

 To give you an idea of how dominant the CP Raiders were during the regular season you simply have to look at the team’s margin of victory in its games. In every case the Raiders won by double digits with the closest contest coming in the last game of the regular season when the CP Knights fell to the Raiders, 54-41.

So, it is safe to say life is much easier for the rest of the league now that the Raiders are moving on. It is also much, much less predictable. In fact, it borders on slightly chaotic.

14-5 WAS A POPULAR RECORD FOR TEAMS

First off, the top two remaining teams in the East certainly have the qualifications to win it all with their 14-5 records. Looking a little farther down the line in the East Division standings you’ll find two more highly competitive teams in the third-place Albany JCC Raptors who went 10-9 during the regular season and the fourth-place Averill Park Downtowns who also went a respectable 10-9.

As for the first-round matchups, nothing seems a sure thing. St. Clement’s, which earned the No. 1 seed in the East, takes on the upset-minded and No. 4-seeded Averill Park Downtowns on Sunday at St. Gregory’s and the potent and No. 2-seeded Clifton Park Knights square off against the equally dangerous and No. 3-seeded Albany JCC Raptors at Shen High School East on Sunday night.

The West Division has two 14-5 teams of its own. LaSalle and the Albany JCC Rocks both matched each other record-wise and shared the West Division title. LaSalle was red-hot in the early going, won 10 straight and led for most of the regular season, only to have the Albany JCC Rocks come on strong in the second half and eventually the two teams settled into a tie for first-place honors.

Behind those two teams in the West are the not-to-be-counted-out Averill Park (Toomey) at 9-10 and the Clifton Park Kings who went 7-12. But even there, that statement assumes Averill Park (Toomey) will get by St. Henry’s in Saturday’s play-in game. Again, back to that central theme, with Averill Park (Toomey)’s somewhat inconsistent track record and a St. Henry’s team that comes in with a what-do-we-have-to-lose attitude having only won two games, you just never know.

Sunday’s first-round matchups will have the Albany JCC Rocks taking on the survivor of the Averill Park (Toomey)/St. Henry’s game at St. Gregory’s and No. 2-seeded LaSalle clashing with the No. 3-seeded Clifton Park Kings at Shen High School East.

Sunday’s East Division winners and West Division winners will all advance to their respective divisional championship games that will be played Saturday, Feb. 27. The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 28, at Shen High School East.

 

PLAYOFF POINTS TO PONDER – The Greenville Spartans and the East Greenbush Blue Devils were not eligible for the post-season playoffs, but both teams may take part in next weekend’s invitational tournament. Averill Park (Leonard) also declined to enter the post-season playoffs. ….. If past track records are any indication, the CP Knights/JCC Raptors and LaSalle/CP Kings games should be all-out battles to the finish. The CP Knights beat the JCC Raptors twice by a total of 5 points (53-49 and 50-49) and LaSalle beat the CP Kings twice by a total of 13 points (37-32 and 40-32). St. Clement’s beat the AP Downtowns in one close contest (55-51) and one not so close game (83-65). The Albany JCC Rocks seem ready for whoever wins the Averill Park (Toomey)/ St. Henry’s play-in game, having gone a combined 4-0 over those two teams. …. Forgetting about the Clifton Park Raiders for a moment, LaSalle had the league’s longest winning streak, running off 10 in a row to open the season. Other streaks of note, the Clifton Park Knights and the Albany JCC Raptors each won seven straight during the 2015-2016 campaign. The Albany JCC Rocks won their last six games and the Clifton Park Kings got things together down the stretch, winning four of their last six .

 

Troy CYO Thunder, rest of the field hope to pull off an upset or two and keep that from happening

The Schenectady Basketball Club and Clifton Park Big Purple, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League regular-season co-champions, will be out to prove they should meet in the championship game as the 2012-2013 post-season playoffs begin on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16-17.

The single-elimination tournament begins on Saturday, Feb. 16, when No. 8 seeded Averill Park Gold (4-12 and 4-14) clashes with No. 9 seeded Averill Park Purple (0-16 and 0-18) in a play-in game that will be played at Algonquin Middle School’s Old Gym in Averill Park at 12:30 p.m.

Once that contest is decided, the field of eight will be complete and the tournament will continue on Sunday, Feb. 17, with the league’s other seven teams joining the fray. Four games will take place on Sunday with the Schenectady Basketball Club and Clifton Park Big Purple looming as the best bets to reach the championship game unless one of the other six teams can pull off an upset as the tournament plays out.

SBC (15-1 in the league and 17-1 overall) is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will take on the winner of the play-in game between Averill Park Gold and Averill Park Purple on Sunday at Algonquin Middle School’s Old Gym in Averill Park at 5:00 p.m. CP Big Purple (also 15-1 in the league and 17-1 overall) is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will do battle with the No. 7 seed, the Clifton Park Hawks, in a game that will be played at Shen High School East on Sunday at 7:20 p.m. The CP Hawks, who lost twice to CP Big Purple during the regular season, come into the tournament with a 6-10 league record and an overall mark of 6-11.

The other two quarterfinal round games feature No. 3-seeded Troy CYO Thunder taking on No. 6-seeded East Greenbush on Sunday at Algonquin Middle School’s New Gym in Averill Park at 5:00 p.m. and the No. 4 and 5 seeds, the Clifton Park Saints and Averill Park Blue, respectively, going head to head Sunday at Shen High School East at 6:10 p.m.

Leaders of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League pack for most of the season

SBC and CP Big Purple were at the top of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League standings for virtually the entire season. SBC won its first 11 games to roar out of the gate in solid fashion. Included in that impressive run was an early-season 49-43 victory over CP Big Purple in the first of two regular-season meetings between the two teams that came on Dec. 17.

CP Big Purple also started out strong, winning its first three games, but came out on the short end of the previously mentioned Dec. 17 meeting with SBC. But ever since that loss, CP Big Purple has been putting up nothing else but wins on the scoreboard. And, its biggest victory came in the long-awaited rematch with SBC on Jan. 19. In that showdown meeting, SBC led throughout the second half, only to watch CP Big Purple steadily come back and rally in the last minute to come away with a heart-stopping 34-33 victory.

That outcome left the two teams tied for first place with three weeks remaining in the regular season. From then on, the two teams matched each other victory for victory and the two teams closed out the regular-season as co-champions at 15-1 in the league and 17-1 overall. SBC was awarded the No. 1 seed for the post-season tournament by virtue of the point differential in games played between the two teams.

SBC won its last five games in solid fashion. CP Big Purple also won its last five, but its impressive winning streak actually stretched all the way back to that Dec. 17 loss to SBC which meant CP Big Purple closed out the regular-season with an eye-popping 14-game winning streak.

Despite the impressive showing and winning streaks by SBC and CP Big Purple, there were some close calls and struggles at times in games against the league’s other teams.

CP Big Purple had close calls in games against the Clifton Park Saints (45-39), East Greenbush (55-54), the Troy CYO Thunder (38-37) and Averill Park Blue (50-41) during the regular season.

Similarly, SBC had to dig down and fend off upset-minded opponents on several occasions along the road to the post-season playoffs. In particular, SBC had two tough games with the Troy CYO Thunder, escaping with 51-50 and 46-35 victories.

Troy CYO Thunder tops list of upset-minded teams ready to take their best shot

All of that gives the rest of the post-season playoff field hope as the playoffs unfold. Certainly the Troy CYO Thunder has high hopes of reaching the finals and knocking off the league’s top two guns. In the four outings where the Troy CYO Thunder did battle with SBC and CP Big Purple, the Thunder actually led throughout much of the action before giving up the lead and succumbing at the end of the game.

But to have any hope of getting another shot at the league’s dynamic duo, the Thunder must get past upset-minded East Greenbush in its first playoff test on Sunday. The Thunder, 9-7 in league action and 11-7 overall, didn’t exactly overpower East Greenbush during the regular season on their way to a third-place finish in the league. East Greenbush hung tough in both games with the Troy CYO Thunder before losing 55-42 and 39-30. East Greenbush, which finished sixth in the league, comes into the game with a league mark of 7-9 and an overall record of 9-9.

The other quarterfinal round contest between the Clifton Park Saints and Averill Park Blue pits two very similar teams that had their ups and down throughout the season.  Averill Park Blue was 8-8 in the league and 9-9 overall. The CP Saints were also 8-8 in the league, but 8-10 overall.

The other intriguing aspect of this meeting that makes it so interesting is the fact that the CP Saints won both regular-season meetings with AP Blue in fairly impressive fashion, 55-36, and 48-38, and thus were awarded the No. 4 seed while AP Blue was seeded No. 5. The question is can the CP Saints overcome the age-old adage that it’s never easy to beat a team three times in one season and come up with a trifecta over AP Blue.

The CP Saints will have to do just that to survive or Averill Park Blue will advance to next weekend’s semifinals. Sunday’s four quarterfinal round winners who do survive will move on and do battle on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in Troy. The semifinals are scheduled to be played at 3:00 and 4:10 p.m., kicking off a slate of six senior league semifinal round games that also will include the Capital District 11-12 Senior NCAA Tournament semifinals as well as the Capital District 11-12 Senior NIT Tournament semifinals.

The two survivors of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League semifinal round match ups will meet and decide which team takes home the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship trophy on Sunday, Feb. 24, at Shen High School East at 5:10 p.m.

   

 

Big Man Saves The Day With A Nice Block!

 

SUNDAY, FEB. 28

(AT RUSSELL SAGE COLLEGE ROBISON GYM)

 

NIT DIVISION

(Advancement Format -- Winners play championship game; losers play consolation game)

 Game One -- Averill Park Downtowns 54, East Greenbush Blue Devils 51

Game Two -- Christ The King 43, Averill Park (Toomey) 35

Championship Game – Averill Park Downtowns 59, Christ The King 42

Consolation Game – Averill Park (Toomey) 62, East Greenbush Blue Devils 45

 

NCAA DIVISION

(Pool Play Format – Best record wins; tiebreakers if needed)

Game One – Clifton Park Knights 37, LaSalle 35

Game Two – Greenville Spartans 52, LaSalle 45

Game Three – Clifton Park Knights 50, Greenville Spartans 24

Clifton Park Knights win championship with 2-0 record

Beats Mater Christi in post-season playoff title game played at Guilderland YMCA

The Troy CYO Lightning proved that its undefeated South Division regular season was no fluke, rolling past three opponents in the playoffs to capture the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League post-season championship.

Troy CYO Lightning, which finished first in the South Division with a spotless 14-0 mark and was top-seeded for the playoffs, defeated Averill Park Gold in the semifinals, then beat Albany JCC in the South Division title game, before meeting North Division regular-season champion Mater Christi in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship game.

In the title game that was held Monday, Feb. 27, at the Guilderland YMCA, the Troy CYO Lightning never trailed. Mater Christi, which won the North Division title with a stellar 13-2 regular-season mark, proved tough in the early going, hanging right with the Troy CYO Lightning. At the half, Troy CYO held only a slim 28-25 advantage.

But in the second half, Troy CYO used its quickness and depth to wear Mater Christi down and slowly pull away. The winners enjoyed a double-digit lead from about the 10-minute mark on to the end of the game.

Tyrek Prince led the way for the winners with 18 points. Isaiah Thomas had 12 and Elijah Thomas chipped in with 11.

Nick Bruno scored 17 points to pace the Matre Christi attack. Carlos Holmberg tallied eight.

On the season, the Troy CYO Lightning finished up 17-0 against Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League opponents and 18-2 overall.

Mater Christi got to the championship game by beating North Division rival Averill Park Green in the semifinals, and then slipping past the Clifton Park Chaos in the divisional title game. For the season, Mater Christi was a solid 15-4 against Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League opponents and 15-5 overall.

Clifton Park Chaos, Albany JCC battled their way into divisional finals

Recapping other Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League playoff action, in first round action in the North Division, East Greenbush Orange held off the Clifton Park Storm, 64-58, and Averill Park Green surprised Stillwater, 56-45.

Those two victories sent EG Orange and AP Green into the semifinals. There, No. 1-seeded Mater Christi beat AP Green, 57-43, and No. 2 seeded Clifton Park Chaos out gunned EG Orange, 60-41.

In the North Division title game, Mater Christi and the CP Chaos battled on even terms throughout a spirited game. In the end, Mater Christi had enough to turn back the CP Chaos, 54-48.

Overall for the season, the Clifton Park Chaos and East Greenbush Orange ended up with winning records. The Chaos closed at 11-7 and EG Orange was 10-9. Stillwater, which struggled down the stretch with some injuries, was 9-10 on the year; Averill Park Green, which improved dramatically down the stretch, was 7-12, and the Clifton Park Red Storm, a team that always seemed to be knocking on the door in close games in the second half of the season, wound up 4-14.

In the South Division, Averill Park Gold won the play-in game, beating LaSalle, 51-40, before losing to the Troy CYO Lightning in the semifinals by a 61-41 score. In the other semifinal round game, Albany JCC pulled off a surprise, beating the No. 2 seed, East Greenbush Maroon, 51-46.

That pushed the Troy CYO Lightning and Albany JCC into the title game where the Troy CYO Lightning prevailed, 56-46.

Overall for the season, East Greenbush Maroon was a solid 12-6. Albany JCC, another team that dramatically improved in the second half of the season, finished up with eight wins against 12 losses. Final records aside, Averill Park Gold and LaSalle also improved in the second half of the season. AP Gold won a playoff game and LaSalle averted a winless season by chalking up an overtime victory in a non-league.

Both teams win in impressive fashion to clinch first place and top seed in upcoming post-season playoffs

The Troy CYO Lightning and Mater Christi, two teams that have been near, tied for, or in the lead in their respective divisions for virtually the entire season, both officially wrapped up first place after the most recent weekend of play in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League.

Both teams captured their divisional titles in impressive fashion by not only continuing to win, but be beating their closest rivals in the process.

The Troy CYO Lightning captured the South Division title by beating its closest rival, East Greenbush Maroon, and then Averill Park Gold over the weekend to stay perfect in league play at 14-0. Over in the North Division, Mater Christi defeated Averill Park Green and then squeezed past its nearest competitor, beating the Clifton Park Chaos by a point in a nail biter to capture first place honors and improve to 13-1 in league play.

By virtue of finishing first in their respective divisions, both the Troy CYO Lightning and Mater Christi will be seeded No. 1 for the upcoming playoffs and receive a first-round bye.

Troy CYO Lightning’s depth, athleticism too much for other teams to overcome

The Troy CYO Lightning rose to the top in the South Division using its athleticism and depth to stay unbeaten against all comers in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League. Troy CYO has a 14-2 overall record and shows only non-league losses to St. Helen’s Green in the Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament and the Clifton Park Tropics.

Troy CYO has another non-league meeting with the Clifton Park Tropics on Saturday at Russell Sage College Robison Gym which it will use as a tune up for the post-season playoffs.

East Greenbush Maroon has clinched second place and the No. 2 seed in the South Division. EG Maroon, a solid 10-3 in league play and 10-5 overall, has a league game with Averill Park Gold and a non-league game with Albany JCC left on its schedule. EG Maroon has been just one step below the league leaders as its three league losses have came at the hands of Troy CYO (twice) and North Division champion Mater Christi.

Albany JCC, 5-8 in league play and 6-10 overall, will finish in third place in the South Division. Albany JCC has been hot of late, winning three of its last six league games. One defeat in that impressive stretch was by just two points to the Troy CYO Lightning. JCC has a league game with LaSalle and a non-league game with EG Maroon left on its schedule.

Averill Park Gold and LaSalle are next in line in the South Division. AP Gold, 2-11 in league play and 2-14 overall, has a league game left with EG Maroon to play. LaSalle, 0-12 in league play and 1-14 overall, has two league games remaining against East Greenbush Orange and Albany JCC. LaSalle most recently posted its first win of the season when it defeated AP Gold in overtime in a non-league game.

Poised, balanced attack was key in championship season for Mater Christi

Mater Christi’s impressive season has been built on a balanced effort from players who have learned to keep their poise in close games. Mater Christi has won five games by seven or less points on the way to its 13-1 league mark and overall record of 13-2.

Mater Christi, which has a league game with Stillwater and a non-league tussle with the Clifton Park Chaos left in the regular-season, shows only a three-point league loss to Troy CYO Lightning and a three-point loss to St. Clare’s in the Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament. Mater Christi is riding an eight-game winning streak in league play.

The Clifton Park Chaos is currently second in the North Division but that could change if the team falters in its last league game (against the Clifton Park Storm) and East Greenbush Orange wins its two remaining league games. CP Chaos, 8-5 in league play and 8-6 overall, also has a non-league game with Mater Christi left on the schedule.

EG Orange has a busy last weekend of the season playing three games in four days. EG Orange, 7-6 in league play and 7-7 overall, has a league game on Thursday with LaSalle, another league game on Saturday with Averill Park Green, and then a non-league game with Stillwater on Sunday.

Stillwater is fourth in the standings at 6-8 (7-9 overall) and has a league game with Mater Christi and a non-league game with EG Orange to play.

Averill Park Green is next at 4-9 and 5-10. AP Green plays twice on the final weekend taking on EG Orange in a league game and the Clifton Park Red Storm in a non-league affair.

The Clifton Park Storm, 4-10 and 4-11, also has two games left, a league game with the Clifton Park Chaos and a non-league game with Averill Park Green.

POINTS TO PONDER – There are still a number of teams battling for position as far as the seedings go for the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League playoffs that open on Monday, Feb. 20. The hotly contested battle for positioning is all in the North Division where only one spot -- Mater Christi as the No. 1 seed -- is locked up. The Clifton Park Chaos and East Greenbush Orange are fighting over who finishes as the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. As for the remaining three spots, you might as well throw Stillwater, Averill Park Green and Clifton Park Red Storm in a hat and pull one out as just about any combination is possible for these teams to end up populating the No. 4 through No. 6 spots. …. In sharp contrast, the South Division is set. Averill Park Gold and LaSalle, the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, will meet in a play-in game on Thursday, Feb. 23, at Albany JCC. The winner earns the right to take on No.1 seed Troy CYO Lightning. No. 2 seed East Greenbush Maroon will draw Albany JCC, the No. 3 seed. Those two games, which are the South Division semifinals, will be played on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Russell Sage College Robison Gym. … The previously mentioned first-round playoffs in the North Division begin on Monday, Feb. 20, with one game at the Guilderland YMCA and on Thursday, Feb. 23, with a second game at Albany JCC. Those two games help set the stage for the North Division semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Russell Sage College Robison Gym. The North and South Division championship games will be played Sunday, Feb. 26, at Shen East, and the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League championship game will be hosted by the Guilderland YMCA on Monday, Feb. 27.

Clifton Park Red Storm, Averill Park Gold battle but come up short in Thursday night’s play-in games

Stillwater and Albany JCC picked up hard-earned victories as the Fourth Annual 9-10 Senior Showdown Tournament got under way Thursday night with two play-in games at Albany JCC.

Stillwater, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League No. 7 seed turned away a determined Clifton Park Red Storm team, the league’s No. 8 seed, 55-51. In the second game, Albany JCC, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League No. 9 seed, defeated Averill Park Gold, the league’s No. 10 seed, 45-34.

With the victory, both Stillwater and Albany JCC advanced to the main body of the Senior Showdown Tournament which will be held Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady.

Stillwater, now 6-6 on the season, advances and represents Albany/Troy as the No. 7 seed. Stillwater will square off against Schenectady 9-10 Senior League No. 7 seed, St. Paul’s (2-6 in the league and 2-8 overall), at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday at 9:45 a.m.

Albany JCC, now 5-7 overall, moves in the main body of the tournament as the Albany/Troy No 8 seed. Albany JCC will do battle with Schenectady 9-10 Senior League No. 8 seed IC Glenville at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. IG Glenville comes into that contest with an overall record of 1-8.

Stillwater and the Clifton Park Red Storm battled on even terms throughout most of their play-in game on Thursday at Albany JCC. In fact the Clifton Park Red Storm stormed out of the gate quickly and held an early lead in the game before Stillwater regrouped and carved out a 25-21 halftime lead.

In the second half, there was a tournament atmosphere evident as both teams traded baskets and took runs at each other. The game was in doubt right until the end when some late foul shots iced the contest for Stillwater.

Albany JCC took control of things early on in its meeting with Averill Park Gold as it ran out to a 27-12 halftime lead. In the second half, AP Gold mounted a late rally to get to within single digits, but in the end, Albany JCC had too many answers for AP Gold to overcome.

There is one more Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League play-in game on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Troy Boys Club in Troy at 10:30 a.m. when Averill Park Green and LaSalle square off. The winner earns the right to advance into the main body of the tournament for a game against Schenectady No 9 seed St. Helen’s Gold at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday at 2:45 p.m.

The Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament will feature eight other games on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons.

FOURTH ANNUAL SENIOR SHOWDOWN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, Feb. 2
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
Play-In Games
Albany/Troy No. 7 (Stillwater) 55, Albany/Troy No. 8 (Clifton Park Storm) 51
Albany/Troy No. 9 (Albany JCC) 45, Albany/Troy No. 10 (Averill Park Gold) 34
Saturday, Feb. 4
Albany/Troy No. 11 (Averill Park Green) vs. Albany/Troy No. 12 (LaSalle) at Troy Boys Club, 10:30 a.m. (winner advances as Albany/Troy No. 9 and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons at 2:45 p.m.)

Saturday, Feb. 4
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
No. 6 Schenectady (Guilderland) vs. No. 6 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Orange) at Bishop Gibbons, 8:30 a.m.

No. 7 Schenectady (St. Paul’s) vs. No. 7 Albany/Troy (Stillwater) at Bishop Gibbons, 9:45 a.m.

No. 5 Schenectady (Our Lady Queen of Peace) vs. No. 5 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Chaos) at Bishop Gibbons, 11:00 a.m.

No. 4 Schenectady (St. Gabriel’s) vs. No. 4 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Maroon) at Bishop Gibbons, 12:15 p.m.

No. 3 Schenectady (St. Clare’s) vs. No. 3 Albany/Troy (Mater Christi) at Bishop Gibbons, 1:30 p.m.

No. 9 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Gold) vs. No. 9 Albany/Troy (Averill Park Green/LaSalle winner) at Bishop Gibbons, 2:45 p.m.

No. 1 Schenectady (St. John’s) vs. No. 1 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Tropics) at Bishop Gibbons, 4:00 p.m.

No. 2 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Green) vs. No. 2 Albany/Troy (Troy CYO Lightning) at Bishop Gibbons, 5:15 p.m.

No. 8 Schenectady (IC Glenville) vs. No. 8 Albany/Troy (Albany JCC) at Bishop Gibbons, 6:30 p.m.

Senior League Basketball provides good, healthy competition for area teams. Here, a Troy CYO Center 9-10 Senior League team goes on the attack during a game in the 2009-2010 season against St. Gabriel's #1 of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League. The Troy CYO Center defeated St. Gabriel's #1, 44-33. For the upcoming 2015-2016 Senior League season, more than 40 teams will take part in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League and the Capital District 11-12 Senior League.

ALBANY JCC, TROY BOYS CLUB, BISHOP GIBBONS HOST EVENT THAT PITS ALBANY/TROY AGAINST SCHENECTADY IN SEEDED MATCHUPS

The annual Senior Showdown basketball tournament that pits the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League against the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League is, in a way, a lot like the NCAA Men’s Basketball March Madness Tournament. You seed the teams, you bring them together and put them on the basketball court in first-class facilities, and then you wait for the unexpected to happen.

Much like the NCAA tournament, form holds true in most cases as favorites win and surprising upsets occur in other cases when hungry underdogs rise up and take home a hard-fought victory in the Senior Showdown. In both the NCAA tournament and the annual Senior Showdown, no doubt, bragging rights are on the line.

This year’s Fourth Annual Senior Showdown is hosted by three facilities. Albany JCC is the site for two Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League play-in games on Thursday, Feb. 2. On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Troy Boys Club hosts a third Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League play-in game. Meanwhile on Saturday, Feb. 4, Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady will host the main body of the tournament starting at 8:30 a.m. and running until 6:30 p.m. There will be nine games played at Bishop Gibbons and when the dust finally settles, the outcome of the No. 1 through No. 9 seeded games will determine which league goes home with bragging rights as the best senior basketball league in the area, at least for the 2011-12 campaign.

Top six teams from each league already looking each other squarely in the eye

The three play-in games were necessitated because the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League has 12 teams while the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League has nine. Thus, the first six seeded teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League automatically advance to take on the top six seeded teams from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons.

The No. 7 seed through No. 12 seed teams from the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League must play their way into the main part of the tournament to take on the No. 7 seed through No. 9 seed from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League.

On Thursday, Feb. 2, No. 7 seed Stillwater (5-6 and in third place in the North Division) takes on No. 8 seed Clifton Park Storm (4-7 and in fifth place in the North Division) in the first of two Albany/Troy 9-10 play-in games at Albany JCC at 7:15 p.m. The winner of the Stillwater/CP Storm game advances as Albany/Troy No. 7 seed and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons against Schenectady No. 7 seed St. Paul’s (2-6, in sixth place in the league and 2-8 overall) at 9:45 a.m.

In the second game on Thursday at Albany JCC, No. 9 Albany JCC (4-6, in third place in the South Division and 4-7 overall) meets No. 10 Averill Park Gold (1-9, in fifth place in the South Division and 1-10 overall) at 8:30 p.m. The winner of that game advances as Albany/Troy No. 8 seed and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons at 6:30 p.m. against Schenectady No. 8 seed IC Glenville (1-7, in seventh place in the league and 1-8 overall).

In the third Albany/Troy play-in game on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Troy Boys Club, No. 11 seed Averill Park Green (3-7 and in last place in the North Division) meets No. 12 seed LaSalle (0-10, in last place in the South Division and 0-11 overall). The winner of that game gets a couple of hours to regroup and then takes on Schenectady No. 9 seed St. Helen’s Gold (0-7, in last place in the league and 0-8 overall) at Bishop Gibbons on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2:45 p.m.

The remaining six seeded games that will be played on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons will feature some interesting matchups that will help settle the issue as to which league goes home with bragging rights.

Guilderland, East Greenbush Orange kicks off full day of action

In the first game of the day, parents and fans can enjoy a morning cup of coffee and then be entertained by a battle of No. 6 seeds as East Greenbush Orange takes on Guilderland at 8:30 a.m. EG Orange is 4-6 and in fourth place in the North Division of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League. Guilderland, which is the only Schenectady team to have beaten first-place St. Helen’s Green in league play, comes into the game with a 4-5 league record and 4-6 mark overall.

In an 11:00 a.m. scheduled contest, Albany/Troy No. 5 seed Clifton Park Chaos meets up with Schenectady No. 5 seed Our Lady Queen of Peace. The Chaos is 7-3 and in third place in the North Division while OLQP is in fourth place in Schenectady at 6-4 (6-5 overall).

Next up at 12:15 p.m. is a meeting between No. 4 seeds. East Greenbush Maroon represents Albany/Troy and sports an 8-2 league mark (second place in the South Division) and 8-3 mark overall. St. Gabriel’s carries the flag for Schenectady. St. Gabriel’s plays as an independent in the Schenectady League and has a solid overall record of 9-3.

Top three guns in each league are primed for action

In the next three matchups, things get down to the nitty gritty as they say. Each league’s top three teams will square off in what should be entertaining games. Since the seedings were made approximately two weeks, the top three teams in both Albany/Troy and Schenectady have battled each other and the first, second and third seeds, it seems, could have changed after almost every game and you could probably make a case that any of the three teams could be the No. 1 seed from their respective leagues.

In any event, Albany/Troy No. 3 seed Mater Christi will do battle with Schenectady No. 3 St. Clare’s at 1:30 p.m. at Bishop Gibbons. Mater Christi has been on a tear of late and leads the North Division with a 10-1 mark. Mater Christi shows only a defeat at the hands of undefeated and South Division leader Troy CYO Lightning. St. Clare’s, 7-2 and 8-3 overall, is in second place in the Schenectady league and shows only losses to St. Helen’s, St. John’s and St. Gabriel’s.

In a battle of No. 2 seeds, previously mentioned Albany/Troy South Division leader Troy CYO Lightning goes up against Schenectady No. 2 seed St. Helen’s Green at 5:15 p.m. Troy CYO has only lost to the Clifton Park Tropics in a non-league contest and sports a sparkling 11-0 league mark and an 11-1 overall record. St. Helen’s has risen up and taken over first place in the Schenectady league since the pairings were made and can easily make a case that it should have been top seeded in the tournament. St. Helen’s suffered an early-season loss on the opening day of the season, bowing to Guilderland, but has since ripped off nine wins in its last 10 games in impressive fashion. St. Helen’s is 8-1 in league play and 9-2 overall.

And in the battle of No. 1 seeds, the powerful Clifton Park Tropics will meet St. John’s at 4:30 p.m. The Clifton Park Tropics are unbeaten in Albany/Troy 9-10 play and play in the league as an independent. St. John’s was in first place in the Schenectady league standings when the pairings were made. Since then, St. John’s has suffered a tough three-point loss to first-place St. Helen’s Green and split its two meetings with second-place St. Clare’s. St. John’s now sports a 7-3 league mark and an 8-4 overall record.

TOURNEY TIDBITS – In last year’s event, the Third Annual Senior Showdown that was held at Mont Pleasant Middle School, the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League had the clear edge over Schenectady, winning eight of the nine meetings between the two leagues. The tournament was highlighted by a fierce battle of No. 1 seeds between St. Paul’s and Clifton Park Orange that was won by CP Orange. … Bishop Gibbons hosted the Second Annual Senior Showdown during the 2009-10 season. That event had the most games of any Senior Showdown as the two leagues squared off in head-to-head matchups and then the winners played in an advancement tournament to crown an overall champion. Albany/Troy won eight of 10 head-to-head matchups between the two leagues. Clifton Park White beat the Schenectady Basketball Club in a battle of No. 1 seeds, and then in the advancement part of the tournament, CP White slipped past the Troy CYO Lightning to take home the overall trophy. … Back in 2008-09, Schenectady had the upper hand winning the majority of the meetings between the two leagues in the first ever Senior Showdown that was hosted by the Schenectady Basketball Club at Mont Pleasant Middle School. The highlight of that season’s event was a showdown meeting between the Troy CYO Lightning and St. Gabriel’s No. 1. That classic battle was won by Troy CYO which eventually finished the 2008-09 senior campaign with an undefeated record. … This year, at each of the tournament’s three venues, there will be an admission charge to help cover the cost of hosting the tournament. At Bishop Gibbons, a full concession stand will offer snacks and drinks at affordable prices as the school is using the event as a fundraiser.

FOURTH ANNUAL SENIOR SHOWDOWN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, Feb. 2
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
Play-In Games
Albany/Troy No. 7 (Stillwater) 55, Albany/Troy No. 8 (Clifton Park Storm) 51
Albany/Troy No. 9 (Albany JCC) 45, Albany/Troy No. 10 (Averill Park Gold) 34
Saturday, Feb. 4
Albany/Troy No. 11 (Averill Park Green) vs. Albany/Troy No. 12 (LaSalle) at Troy Boys Club, 10:30 a.m. (winner advances as Albany/Troy No. 9 and plays Saturday, Feb. 4, at Bishop Gibbons at 2:45 p.m.)

Saturday, Feb. 4
Fourth Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
No. 6 Schenectady (Guilderland) vs. No. 6 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Orange) at Bishop Gibbons, 8:30 a.m.

No. 7 Schenectady (St. Paul’s) vs. No. 7 Albany/Troy (Stillwater) at Bishop Gibbons, 9:45 a.m.

No. 5 Schenectady (Our Lady Queen of Peace) vs. No. 5 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Chaos) at Bishop Gibbons, 11:00 a.m.

No. 4 Schenectady (St. Gabriel’s) vs. No. 4 Albany/Troy (East Greenbush Maroon) at Bishop Gibbons, 12:15 p.m.

No. 3 Schenectady (St. Clare’s) vs. No. 3 Albany/Troy (Mater Christi) at Bishop Gibbons, 1:30 p.m.

No. 9 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Gold) vs. No. 9 Albany/Troy (Averill Park Green/LaSalle winner) at Bishop Gibbons, 2:45 p.m.

No. 1 Schenectady (St. John’s) vs. No. 1 Albany/Troy (Clifton Park Tropics) at Bishop Gibbons, 4:00 p.m.

No. 2 Schenectady (St. Helen’s Green) vs. No. 2 Albany/Troy (Troy CYO Lightning) at Bishop Gibbons, 5:15 p.m.

No. 8 Schenectady (IC Glenville) vs. No. 8 Albany/Troy (Albany JCC) at Bishop Gibbons, 6:30 p.m.

NORTH DIVISION
Teams……………………………… W……L…. Pct.
Averill Park Green…..…….………….0…….0……000
Clifton Park Red Storm…..…………..0…….0……000
Clifton Park Chaos………..….………0…….0……000
East Greenbush Orange………....……0…….0……000
Mater Christi…………………….....…0...…0……..000
Stillwater Rebels………………...……0……0…….000

SOUTH DIVISION
Teams……………………………… W……L…. Pct.
Albany JCC…….……………………0……0……000
Averill Park Gold…..……….…….…0…….0…….000
Clifton Park Tropics ………..……… 0…….0...….000
East Greenbush Maroon…………..…0…….0……000
LaSalle………….……………………0…….0……000
Troy CYO Lightning ……….……….0……..0...….000

Thursday, Dec. 8
East Greenbush Maroon vs. Albany JCC, at Albany JCC, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 10
Troy CYO Lightning vs. LaSalle at LaSalle, 12:45 p.m.
East Greenbush Orange vs. Mater Christi at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 4:10 p.m.
Clifton Park Red Storm vs. Stillwater Rebels at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 5:20 p.m.
Clifton Park Chaos vs. Averill Park Green at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 6:30 p.m.
Clifton Park Tropics vs. Averill Park Gold at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 7:40 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 11
Troy CYO Lightning vs. Averill Park Gold, at Albany JCC, 2:15 p.m.
Clifton Park Tropics vs. Albany JCC at Albany JCC, 3:30 p.m.
Clifton Park Chaos vs. Mater Christi at Shen High School East, 5:00 p.m.
Clifton Park Red Storm vs. Averill Park Green at Algonquin Middle School, 6:15 p.m.
East Greenbush Orange vs. Stillwater Rebels at Stillwater Community Center, 7:40 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 12
East Greenbush Maroon vs. LaSalle at Guilderland YMCA, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 17
Clifton Park Chaos vs. Stillwater Rebels at Spa Catholic High School. 6:00 p.m.
Troy CYO Lightning vs. East Greenbush Maroon at Russell Sage College Robison Sage, 5:20 p.m.
Clifton Park Tropics vs. LaSalle at Russell Sage College Robison Sage, 6:30 p.m.
Averill Park Green vs. Mater Christi, site to be announced.
Clifton Park Red Storm vs. East Greenbush Orange, site to be announced.

Sunday, Dec. 18
Clifton Park Tropics vs. East Greenbush Maroon at Shen High School East, 5:00 p.m.
Clifton Park Chaos vs. East Greenbush Orange at Shen High School, 7:30 p.m.
Clifton Park Red Storm vs. Mater Christi at Mater Christi, 5:15 p.m.
Averill Park Green vs. Stillwater Rebels at Stillwater Community Center, 7:30 p.m.
Troy CYO Lightning vs. Albany JCC at Albany JCC, 3:30 p.m.
Averill Park Gold vs. LaSalle at Algonquin, 6:15 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 19
Averill Park Gold vs. Albany JCC at Guilderland YMCA, 7:00 p.m.

Area Senior Leagues looking to expand, build off of 2010-2011 season that saw 31 teams take part

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and the Capital District 11-12 Senior League provide players who have graduated from CYO programs or any other Capital District Region youth basketball league but are not participating with their respective high school teams an opportunity to continue their hoop careers in a healthy, competitive atmosphere.

During the 2010-2011 season there were 10 teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, nine teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and 12 teams in the Capital District 11-12 Senior League.

The majority of games in the league are played on weekends on some of the very same gym floors that high school freshmen, JV and varsity teams compete on. League entry fees are determined by the number of teams in each league and the number of games that are scheduled.

Last year, St. Paul’s of Schenectady put together a perfect 19-0 season to win the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League regular season title. St. Paul’s also was crowned the league’s post-season champion, beating St. Helen’s of Niskayuna in the championship game that was played at Shen High School East.

Other teams that took part in that league during the 2010-2011 campaign were two teams from St. Gabriel’s of Rotterdam, two teams from St. Clare’s in Colonie, IC Glenville of Scotia, Guilderland and Our Lady Queen of Peace of Rotterdam.
Over in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, the regular-season title was won by Clifton Park Orange which put together a solid 15-3 record. Clifton Park Orange also won the post-season tournament in the Upper Division playoffs, beating out Troy CYO, the Schenectady Basketball Club and Clifton Park Black.

The rest of the league was broken up into two divisions for the post-season play. Albany JCC took home top honors in the Independent Division, beating out St. Catherine’s #2 and Christ The King of Guilderland. In the Lower Division playoffs, St. Catherine’s #1 won out over East Greenbush and Averill Park.

In the Capital District 11-12 Senior Basketball League, Clifton Park #1 and Clifton Park #2 finished first in the North and South Divisions, respectively, during the regular season. But both fell by the way side during the playoffs as Troy CYO #1 prevailed to take home the post-season tournament trophy.

Other teams that took part in the Capital District 11-12 Senior League were Albany JCC, St. John ‘s Valatie, Troy CYO #2, St, Mary’s of Ballston Spa, the Schenectady Basketball Club, The Clifton Park YMCA, St. Paul’s of Schenectady and East Greenbush #1 and East Greenbush #2.

Leagues for the 2011-2012 season will officially form as soon as possible after high school basketball tryouts have concluded in early November. The Senior League season begins in early December and ends in February. The season includes a mid-season tournament and playoffs.

Interested teams or perspective coaches should email Fuzzyjim111@aol.com or contact Senior League Commissioner Jim Fazzone at 281-0809 for more information about joining a Senior League. Informational meetings will be held at the Troy CYO Center and at St. Gabriel’s in Rotterdam in early November. Anyone interested in any of the leagues can also visit the following league web sites:
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=albtroy
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=schenectady
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=cap

Averill Park, Christ The King now face must-win situations on Thursday night if they are to stay alive

East Greenbush and Albany JCC came out on the winning side in the first action in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League Lower Division and Independent Division post-season tournaments.

East Greenbush turned back Averill Park, 56-41, in a Lower Division tournament game that was played at Albany JCC on Sunday, Feb. 20. The win left East Greenbush at 1-0 in the tournament and in prime position to claim the tournament trophy if it can get past St. Catherine’s #1 on Sunday, Feb. 27.

Averill Park is now 0-1 in the round-robin tournament and faces a must-win situation on Thursday, Feb. 24, when it plays its second game of the event. Averill Park must beat St. Catherine’s #1 in that game and then hope St. Catherine’s #1 can knock off East Greenbush on Sunday. That would mean all three teams would end up 1-1 in the three-day event and it would force the teams to go to a tiebreaker formula to decide who gets the tournament trophy.

Albany JCC has surprisingly easy time of it in beating Christ The King

Over in the Independent Division, Albany JCC rolled to a surprisingly easy 79-60 win over Christ The King in the first game of that three-day event that was also played Sunday, Feb. 20, at Albany JCC.

The win by Albany JCC means that the team needs only to beat St. Catherine’s #2 on Sunday, Feb. 27, to win the event.

Christ The King, much like Averill Park in the Lower Division, faces a must-win situation on Thursday, Feb. 24, when it takes to the court to face St. Catherine’s #2. Christ The King must not only win that game, but have St. Catherine’s #2 defeat Albany JCC on Sunday, Feb. 27, to leave all three teams at 1-1. Then, Christ The King must hope it comes out on the winning side when it comes to the tiebreakers.

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

LOWER DIVISION
Teams: Averill Park; East Greenbush; St. Catherine’s #1

INDEPENDENT DIVISION
Teams: Albany JCC; Christ The King; St. Catherine’s #2

Format is round robin; tiebreakers if necessary for both divisions

SUNDAY, FEB. 20
Lower Division: East Greenbush 56, Averill Park 41
Independent Division: Albany JCC 79, Christ The King 60

THURSDAY, FEB. 24
Lower Division: St. Catherine’s #1 vs. Averill Park, 7:30 p.m.
Independent Division: St. Catherine’s #2 vs. Christ The King, 8:45 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEB. 27
Lower Division: St. Catherine’s #1 vs. East Greenbush, 2:45 p.m.
Independent Division: St. Catherine’s #2 vs. Albany JCC, 4:00 p.m.

Albany JCC, St. Catherine’s #1 prevail in Independent, Lower Division title contests

Clifton Park Orange, proving that all the close wins it collected during its run to a first-place finish in the regular-season weren’t just luck but the mark of a championship team, defeated Troy CYO, 56-40, Sunday, Feb. 27, to capture the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League post-season title.

The victory came in the second of three Senior Championship Sunday contests that were played at Shen High School East. Earlier in the evening, St. Paul’s defeated IC Glenville to win the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League post-season title. Also on Senior Championship Sunday, Troy CYO #1 slipped past Clifton Park #1 to capture the Capital District 11-12 Senior Basketball League championship.

Elsewhere Sunday in Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoff action, Albany JCC defeated St. Catherine’s #2, 71-58, to win the Independent Division title and St. Catherine’s #1 turned away East Greenbush, 49-31, to take home the Lower Division trophy. Both of those playoff series were hosted by Albany JCC.

Strong second half propels Clifton Park Orange past Troy CYO

In the Albany/Troy 9-10 title game, Clifton Park Orange needed a strong second-half surge to put away Troy CYO. Troy CYO, which lost two regular-season games to Clifton Park Orange by a combined three points, was as determined as ever to come out victorious this time around. Troy CYO and CP Orange locked heads in the first half, trading baskets and good defensive plays for the first 16 minutes of the game and Clifton Park only held a slim, 23-21, lead at halftime.

But the second half was all Clifton Park Orange. The winners appeared determined not to let this game get close down the stretch as the previous two meetings with Troy CYO, as well as a number of other regular-season league games, had. CP Orange left nothing to chance as the team rolled on offense, outscoring Troy CYO, 33-19, in the second half.

Matt Konarski led the way for Clifton Park Orange with 13 points but the big story was the overall game played by D.J. Edick. Edick collected 10 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in the win. Michael Bucca, Luke Buckley and Ethan Holland also had solid games for the winners.

Tyreck Prince was the leading scorer for Troy CYO with 14 points. Savial Pintro chipped in with eight points.

Troy CYO got to Sunday’s championship game by roaring from behind and beating Clifton Park Black, 48-45, in the semifinals that were held Saturday at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in Troy. Clifton Park Black had a double-digit lead in the first half, but saw that evaporate late in the second half.

Justice Walston pumped in 17 points and Pintro collected 10 in the win for Troy CYO, which finished the season 12-8 in Albany/Troy 9-10 league play and 13-8 overall.

Clifton Park Black ended up 10-9 in league play and 11-9 overall.

Clifton Park Orange, which also won the regular-season title by finishing first in the 10-team league, got a free pass to Sunday’s title game when the Schenectady Basketball Club was forced to forfeit its semifinal round game. With Sunday’s championship win, Clifton Park Orange ended up 16-3 in league play and 17-3 overall.

Big guns were right on target for Albany JCC in title game

In the Independent Division, Albany JCC simply had too many big guns that were firing away for St. Catherine’s #2 to handle in Sunday’s championship game at Albany JCC.

Albany JCC had three players score more than 20 points in the win. Mark Morelli and Paris Williams led the way with 22 each and Justin Holmberg had 20 points of his own.

Fratanni had 15 and O’Sullivan collected 10 for St. Catherine’s #2.

Albany JCC and St. Catherine’s #2 both defeated Christ The King in the three-team round-robin tournament to set up Sunday’s winner-take-all contest. The twin wins by Albany JCC gave the team at 15-5 mark for the season in league play and an overall record of 16-5. With the split, St. Catherine’s #2 ended up 14-6 in league play and 15-6 overall.

Christ The King concluded the season 12-8 In league play and 13-8 overall.

St. Catherine’s #1 proves to be too strong for East Greenbush

In the Lower Division championship game, St. Catherine’s #1 proved to be too tough for East Greenbush to handle as the winners wore down EG with a strong second half.
St. Catherine’s #1 and East Greenbush both defeated Averill Park to reach Sunday’s winner-take-all title game.
St. Catherine’s #1 concluded the season with a 6-14 record in league play. Overall the team was 7-14.
East Greenbush was led by Kevin Brocks and Nico Montello who scored nine and six points, respectively. East Greenbush finished the season 3-17 in league play and 4-18 overall.
POINTS TO PONDER -- Clifton Park Orange will be joined by four other Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League Basketball teams in the first ever Senior Showdown 2: King of the Mountain Tournament that will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 5-6, at St. Gregory’s and Albany JCC. Troy CYO, St. Catherine’s #2, Christ The King and Clifton Park Black are all also entered. … The tournament has all kinds of possibilities for bragging rights. Troy CYO and Clifton Park Black would both like another shot at CP Orange. St. Catherine’s #2 and Christ The King, which both played in the Independent Division tournament, would like nothing better than to prove they are every bit as good as CP Orange. … St. Paul’s and Our Lady Queen of Peace, from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, round out the tournament field. St. Paul’s is looking to get revenge for its two-point loss to CP Orange it suffered in the Third Annual Senior Showdown Tournament that was held in early January. OLQP, a rugged middle-of- the- pack team in the Schenectady League that got better and better late in the season, just wants a shot at anybody to prove its worth. OLQP lost big time to Albany JCC in the early-January Senior Showdown and just wants a piece of any Albany/Troy 9-10 team. Of course, OLQP also wants another shot at St. Paul’s, the team that eliminated it from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League post-season tournament.

SBC, Troy CYO and Clifton Park Black ready to give it their best shot at beating the No. 1 seed

Clifton Park Orange and Troy CYO, Clifton Park Black and the Schenectady Basketball Club -- four teams that finished seemingly light years apart in the regular-season standings, but when it comes to this weekend’s Albany/Tory 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs, you might as well throw all four names in a hat and pull one out rather than try to predict who will win the championship.

There is no one all-mighty powerful team. There is no clear-cut favorite.

What you have is four pretty good teams, and on any given day, any one of them can beat the other.

Of course you have to give Clifton Park Orange its just due. The club won the regular-season championship, posting an impressive 15-3 record, and goes into the post-season tournament as the No. 1 seed. But is the team a heavy favorite to win the while ball of wax?

Indeed, Clifton Park Orange might be a slight favorite, but certainly not an overwhelming one.

No. 2 seed Troy CYO as well as Clifton Park Black and the Schenectady Basketball Club have all been more than just competitive when it came to playing Clifton Park Orange as well as each other during the regular season.

Record-wise, all three fell well off the pace when it came to challenging Clifton Park Orange for first-place honors.

Troy CYO went 11-7 and finished in fifth place in the standings. Clifton Park Black and the Schenectady Basketball Club were even further behind, finishing in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Clifton Park Black defeated the Schenectady Basketball Club, 66-43, on the final day of the regular season to end up 10-8 and gain the No. 3 seed in the tournament. SBC was a notch lower, finishing 9-9 with that loss while ending up as the No. 4 seed.

But the regular-season records of Troy CYO, CP Black and SBC are deceptive as many of those teams’ losses came in games against the second- through fourth-place teams, Albany JCC, St. Catherine’s #2, and Christ The King, which are playing in their own separate post-season event. At the same time, Troy CYO, CP Black and SBC were all giving CP Orange fits during the regular season, and in the case of CP Black, even beating the league’s regular-season champion on one occasion. Other wins over Troy CYO, CP Black and SBC, were of the nail-biting variety.

Yes, Clifton Park Orange wasn’t losing as many times in its games against Albany JCC, St. Catherine’s #2, and Christ The King, but those victories, much like its meetings with Troy CYO, CP Black and SBC, were on most occasions not of the overwhelming type.

All of this is reason to believe that the post-season playoffs that open up on Saturday, Feb. 26, can only be viewed as anybody’s guess as to which team is going to claim the championship trophy.

CP Orange will put everything on the line on Saturday when it takes on the Schenectady Basketball Club at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in Troy at 11:30 a.m. The other first-round game will see No. 2 seed Troy CYO square off with No. 3 seed Clifton Park Black. That game also will be played at Russell Sage College Robison Gym on Saturday at 9:10 a.m.

The survivors will advance to play for the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League championship on Sunday, Feb. 27, at Shen High School East at 7:30 p.m. The losers will play in a consolation game on Sunday at Shen High School East at 6:15 p.m.

Clifton Park Orange has amassed an impressive regular-season resume

Clifton Park Orange goes into its first-round game with its impressive resume of 15 wins against only three losses, although many of the victorious games were not for the faint of heart. CP Orange won five games by three or less points. Another regular-season game was won by just six points and another character-building victory came in the Third Annual Senior Showdown where CP Orange roared from behind to beat St. Paul’s, the best team from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, by just two points.

Many of those close victories came in games against the very teams that CP Orange has to beat to win the Albany/Tory 9-10 Senior Basketball League post-season playoffs.

Saturday’s opponent, the Schenectady Basketball Club, suffered two tough losses to Clifton Park Orange during the 2010-2011 campaign. CP Orange opened the season with a six-point win, 57-51, over SBC. Later in the season, CP Orange got by SBC by just three points, 49-46.

Should CP Orange beat the Schenectady Basketball Club for a third time, things won’t get any easier in the championship game.

Should Troy CYO advance past Clifton Park Black, it would go into the title game knowing it had lost twice to CP Orange, but only by one-point, 60-59, early in the season, and by two points – a basket with only two seconds left on the clock -- the second time around in mid-February.

And, if CP Black should subdue Troy CYO and instead earn the right to play for the title against CP Orange, CP Orange will be facing one of only three teams it lost to during the season. CP Black beat CP Orange, 49-45, back in mid-December. The second time the two teams met, CP Black almost went home victorious again, losing by only three points, 58-55.

So it should be interesting to say the least and only by playing these playoff games will we find out who is the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League champion.

POINTS TO PONDER -- Clifton Park Orange can make a case that with all this talk of close games , many that it has come out on the winning side, that it is battle-tested and battle-ready. CP Orange can also point to the fact that its three losses were all very close affairs. CP Orange lost early to CP Black, 49-45, then ran off seven straight victories before bowing to St. Catherine’s #2. CP Orange than reeled off four more wins before getting beat by Christ The King, 64-60. The club finished the season with a modest two-game winning streak. …. SBC has been a work in progress all season long. The young club started out only 2-4 but then won six of its next eight to get it established in the league. Along the way were those two close losses (six points and three points) to CP Orange, a split with Troy CYO (a four-point loss and a three-point win) and a split with CP Black. … As for the other first-round matchup, Troy CYO and Clifton Park Black split their two meetings during the regular-season. Troy CYO started out like a house on fire, winning five straight games including a thrilling 54-53 decision over Clifton Park Black in late December. The club then lost three of its next four before going on another three-game winning streak. That streak abruptly ended when the team dropped its next three games. Included in that losing streak was a 49-41 defeat it suffered at the hands of CP Black. Troy CYO finished up the campaign winning two or its last three. … Clifton Park Black, on the other hand, has been just the opposite of Clifton Park Orange, losing a number of close ones instead of winning them. To give you an idea, CP Black lost seven games by six or less points during the regular season including two heart-breaking one-point defeats and two equally tough to take three-point losses. Turn those close losses into wins and CP Black might very well have challenged CP Orange for first-place in the standings.

Independent Division and Lower Division open play at Albany JCC

With just one play date and only two league games remaining, anticipation is running high as the start of the 2010-2011 Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League playoffs draws closer.

This year, because of the varied mix of teams and to provide a hopefully balanced field of competition as far as age, rules and eligibility is concerned, the playoffs have been divided into three divisions.

Clifton Park Black, Clifton Park Orange, the Schenectady Basketball Club and Troy CYO will take part in the traditional Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs in a seeded tournament that is based on their regular-season records.

That set of playoff games is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Feb. 26, with two games at Russell Sage College Robison Gym in downtown Troy. The losers and winners will advance to Sunday’s consolation and championship games, which are scheduled to be played at Shen High School East.

Saturday’s games at Russell Sage will feature the No. 1 seed and regular-season champion Clifton Park Orange taking on the No. 4 seed Schenectady Basketball Club at 11:30 a.m., and the No. 2 seed Troy CYO taking on the No. 3 seed Clifton Park Black at 9:10 a.m.

Sunday’s consolation and championship games at Shen High School East are scheduled for 6:15 and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

Independent Division features balanced field of three teams

Albany JCC, St. Catherine’s #2 and Christ The King, three teams that finished right behind Clifton Park Orange in the standings, will battle each other in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League Independent Division playoffs. The three teams will play a round-robin format where each team plays two games against the other two teams. Tiebreakers will be used, if necessary, to determine the overall division champion.

That three-day series begins on Sunday, Feb. 20, when Christ The King takes on Albany JCC at Albany JCC at 4:00 p.m. Game two in the Independent Division playoffs takes place on Thursday, Feb. 24, when Christ The King returns to battle St. Catherine’s #2 at Albany JCC at 8:45 p.m. The third and final game in the series will take place on Sunday, Feb. 27, when Albany JCC squares off against St. Catherine’s #2 at Albany JCC at 4:00 p.m.

If at any point in the three-day event a team has won two games, they will be crowned the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League Independent Division champions. If all three teams finish at 1-1 in the playoffs, tiebreakers will be used to determine the champion. The tiebreakers are head-to-head, points allowed, and margin of victory up to 20 points per game.

Lower Division up for grabs between St. Catherine’s #1, EG and AP

The same format will be followed in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League Lower Division playoffs. There, St. Catherine’s #1, East Greenbush and Averill Park will play in a round-robin format.

The first game of that three-day event also takes place on Sunday, Feb. 20, when East Greenbush and Averill Park collide at Albany JCC at 2:45 p.m. The second game takes place on Thursday, Feb. 24, when St. Catherine’s #1 meets Averill Park at Albany JCC at 7:30 p.m. Game three is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 27, when St. Catherine’s #1 and East Greenbush do battle at Albany JCC at 2:45 p.m.

If at any point in the three-day playoffs, a team has won two games, they will take home the Lower Division championship trophy. Again, if the three teams all finish 1-1, tiebreakers will be used to determine the overall division champion with the tiebreaker format being head-to-head, points allowed, and margin of victory up to 20 points per game.

Each division will play for a championship trophy, putting the finishing touches on a busy 18-game regular season that featured plenty of hard-fought and closely contested games in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

Here is the complete Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball playoff schedule:

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

LOWER DIVISION
Teams: Averill Park; East Greenbush; St. Catherine’s #1

INDEPENDENT DIVISION
Teams: Albany JCC; Christ The King; St. Catherine’s #2

Format is round robin; tiebreakers if necessary for both divisions

SUNDAY, FEB. 20
Lower Division: Averill Park vs. East Greenbush, at Albany JCC, 2:45 p.m.
Independent Division: Christ The King vs. Albany JCC, 4:00 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 24
Lower Division: St. Catherine’s #1 vs. Averill Park, 7:30 p.m.
Independent Division: St. Catherine’s #2 vs. Christ The King, 8:45 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEB. 27
Lower Division: St. Catherine’s #1 vs. East Greenbush, 2:45 p.m.
Independent Division: St. Catherine’s #2 vs. Albany JCC, 4:00 p.m.

UPPER DIVISION
Teams: Clifton Park Black; Clifton Park Orange; Schenectady Basketball Club; Troy CYO

Format is seeded advancement

SATURDAY, FEB. 26
FIRST ROUND
No. 2 Seed (Troy CYO) vs. No. 3 Seed (Clifton Park Black) at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 9:10 a.m.
No.1 Seed (Clifton Park Orange) vs. No 4 Seed (Schenectady Basketball Club) at Russell Sage College Robison Gym, 11:30 a.m.

SUNDAY, FEB. 27
THIRD-PLACE GAME
No. 1-No. 4 loser vs. No. 2-No. 3 loser, at Shen High School East, 6:15 p.m.

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
No. 1-No. 4 winner vs. No. 2-No. 3 winner, at Shen High School East, 7:30 p.m.

Clifton Park Orange leads pack with 10-2 mark but six other teams are well within striking distance

In sharp contrast to the weather outside where frigid temperatures have been the norm in the Capital District, things are heating up in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League.

Clifton Park Orange, which has been leading the pack for most of the season, suddenly has company at the top of the standings and plenty of it.

Clifton Park Orange is in first place with a solid 10-2 mark, but two teams, Albany JCC and Troy CYO, are tied for second and only a game back in the race for first place with 9-3 records.

Looming just two games back in fourth place is St. Catherine’s #2 with an 8-4 record. Lurking only three games behind Clifton Park Orange and in fifth place is Christ The King with a 7-5 mark.

And, with the balance the top two thirds of the league has shown this season, and the fact that they have games to make up, you can’t count out sixth-place Clifton Park Black at 5-6 as well as the seventh-place Schenectady Basketball Club at 4-6. Both clubs are only four games behind in that always important loss column.

With teams in the league playing an 18-game regular season schedule and everyone having from six to eight games still to play on the schedule, all kinds of scenarios involving the league’s top seven teams are possible.

Things are heating up to say the least and you can’t blame Clifton Park Orange head coach Doug Edick if he is sweating a bit under the collar, so to speak, even though the thermometer outside says it is below zero.

Early-season loss may have been a reality check for Clifton Park Orange

Clifton Park Orange jumped out of the gate winning its first two games of the season, then got ambushed by Clifton Park Black. After that, CP Orange regrouped and looked like it was going to run away with things, ripping off seven straight league victories to improve to 9-1 on the year.

Things appeared to stay right on track when CP Orange also avoided a loss in the Third Annual Senior Showdown Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 15, getting past St. Paul’s, arguably the best team in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League in a battle of No. 1 seeds.

But then along came St. Catherine’s #2 on Saturday, Jan. 22. St. Catherine’s #2 played good, solid basketball and refused to fall victim to Clifton Park’s pressure defense, especially in the second half. In the end, St. Catherine’s carved out a much-needed victory.

Things could have been worse if CP Orange did shake that loss off on Sunday when it met CP Black. But CP Orange regained its composure and avenged that early season loss to CP Black by winning, 58-55.

But as far as the rest of the league was concerned and the standings, the damage had been done by St. Catherine’s #2 and that win by St. Catherine’s #2 and loss by CP Orange has fueled a resurgence of hope for the other contending teams.

Impressive starts for Albany JCC and Troy CYO

While Clifton Park Orange was going about its business and running up its 10-2 record, the majority of the teams in the rest of the league weren’t exactly sitting by idly and watching.

Tied-for-second-place Albany JCC blew out to a 6-1 start. The team could have made things even more interesting in the race for first place if the JCC express hadn’t slowed of late as the team has gone 3-2 in its last five outings to settle in at 9-3. The two losses came at the hands of CP Orange, 77-76, and CP Black, 71-47.

Also tied-for-second-place Troy CYO bolted out of the gate with five impressive victories of its own. But the team hit a big bump in the road, losing three of its next four including a tough one-point decision to CP Orange and two games to Christ The King and Albany JCC. Since then, Troy CYO has bounced back smartly by posting victories in its most recent three outings including a solid victory over St. Catherine’s #2.

St. Catherine’s #2 started out slowly and struggled of late, but there was no body better during an impressive seven-game winning streak that has left the team in fourth place at 8-4.

Early on, Troy CYO and CP Orange beat St. Catherine’s #2 and most recently Troy CYO turned the trick again and Albany JCC escaped with a 59-57 win over St. Catherine’s #2. But in between those two losses, was that much-needed victory over CP Orange that tightened the league standings up.

Christ The King forces its way back into contention

Christ The King won its first two, then went 0-5 in its next five outings and looked only average at best in the 10-team league. But suddenly the team has come alive, ripping off five straight wins to force its way back into the race for first place with a vastly improved 7-5 mark. In that impressive run have been solid victories over Troy CYO and Clifton Park Black and most recently on Sunday an overtime victory over the Schenectady Basketball Club.

The Schenectady Basketball Club has been searching for consistency and possibly a little luck. The team posted a 2-4 mark in the early going and has gone 2-2 since. Some efforts have been impressive including a solid 76-64 win over Christ The King, but other outings have been disappointing.
Luck hasn’t exactly been on the team’s side so far as the club has lost four games by six or less points and most recently bowed to Christ The King in overtime.

Elsewhere in the league, the three teams that are made up predominantly of ninth graders have struggled against the older and more experience teams that are jockeying for position in the upper two thirds of the standings.

St. Catherine’s #1 has four wins to its credit. East Greenbush and Averill Park have one victory each.

POINTS TO PONDER -- The Schenectady Basketball team has had its share of close games, but nothing like what the two Clifton Park teams have been experiencing. They can each tell you the tale of two sides to the luck issue. CP Black has lost six games to date with five of those defeats coming by four points or less. In sharp contrast, CP Orange has 10 wins, six coming by six points or less. …. The Schenectady Basketball Club will catch up in the games played category in a hurry with three mid-week games on Tuesday (Jan. 25), Wednesday and Thursday, A good showing could push SBC into the league’s upper half of the standings. …. As the league begins to head down the final stretch of the regular season, the standings will begin to sort themselves out as the upper echelon teams play each other for the second time during the regular season. Two match ups to keep an eye on this weekend are fourth-place St. Catherine’s #2 vs. fifth-place Christ The King on Saturday and second-place Albany JCC vs. Christ The King on Sunday.

CP Orange wins battle of No. 1 seeds; Seven other Albany/Troy teams come away victorious

SCHENECTADY -- If there was any doubt as to which Capital District area 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League was stronger this season it was quickly dispelled in the Third Annual Senior Showdown Basketball Tournament that was held Saturday, Jan. 15, at Mt. Pleasant Middle School.

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Boys Basketball League won just about every game in sight in the tournament en route to making a statement that, at least for the 2010-2011 season, that it is the stronger of the two leagues.

Albany/Troy was victorious in eight of the nine meetings with its Schenectady counterpart in the tournament that pitted each league’s teams against the other’s in a No. 1 through No. 9 seeding.
Albany/Troy won the No. 1-seed through No. 8-seed matchups with most wins coming in impressive fashion.

In the long anticipated showdown meeting between the No. 1 seeds, Clifton Park Orange rallied to hand St. Paul’s of Schenectady its first loss of the season, winning 48-46; in a battle of No. 2 seeds, Troy CYO rolled past St. Helen’s of Schenectady, 59-44; No. 3-seeded St. Catherine’s #2 squeezed past IC Glenville of Schenectady, 43-42; in a meeting of No. 4 seeds, Albany JCC ran past Our Lady Queen of Peace of Schenectady, 84-47; No. 5-seeded Schenectady Basketball Club had little problem with Guilderland of Schenectady, winning 80-43; in a clash of No. 6 seeds, Clifton Park Black turned back Gabriel’s #1 of Schenectady, 60-30; No. 7-seeded Christ The King dispatched St. Clare’s #1 of Schenectady, 54-41; and in a game that brought the No. 8 seeds together, St. Catherine’s #1 dumped St. Clare’s #2 of Schenectady, 60-46.

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior Boys League could claim victory only in the No. 9-seed battle where St. Gabriel’s #2 drew blood, beating the Albany/Troy No. 9 seed, East Greenbush, 43-34. The win by St. Gabriel’s #2 and strong showings by St. Paul’s in the No. 1-seed game and IC Glenville in the No. 3-seed contest were the lone bright spots for the Schenectady league.

Late rally gives Clifton Park Orange hard-fought victory

St. Paul’s, the most dominate team in the Schenectady League to date, went into the tournament with an unblemished 5-0 record and appeared to be on the way to victory in its matchup with Clifton Park Orange, the No. 1 seed from Albany/Troy.

St. Paul’s led throughout much of the game and in seemingly easy fashion carved out double-digit leads almost at will. Whenever Clifton Park Orange would make a run, St. Paul’s would turn up the heat with its full-court press and build its lead back up.

But in the game’s final minutes, Clifton Park Orange put one last rally together and slowly but surely chipped away at the St. Paul’s lead. In the end, turnovers turned out to be the demise for St. Paul’s as CP Orange showed why it is the No. 1 team in the Albany/Troy League by turning up the defensive pressure and coming away with a hard-earned 48-46 victory.

In sharp contrast, St. Gabriel’s #2 started out slowly in its meeting with East Greenbush of the Albany/Troy league and trailed throughout much of the first half. East Greenbush, which defeated Averill Park in the Albany/Troy “play-in” game between that league’s No. 9- and No. 10-seeded teams, sliced through the St. Gabriel’s defense for easy baskets. But in the second half, it was all St. Gabriel’s as the Schenectady team pulled away for a comfortable win.

Schenectady’s other strong showing came in a hard-fought battle between Albany/Troy’s St. Catherine’s #2 and IC Glenville that went right down to the wire. In the end, St. Catherine’s #2 prevailed by the slimmest of margins, winning 43-42.

The other six matchups between the two leagues were simply all Albany/Troy. All six victories were by double-digit margins. Troy CYO, Albany JCC, Christ The King, the Schenectady Basketball Club, Clifton Park Black and St. Catherine’s #1 all pushed the ball up the court and used opportunistic offensive attacks to produce relatively easy victories.

POINTS TO PONDER – The victory by Clifton Park Orange marked the third straight year the No. 1 seed from Albany/Troy has won the tournament’s marquee game. That victory allows the winner to lay claim to being the Capital District’s top 9-10 senior team. Previous winners of the No. 1-seed game (Clifton Park White in 2009-2010 and Troy CYO in 2008-2090) both went on to win the Albany/Troy regular-season championship as well as their league’s post-season playoff tournament. … As far as league dominance is concerned, the pendulum continues to swing in Albany/Troy’s favor. Three years ago, Schenectady lost in the No.1 seed game, but won the majority of showdown games. Last year, Albany/Troy not only claimed victory in the No. 1 seed game, but got the better of Schenectady in winning most of the tournament games. This year, however, it was decidedly Albany/Troy. … The Schenectady Basketball Club, which hosted the first Senior Showdown Tournament during the 2008-2009 season, proved once again to be a worthy host. The Mt. Pleasant Middle School, with its central location in Schenectady and its twin courts, is a popular place for Senior Showdown players, coaches and fans. Many in attendance were happy to be playing and watching basketball on the big Mt. Pleasant courts and there was plenty of talk about expanding next year’s tournament to a two-day event similar to the one hosted by Bishop Gibbons High School during the 2009-2010 season.

TEAM…………………...… ….W……L……..Pct.
xy-Clifton Park Orange………15..….3………..833
Albany JCC………………….13……5……….722
St. Catherine’s #2 ………..…..13……5……….722
Christ The King………………12……6……….667
z-Troy CYO……………….…11……7….……611
w-Clifton Park Black ……..…10……8………..556
Schenectady Basketball Club...9……9………..500
St. Catherine’s #1 ……………4……14……….222
East Greenbush………………2……16…….....111
Averill Park………………… 1……17……......056
x-Clinched divisional title
y-Clinched No. 1 seed in playoffs
z-Clinched No. 2 seed in playoffs
w-Clinched No. 3 seed in playoffs

ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

LOWER DIVISION
Teams: Averill Park; East Greenbush; St. Catherine’s #1

INDEPENDENT DIVISION
Teams: Albany JCC; Christ The King; St. Catherine’s #2

Format is round robin; tiebreakers if necessary for both divisions

SUNDAY, FEB. 20
Lower Division: East Greenbush 56, Averill Park 41
Independent Division: Albany JCC 79, Christ The King 60

THURSDAY, FEB. 24
Lower Division: St. Catherine’s #1 defeated Averill Park
Independent Division: St. Catherine’s #2 63, Christ The King 54 (OT)

SUNDAY, FEB. 27
Lower Division: St. Catherine’s #1 49, East Greenbush 31
Independent Division: Albany JCC 71, St. Catherine’s #2 58

UPPER DIVISION
Teams: Clifton Park Black; Clifton Park Orange; Schenectady Basketball Club; Troy CYO

Format is seeded advancement

SATURDAY, FEB. 26
FIRST ROUND
No. 2 Seed (Troy CYO) 48, No. 3 Seed (Clifton Park Black) 45
No.1 Seed (Clifton Park Orange) won by forfeit over No 4 Seed (Schenectady Basketball Club)

SUNDAY, FEB. 27
ALBANY/TROY 9-10 SENIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
No. 1 seed (Clifton Park Orange) 56, No. 2 seed (Troy CYO) 40

The Clifton Park White team shows off its Senior League Champions shirts after winning the 2009-2010 Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League Championship on Sunday, Feb. 28. Clifton Park White defeated the Troy CYO Lightning to take home the title and finish the season undefeated at 20-0.

Back in December, things didn’t look very good for Albany JCC when the club opened the season with three straight losses including one defeat in a game where the team watched a double-digit lead evaporate in the last minute of play in a losing effort.

The team then won three of four in January, but the optimism that those victories produced quickly disappeared when the club slide backwards again and lost its next two league games to sit just 3-6 in early February.

But then something happened on Feb. 11 when JCC found a way to beat East Greenbush by a single point in a rousing come-from-behind victory. That effort paved the way for four straight solid outings for Albany JCC that included a win over St. John’s Valatie, a tough one-point loss to Clifton Park Red and most recently on Saturday an impressive first-round playoff victory over East Greenbush.

And that recent four-game effort has Albany JCC entertaining thoughts of accomplishing what many would believe is close to the impossible – beating No. 1-seeded and undefeated Clifton Park White in Saturday’s semifinals of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League playoffs.

Albany JCC’s impressive 67-43 victory over East Greenbush in Saturday’s first round of the playoffs earned it the right to take on Clifton Park White in one of the league’s two semifinal-round playoff games. Clifton Park White, which went 12-0 during the regular season and watched from the sidelines with a first-round bye in the playoffs, will take on Albany JCC Saturday at Spa Catholic High School at 6:15 p.m.

Elsewhere in first-round playoff action in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, No. 2-seeded Troy CYO Lightning ran past No. 7-seeded St. John’s Valatie, 71-38, and No. 3-seeded Clifton Park Red held off No. 4-seeded St. Catherine’s, 53-43.

Evan, Holmberg prove to be dynamic duo for Albany JCC

East Greenbush, the post-season tournament's No. 5 seed, couldn’t find a way to contain Albany JCC’s Alec Evan and Carlos Holmberg who each scored 19 points in JCC’s first-round victory. Alex Phillips had a season high nine points to help Albany JCC, seeded No. 4 in the playoffs, improve to 6-7 on the season.

Will Gorman led East Greenbush with 14 points and Matt Nero had 10. East Greenbush closed out the campaign with a 4-9 record.

The Troy CYO Lightning cruised into the semifinals with a solid win over St. John’s Valatie. Daquan Holmes paced the attack with19 points for the winners. Rodney Bruton tallied 15 and Walter Gibson chipped in with 14 points as Troy CYO upped its record to 11-2.

St. John’s Valatie closed out its season at 1-12.

Clifton Park Red earns another shot at Troy CYO Lightning

Clifton Park Red earned the right to take on the Troy CYO Lightning in the semifinals by beating St. Catherine’s on the strength of a balanced scoring attack and a stingy defense. The victory moved CP Red to 8-5 on the year.

Smitty led all scorers with 13 points for St. Catherine’s which finished the season with a 3-10 record.

Clifton Park Red and the Troy CYO Lightning will play their semifinal round game on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Clifton Park YMCA at 10:00 a.m.

PLAYOFF POINTS TO PONDER -- The wins by the Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park Red gave the teams a 3-0 sweep of St. John’s Valatie and St. Catherine’s, respectively, in their meetings for the season. JCC split with East Greenbush before their decisive first-round playoff meeting. … Playing “what if” makes for interesting talk and is usually just that – talk, but consider “what if” Albany JCC had turned the tables in three close defeats, the team could be 9-4 at this point instead of just 6-7. The “what if” comes in three games where JCC came up on the short end, a 44-43 loss to St. Catherine’s to open the season, a 49-47 loss to the Troy CYO Lightning, and a 59-58 loss to Clifton Park Red. ... Clifton Park White and the Troy CYO Lightning would appear to be solid favorites at least on paper to advance to the league’s championship game. CP White had little problem with Albany JCC, winning by wide margins twice during the regular season and, while the Troy CYO Lightning didn’t quite produce the same winning margins as CP White did, the Troy team did win convincingly in its two meetings with CP Red. … Saturday’s winning teams will advance to Senior Championship Sunday which will be hosted by the Clifton Park Senior Basketball Club and director Frank Massa on Sunday, Feb. 28, time to be announced.

Clifton Park White put the finishing touches on an undefeated regular season on Saturday when it turned back a determined Troy CYO Lightning team, 55-43, in the headline game played in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League on the last day of the regular season.

Clifton Park White broke away from the Troy CYO Lightning in the first half, carving out what appeared to be a comfortable double-digit lead. But reaching perfection for the regular season didn’t come easy for CP White and the Troy CYO Lightning made things interesting in the second half, getting to within seven points with less than six minutes to play.

But Clifton Park White dug down deep, turned up the defensive pressure and got enough key points down the stretch to come away with its 12th league victory in 12 outings this season.

The win upped CP White’s overall record to 18-0 and earned the team a first-round bye in the league’s post-season playoffs which began on Sunday, Feb. 21, with three games at Albany JCC.

Trevor Hennigan led the way for Clifton Park White with 15 points, Nick Clark and Sam Halpern contributed 8 apiece.

Troy CYO Lightning was led by Dayquan Holmes who had 10 points and Dan LeClair who chipped with eight points.

The Troy CYO Lightning finished in second place in the standings with a 10-2 mark, losing only twice to Clifton Park White. Overall, the Lightning was 13-5 on the season. Troy received the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and will play No. 7-seeded St. John’s Valatie on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Albany JCC. St. John’s Valatie goes into the tournament with a 1-11 record.

Clifton Park Red slips past Albany JCC to finish in third place

In Saturday’s other league action, Clifton Park Red squeezed its way past Albany JCC in a battle for third place honors in the league, taking a slim 44-43 decision.

The victory upped CP Red’s record to 7-5 in the league and 8-7 overall and gave the Clifton Park team the No. 3 seed in the post-season tournament. CP Red takes on No. 6-seeded St. Catherine’s on Sunday at Albany JCC at 2:15 p.m.

Mike Wheeler led CP Red with 12 points, hitting four three-pointers. Anthony Stalter chipped in with nine points.

Albany JCC ended up 5-7 in league play and finished in fourth place in the standings. JCC received the No. 4 seed for the playoffs and will take on No. 5-seeded East Greenbush on Sunday at Albany JCC at 1:00 p.m.

East Greenbush closed out its regular season on a down note, losing to St. Catherine’s, 49-45, on Saturday.

East Greenbush ended up 4-8 in league play, one game ahead of St. Catherine’s which ended up 3-9.

Top-seeded Clifton Park White is idle until Saturday, Feb. 27, when it swings into action in the semifinals. CP White takes on the winner of the East Greenbush/Albany JCC game in one of two semifinal round playoff games that will be played at the Clifton Park YMCA.

One game remains on the schedule for Clifton Park White and Troy CYO Lightning and one can make a very good case that it is the most important contest of the regular season for both teams.

There is a lot on the line for each team when they play each other on Saturday, Feb. 20, at Russell Sage College’s Robison Gym at 11:15 a.m.

For starters, first place in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League is still up for grabs. Then there is the matter of an undefeated regular season for Clifton Park White. Finally, the game will decide which team is awarded the No. 1 seed for the upcoming post-season playoffs.

To get to this point, all the two teams did over the league’s last three play dates was win and win impressively.

CP White had a busy time of things, playing three times and winning three times, all in impressive fashion. CP White took care of St. Catherine’s, East Greenbush and St. John’s Valatie to move to 11-0 on the season in league play.

None of the three teams could stop CP White’s fast-breaking offense. And CP White’s tough defense kept all three opponents from mounting any serious challenges in the three games.

In the win over St. Catherine’s, Trevor Hennigan led the way for CP White with 23 points. Sam Halpern added 20 points and Mike Hardy had a season-high 17 points. Teddy Van Galen, Austin McGrath and JP Trawinski all reached double figures and Brian Sprague led the team in assists and Bob DeBortoli led the team in rebounds.

Against East Greenbush, Van Galen and Hennigan led CP White with 12 points each and Halpern chipped in with 11 points.

In the victory over St. John’s Valatie, Hennigan, Pe’Airr Perry, and Hardy led Clifton Park with 16, 15, and 11 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Troy CYO Lightning didn’t miss a beat in its only league game over the league’s last three play dates, running past St. Catherine’s on Saturday. On Sunday, Troy CYO Lightning battled the potent Schenectady Basketball Club, losing in a non-league game, 80-55.

In the win over St. Catherine’s, Walter Gibson scored 25 points and Daquan Holmes and Rodney Bruton added 18 and 15, respectively, for Troy CYO Lightning. The win upped Troy CYO Lightning to 10-1 in league play this season.

In the loss to SBC, Holmes topped Troy CYO Lightning with 16 points. Troy CYO Lightning is now 13-4 overall.

The league win by Troy CYO Lightning, coupled with Clifton Park White’s three wins, leaves the teams 1-2 in the standings with just one game remaining. A win by Clifton Park White on Saturday gives CP White the regular-season title and puts the finishing touches on an undefeated regular season for the Clifton Park team.

A win by Troy CYO Lightning means the two teams would share the regular-season title with identical 11-1 records. A loss to Troy CYO Lightning would be the only blemish on an otherwise perfect regular season for CP White which enters Saturday’s showdown game with an 11-0 record in league play and 17-0 mark against all opponents.

As for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs if both teams end up tied for first place, that would be determined by the point differential between the two teams in their two head-to-head meetings. The first time the teams did battle back on Jan. 21 in league play, CP White doubled up Troy CYO Lightning, 64-32, meaning that the Lightning would not only have to win Saturday, but win convincingly to have any chance at the No. 1 seeding.

Clifton Park White and the Troy CYO Lightning also met a third time in the championship game of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament. The game was a hotly contested match until CP White pulled away in the second half.

Improving Albany JCC picks up pair of victories

Elsewhere in recent league play, Albany JCC picked up two wins to solidify its hold onto fourth place in the league standings. JCC used some last minute heroics on offense and defense to slip past East Greenbush, 53-52, on Thursday and then ran past St. John’s Valatie on Saturday, 58-39.

In the closely contested game with East Greenbush, JCC got a key free throw from Alec Evan with 26 seconds left to put JCC ahead for good and then Andrew Clark came up with a game-saving block of an East Greenbush layup attempt with just three seconds left in the game.

Zach Waite led the offensive attack for JCC with 14 points. Evan and Carlos Holmberg backed him with 12 points each.

William Brahm had 13 points for East Greenbush. Will Gorman and Kevin Cosgrove chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. East Greenbush is now 4-7 in league play and in fifth place in the standings.

In the victory over St. John’s Valatie, Holmberg exploded for 23 points to lead the way for JCC. Waite netted 14 and Evan scored 13 for the winners. Albany JCC is now 5-6 in league play.

Peters led the way for St. John’s Valatie with 17 points. St. John’s Valatie concluded its regular season with a 1-11 record.

Clifton Park Red uses balanced attack to beat St. Catherine’s

In the only other league game, Clifton Park Red remained in third place by beating St. Catherine’s, 63-48. The victory upped CP Red’s record to 6-5.

Clifton Park Red used a balanced scoring attack to hold off St. Catherine's. Ryan McSwiggin, Ethan Holland, and Patrick Dell'Anno combined for 25 points and TJ Ostrowski went 6 for 6 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win for Clifton Park Red.

Smitty had 13 for in a losing effort for 2-9 St. Catherine’s.

It’s been a season of mixed emotions for the Albany JCC 9-10 Senior Basketball League team. A handful of wins, a number of tough losses, some close and some not so close, but there has been nothing that the team could hang its hat onto as a noteworthy event.

That all changed Saturday night when Albany JCC played well enough that it had one of the league’s best teams, the Troy CYO Lightning, clearly beaten with less than three minutes to go. JCC, winners of only three games this season, was poised to score the upset of the season in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

But a furious Troy CYO Lightning rally, fueled by three consecutive power drives to the basket by Dayquan Holmes and capped by a buzzer beater jump shot by Walter Gibson, denied JCC of claiming its prize upset victory. The baskets by Holmes and especially the short jump shot by Gibson gave the Troy CYO Lightning a heart-stopping 49-47 victory and saved the club, which still has aspirations of catching Clifton Park White for first place honors, from a crushing defeat.

Albany JCC led for most of the second half in the game behind the scoring of Carlos Holmberg who had a team-high 11 points. With just three minutes to go, JCC still held a six-point lead and appeared to be comfortably in control as the Troy CYO Lightning continued to struggle on offense.

But that’s when Holmes took things into his own hands. On three of the next five trips down the court when the Troy CYO Lightning had the ball, Holmes simply knifed his way through the Albany JCC defense and powered his way down the lane to the basket for layups.

Both teams had opportunities with the score tied in the game’s final minute, but in the end, Gibson found the ball in his hands off a missed shot, and tossed in the winner with only seconds remaining in the game.

Holmes finished with a game-high 20 points for the Troy CYO Lightning. Greg Ruddy chipped in with nine points and Jalon Canon blocked four shots for the winners who are now 9-1 and still in second place in the league. The team is 12-3 overall.

Albany JCC is now 3-6 in league play and 4-7 overall.

Clifton Park White rolls over Clifton Park Red to retain hold on first place

Elsewhere this weekend in Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League action, the drama was not quite so intense in Clifton Park where Clifton Park White turned back Clifton Park Red, 81-31. The win kept Clifton Park White in first place in the league with an 8-0 mark. Overall, CP White is 14-0.

Trevor Hennigan led Clifton Park White with 21 points. Joey Feeley and Pe’Airr Perry contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively and Brian Sprague led the team with 11 assists.

Courtney Penson was the high scorer for Clifton Park Red with 12 points. CP Red is now 5-5 on the season and 6-7 overall. The club remains in third place in the league.

East Greenbush rallies to defeat St. John’s Valatie

In the only other league game played over the weekend, much like Albany JCC, St. John’s Valatie appeared to have a win firmly in its grasp as it held a five-point lead with two minutes left to play.

But a furious rally in the game’s final minutes allowed East Greenbush to escape with a 50-47 victory. The win gives East Greenbush a 4-5 league mark, good for fourth place, and an overall record of 6-8.

The loss leaves St. John’s Valatie at 1-9 and 2-11.

In a non-league game played Sunday at Albany JCC, the powerful Schenectady Basketball Club defeated JCC. In the first half, SBC jumped out to what appeared to be a comfortable 18-point lead, but a game JCC team battled back to make it interesting.

In the second half, SBC simply wore down JCC with its depth. SBC is now 8-2 in games against Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League teams.

Clifton Park White and Troy CYO Lightning continued to roll along in Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League action over the weekend and in the process strengthened their respective hold on the top two spots in the standings.

Clifton Park White stayed unbeaten and in first place in last weekend’s action, running past Albany JCC, 83-37. Meanwhile, second-place Troy CYO Lightning kept pace with the league leader, defeating Clifton Park Red, 49-32. In the only other Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League game played over the weekend, St. Catherine’s won on its home court, slipping past visiting St. John’s Valatie, 63-58, in a game that went into overtime.

The impressive victories by Clifton Park White and Troy CYO Lightning served to distance both teams from the rest of the league in the standings. Barring a late-season collapse, the two clubs should finish 1-2. The only question remaining is if Troy CYO Lightning can catch Clifton Park White or at least grab a share of first place.

Clifton Park White got balanced scoring in its win over Albany JCC to improve to 7-0 in the league and 13-0 overall. Sam Halpern led the attack with 16 points and got plenty of support from Teddy Van Galen, Trevor Hennigan and Ben Janis who chipped in with 11, 10 and 10, respectively.

Albany JCC fell to 3-5 in the league and 4-6 overall with the loss.

Solid second half sparks Troy CYO Lightning

After a hard-fought first half, Troy CYO Lightening broke open a relatively close game in the second half and ran away from Clifton Park Red. The victory upped Troy CYO Lightning’s league record to 8-1. Overall, the team is 11-3.

Daquan Holmes led the winners with nine points. Jalen Cannon had eight points and combined with teammate Walter Gibson to block four shots.

Patrick Dell'Anno led Clifton Park Red with eight points. Third-place Clifton Park Red is now 5-4 in league play and 6-6 overall.

St. Catherine's escapes with overtime victory

Elsewhere, St. Catherine’s battled its way past St. John’s Valatie to pick up its second league win of the season. The winners needed overtime to pull out a 63-58 decision and up their league record to 2-6 and overall mark to 2-8.

St. Catherine’s was led by Jeff Smith and Steven DiLillo who scored 11 and 10, respectively.

St. John’s Valatie is now 1-8 and 2-10.

Clifton Park White continued to make the case that it might just be the top Capital District Senior 9-10 Basketball team after action on Jan. 23-24.

CP White, which turned away Troy CYO Lightning Thursday night in impressive fashion to continue to make the statement that it might be the best team in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, did much the same Sunday afternoon when it beat the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League’s leading team, the Schenectady Basketball Club, 75-68, in what is considered a non-league game for both teams.

The win marked the third time this season CP White has beaten SBC. CP White defeated SBC back in early December by 15 points when the two teams opened their respective seasons. Then, in the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament on Jan. 2-3 at Bishop Gibbons High School, Clifton Park White, representing the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, ran away from the Schenectady Basketball Club, representing the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, winning by 25 points.

CP White didn’t run away with things in Sunday’s meeting with SBC. In fact the game was easily the best of the three meetings to date between the two powerful clubs, with CP White carving out a hard-fought 75-68 decision.

Trevor Hennigan led the way for Clifton Park White with 16 points. Pe’Airr Perry knocked in 12 and Teddy Van Galen contributed 10 points for the winners who are now 12-0 on the season. CP White, which leads the Albany/Troy Senior Basketball League with a 6-0 record, did not have any league games this past weekend.

SBC is now 6-2 in games when it is playing as a non-league member of the Albany/Troy Senior Basketball League.

Troy CYO Lightning strikes; CP Red, Albany JCC register victories

Elsewhere in league action over the weekend, Troy CYO Lightning got back on the winning track, bouncing back from its loss to CP White by beating St. John’s Valatie, 61-38; Clifton Park Red improved on its third-place standing by defeating East Greenbush, 46-31; and Albany JCC escaped with a thrilling two-point win over St. Catherine’s, 52-50.

The victory by Troy CYO Lightning kept the team firmly entrenched in second place in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League at 7-1. Overall Troy CYO Lightning is 10-3.

Daquan Holmes netted 12 points to pace a balanced Troy CYO Lightning attack. Rodney Bruton and Zeb Gaston chipped in with 9 points each.

Nick Alberti scored 9 points for St. John’s Valatie, now 1-7 in the league and 2-9 overall.

Clifton Park Red got 12 points from Ryan McSwiggin in its win over East Greenbush. TJ Ostrowski, Mike Wheeler and Courtney Penson combined for 20 more points for the winners who are now 5-3 in the league and 6-5 overall.

RJ Knaup and William Brahm led 3-5 and 5-7 East Greenbush with 10 points each.

Albany JCC picked up its third league win of the season and leapfrogged over East Greenbush into fourth place in the league with its two-point victory over St. Catherine’s. Jeremy Zachon pumped in 17 points and Carlos Holmberg netted 11 to help Albany JCC secure its win. JCC is 3-4 on the season and 4-5 overall.

St. Catherine’s is 1-6 and 1-8 overall.

POINTS TO PONDER -- Now that Clifton Park White has beaten the Schenectady Basketball Club in all of their scheduled meetings for the 2009-2010 season, and defeated Troy CYO Lightning once, the main remaining obstacles for an undefeated regular season barring a major upset would appear to be rematches with Clifton Park Red and Troy CYO Lightning. CP White and CP Red square off on Feb. 6 at the Clifton Park YMCA. CPW White and Troy CYO Lightning have another showdown set for Saturday, Feb. 20, this time on Troy CYO Lightning’s home court at Russell Sage College’s Robison Gym. …. Albany JCC’s victory over St. Catherine’s was a turning of the tables of sorts from when the teams met the first time back in December. In their December meeting, Albany JCC led virtually all game before St. Catherine’s pulled out a one-point, come-from-behind win. This time, it was Albany JCC taking home a nail-biting victory, giving the teams a split of a very competitive two-game series. … No matter if it is at the top of the standings nor near the bottom, the schedule always seems to have some interesting matchups. This coming weekend is no different with two intriguing contests. On Saturday, Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park Red, two teams near the top of the heap, square off at Russell Sage College. Troy CYO can’t afford a loss if it has hopes of catching league-leading Clifton Park White, and Clifton Park Red which has yet to beat either of the league’s top two teams, is in need of a win to prove it belongs at the top. In the other interesting matchup, two teams that haven’t had a lot of success in getting victories this campaign do battle on Sunday when St. John’s Valatie and St. Catherine’s meet in the season’s first game to be played at St. Catherine’s gm. Each team has one win to date, so Sunday’s winner can certainly be looking upward. … Streaks of note: Clifton Park Red has now won four of its last five league games; Albany JCC has been victorious in three of its last four league tilts.

Thursday night was an evening filled with surprises in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that powerful Clifton Park White defeated Troy CYO Lightning in their showdown battle at Mont Pleasant Middle School, but it was the way CP White went about and did it that had onlookers shaking their heads.

CP White not only beat Troy CYO Lightning, but did it in surprisingly easy fashion, doubling up the score and winning 64-32.

CP White, now the league’s only unbeaten team at 6-0, used a 16-2 spurt midway through the first half to set the tone in the battle between the two clubs that had met only once previously this season in the championship game of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament back on Jan. 3.

In the second half, CP White broke open a relatively close game as its fast-break offense took advantage of a number of turnovers to roll up the points. CP White’s defense limited Troy CYO Lightning to just eight points in the second half.

Trevor Hennigan led the way for CP White with 15 points. Pe’Airr Perry and Ben Janis had 13 and 11 points, respectively, to lead a balanced Clifton Park White scoring attack.

Dan LeClair scored 11 points to pace the Troy CYO Lightning offense.

The loss left Troy CYO Lightning at 6-1 in league play and dropped the team into second place in the league standings.

Upstart Albany JCC pulls out narrow two-point win over Clifton Park Red

Thursday night’s other surprise came in a game at Albany JCC where the host team survived a furious second-half rally by Clifton Park Red to escape with a two-point victory.

Alec Evan pumped in 21 points and Jeremy Zachon added 12 to lead the JCC attack which at one time led in the game by as many as 16 points. Courtney Penson topped Clifton Park Red with 16 points.

Clifton Park Red, which had won three straight league games to flirt with notions of challenging Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White for first place honors, fell to 4-3 on the season with the tough loss.

Albany JCC, which has now won two of its last three league contests, is 2-4 on the season.

East Greenbush turns back St. Catherine’s for second straight win

In other league action, East Greenbush won its second straight league game, beating St. Catherine’s.

Matt Nero scored 18 to lead the way for East Greenbush. Jeff Smith pumped in 20 for St. Catherine’s.

Elsewhere, in a non-league affair, the Schenectady Basketball Club cruised past St. John’s Valatie.

CP White, Schenectady Basketball Club to meet again

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League swings right back into action on Saturday with two games on tap. Troy CYO Lightning and St. John’s Valatie square off at 11:15 a.m. at the Russell Sage College Robison Gym in Troy. In another league tilt, Clifton Park Red and East Greenbush battle at Columbia High School at 12:00 noon.

On Sunday, the much anticipated third meeting between Clifton Park White and the Schenectady Basketball Club takes place at Albany JCC at 2:00 p.m. That game is followed by a 3:15 p.m. battle between St. Catherine’s and host Albany JCC.

The Troy CYO Lightning of the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League reached the championship game of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament that was played Jan. 2-3 at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady. The Troy CYO Lightning won three straight games to advance to the title game before losing in the championship tilt to Clifton Park White.

Like two ships steaming straight at each other, Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White continued to win in Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League play and the stage is now set for a head-on collision between the two undefeated teams.

Troy CYO Lightning held off a determined East Greenbush team and carved out a hard-fought seven-point win in its most recent league outing to stay unbeaten in league play and atop the standings with a perfect 6-0 mark.

Meanwhile, Clifton Park White rolled to two easy wins, turning back St. Catherine’s and St. John’s Valatie in its two most recent league outings, and now stands just one notch behind Troy CYO Lightning with a 5-0 league mark.

The two clubs now take on each other with first place on the line when they collide head-on Thursday, Jan. 21, at Mont Pleasant Middle School at 6:30 p.m.

Troy CYO Lightning was also in action in a non-league affair over the weekend, losing a seven-point decision to the powerful Schenectady Basketball Club. The loss left Troy CYO Lightning with a 9-2 mark against all opponents.

With its two wins, Clifton Park White is now 10-0 overall.

Clifton Park Red keeps pace with league leaders

Clifton Park Red stayed in the thick of things and in third place in the standings, posting two victories in league action to improve to 4-2 on the season. CP Red upended St. John’s Valatie on Saturday and then ran past St. Catherine’s on Sunday. Prior to that, CP Red also played the Schenectady Basketball Club in a non-league game, dropping that decision to now stand at 5-4 overall.

The two losses suffered by St. Catherine’s let that team at 1-4 in league play and 1-6 overall. The two defeats that St. John’s Valatie absorbed left it at 1-6 in Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League play and 2-7 against all opponents.

East Greenbush moves into fourth place by beating JCC

In the league’s only other game played over the weekend, East Greenbush didn’t let its tough loss to Troy CYO Lightning on Saturday stand in its way on Sunday as it turned back Albany JCC in a tightly contested battle. The win upped East Greenbush’s league record to 2-4 and vaulted the team into fourth place in the standings. Overall, East Greenbush is now 4-6.

Albany JCC now stands at 1-4 in the league and tied with St. Catherine’s for fifth place in the standings. Overall, JCC is 2-5.

POINTS TO PONDER – Thursday’s showdown meeting between Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White is a rematch of the championship game of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament that was played on Jan. 3 at Bishop Gibbons High School. Clifton Park White prevailed in that game on the strength of a strong second half. … After going 1-2 in its first three league outings, Clifton Park Red has posted three straight Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League victories. … St. John’s Valatie has the unenviable task of taking on the Schenectady Basketball Club in the other Thursday game at Mont Pleasant. That game is a non-league test for Valatie. … Speaking of non-league tests, looming ahead on the schedule for Sunday, Jan. 24, is another clash between Clifton Park White and the Schenectady Basketball Club, thought of by many Senior Basketball League observers as the two best teams in the area prior to the early-season emergence of Troy CYO Lightning. In the first two meetings between CP White and SBC, CP White has had the best of it, winning both games. … A scheduling reminder that Saturday’s game between host East Greenbush and Clifton Park Red has been moved up from a 3:45 p.m. start to a 12:00 noon start at the request of Columbia High School.

Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White kept up their winning ways in Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League action on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 9-10.

Troy CYO Lightning posted a pair of victories to up its league-leading record to 5-0. Meanwhile, Clifton Park White also stayed undefeated in league play, running past East Greenbush in its only outing of the weekend to improve to 3-0. Overall, CP White is 8-0 while Troy CYO Lightning is 8-1 against all opponents.

Troy CYO Lightning rolled out to an early lead on Saturday and cruised to its fourth straight league victory as it defeated East Greenbush on EG’s home court. On Sunday, Troy CYO Lightning jumped on St. Catherine’s early on route to its fifth league victory.

In similar fashion, Clifton Park White scored early and often on Sunday on its home court at Shen High School East, turning away East Greenbush in impressive fashion.

The two losses dropped East Greenbush to 1-3 in the league and 3-5 overall.

St. Catherine’s fell to 1-2 in the league and 1-4 overall.

Clifton Park Red, St. John’s Valatie christen new Sage College gym site

In other Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League action, Clifton Park Red and St. John’s Valatie took part in the league’s first-ever game played Saturday at the Russell Sage College Robison Gym in downtown Troy. Clifton Park Red seemed to enjoy playing at the new site on the Troy college campus as it outgunned St. John Valatie, 55-33.

With the solid victory, CP Red moved into third place in the league standings and now stands at 2-2 in league play and 3-3 overall.

In the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League’s only other game played over the weekend,Albany JCC proved that its first win of the season in the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament at Bishop Gibbons was no fluke as JCC defeated St. John’s Valatie. The victory was JCC’s first in league play and moved the club into a tie for fifth place with East Greenbush. Overall, JCC is 2-4.

The loss dropped St. John Valatie into seventh place in the league. Valatie is now 1-4 in the league and 2-5 overall.

POINTS TO PONDER – A pair of games scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 7 -- a meeting between St. Catherine’s and Clifton Park White and a non-league affair between Albany JCC and the Schenectady Basketball Club -- had to be postponed due to the loss of court time. The St. Catherine’s vs. CP White game will be played Thursday, Jan. 14, at 7:00 p.m. at Albany JCC while the other game will have to be rescheduled on a later date …. The latest victories by Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White, the two teams that met in the championship game of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament at Bishop Gibbons on Jan. 3, appear to have both clubs headed possibly undefeated if both keep winning to the first of two league showdown battles on Thursday, Jan. 21, at Mont Pleasant Middle School at 6:30 p.m.

Rapidly improving Clifton Park Red has emerged from the middle of the pack to move into third place in the league with a 2-2 record (3-3 overall) and now is in prime position to challenge the league leaders. CP Red faces a stiff test, taking on the powerful Schenectady Basketball Club on Thursday, Jan. 14, in a non-league game that has been moved to Mont Pleasant Middle School. Then CP Red has a big weekend of league action on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16-17, when it takes on St. John Valatie and St. Catherine’s. Two wins there could have CP Red knocking on the door of league-leading Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White.

Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White hold the distinction of having the most victories so far this season of any area senior 9-10 team. Both teams have eight wins to their credit. The Schenectady Basketball Club and IC Glenville have the next highest number of wins of any area senior 9-10 team as they are 5-1 and 5-2, respectively, as members of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League. Of course, if you combined SBC’s 5-1 record as a representative of the Schenectady league with its non-league record in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League (3-1), SBC would also have an area senior team high eight wins.

Albany JCC apparently liked what it experienced in the Senior Showdown Tournament where it posted its first win of the 2009-2010 team when it beat St. Gabriel’s #1 in the first round. After losing, as expected, to powerful Clifton Park White in the second round of the tournament, JCC shook that off and came right out and picked up its first league win of the season when it surprised St. John Valatie. JCC is now only a win or two away from moving into the upper half of the league standings.

Clifton Park White, the top seed from the Albany Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League, defeated the Schenectady Basketball Club, the top seed from the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, on Saturday, Jan. 2 in the first round of the Second Annual Senior Showdown Basketball Tournament that was played at Bishop Gibbons High School. Clifton Park White then defeated the Troy CYO lightning in Sunday's championship game to win the Senior Showdown Tournament.

BASKETBALL CAREERS CONTINUE IN CAPITAL DISTRICT SENIOR LEAGUESThe Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and the Capital District 11-12 Senior League provide players who have graduated from CYO programs or any other youth basketball league but are not participating with their respective high school teams an opportunity to continue their hoop careers in a healthy, competitive atmosphere.

For the 2010-2011 season, there were 10 teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League, nine teams in the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League and 12 teams in the Capital District 11-12 Senior League.

The majority of games are played on weekends on some of the very same gym floors that high school freshmen, JV and varsity teams compete on. League entry fees are determined by the number of teams in each league and the number of games that are scheduled.

Leagues for the 2011-2012 season will officially form as soon as possible after high school basketball tryouts have concluded in November. The Senior League season begins in December and ends in March. The season includes a mid-season tournament and playoffs.

Interested teams or perspective coaches should email Fuzzyjim111@aol.com or contact Senior League Commissioner Jim Fazzone at 281-0809 for more information about joining a Senior League. They can also visit the following league web sites: http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=albtroy
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=schenectady
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=cap

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League got the best of things over the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League and Albany/Troy’s Clifton Park White was crowned tournament champion in the Second Annual Senior Showdown that was held Jan. 2-3 at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady.

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League won 8 of 10 head-to-head match ups with the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League in the expanded, two-day, 14-game event. The solid showing was a reversal of the 2008-2009 first-ever Senior Showdown Tournament that saw the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League win five of eight meetings with the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League. There was no individual champion crowned in the 2008-2009 one-day tournament.

Clifton Park White’s hard-fought victory in the championship game over fellow league member Troy CYO Lightning allowed the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League to stake claim as to having the area’s top 9-10 senior league team for the second straight year.

During the 2008-2009 season, while the bulk of the head-to-head meetings were won by the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, the Troy CYO 9-10 senior team, representing Albany/Troy 9-10 as its league’s No. 1 seed, made its claim to being the area’s best senior team by beating Schenectady’s No. 1 seed, St. Gabriel’s #1.

Clifton Park White impressive in championship game

Clifton Park White left little doubt that it is indeed one of the area’s best, if not the best, 9-10 senior team by beating the No. 1 seeded Schenectady Basketball Club in the opening round of the two-day tournament on Saturday. CP White then posted three straight wins against Albany/Troy league rivals on Sunday to take home the trophy.

In the quarter finals, Clifton Park White turned back Albany JCC to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, CP White outgunned a stubborn East Greenbush team to reach the finals on the strength of two relatively easy wins.

In the finals, Troy CYO Lightning made it anything but easy for Clifton Park White. In fact for most of the first half, Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White traded basket for basket in a duel of powerful offenses. But in the second half, CP White’s relentless attack wore down Troy CYO Lightning and allowed CP White to cruise to victory.

Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League teams won early and often

In Saturday’s first-round action which pitted the eight teams of each league against each other in a seeded format, Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League teams surprised by winning six of seven head-to-head meetings.

Clifton Park White out dueled the Schenectady Basketball Club in the tournament’s first game, a battle between the two leagues top seeded teams.

In the day’s second game, an exhibition between St. Helen’s and the Schenectady Basketball Club from which St. Helen’s advanced win or lose, SBC bounced back to take an easy win.

After that, it appeared that Clifton Park White’s win over Schenectady’s top team simply showed the way for the remaining Albany/Troy teams that were in the tournament.

Albany/Troy’s East Greenbush won the battle of No. 4 seeds, ousting St. Paul’s. St. John’s Valatie, also from the Albany/Troy 9-10 League, followed suit and advanced by beating St. Clare’s #2 in a meeting of No. 6 seeds.

In a battle of No. 3 seeds, Troy CYO Lightning began its impressive run to the championship game by turning back IC Glenville of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

St. Clare’s #1 gets Schenectady on the board

St. Clare’s #1 broke through for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League, ousting St. Catherine’s in a battle of No. 5 seeds.

But the winning streak for Schenectady teams was short-lived. No. 7 seeded Clifton Park Red turned by St. Gabriel’s #2 and No. 8 Albany JCC surprised St. Gabriel’s #1 to post its first victory of the season. The two wins put the finishing touches on a solid showing by the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

In the second round, there were two more head-to-head meetings between the two leagues. Surprising East Greenbush got past St. Clare’s #1 of Schenectady to advance to an all Albany/Troy semifinal meeting. On the other side of the brackets, St. Helen’s of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League turned back St. John Valatie to give Schenectady its only hope in the semifinals.

But in the tournament’s last head-to-head meeting between the two leagues, Troy CYO Lightning turned away a determined St. Helen’s to advance to an all Albany/Troy championship game.

TOURNEY TIDBITS – The hard-fought battle between Clifton Park White and Troy CYO Lightning in the championship game is nothing new for those two Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League programs. Both programs were at the top of the Albany/Troy standings last year and they advanced to the league’s championship game. ….. The Schenectady Basketball Club, which also plays in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League on a non-league basis, might be scratching its collective head wondering how it is going to beat Clifton Park White. The two teams have already met once in the regular season in the Albany/Troy League with CP White coming out on top. That leaves one remaining meeting between the two powerful teams. …. Besides the obvious successes by CP White, Troy CYO and St. Helen’s to reach the finals and semifinals, respectively, there were several other positives teams could take home from the tournament. Certainly a pair of solid wins by East Greenbush tops the list. First-round victories by St. John‘s Valatie, Clifton Park Red and Albany JCC bodes well for all three clubs as they look to find a way to move up in the Albany/Troy regular-season standings. JCC, in particular, has to be happy as the team tasted victory for the first time this season. On the Schenectady side, St. Clare’s #1’s victory over St. Catherine’s solidifies St. Clare’s #1’s middle of the pack standing in the Schenectady league and fuels hopes the team can crack into the upper level of the standings.

Saturday, Jan. 2
Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
At Bishop Gibbons High School
Senior Showdown First Round – Albany/Troy vs. Schenectady
Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) defeated Schenectady No. 1 (Schenectady Basketball Club)

Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning) defeated Schenectady No. 2 (IC Glenville)

Albany/Troy No. 3 (Schenectady Basketball Club) defeated Schenectady No. 3 (St. Helen’s)
NOTE: Since, SBC plays in both leagues, St. Helen’s advances, win or lose.

Albany/Troy No. 4 (East Greenbush) defeated Schenectady No. 4 (St. Paul’s)

Schenectady No. 5 (St. Clare’s #1) defeated Albany/Troy No. 5 (St. Catherine’s)

Albany/Troy No. 6 (St. John’s Valatie) defeated Schenectady No. 6 (St. Clare’s #2)

Albany/Troy No. 7 (Clifton Park Red) defeated Schenectady No. 7 (St. Gabriel’s #2)

Albany/Troy No. 8 (Albany JCC) defeated Schenectady No. 8 (St. Gabriel’s #1)

Second Round – Single Elimination
Albany/Troy No. 4 (East Greenbush) vs. Schenectady No. 5 (St. Clare’s #1)

Sunday, Jan. 3
Second Annual Senior Showdown Tournament
At Bishop Gibbons High School
Second Round – Single Elimination
Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning) defeated Albany/Troy No. 7 (Clifton Park Red)

Schenectady No. 3 (St. Helen’s) defeated Albany/Troy No. 6 (St. John’s Valatie)

Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) defeated Albany/Troy No. 8 (Albany JCC)

Semifinals – Single Elimination
Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning) defeated Schenectady No. 3 (St. Helen’s)

Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) Albany/Troy No. 4 (East Greenbush)

2009-2010 Senior Showdown Championship Game
Albany/Troy No. 1 (Clifton Park White) defeated Albany/Troy No. 2 (Troy CYO Lightning)

The Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White have established themselves as the teams to catch after three weeks of play in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League.

The Troy CYO Lightning roared out of the gate, posting three solid regular-season victories, beating St. John’s Valatie, Clifton Park Red and Albany JCC in solid fashion. The Clifton Park White team was equally as impressive in the month of December, beating JCC and Clifton Park Red in two league games and knocking off the powerful Schenectady Basketball Club of the Schenectady 9-10 Senior Basketball League in a non-league game.

Elsewhere in the league, East Greenbush and St. Catherine’s have each split a pair of league games over the first three weeks of the young season. Both teams lost to the Schenectady Basketball Club in non-league outings.

East Greenbush bounced back from a close loss to Clifton Park Red to take the measure of St. John Valatie. Meanwhile, St. Catherine’s came from behind after trailing for almost the entire second half to nip Albany JCC by a point in probably the league’s most thrilling game in December. St. Catherine’s then lost to St. John’s Valatie.

St. John’s Valatie and Clifton Park Red both stand at 1-2 after the month of December. Valatie easily upended St. Catherine’s but lost to the Troy CYO Lightning and East Greenbush. Clifton Park Red started out strong, running past East Greenbush, but then suffered defeats at the hands of the Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White.

JCC also started out strong, losing a heart-breaking one-point decision in its first game of the season. Since then, JCC has lost to the league’s two undefeated teams, the Troy CYO Lightning and Clifton Park White.

On Jan. 2-3, the league returned from its holiday break to take part in the second annual Senior Showdown 9-10 Basketball League Tournament. This year the tournament was played at Bishop Gibbons High School.

The Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior Basketball League resumes regular-season action on Friday, Jan. 8, Saturday, Jan. 9 and Sunday, Jan. 10.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 8
At Mont Pleasant Middle School
St. Catherine’s vs. Clifton Park White, PPD.
SBC vs. JCC, 7:45 p.m., PPD.

Saturday, Jan. 9
At Columbia High School
Troy CYO Lightning vs. East Greenbush, 3:45 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 9
At Sage College Robison Gym
Clifton Park Red vs. St. John Valatie, 11:15 a.m.

Sunday, Jan. 10
At Shen High School East
St. Catherine’s vs. Troy CYO Lightning, 6:15 p.m.
Clifton Park White vs. East Greenbush, 8:45 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 10
At Albany JCC
St. John Valatie vs. JCC, 3:15 p.m.