By Steve Bradley
This year the Wasaren League added a new format. With new teams joining the league, the league was divided into two divisions, basically a large school and a small school division. The large school division consists of Hoosick Falls, Tamarac, Greenwich, Mechanicville and Stillwater while small school consists of Berlin, Waterford-Halfmoon, Cambridge, Saratoga Catholic and Hoosic Valley.
Friday night crossover games were held between the two divisions. Also new is a championship game between the teams with the best record in their respective division. This year those teams were Hoosick Falls with their undefeated 13-0 in league play record and Spa Catholic and, on the girls side, Cambridge and Tamarac. The games were held on Sunday evening at the Skidmore College sports complex.
HF 80 – Spa Catholic 41
Three minutes into this game there was no doubt who the winner would be. The first quarter Panther’s lead was 21-7 and expanded from there. Hoosick Falls dominated from beginning to end. The Panthers (16-4 overall) held a thirty point lead at the half. Hoosick Falls has been playing very well the past few weeks and this game was no exception. The players are athletic and, as the season has progressed, their passing and overall team play has improved greatly.
This team has also kept a Panther tradition alive by winning league championships. When the team made up of junior starters Andrew Hoag, Austin Pitt, Mark Hackett, Will Bradley and senior Levi Brewster started the 2013-14 season, they had no idea the streak they were beginning. Since then the Panthers are an amazing 70-2 in league play, and are currently on a 40-0 tear.
Their league record over the five year run is:
2013-14 — 14-0
2014-15 — 14-0
2015-16 — 12-2
2016-17 — 16-0
2017-18 — 14-0
During the 2015-16 season, Hoosick Falls lost to Stillwater and Mechanicville. These same two teams split the league title with the Panthers that season, ironically, when each of the three teams lost one game to each of the other two. Since then the Panthers haven’t lost and are currently on a 40 game Wasaren league winning streak.
With sectional play beginning next week the first round games are scheduled to be played Tuesday, February 20 and Wednesday, February 21. The Panthers are the Class C number two seed, with Lake George is the number one. Lake George defeated the Panthers on December 27 by three, 59-56.
Tamarac 61 – Cambridge 51
Cambridge came into this game sporting an undefeated record and a number 2 ranking in Class C NYS ranking. Pretty lofty stuff for a team that starts three freshman. The Tamarac Bengals, with an NYS Class B number six ranking and an 18-2 record, were rolling along very well themselves. When the teams met earlier in the season, on the Bengal’s home court, Cambridge downed Tamarac by two points.
Cambridge started out blazing. The Indians could do no wrong while the Bengals struggled to get anything going. Cambridge shots were dropping from everywhere while the Bengals couldn’t buy a basket. When the first quarter came to an end, the Indians were up 27-10 and Tamarac was reeling.
Cambridge wouldn’t score 27 points for the rest of the game.Tamarac started chipping away at the deficit in the second quarter. Holding the Indian’s offense in check with a suddenly found shut-em-down defense and having the ball begin to go through the hoop gave the Bengals glimmers of hope. The Bengals outscored their opponent 15-3 for the quarter and found themselves within five points of the Indians at the half.
Tamarac made the comeback complete when they tied the score at 30 with 6:18 left in the third quarter and then took the lead shortly after that. Cambridge came back and retook the lead and kept it going into the fourth quarter at 42-39.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Bengals. They held the baffled-looking Indians scoreless early in the quarter while their own shots found their mark time after time to grab a ten point lead. Cambridge turnovers during this stretch of the game doomed the Indians.
Tamarac held the Indians at bay the rest of the way to take the exciting win.
In other Wasaren action on Friday night: Boys: Mechanicville 56 – Waterford 52; Stillwater 61 – Hoosic Valley 30; Greenwich 57 – Cambridge 40; Tamarac 88 – Berlin 45. Girls: Greenwich 54 – Waterford 32; Hoosick Falls 68 – Spa Catholic 48 (Hoosick Falls made 12 three-pointers. Logan Thayne 23 pts., Eliza Whitman – 14 pts./4-3’s); Mechanicville 56 – Hoosic Valley 37.