• 

  Fonda-Fultonville’s Zak Shaw follows through on a pitch Tuesday against Albany Academy. (Adam Shinder/Recorder staff)

  Tuesday’s Colonial Council clash between Fonda-Fultonville and Albany Academy was nothing short of incredible. A 2-1, 11-inning pitchers’ duel that saw both starters — Fonda-Fultonville’s Zak Shaw and Academy’s Ben Brown — both go deep into extra innings. Shaw tossed 10 innings in the longest single outing I’ve seen from a local pitcher, while Brown went nine innings and racked up 14 strikeouts and only allowing one walk. That lone walk was intentional, when Cadets coach Dave Rider opted to put Baylee Hall on base in the ninth inning while Kevin Myers was representing the winning run on second base with nobody out. That was to try and set up a double play (or at least a force play at second or third), but I’m not sure Rider envisioned his plan working quite the way it did. The Braves’ next batter, Anthony Sinicropi, smashed the first pitch he saw from Brown into centerfield, with Cadets outfielder Eric Woods charging in to make the sliding catch. Myers had bolted for third base on contact, and was doubled off second. Brown then struck out Pat Hart to escape the threat, even though Rider told me after the game that when Sinicropi’s liner started sinking, he thought the game was over.

• This was about as even a game as I’ve ever seen played, in almost every category. To wit: Fonda-Fultonville pitchers Shaw and Zach Valachovic threw 160 pitches over 11 innings, while Albany Academy hurlers Brown and Trevor Francesconi threw 161.
• Not mentioned in my story today (which can be found HERE), but the Braves are still tied for first place in a crowded Colonial Council. F-F, Academy, Schalmont and Voorheesville all have either three or four losses in league play, and the Braves have three remaining games against those opponents — one against Schalmont, two against Voorheesville — to try and separate from the pack. The Braves beat Schalmont in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season. The two Voorheesville games will be played May 9 and 14, the first game at Voorheesville, the second game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown — which will serve as a Braves’ home game in a make-up for a game that’s been postponed twice already.
• Your Weekly Absurd Strikeout Rate Watch: Fort Plain’s Marcus Failing continues to torture Western Athletic Conference batters. The senior southpaw struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings of relief Saturday against Berne-Knox-Westerlo, raising his season strikeout total to 51 in just 26 1/3 innings. I’d expect Failing to get his next start Friday in the Hilltoppers’ toughest game of the season so far, when they take on Saratoga Central Catholic at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy. That game will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel (Ch. 50./1803 HD) as part of a Section II doubleheader from Joe Bruno.
• As I write this, I’m getting set to head out to Shuttleworth Park for a crucial Big 10 tilt between Amsterdam and league-leading La Salle. The Rams snapped a four-game losing streak Friday in a 7-4 non-league win over Colonie and will now look to get back over the .500 mark in league play. In that win over Colonie, Ayden Healy belted his third home run of the season, the most hit by an Amsterdam player since Sean Whitty belted four in 2009.
• Also against Colonie, Amsterdam’s Julian Gallup continued his incredible stolen base success, swiping four more bags off a good catcher in Colonie’s Mike McKay. Gallup is listed on Amsterdam’s official website with 12 stolen bases through 11 games — though I’ve got him with at least three more (in box scores from games I’ve covered) and it could be even higher. Gallup has three games with at least three steals — three against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (including a delayed steal of home), four against Colonie and five (!) against Troy. Looking at that, it’s no wonder Amsterdam coach Brian Spagnola told me he’s strongly considering moving Gallup into the leadoff spot and putting Healy back in the No. 3 spot he occupied at the start of the season.
• It’s been a great pitching week for St. Johnsville, with pitchers John Vicciarelli and Kyle Smith allowing a combined three hits in back-to-back wins over Middleburgh and Sharon Springs on Monday and Tuesday. In Monday’s 9-0 win over Middleburgh, Vicciarelli — a sophomore — tossed a complete game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts.
• The Broadalbin-Perth Patriots got a key win Monday at Glens Falls to move to 4-3 in Foothills Council play. In the eyes of the Section II baseball committee, B-P actually has six league wins, since their victories over Class A Glens Falls and South Glens Falls count for double. That means B-P needs one more league win — against a Class A OR B school — to qualify for sectionals. That could come today at home in a rematch with Glens Falls.

That’s it for this week, I’ll be back next week looking at Fort Plain’s busy weekend (Friday night at Joe Bruno, then the Bo Baker Tournament on Saturday) and more.

–Adam Shinder

This week, however, the prime focus falls on the one area team that’s managed to fit all its scheduled games in thus far, the Amsterdam Rams.

So, on to the dazzling array of bullet points we go.

• After dropping its season-opener April 3 in a 3-1 decision against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Amsterdam has torn through its last five games at an incredible pace. The Rams got in the win column with a 7-3 road victory over South Glens Falls, then followed that up by sweeping their first two Big 10 series of the season — against Bishop Maginn and Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons — by the so-crazy-it’s-true total combined score of 65-5. Over the five-game win streak, Amsterdam has an absurd run differential of +64 and has outhit its opposition 80-9. That includes a hit differential of 33-0 during Saturday’s doubleheader against ND-BG at Shuttleworth Park, when the Rams got a seven-inning combined no-hitter from Zach Dufel and Kolbie Glionna in a 22-2 win, then a five-inning perfect game from Julian Gallup and Dylan Angelo in a 13-0 victory.
• Let’s take a moment to break down the Amsterdam offense. Head coach Brian Spagnola has used a different starting lineup in all five games, but since being held to a run (scored on a delayed double steal) on three hits in the opener, the Rams’ bats have found a massive spark. Through six games, Amsterdam is hitting an absurd .411, with a team OPS (on base + slugging) of 1.015. After whiffing nine times against BH-BL, the Rams have struck out just 12 times in the last five games — a string of 203 total plate appearances. Four Amsterdam hitters — Julian Gallup, Dan Renwick Andrew Rouse and Jason Agresta — are hitting at better than a .500 clip, led by Agresta’s .692 (9-for-13). All 16 Amsterdam players to have seen varsity action this year have at least one hit and two runs scored, and everyone except Ken Ribot (who has only four at-bats) has at least one run batted in.
• Senior centerfielder Ayden Healy has been the Rams’ only source of home run power, but by himself he’s already exceeded Amsterdam’s entire team home run total from 2012. Healy hit two home runs this week, whereas last year Amsterdam hit just one home run as a team — fittingly, by Healy himself in a game against Bishop Gibbons. Healy is hitting .389 with a team-high 10 runs batted in. Four of hits seven hits have gone for extra bases and his slugging percentage is through the roof at .889. Meanwhile, both Rouse and Agresta are reach base at a rate of better than 70 percent.
• On the mound, that stats are equally eye-popping. The Rams have used five pitchers (Zach Dufel, Dylan Angelo, Julian Gallup, Jason Agresta and Kolbie Glionna), who have worked to a combined earned run average of 0.90 in 39 innings. Dufel has done the most work so far, starting three games and throwing 11 2/3 innings while racking up a staff-high 22 strikeouts compared to just seven walks. Dufel, Glionna and Agresta have all yet to be charged with an earned run this season.
• Of course, this is nothing if not a small sample size, and as Bishop Gibbons and Bishop Maginn are likely to be fighting it out to stay out of the cellar in the Big 10, I don’t expect the Rams to be hitting better than .400 as a team by the time the regular season ends. They’ll be facing some serious pitching over the next few weeks, and I think the next seven games will go a long way to see where the Rams figure in the Big 10 — and the Section II Class A picture — at the end of the season. This week, it’s a home-and-home series with Troy High, then a home-and-home with Christian Brothers Academy, a non-league game against Colonie at Shuttleworth Park and a home-and-home with La Salle Institute. If Amsterdam comes out of that stretch with four or more wins, the month of May is going to look very bright.
• Talking about good pitching, here’s a couple more notes from around the area. First, the Broadalbin-Perth Patriots are off to a 2-1 start, with both wins coming in a Foothills Council series against Hudson Falls. Through three games, four B-P pitchers — Anthony Visco, Joe Zarecki, Phil Hemstreet and Mike Visco — have allowed just six hits and only three earned runs. Saturday against HF, Zarecki and the Visco brothers combined to strike out 13 in a three-hitter to spark B-P’s 8-1 victory. Meanwhile, the Fort Plain Hilltoppers had their schedule washed out last week, but I’d be remiss to mention the way the team’s pitching staff started the season. In wins over Canajoharie and Mekeel Christian Academy, Fort Plain pitchers Marcus Failing, Chris Hanifin and Jesse Heroth have compiled a combined 28 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched. That’s two out of every three outs the Toppers have recorded this season. Failing struck out an incredible 15 Canajoharie batters in a six-inning start, while Heroth pitched the seventh inning in each game and has fanned five of the eight batters who have stood in against him.

As the weather clears up and the schedule sorts itself out, we’ll have more to go on as time rolls on. See you next week.

— Adam Shinder

The Amsterdam softball team huddles after a preseason practice. (Photo by Michael Kelly)

Then, Mother Nature happened, indefinitely postponing the start to the 2013 season. My dream of causing mass hysteria now seems to be, at the very least, delayed.

However, Monday’s rain and Tuesday’s snow has not beaten my spirit. To keep y’all ready for the upcoming softball season — which is bound to start before the end of the school year, and likely as early as Wednesday — here are three thoughts on each of the six teams I visited this preseason, along with the links to the teams’ season previews.

(In advance, I’d like to apologize to Amsterdam’s Ashley P. and Broadalbin-Perth’s Caitlin R., since your last names are most likely going to be incorrectly spelled at some point.)

AMSTERDAM LADY RAMS

• The Lady Rams’ offense should be a high-scoring one. With Bayley Archinal and Hannah Cronk — for a full season; she was a midseason JV call-up in 2012 — likely atop the lineup, there should be runners constantly on base for head coach Brenden Cetnar’s team. Jordann Bernardo showed a fair amount of pop last season, too.

• I left out Ashley Przybylowicz up there because she deserves her own bullet point. Cetnar loves to rave about her defense behind the plate, but it is the junior’s offense that is truly astounding. The numbers from last season — three home runs, a .508 batting average and a .915 slugging percentage — are crazy good, but there is still room for improvement. The main area Przybylowicz could take a jump in is plate discipline because there were times a season ago in which Przybylowicz was clearly swinging for the fences. The slugging numbers likely cannot go up too much for Przybylowicz, but the on-base percentage could see a hike with a bit more patience.

• One of the players I am most interested to see this spring is pitcher Michela Puglisi. As a sophomore in 2012, Puglisi showed flashes of real talent and the rough experiences from last season should help to breed successes in 2013.

 BROADALBIN-PERTH LADY PATRIOTS

• Speed will be the Lady Patriots’ best weapon — at least, that is, according to the Lady Patriots. While such an attribute will help on offense, it should manifest itself organically on defense, where B-P deals with one of the area’s most challenging fields.

• Like Puglisi, pitcher Nicole Traver took her lumps a year ago while showing a clear skill for the position. After acting as the Lady Patriots’ No. 2 pitcher a year ago, Traver likely becomes the ace for Harrie Washburn’s squad this season — and how Traver responds to that move will play a huge role in determining how successful B-P’s season will be in 2013.

• B-P’s lineup includes the most interesting position change in the area: 2012 center fielder Caitlin Rasefske is now 2013 catcher Caitlin Rasefske, as the senior moves to her natural position behind the plate. I have no idea how good of a catcher Rasefske is — curiously, she ducked a pitch during the practice I was at, drawing a lot of laughs from her teammates and an extremely befuddled look from Washburn — but I like the move because it brings B-P’s team leader into a more prominent vocal role.

CANAJOHARIE LADY COUGARS

• Of the local teams I saw, the Lady Cougars have the most figuring out to do, especially on defense where the team’s few returning starters are shifting around.

• After Mayfield’s Anna Husain, no local pitcher probably controls her team’s success more than Shyanna Logan. The junior is one of the few Lady Cougars returning to a familiar position from a year ago, and she will need to be excellent for head coach Bridget Anderson’s squad to compete in the WAC North.

• Much like B-P, Canajoharie talked a lot about using its speed on offense. After losing their top two bats — Sylvia McFarlane and Mackenzie Stahler — to graduation, manufacturing runs will be the name of the game for the Lady Cougars.

FONDA-FULTONVILLE LADY BRAVES

• Likely no team is going to be better up the middle than the Lady Braves. When catcher Cassandra Egelston is behind the plate, Sam Hart is in the circle and the two Emilys (Frollo and Parslow) are playing second base and shortstop, F-F should boast the best middle of the diamond of the area teams.

• Another year into her switch to softball from baseball should make for a better season for Parslow. Head coach Kari Macdougall loved Parslow’s defense a year ago, and the sophomore’s offense should now be caught up. Still transitioning from playing baseball, Parslow’s swing last season was (sometimes) too loopy; if she has used the offseason to create a more level-swinging approach, she could take off in 2013.

• Likely the two best all-around players in the area are both catchers: Amsterdam’s Przybylowicz and F-F’s Egelston. It’s funny how different the two are on offense, though, with Przybylowicz acting as a masher and Egelston doing her damage one base at a time, using her speed to drive opposing defenses crazy. Watching Egelston dance off each base before stealing the next one is one of the more captivating things to see in the local softball scene.

FORT PLAIN LADY HILLTOPPERS

• It was funny: The team’s players said there was virtually no difference between new head coach Crystallee Quell and former head coach Katie McCumber, but the two seemed radically different to me. Quell seems like more of a taskmaster and has more interest in the strategic side of the game than McCumber — last year’s Lady Hilltoppers were content to let their best-in-the-WAC talent speak for itself, while I think Quell wants to try to manufacture more runs, small-ball style — and I think the change could benefit the club. It will be very interesting to see how the club reacts to its new coach as the season goes along.

• I think the most interesting player to watch this season in the area is freshman catcher Kendra Trembley. When I put together my All-Area team a year ago, she was the toughest omission and I don’t see how she doesn’t make the team this season. The talent was already there a year ago — she’s the best defensive catcher in the area — and now that she’s, you know, actually in high school and all, I’m expecting her production to take off. She’s taking on a leadership role this season, too, as Quell’s choice for a captain.

• The players’ pick for captain was senior pitcher Jamie Fredericks, who might be the best singular leader on any of the area’s softball teams. The thing I enjoy about Fredericks is that she is always into the game; if she was playing pick-up basketball at a park, she’d be the player full-court pressing from the get-go. I think her team feeds off her energy.

MAYFIELD LADY PANTHERS

• Of the teams I saw this preseason, I liked the vibe of the Lady Panthers the best. Mayfield has well-established leaders — Anna Husain, and Jen and Nicole Little — and genuinely seemed excited to get the season going. The day I saw them, the Lady Panthers were practicing in a parking lot while it sleeted, but the club didn’t seem like it minded the conditions one bit.

• A good chunk of the credit for Mayfield’s positive energy has to go to new head coach Jamie Hurd — whose youthful appearance gave me the best anecdote of the spring: Walking up to the Lady Panthers at their practice, I had a pair of players call out to me that I would not be able to pick who the coach was out of the pack. With a lot of luck — and a little bit of cheating; Hurd was the only one without a mitt on — I managed to prove the doubters wrong.

• There’s obvious things the Lady Panthers need to have happen to have a successful season — the Littles to carry the offense and improved defense from a year ago, when the Lady Panthers were, let’s say, very hit-and-miss — but the No. 1 things for Mayfield is to have another spectacular season from Husain. I think Mayfield is still behind Fort Plain in the WAC North in terms of overall talent — by a good amount — but Husain’s left arm can serve as an equalizer between the teams.

– Michael Kelly

Amsterdam enters tonight’s game with a 4-14 record out of the Big 10, while Queensbury is 8-9 out of the Foothills Council. The two clubs possess zero common opponents from the regular season.

Queensbury enters having lost its last game, and has played .500 basketball in its past month and change of basketball. Amsterdam has lost its last three games, a losing streak that came after the club’s best four-game stretch of the season.

Here are five things to watch for and keep in mind ahead of tonight’s game, which starts at 7 p.m. Also, here’s a link to today’s story about the Rams in the Recorder, as well as links to last week’s sectional seeding story about the team and the process in general for selecting the sectional field.

1. Let’s start with the best illustration of the difference between Big 10 basketball and the teams in the Class A field. All season long, when asked what they were worried about before facing the Rams, opposing coaches almost exclusively talked about limiting Luis Laboy, worried that his speed and streaky outside shooting could lead Amsterdam to an upset. What was never talked about by Big 10 coaches was dealing with the Rams inside, something Queensbury head coach Doug Fraser spoke about at length to me, worried that Amsterdam’s Robbie Sherlock could run wild against his big men, saying that the Ram is a “a very active athlete, a strong athletic forward, who is, like, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds.” Meanwhile, back a week ago in the world in which the Rams mostly operate, Sherlock was giving up at least three inches to the opposing center for Schenectady in Amsterdam’s Big 10 finale.
2. It is possible tonight could be a replay of the Rams’ most entertaining game of the season, their 95-80 loss to Mekeel Christian Academy back in December. Orapello has talked about wanting to constantly press Queensbury tonight, while Fraser has said that he knows his guys will be under full-court pressure all night and that his team will play a style that looks to exploit the Rams’ aggression. Where might Fraser get the idea for how to attack the Rams’ “diamond” pressure tonight? Why, from the one AHS game he has seen this season … the Rams’ 95-80 loss to MCA, a game in which the Lions hit 17 3-pointers in a run-and-gun contest.
3. But that’s not to say Queensbury necessarily has the personnel to play such a style. While Charles Peltz is a prolific scorer for the Spartans, the club averages only 54.9 points per game, with a high-game team scoring tally of 69. Besides Peltz, Troy Kelly is the Spartans’ next highest scorer at 7.6 PPG, but he is more of a shooter than a scorer; 63 percent of Kelly’s points have come on shots made from behind the 3-point line this season.
4. I like two guys as potential x-factors for Amsterdam tonight: senior AJ Centi and freshman Bryan Stanavich. Despite the limited minutes he has received, Centi is shooting with confidence right now and his limitations — while one of the Rams’ more sure-handed ball handlers in terms of a lack of committing turnovers, Centi had a hard time penetrating against Big 10 defenses; and, Centi often struggled on defense in Big 10 games because of the size of opposing perimeter players — should not be as much of a factor against Queensbury as they were against Big 10 foes. Instead, tonight’s game against a team that is similarly sized to Amsterdam should give a chance for Centi to get some serious minutes given his ability to score in bunches. Also — and this runs counter to what I just wrote a second ago — I could see Centi being a factor in the Rams’ press tonight. In the second half of the season, Centi has shown himself to be an enthusiastic participant in the Rams’ zone press when he gets the chance to play in it, and I could see his brand of wild-armed defense working well against a team with less physical guards. In Stanavich’s case, the freshman made every shot I saw him take at Monday’s practice and outplayed everyone on the court for about a 30-minute stretch. For the Rams to win, one of this pair needs to produce.
5. While I expect the Rams to be more athletic than Queensbury tonight, I think Amsterdam’s biggest advantage tonight is mental. Seeing the team a couple of times in the past week since its last game, the players seemed loose and not like a team worried about potentially playing its last game. I think the most admirable quality about this year’s Rams as a basketball team is how it responded to being overmatched physically nearly every night in the Big 10: Rather than approaching games with a somber, “can’t-win-so-why-bother-trying?” attitude, this season’s Rams took the mindset of “Hey — whatever is going to happen, it’s going to happen. Let’s just go play some ball.” With sectionals here, such an approach is the best one possible because it should allow Amsterdam to play its game unburdened of the pressure of expectations.

– Michael Kelly

When the Rams and the Patriots first met, Schenectady emerged with a 10-point win in a fun, fast-paced game. Both teams enter tonight’s game off a loss, as Amsterdam was pummeled in Troy last night, 84-40, and Schenectady lost by 14 points to La Salle Institute. With the sectional seeding meeting slated for tomorrow morning, both teams could use a victory to send their respective resumes into the committee with a nice final touch.

Here are five things to watch for and keep in mind ahead of tonight’s game. Also, here’s a link back to the story about the first game between these two teams, as well as the day-after blog post.

1. Early on, should be interesting to see what Schenectady does on defense. Like (literally) every other Big 10 team has done this regular season, the Patriots played a 3-2 zone defense against the Rams, but you might see SHS head coach Eric Loudis offer a slightly different version of his staple defense tonight. Amsterdam’s Luis Laboy had an electric game against the Patriots the first time around, scoring 30 points and grabbing seven steals, so the Patriots likely will throw some extra attention Laboy’s way early in this contest.
2. Ball control and pace should be pivotal, as well. AHS had a season-high 19 steals the first time these teams tangled, as Schenectady struggled at times to keep all of its limbs moving in unison in the fast-paced game. Look for AHS to try to speed this game up, while the Patriots should be trying to slow this one down to a crawl so they can take advantage of their size.
3. About that size advantage: Though Schenectady has a 6-foot-6 center in Darius Macon, that did not stop the Rams from out-doing the Patriots on the boards. Overall, it was a slim win, as AHS had 41 rebounds to Schenectady’s 40; percentage-wise, the Rams grabbed 60 percent of the boards on their glass, and 44 percent of the rebounds on Schenectady’s glass.
4. The thing that the Patriots did really well on offense the first time these teams played — when the Patriots were not coughing it up — was get the shots they wanted. SHS only took four 3-pointers, got to the line 33 times and shot 43 percent from the field. The only potential qualm: Maybe SHS should have shot more 3s, since the team made three of their four.
5. This is the Rams’ last tune-up before heading down to Class A for sectionals, so I expect tonight’s game to have a bit of a different feel to it. Look for the rotation to be a bit tighter and AHS to throw its “diamond” press out there a little bit earlier than normal.

– Michael Kelly

Here are five things to watch for and keep in mind ahead of tonight’s game at Amsterdam High School, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Also, here is a link to today’s story about the Rams in the Recorder, as well as the story from the time these two teams first met and the corresponding day-after blog post.

1. Bishop Maginn comes into tonight’s game off a 21-point victory against Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons and with a bad taste in its mouth from when it played the Rams earlier this season. In that game, a 71-66 win for the Rams, Maginn played without its best big man — 6-foot-5 Derrick Thomas Jr. — and felt like it got the short end of the stick when it came to the officials’ whistles. (However, I find it really hard to see things Maginn’s way when it comes to not getting the breaks; the Rams were granted 11 fewer free throws despite being fouled repeatedly at the end of the game, and one of Robbie Sherlock’s baskets early in the fourth quarter WAS NOT EVEN counted in the game’s official scoring because of an error.)
2. Demere Hannah was the biggest thorn in the side of the Rams the first time these two teams played. The senior poured in 21 points and all three of his made 3-pointers seemed to break momentum for the Rams. While Hannah had cooled off a bit in the beginning of January, the 6-foot swingman has scored 35 combined points in his last two games with eight made 3-pointers.
3. It should be interesting to see how much Amsterdam head coach Tony Orapello uses his bench tonight. When these teams first played, the Rams’ starters played pretty much the entire second half to pull out the win … but the Amsterdam bench is coming off its best effort of the season last game. How Orapello plays the balance between using what worked last time to what worked most recently should be something to watch for, especially early in the contest.
4. Predicting a bounce-back game from Sherlock tonight. Since his 15-point, eight-rebound night against ND-BG 10 days ago, the senior has had a pair of below-his-standard performances, but Maginn plays a zone defense with a lot of high pressure — that means that when Sherlock gets the ball tonight, he should have ample room to operate around the basket.
5. I write it a lot in this space, but I’ll write it again at the risk of becoming a self-parody: This is a big game for the Rams. With four wins and three games to go, this is Amsterdam’s best chance to get a fifth win and the Rams need to take advantage of it.

– Michael Kelly

Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

*****

5:50 p.m. (Michael Kelly): “He’s a Kaepernick. That’s the way it’s rolled with us.”

I’m not totally sure who said this — I think it was Colin Kaepernick’s father — but this will go down as the best quote of Super Bowl Sunday.

(For those who do not know: Colin Kaepernick was adopted as a youngster.)

Also, who does not love these pre-game features that include importanr things like “Hey — did you know Colin Kaepernick has tattoos?” as a theme? And shouldn’t America have gotten to know that Kaepernick has a 115-pound pet tortoise before people offered their predictions?

5:52 p.m. (Adam Shinder): CBS is programming “Elementary,” their modern take on Sherlock Holmes, directly after the game. Raise your hand if you’d have preferred they showed the vastly superior BBC version. Anybody?

…

Anybody?

…

Bueller?

5:54 p.m. (AS): Bill Cowher takes the Ravens, 28-26, apparently just because he hates Niners kicker David Akers, who he says will miss a game-winner at the final whistle.

5:56 p.m. (AS): As we stated in our 3-part Sideline Guys Super Bowl video special, Michael and I are both taking San Francisco in this game, while Recorder editor Charlie Kraebel and sports editor Paul Antonelli both went with Baltimore. No comments on the rumors that those who predict the game incorrectly will be forced to dress in the Statue of Liberty costume and dance outside your local Liberty Tax Service storefront.

5:58 p.m. (MK): It bears worth pointing out that Bill Cowher’s prediction for this game involves him believing that David Akers will miss a 46-yard field goal as time expires, allowing the Ravens to win, 28-26.

Two thoughts on this …

One: If this actually happens, Cowher spent too much time in the French Quarter this week studying up on Voodoo.

Two: Off camera, I am pretty sure that Cowher specificed that the Ravens’ 28 points was accrued through three touchdowns — one on a 104-yard kickoff return, another on a 21-yard pass from Joe Flacco to Ray Rice and the third on a 63-yard return from Ed Reed — one extra point, three safeties and a 52-yard field goal.

6:04 p.m. (AS): “Hello, friends” — Jim Nantz. CBS really should’ve replaced their football theme with the twinkle-twinkle Masters music just for that moment.

6:05 p.m. (MK): If I have one wish for this Super Bowl, it is that Phil Simms continues to refer to the 49ers’ quarterback as “The Kaepernick.”

6:06 p.m. (AS): Simms has apparently been surprised by how strong an arm Colin Kaepernick has. Former Major League Baseball draft pick Colin Kaepernick. Huh.

6:13 p.m. (AS): “Four-time Super Bowl participant Steve Tasker,” manning the 49ers’ sideline for CBS. Sorry, Bills fans.

6:15 p.m. (MK): As a general rule, if you are not allowed to enter with your team during the pregame for the Super Bowl so you can keep practicing, the team’s not too thriled with you. Poor David Akers.

6:17 p.m. (AS): I’m sure Jason Witten has done some wonderful humanitarian work to deserve the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, but for me, he wins it by virtue of the EPIC powder blue suit he wore to this game.

6:22 p.m. (AS): Prop Bet Update No. 1: Alicia Keys is playing the piano during the Star Spangled Banner … and singing v-e-e-e-e-e-r-r-r-r-y s-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w-l-y-y-y-y.

6:24 p.m. (AS): Prop Bet Update No. 2: National Anthem finishes in 2:34.5 after Alicia Keys decided she didn’t like Francis Scott Key’s original lyrics and rewrote the ending. “November Rain” didn’t last that long.

6:31 p.m. (AS): ACTUAL FOOTBALL TIME.

6:33 p.m. (AS): The 49ers have known what the first play of the game was going to be for most of this week. How do you line up in an illegal formation?

6:34 p.m. (MK): Phil Simms just told us he had said that he thought the 49ers were in an illegal formation on that first play. Seeing as he is mic’d up and, you know, the announcer, I can tell you that this did not happen.

6:40 p.m. (MK): For those NFL novices out there, the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback is not a relative of the quarterback from the movie/documentary, “The Replacements.” But, he and Shane Falco are friends and vacation together in the offseason.

6:41 p.m. (AS): Gorgeous throw over the top from Flacco to Anquan Boldin to get the Ravens on the board. 49ers apparently continuing the rope-a-dope philosophy they employed against Atlanta in the NFC title game. Worked before, but there are noticeable flaws in this plan.

6:45 p.m. (AS): Doritos? Goats? WHAT AM I WATCHING?

6:45 p.m. (MK): That commercial for Godaddy.com marked the first time that America has ever collectively “Eww’d” with anything involving Bar Refaeli.

6:51 p.m. (AS): Ray Lewis completely whiffs on tackling Frank Gore. Insert deer antler spray joke here.

6:54 p.m. (AS): San Fran on the board with a David Akers field goal. Take THAT, Bill Cowher.

7:00 p.m. (AS): And there’s the first mention during the game that the two head coaches are, in fact, brothers. Can’t believe it took this long.

7:05 p.m. (MK): After one quarter, I’ll say what we are all thinking: We really don’t give the Pro Bowl enough credit.

7:05 p.m. (AS): Quarter ends on a sack of Flacco as Michael Oher, no longer protecting his quarterback’s blind side, completely fails to block Ray McDonald. 7-3 Baltimore after a quick 15 minutes.

7:10 p.m. (AS): Baltimore safeties/linebackers can’t match up with Vernon Davis at all right now.

7:10 p.m. (MK): BREAKING: Quarterback in Super Bowl has “special” throwing ability, Simms says.

7:15 p.m. (MK): Adam’s response to the Calvin Klein commericial — “Dear, God!”

7:20 p.m. (MK): Adam’s response to me as I lunge for my keyboard after Phil’s latest Simmism — “Wait … I got that one,”

7:21 p.m. (AS): Simms on the Frisco defense: “They’re always bigger and better than the guys they’re playing, a lot of the time.” That sentence has caused the space-time continuum to collapse upon itself.

7:22 p.m. (AS): LaMichael James fumble ends up costing the Niners, as Baltimore turns it into a Flacco-to-Dennis Pitta TD pass. Ten TDs, no picks for Flacco, who will now throw a pick on his next attempt after I post this.

7:26 p.m. (AS): That trailer gives me no idea what “Star Trek Into Darkness” will be about — except SPAAAAAAACE, obviously — but it will be awesome.

7:35 p.m. (AS): Unreal. Ravens dial up a fake field goal with a direct snap to kicker Justin Tucker, who comes up a yard short of the first down. In some undisclosed bunker, Skip Bayless — who earlier this week re-asserted his stance that the field goal should be eliminated from the NFL — cackles with glee. The chill you just felt through go through your living room? That was the byproduct.

7:36 p.m. (MK): John Harbaugh is trying a little too hard to rub in that his kicker is better than his brother’s kicker.

7:45 p.m. (AS): Flacco’s deep throw to Torrey Smith broken up by 49ers CB Chris Culliver, who has Smith absolutely smothering him. Even Flacco can’t believe offensive pass interference wasn’t called.

7:48 p.m. (AS): Yet another team lets Jacoby Jones get absurdly wide open, and even though Flacco massively underthrows him and Jones catches the ball while sitting down, he gets up and barely jukes out two defenders to score and make it 21-3. Baltimore is living an absolute charmed life this postseason — everything works for them. 49ers really need a score before the half, because Baltimore gets the ball to start the third quarter.

8:01 p.m. (AS): Ravens lead 21-6 at halftime after San Francisco was held to a field goal at the end of the half when Kaepernick ate a sack because he didn’t get rid of the ball quickly enough on a rollout. Not a good performance from San Francisco in the opening 30 minutes — couple of poor decisions by Kaepernick, and the pass rush isn’t getting home enough to get to Flacco, who has been terrific thus far. Almost time for Beyonce’s halftime show, so back after that.

8:22 p.m. (AS): A guitar shot out fireworks during Beyonce’s halftime show. What I wouldn’t give to have been at the meeting between the producers and the local health and safety folks when that particular part of the show came up in conversation.

8:33 p.m. (AS): Jacoby Jones just broke the Super Bowl. Wow. 109-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half — longest EVER in the NFL.

8:36 p.m. (AS): Syracuse Alumni Braggadoccio: Arthur Jones with the sack of Kaepernick there. Also recovered the fumble earlier … aaaand the lights have gone out in the Superdome. Might be just the break the 49ers needed.

8:41 p.m. (AS): Half the lights in the Superdome went out at once. Personally, I blame Beyonce’s exploding guitar. Also, was there a prop bet on this?

8:48 p.m. (AS): Shannon Sharpe: “This is not the Atlanta Falcons they (the 49ers) are playing.” Michael and I pulled a double-take at the exact same time on that one.

8:51 p.m. (AS): A 20-minute power outage delay IN THE SUPER BOWL. Welcome to the theater of the absurd, ladies and gentlemen. This was real awkward on CBS for the two minutes after it happened, but kudos for filling time well barely two minutes after halftime ended.

9:10 p.m. (AS): Ready to go again after a 34-minute delay. Harbaugh brothers spent the power outage swapping ghost stories by flashlight.

9:24 p.m. (AS): Hey, there’s the 49ers offense! Kaepernick to Crabtree for the score, and this game finally becomes marginally more interesting than the power outage.

9:26 p.m. (MK): Sorry, readers — I got distracted from posting with putting together Monday’s paper. But, random thought: How crazy would it be with this game had some strange delay that ended up causing a complete shift in the game’s momentum?

9:32 (AS): Hey, there’s a football game going on!

9:33 p.m. (MK): SOURCES: Bill Cowher still thinks the 49ers should bench Colin Kaepernick.

9:36 p.m. (AS): It’s just not a Super Bowl without Clydesdales. By the way, “Cat’s in the Cradle” was obviously the rejected alternate choice for the soundtrack of this commercial.

9:39 p.m. (MK): Here’s how I think that conversation between Kaepernick and Alex Smith after the 49ers’ latest TD went.

CK: We’re going to do it!

AS: Stop saying ‘We’ to me.

CK: OK, Alex!

9:40 p.m. (AS): The NFL is investigating the cause of the power outage. This game is on CBS, somebody get the CSI folks on the case.

9:54 p.m. (AS): Despite 34 minutes of absolutely nothing happening on the field, that has to go on as the nuttiest single quarter in Super Bowl history.

10:05 p.m. (MK): Bill Cowher still thinks the Niners need to turn to Alex Smith.

10:08 p.m. (AS): I’m starting a petition to insert power outages into every Super Bowl that starts to turn into a laugher. Just think what wonders a blackout could’ve done for 49ers 55, Broncos 10.

10:16 p.m. (AS): Apologies for some long gaps between updates here, but this game has been mesmerizing the entire second half.

10:22 p.m. (AS): Well, at least David Akers can breathe easily. Ravens FG makes it a five-point game, basically taking him out of the equation for now.

10:29 p.m. (AS): Two-minute warning, 49ers inside the 10-yard line. The entire Chesapeake Bay area is crouching behind the couch with their eyes covered singing “LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU THIS ISN’T HAPPENING!”

10:45 p.m. (AS): A goal-line stand, some inexcusably bad officiating, an intentional safety and it’s finally over. The Baltimore Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII, 37-34. One for the history books, certainly.

10:50 p.m. (AS): A wild, unforgettable Super Bowl, and that wraps it up for us. We’re back to regularly scheduled high school sports programming during the week, but thanks for joining us for this tonight. Adios.

The date: February 2, 2013

The place: Gloversville High School

The significance: The Running Rams won the consolation game of a much-delayed holiday tournament, as the Amsterdam bench had its best day of the season.

And, now, let’s get to it …

• A really interesting game for the Rams as the team moves forward. When competing in the Big 10, Amsterdam is pretty much always at a physical disadvantage, eliminating the club’s margin of errors and basically making it impossible for the Rams to ever go on sustained runs. But against F-F — a team that is more similar to Amsterdam’s fellow Class A teams like Gloversville or Glens Falls than, say, the Big 10’s Class AA juggernauts like CBA — the Rams were able to run wild and use their physical skills to impose their will on the Braves. As a team, the Rams had 10 blocks and steals apiece, allowing the club to get out and have its best transition day of the campaign.
• The guy who stood the most out was Marcus Pritchard. As an underclassmen playing in his first varsity season, Pritchard has struggled at times to show off his skills because of the speed of the Big 10 game, but he was fully able to show off what he is capable of against the Braves. His dozen points in 14 minutes was impressive, but it was his five blocks that made one sit up and take notice.
• You really have to go back to the Rams’ win against Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons to find a game in which Amsterdam had multiple reserves play well before Saturday’s win. Let’s take a look at a few of those guys and what they accomplished Saturday …
• Andrew Druziak: Reestablished himself as a guard capable of getting into the paint on offense and serving as a tough-nosed defender. His seven points and three assists were solid for 17 minutes of action, but I thought it was his pressure defense that most stood out.
• Alonzo Martin: At times, the junior still looked a little skittish with the ball, but he was able to control himself enough — he had just one turnover — to score eight points and lead the Amsterdam offense with precision. If Martin can continue to play well, that is big for the Rams because it means that two starters — Billy Carr and John Hardies — do not have to split the 32 minutes at point guard.
• Andrew Rouse: After struggling in recent games with his shot, Rouse was 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point line on his way to eight points. Rouse’s minutes had decreased in recent games because his shot had betrayed him, but, if it is back, that means head coach Tony Orapello now can feel more confident about putting his best man-to-man defender on the floor.
• Eric Robertshaw, Juell Springs: The stat line was not beautiful for either — Robertshaw was 1 of 7 from the floor for three points; Springs had three points and four rebounds — but what mattered was that both showed aggression. At times, these two have been too passive on offense, but each looked for his shot Saturday and helped make things happen when on the court.
• Let’s take a quick sidestep to go over the funniest part of the game: Early on, Orapello was admonishing Carr to get the ball to Zach Dufel (11 points) in the corner more often. With the Braves in a tight zone, Orapello wanted his best 3-point shooter to get the ball on the perimeter because “he’s going to have a field day.” Carr nodded to Orapello, got the ball to Dufel on the wing on the next possession … and Dufel promptly air-balled the 3-pointer.
• Jokes aside, Dufel’s return to the lineup — this was his third game back — has been huge for the Rams, though. The senior has made eight 3-pointers and averaged 13 points per game since returning to the lineup after an ankle injury.

And, now, a smattering of F-F notes to wrap this up …

• The Braves have gotten a lot better from earlier this season, something head coach Eric Wilson talked about after the game. The biggest area they have improved in, in my eyes: Getting the ball to Will Turner down low. When I saw the Braves earlier this season, Turner had to come out too often to the perimeter to get the ball; now, he’s getting it within eight feet of the basket. Turner’s 28 points were efficient and steadily produced; he had 14 points in each half.
• I thought Ryan Derby (17 points) played a solid game. While his shot betrayed him a bit in the second half, the senior’s three first-half 3s were what kept the Braves in the game early.
• Luke Calkins’ line was unspectacular — two points, four assists — but the junior handled the Rams’ constant pressure. Besides only committing two turnovers, Calkins had a number of “hockey assists,” especially against the Rams’ press.
• Missing forward Zac Nowak, who was visiting a college, was tough for the Braves. Amsterdam only out-rebounded the Braves, 33-32, but the percentages — Amsterdam rebounded 73 percent of misses on its defensive glass, and 40 percent of misses on F-F’s glass — were in the Rams’ favor. (For first-time readers: Normally, teams should get about 67 percent of the rebounds on its glass.)

– Michael Kelly

The date: February 1, 2013

The place: Albany High School

The significance: The Running Rams failed in their quest to pick up a winnable game against a Class AA school, as the Falcons and Marquan Chandler proved to be too much.

And, now, let’s get to it …

• Amsterdam looked lifeless on defense. Earlier in the week, I had gotten to play therapist to Albany head coach Kenneth Danzy as the rookie coach lamented his club’s inability to limit its turnovers; then, Friday night, Albany committed just seven turnovers to Amsterdam’s 14.
• Eleven of those turnovers for the Rams were in the first half. Albany played a 2-2-1 full-court zone press and it really gave the Rams problems. But the issues were not so much in breaking the initial press; rather, the problems came when the Amsterdam big men got the ball in the frontcourt with too much space for their own good. Guys like Robbie Sherlock and Juell Springs got the ball a few times about 20 feet from the basket, leaving them in an uncomfortable spot on the court.
• Luis Laboy’s rough night did the Rams no favors, either. From his first air-balled 3-pointer, one could Laboy was going to struggle Friday night — he made 5 of 18 shots in the game for 15 points.
• Part of the problem for Laboy might have been the basketball. The contest was a Coaches Vs. Cancer game, so it was played with a pink-and-white basketball that was fresh out of the box. Laboy said the ball’s quality was fine, but that it was not broken in at all. “But everyone’s shot was affected, (not just mine),” Laboy said.
• The Falcons’ Chandler had his shot going in the third quarter, though. As the Rams were going on their shooting spree — Amsterdam made 7 of 9 shots to start the stanza, including4 of 4 from behind the 3-point line — Chandler went on one of his own, answering each Amsterdam make with one of his own.
• While Chandler’s third quarter was impressive, I thought Justin Holmberg’s first half (eight points, five rebounds) and Amir Shabazz’s second half (four points, four rebounds) were the difference for Albany. Those are two guys that the Falcons do not expect a ton of production from each night, but the duo played well in spurts Friday night to provide the home team with a jolt.
• Statistical peculiarity: The Rams had three players — Billy Carr, Zach Dufel and Laboy — score 10 or more points in Friday’s second half. Earlier this season, Amsterdam did not have a single player score in double figures in any of the club’s first three games.
• The Rams outdid the Falcons on the boards. Amsterdam corralled 44 rebounds to Albany’s 40. Even the percentages that I write about all the time were in the Rams’ favor; Amsterdam secured 69 percent of the rebounds on its glass and 36 percent of the rebounds on Albany’s backboard.
• Programming note: Been way behind on keeping my stat sheets, but that will be a problem fixed after today’s game against Fonda-Fultonville. Speaking of which, below are a few things to look for in today’s game between the two squads, which starts at 3 p.m. at Gloversville High School …

1. The Braves’ main advantage in today’s game is the presence of 6-foot-7 Will Turner, who scored 29 points last night in the Braves’ win. When it comes to Turner, there are two key questions: Can Turner stay out of foul trouble against the Rams, a quicker team than he is used to playing against in the Colonial Council? And, against the Rams’ 2-3 zone (in name only), will the Braves be able to get the ball to Turner enough on offense for the big man to be the difference in today’s game?
2. I mentioned above that the Rams are quicker than most — if not all — teams the Braves have faced this year. While both teams are likely to play zone today, the perimeter matchups are going to be interesting to watch to see how the Braves’ starting trio of Luke Calkins, Ryan Derby and Jake Sammons hold up against Amsterdam’s Carr, Laboy and John Hardies. Athletically, the Rams’ three are more physically gifted, so it is imperative for the Braves to keep those three from running wild.
3. The Gloversville court is going to matter in this one. It’s a true regulation size court (Read: It’s huge), which should help the offenses to create spacing for shooters. When AHS first played at GHS, the Rams scored a season-high 80 points and gave up 95; offense will not be lacking today if that game was any indicator.
4. Most interesting matchup: Braves head coach Eric Wilson and Rams head coach Tony Orapello. In terms of in-game coaching style, it is tough to think of two more different coaches than these two, especially with how each man views the use of timeouts. To summarize their views: If F-F gets up early in this game and goes wire to wire with the lead, there’s a chance zero timeouts will be called today.
5. Finally, let’s build on that point from above: There is a lot of pressure on Amsterdam today. In high school sports, I think there is nothing tougher to come back from dropping a game to a team in a lower classification — especially when the two schools are so close to one another. For that reason, a strong start is crucial for both teams. If AHS can get out to a quick start, its confidence might snowball and allow the Rams to run away with the victory; meanwhile, if F-F gets an early jump on the Rams — or is even just close entering the second half — it will not be surprising to see Amsterdam tighten up a bit. It should be a fun one.

– Michael Kelly

But, more importantly, tonight represents the Rams’ best remaining chance this season to earn another victory against a Class AA team. With sectionals just a couple weeks away and nobody — besides Scotia-Glenville — separating itself from the pack in Class A, Amsterdam’s seed could still be a decent one with a strong finish to the season. While the Rams’ 3-10 record is not a thing of beauty, if Amsterdam gets to the end of the regular season with five or six wins — with two or three of those coming against Class AA schools — my hunch is the Rams will be able to avoid the bottom third of the bracket.

Here are five things to watch for and keep in mind ahead of tonight’s game, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Also, here is a link to today’s story in the Recorder about the Rams, as well as an article on head coach Tony Orapello … and, from the way-back machine, here are links to my story from the teams’ first game and the day-after blog post.

1. I’ve covered Albany’s hot-shooting third quarter the first time these clubs met a few times, but here is the under-the-radar statistic of importance from the first game: Amsterdam shot a season-low eight free throws … and made one. Forget the fact that shooting 13 percent from the foul line even makes Shaquille O’Neal blush; how could the Rams, going against a small and young Albany team, only manage eight freebies? That number should be closer to 20 tonight.
2. This is an Albany team in a weird spot. While the Falcons are coming off a competitive game with CBA, Albany has not won a game against a Section II opponent since before the Mayans’ calendar was proven incorrect. Albany head coach Kenneth Danzy says the club’s biggest problem is turnovers, but finding a consistent scorer seems to be an issue, too.
3. To Danzy’s point: Expect the Rams to use their full-court zone pressure throughout tonight’s contest. In the second half against Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons last week, the Rams had a lot of success with their press by using the top man to guide the opposing ball-handler toward John Hardies, whose deflections led to AHS steals.
4. The x-factor for the Rams tonight: When these two clubs first met, Luis Laboy was still struggling to get anything going. Laboy had a then-season-high 10 points in the teams’ first meeting, but it is safe to expect a much higher output from Laboy in tonight’s contest.
5. Much like the contest against ND-BG last week, this is a game the Rams need to win. Playing in the Big 10, there are a lot of games that the Rams can lose without feeling bad about, but tonight is not one of them. A win tonight gives the Rams’ momentum heading into tomorrow’s game against Fonda-Fultonville; a loss means tomorrow becomes a much more pressure-packed day for the Rams.

– Michael Kelly

The place: Amsterdam High School

The date: January 25, 2013

The significance: Amsterdam earned its first win on its home court of the season, as the Running Rams’ seniors got the job done on their Senior Night. With the victory, the Rams moved into seventh place in the Big 10, ahead of the Golden Knights and Albany.

And, now, let’s get to it …

• From start to finish, the second half of this one was probably the Rams’ best 16 minutes of action this season. In all, Amsterdam outscored ND-BG by a combined tally of 43-24 in the third and fourth quarters.
• The energy was there from the start of the second half and it maintained. The best barometer of the Rams’ activity in the second half can be seen here: In the second half, Amsterdam took 15 more field goals than it did in the first half, and grabbed eight more offensive rebounds than it did in the first two quarters.
• Going along with that, AHS registered just five turnovers in the second half. The club had 12 in the first half.
• The end of the first half was ugly for the Rams. The team did not score for the final four minutes of the second quarter and head coach Tony Orapello refused to bail the club out by calling timeout; he sat motionless on the bench for the disastrous stretch (seven possessions garnered five turnovers and two missed shots; meanwhile, ND-BG scored 11 points). After the game, he called the stretch “embarrassing” and said he told the team at halftime that they had let him down.
• If the harsh words were a motivational ploy, it worked. The Rams were a different team in the second half, getting to loose balls and forcing ND-BG into 15 second-half turnovers.
• The numbers in the third quarter were incredibly in favor of the Rams. AHS outscored the visitors, 21-6; out-rebounded the visitors, 10-5, including a 7-3 advantage on the Knights’ glass; and, the Rams forced the visitors into nine turnovers in the quarter.
• Amsterdam senior John Hardies said the club needed to use that third quarter as a “trampoline” into the rest of its remaining games.
• As like in the first game these two teams played, ND-BG’s Dwayne Freeman got his points, as he scored 22 to up his season tally against the Rams to 49. But, also like the time these teams first played, Freeman was a volume shooter to get his points; the senior guard was 6 of 18 from the field.
• I think the most surprising statistical line coming from this game belonged to Zach Dufel, who returned from his injury. The senior had nine rebounds, four more than his previous season-high tally.
• Speaking of Dufel … What stood out about this game’s fourth quarter — as opposed to the fourth quarters in the Rams’ other two wins this season — was that AHS really made winning basketball plays in the final minutes of this contest, rather than just holding off the other club. When the Knights got to within three points, the team got the ball to its best scorer (Luis Laboy) in transition for a bucket; then, the team worked the ball around the perimeter on its next possession until it found the team’s best shooter (Dufel) for a 3.
• This was a huge win for the Rams. Amsterdam will now be seeded above the Knights in sectionals and the Rams have a chance to move up into sixth place in the Big 10 when this regular season is all said and done. If Amsterdam takes care of business next week and defeats both Albany and Fonda-Fultonville, the Rams’ seed starts moving more toward the middle of the Section II Class A pack.

– Michael Kelly

The two teams met in Schenectady back in mid-December, a game which the Rams emerged from with a five-point victory. But while the significance of a meeting between these two teams remains the same — Class A rivals fighting for postseason positioning — much has changed for the two squads since their first contest.

Here are five things to watch for and keep in mind ahead of tonight’s game, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Also, here are links to today’s stories about the Rams and Rayshawn Rollins in the Recorder, as well as links to the story about Amsterdam’s first game with ND-BG and that contest’s day-after post.

1. To the idea of tonight’s game being a lot different than the clubs’ Dec. 11 meeting: In that game, Amsterdam’s leading scorer was Alonzo Martin (17 points) and Luis Laboy registered just six minutes of action. While that is the most obvious sign of how things have changed — Martin did not see action in the Rams’ latest game, while Laboy is now the team’s leading scorer — so have the starting lineups, rotations, etc. for the two teams. It is hard to take anything from the teams’ first game and say it will translate to tonight’s contest.
2. With that said, some things to note from that December game: Amsterdam made just 20 of 36 free throws. … ND-BG was 1 of 13 from 3-point land. … Percentage-wise, the teams were dead-even on the boards. AHS grabbed 67 percent of rebounds on its glass and 33 percent of boards on ND-BG’s glass. … Both teams turned the ball over frequently, but the difference was that ND-BG’s turnovers came in the form of AHS steals, making it so that the Rams got easy points off fast-breaks.
3. Senior Night mojo could be a factor tonight. The Rams’ seniors really enjoy playing together and getting Zach Dufel back — he will start, head coach Tony Orapello says — should be a nice lift for the team’s morale and big-man rotation. (Speaking of which, I should say this: Last week, I mentioned how lineups with both Marcus Pritchard and Robbie Sherlock have really struggled on the offensive end. Well, Friday against CBA, the Rams’ best lineups were ones that had both in there, as Pritchard moved to playing more from the foul line and leaving the lower left block to Sherlock.) It should be noted that despite the Rams’ record (2-10), the club was 2-2 in its four games and playing its best basketball prior to Dufel’s injury
4. When these teams first met, Amsterdam used its abundance of perimeter players to force ND-BG star Dwayne Freeman into a rough shooting night. In some respects, that was easy for the Rams to do because of how little support Freeman got from his teammates early in the season — but now the senior is getting help. How AHS deals with guys like Brandon Maloney (16 points in ND-BG’s Friday win) will determine whether the Rams are winners tonight.
5. This is the most important game left on the Rams’ regular-season schedule. It is Amsterdam’s last contest against a Class A team, and ND-BG is — per head coach Jay Mahoney — going to sectionals this year, so a second win against the Golden Knights would seal AHS being the top-seeded team in the Class A field from the Big 10.

– Michael Kelly

Today, we’ll rank the boys and girls teams in Class B and Class C, and you can come back Friday for Class A and D rankings.

Exposition over, let’s go on with the show…

***

CLASS B BOYS

1. Watervliet Cannoneers (5-7, 3-5 Colonial Council): Ignore the record, as Watervliet forfeited its first five wins from earlier this season because of an ineligible player on their roster. The Cannoneers still have one of the elite players in all of Section II in senior guard Jordan Gleason, while his backcourt mate Tyler McLeod only returned to the lineup last week after being absent for a month and has scored 30 and 17 points in his first two games back. ‘Vliet has won this title each of the last two years and was the runner-up to Fonda-Fultonville the year before, and right now, there’s no reason not to consider them the favorite — though the forfeited wins will impact their seed.

2. Catskill Cats (13-1, 11-1 Patroon Conference): Catskill lost to Cairo-Durham at home Jan. 15, splitting the season series between the top two teams in the Patroon, but I still give the edge to a Catskill team that’s had deep sectional runs each of the past two years and has a top-shelf scorer in Jordan Brantley, who is averaging 16.7 points per game.

3. Mekeel Christian Lions (9-2, 5-0 WAC South): MCA opened the season with back-to-back losses to Mayfield and Mechanicville, but from that point, coach Chad Bowman’s crew has reeled off nine straight victories — including a home-and-home sweep of Berne-Knox-Westerlo, their top rival in the South Division. The Lions shoot the lights out (evidenced by their 95-80 win over Amsterdam at the Gloversville Holiday Tournament), and are averaging nine 3-pointers a game as a team. The trio of Caleb Stewart, Spencer Bath and Courtney Penson has combined to knock down 78 3-pointers, led by 37 (third-most in Section II) by Bath.

4. Cairo-Durham Mustangs (11-2, 10-1 Patroon): Ranked 18th in the latest statewide Class B poll, the Mustangs are on a roll, having won six straight and nine of 10 since an early-season home loss to Catskill. The only loss during that stretch came against Section IX foe Saugerties in a 55-51 decision Dec. 22. C-D is thriving on balance, with Brendon Halligan, Casey Ballard and Sawyer Spohler all average between 10 and 14 points per game.

5. Schuylerville Back Horses (11-1, 9-0 Wasaren League): The Black Horses area two-man show on offense with Shane Lyon and Dan Waldron, but Schuylerville plays absolutely terrific defense. Since allowing 48 points to Cohoes in their season opener and 47 points to Broadalbin-Perth in their next game — the Horses’ only loss of the season, and without Lyon in the lineup — Schuylerville has held 10 straight opponents to 40 points or less.

Local teams: The Fonda-Fultonville Braves and Broadalbin-Perth Patriots both fall mid-pack right now in a crowded Class B landscape. The Braves got a big confidence-boosting win Friday night over Mechanicville to stop a five-game losing streak, and if Ryan Derby and Russ Williams can continue the hot shooting they displayed in that game to complement Will Turner, the Braves will be a tough out come sectionals. Meanwhile, B-P has been up-and-down playing against bigger schools in the Foothills Council, but with four of its last six regular-season games at home, could build some momentum down the stretch.

CLASS C BOYS

1. Hoosic Valley Indians (12-1, 8-1 Wasaren): Led by John Rooney, who’s averaging 19 points per game and has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, the Indians are ranked third in the state, with their only loss coming Dec. 19 against league-leading Schuylerville. Those two teams meet again a week from tonight.

2. Lake George Warriors (11-1, 10-1 Adirondack League): LG won its first 11 games this season before running into state Class D No. 1 Argyle and super-scorer Joey Lufkin last Friday. That said, the Warriors have an elite scorer of their own in senior forward Joel Wincowski, who sits second behind Lufkin among Section II scoring leaders at 27 ppg.

3. Canajoharie Cougars (12-2, 10-1 WAC North): Maybe a slight reach for the Cougars in this spot, but I give credit to any team that wins close games the way the Cougars do. Canajoharie has won nine straight games since an early December loss to Fort Plain, with six of those decisions coming by six points or less. Canajoharie already has the WAC North title sewn up under first-year coach Phil Schoff.

4. Schoharie Indians (8-3, 5-2 WAC South): The Indians, who lost to Canajoharie during the Cougars’ holiday tournament, got a leg up for second behind MCA in the WAC South with a win over Berne-Knox-Westerlo. The two teams meet again Feb. 1 at B-K-W, likely to determine who will face Canjo in the WAC Cup semifinals.

5. Greenwich Witches (9-4, 5-4 Wasaren): Greenwich has cooled off since a 4-0 start that included a win over Canajoharie, but the Witches have won three of their last four, the only loss in that stretch being a 48-40 loss to Schuylerville.

Local teams: Unlike Canajoharie, close games haven’t gone the way of the Fort Plain Hilltoppers, who suffered close losses to Mayfield, St. Johnsville and Canjo and will likely need to run the table — which includes reversing a 47-point loss to Spa Catholic — down the stretch to reach the WAC Cup. Meanwhile, the Mayfield Panthers are also in contention for second place in the North along with Spa Catholic, Fort Plain and St. Johnsville, with the combo of Dylan Toscano and Ryan Hennessy leading the way.

CLASS B GIRLS

1. Watervliet Lady Cannoneers (11-1, 10-1 Colonial): Watervliet’s only loss came to Holy Names, the top-ranked team in the state Class A poll, and have decimated most Colonial Council opponents with 20 ppg scorer Aaliya Demand leading the charge.

2. Tamarac Lady Bengals (12-1, 8-1 Wasaren): Second behind state Class C No. 1 Hoosic Valley — the only team to beat Tamarac thus far this season — Tamarac has wins over Class A Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake and Class AA Columbia behind the stellar duo of Jenna Erickson and Brianna Matazinsky. Right now, the top two are the clear class of the field.

3. Cohoes Lady Tigers (8-4, 7-3 Colonial): Like Maple Hill, Cohoes doesn’t feature a single dominant scorer, but the foursome of Nera Brajac, Shadasia Alston, Isabella Vanelli and Abby Fitzgerald all average at least 8 points per game and have helped the Lady Tigers stake second place behind Holy Names in Division I of the Colonial Council.

4. Ravena-Coeymans-Selkrik Lady Indians (8-4, 7-3 Colonial): An almost identical resume to Cohoes, save for a 53-49 head-to-head loss in mid-December. Kayla Hoatling, Shelby Preston and Hope Rebeor give R-C-S a strong trio to rely upon.

5. Broadalbin-Perth Lady Patriots (8-4, 2-4 Foothills Council): After starting the season 2-3, B-P has won six of its last seven behind the tandem of Kaitlin Wood and Katie Herba. All four of B-P’s losses have come to Class A teams (Scotia-Glenville, Glens Falls, South Glens Falls and Queensbury).

Local teams: The Fonda-Fultonville Lady Braves are a half-game out of the cellar in Division II of the Colonial Council, plagued by uneven play and a tendency to fall into some difficult early holes. Emily Parslow has come on as of late, averaging 21.6 points over her last five games.

CLASS C GIRLS

1. Hoosic Valley Lady Indians (11-2, 9-0 Wasaren): Hoosic Valley lost two of its first three games, falling to a Catholic Central team in contention for the Big 10 title and a Scotia-Glenville team that still had its BYU-bound star Cassie Broadhead. Since then, HV is unbeaten in 10 games, with only Tamarac coming within single digits. Those two teams meet again Friday night on the Lady Bengals’ home court.

2. Maple Hill Wildcats (13-1, 12-0 Patroon): Unbeatable inside the Patroon, MH doesn’t have a single player averaging double figures — Lindsay Mannion leads the way at a shade under 10 points per game — but has an impressive non-league win over a strong B-K-W team and has only lost to Class A Mohonasen.

3. B-K-W Lady Bulldogs (11-1, 7-0 WAC South): B-K-W has Section II’s leading scorer in Liz Harvey (22.5 ppg), and save for a 47-43 loss to Maple Hill at Mohonasen’s holiday tournament, has steamrolled most of its competition and stands as the No. 9 team in the state and the class of the WAC South.

4. Fort Plain Lady Hilltoppers (12-1, 9-0 WAC North): Fort Plain’s lone loss came by 20 points at South Division second-place team Middleburgh, but the undermanned Lady Toppers — with a roster of just seven players — still have one of Class C’s most potent 1-2 punches in Abby Boyer and Haley Kilmartin.

5. Hoosick Falls Lady Panthers (8-4, 6-3 Wasaren): Third in the Wasaren behind a pair of powerhouses in Hoosic Valley and Tamarac — the two teams that account for HF’s three league losses — the Panthers’ only other setback came in the season opener against Class A Glens Falls.

Local teams: Behind Fort Plain, the Galway Lady Eagles lead the local charge, sitting a solid second in the WAC North behind a balanced offense that doesn’t feature a single scorer averaging double figures. The Canajoharie Lady Cougars sit right behind Galway in the WAC standings heading into Friday’s meeting between the two teams in Galway — which won the first matchup of the season — while the Mayfield Lady Panthers have improved vastly for a season ago but have hit a rough patch with six losses in their last seven games.

–Adam Shinder

The place: Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie

The date: January 18, 2013

The significance: In their attempt to record the upset of the year in boys basketball, the Running Rams came up several minutes and a few baskets short.

And, now, let’s get to it …

• A quick analysis: In this one, the Rams were one 6-foot-5 body away from blowing the Brothers out of their home gym. Amsterdam’s expansive 2-3 zone gave CBA fits all night, but the Brothers’ 6-foot-7 Greg Stire grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and scored 32 points to help the Big 10 co-leaders hold off Amsterdam.
• More on Stire: I had not really seen him play this year — he got into early foul trouble against the Rams in the teams’ first meeting — and he carried the Brothers. Thirty-two points and 18 rebounds were the numbers of note, but he also shot 9 of 10 from the foul line and came up with baskets when his team needed them the most. The baskets that stick out the most are his 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half to give CBA the halftime advantage and his shot-clock buzzer-beater from the top of the key midway through the fourth quarter.
• Best quote of the night came from Amsterdam’s John Hardies, who I asked earlier in the week to go over with me what the Rams would need to do to stay close with CBA and possibly pull off the upset. He told me the Rams would need to slow the game way down (check), get out on CBA’s shooters (check) and not turn the ball over very much (mostly a check). “Pretty good prediction, right?” he asked me after the game. So, maybe Hardies has a future as an analyst.
• Regarding those “checks” from above: CBA’s 54 points were its fourth-fewest of the season; the Brothers shot 4 of 22 from 3; and, Amsterdam had 15 turnovers, a third of which came in the fourth quarter when the game turned — pun intended — for the Rams.
• The first three quarters could not have gone much better for Amsterdam. The Rams ran their offense efficiently, slowed the game down and used their zone defense to really bother the Brothers, who looked out of sorts on offense all night.
• Considering the level of competition, the first several minutes of the third quarter were the Rams’ best of the season. Amsterdam started the half on an 11-0 run and really played with some swagger. The plays that stick out are Bryan Stanavich’s steal and ensuing 3-point play, and Luis Laboy getting up and blocking Stire’s layup attempt.
• Laboy had 11 points in the third quarter.
• It is not fair to say that things got away from the Rams in the fourth quarter; more than anything, the Brothers finally woke up and Amsterdam’s main offensive issue — a lack of a creator off the dribble capable of getting easy shots for teammates — finally hurt the team. In the final six minutes of the game, CBA’s defense tightened and the Rams kept finding themselves in uncomfortable positions on the court.
• I’ve said this before, but it was hard to not feel bad for Robbie Sherlock last night. CBA’s front line is massive — besides Stire, Nathaniel Robinson is 6-foot-6 and Brian Renauld is 6-foot-5 — and Amsterdam’s 6-foot-4 Juell Springs battled foul trouble all night. Sherlock did everything he could to keep Stire off the offensive glass, but he could not keep the Brother off the boards in the fourth quarter.
• “Well, he only played the whole game,” was AHS head coach Tony Orapello’s take on Sherlock wearing down late. The senior did play all 32 minutes, the first time a Ram has done that this season. Previously, Sherlock’s season-high was 28 minutes logged in a contest.
• Another point on the rebounding: The referees decided early on to (mostly) let the teams play in this one. It was a decision I liked and I thought the referees were very consistent throughout the contest, but it did seem like some of Stire’s offensive rebounds could have been over-the-back calls. Just my two cents.
• Another point on the officials: Two missed goal-tending calls against CBA, one of offense and one on defense. Typically, I think it is really tough to expect high school officials to make goal-tending calls because of how rare a situation it is in high school basketball that there is a player capable of committing the infraction, BUT several teams in the Big 10 — CBA, Schenectady and Troy quickly come to mind — have players capable of committing the violation. This needs to be a point of emphasis with officials of Big 10 games.
• Some quick-hitters to wrap this up …
• Nice bounce-back game from Billy Carr, who scored eight points in 12 minutes. Carr’s lost his starting spot for a couple of games now, but I think he did a lot in Orapello’s eyes to earn back some trust with this game.
• Zach Dufel did not get into the contest. With the Rams playing as well as they did, there was not a time favorable to letting Dufel try out his ankle in this one.
• This was the first game in which Amsterdam did not really make an impact with its offensive rebounding. The Rams managed just five offensive boards, six fewer than its previous low this season.
• The Rams are off Tuesday. The team’s next game is Senior Night this Friday against Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons, which won its first game of the season last night.

– Michael Kelly

Here are five things to watch for and keep in mind ahead of tonight’s game, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Also, here’s a link to today’s story about the Rams in the Recorder, as well as a link back to a story about the team’s first game with CBA and the day-after blog post from that one.

1. CBA comes into tonight’s game on a roll, seemingly spurred by the team’s loss to Bethlehem in a holiday tournament. That loss — which made many write off the inexperienced Brothers for this season — has been followed by three wins by an average of 31.7 points per game.
2. Efficiency is the name of the game tonight. When these two teams met back in December, Amsterdam committed 17 turnovers and shot 23.9 percent from the field; meanwhile, CBA had seven turnovers and shot 55 percent from the floor. When one looks at those numbers, it is surprising that the Rams only lost by 36 points.
3. In comparison to the time these two teams first met, the Rams’ 3-point shooting should be a lot better tonight. AHS was 1 of 13 from 3-point land back in December, but the Rams at a pretty reasonable rate (19 of 52) in their last three games.
4. Someone who could factor into that 3-point shooting is Zach Dufel, who should be returning — somewhat — tonight. The senior is in line to get a few minutes tonight in his first game back from an ankle injury, and it should be interesting to see when he gets into the action. Dufel seemed to think earlier this week that he’d get in more toward the end of the game, but I think it might be wiser to start him, either at the very beginning of the game or the second half. That way, his ankle will be loose from warming up and his presence at the start might help spur on his teammates.
5. If the Rams want to pull off the upset tonight, a key will be for the team to get at least one of the Brothers’ forwards in foul trouble. Last time the teams played, AHS got CBA’s Greig Stire into early foul trouble, something that helped the Rams make up for CBA’s size advantage and keep the game close through the first 12 minutes of action.

– Michael Kelly