My thoughts ... after the jump
CLASS AA:
In my preview, I said the following:
"But until we get to the semifinals, I'm not seeing any real upsets. The top teams look to be too strong for the lower seeds to topple."
Boy was I ever wrong.
ROUND OF 16 - All games played Tuesday 2/18
B8 - Bishop Maginn 48, S1 - Shenendehowa 80
S5 - Saratoga Springs 76, B4 - Schenectady 65
S7 - Bethlehem 43, B2 - Green Tech 63
B6 - Colonie 63, S3 - Shaker 69
B7 - La Salle 50, S2 - Guilderland 75
S6 - Ballston Spa 53, B3 - CBA 63
B5 - Albany 70, S4 - Columbia 74
S8 - Niskayuna 59, B1 - Catholic Central 57
Two startling statistics show up here. First was the inability of the teams from the Big 10 Conference, sans CBA, to emerge victorious.
And then, of course, the startling upset of Catholic Central.
And they took it hard, as witnessed in this photo by the Troy Record's Mike Cioffi.
The door to the CCHS boys locker room. pic.twitter.com/ULe7OcryGs
— Mike Cioffi (@MikeCioffi1) February 19, 2014
That number of retweets is deceiving. That's because our retweet of that photo with the caption, "Oh my", was retweeted another 43 times, and was probably retweeted countless times on top of that.He recaps the game here, and like that the highest ranking Class AA team in Section 2 is done for the season.
The difficulties of the Big 10 to win on Tuesday could make for trouble for Class A teams Amsterdam and Bishop Gibbons, both who play tonight.
SECTIONAL QUARTERFINALS: All games played Saturday 2/22 at Hudson Valley Community College
S5-Saratoga Springs vs. S1-Shenendehowa - 7:45PM
S3-Shaker vs. B2-Green Tech - 4:15PM
B3-CBA vs. S2-Guilderland - 2:30PM
S4-Columbia vs. S8-Niskayuna - 6:00PM
All four games are compelling matchups. We'll preview them on Friday.
CLASS B:
The only team that has knocked off Voorheesville this season is out, and that's a shame because I would have loved to see those two play on Friday. I also would have loved to see Hoosick Falls play them so that the Panthers would have the chance to get the unusual distinction of defeating three defending state champions all in one season.
That team is Watervliet, a team that I had marked as a potential Final Four team.
ROUND OF 16
16-Stillwater 37, 1-Voorheesville 65
9-Watervliet 47, 8-Catskill 56
12-Johnstown 50, 5-Mechanicville 62
13-Fonda 41, 4-Mekeel Christian Academy 53
14-Hudson 58, 3-Cohoes 57
11-Schulyerville 56, 6-Broadalbin-Perth 63
10-Schalmont at 7-Taconic Hills - Wednesday 7PM
15-Coxsackie-Athens 28, 2-Hoosick Falls 73
But the real shock in this bracket is the loss of the Cohoes Tigers, who had to endure a tight game against Hudson throughout. Heading in, Cohoes had lost only two games all season long, against Voorheesville and Scotia. While I didn't have them written down as a final four team, they were that type that you could understand had they made it that far.
Outside of those two, the bracket went the way I had predicted.
SECTIONAL QUARTERFINALS - All games played Friday 2/21
1-Voorheesville vs. 8-Catskill - 8PM at Hudson Valley Community College
5-Mechanicville vs. 4-Mekeel Christian Academy - 6:30PM at Hudson Valley Community College
14-Hudson vs. 6-Broadalbin-Perth - 5PM at Shenendehowa
10/7 winner vs. 2-Hoosick Falls - 6:30PM at Shenendehowa
The middle matches look to be the closer games of the four. Like with AA, we'll preview them come Friday.
CLASS C:
It's too early to make judgement of the path of the C playoffs, as only three of the eight games have been played.
ROUND OF 16
16-Whitehall at 1-Hoosic Valley - Wednesday 7PM
9-Berlin 61, 8-Canajoharie 64
12-Schoharie 47, 5-Waterford 57
13-Fort Plain 41, 4-Greenwich 69
14-Hadley-Luzurne at 3-Spa Catholic - Wednesday, 7PM
11-Berne-Knox-Westerlo at 6-Rensselaer - Wednesday, 7PM
10-Maple Hill at 7-Duanesburg - Wednesday, 7PM
15-Middleburgh at 2-Lake George - Wednesday, 7PM
Greenwich had a slow start, but bounced back to make easy work of Fort Plain, and sets up a meeting with Waterford on Friday, which could be very tight. The bracket's top 3 seeds will play tonight, and of the three, I'm interested in seeing whether Spa Catholic can bounce back from their loss in the WAC title game against one of the better western division teams in the Adirondack League.
QUARTERFINALS
16/1 winner vs. 8-Canajoharie - Friday, 5PM at Hudson Valley Community College
5-Waterford vs. 4-Greenwich - Friday, 8PM at Shenendehowa
14/3 winner vs. 11/6 winner - Saturday, 11AM at Hudson Valley Community College
10/7 winner vs. 15/2 winner - Saturday, 12:45PM at Hudson Valley Community College
As only one game is set in stone, I'll reserve comments for now.
CLASS D:
There will be a Washington County team in all four games at Stillwater on Saturday. And that's good news for us when we will broadcast the games on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.
ROUND OF 16
1-Argyle - BYE
9-Northville 58, 8-Loudonville Christian 31
5-North Warren - BYE
4-Fort Ann - BYE
3-Hartford - BYE
11-Fort Edward at 6-St. Johnsville - Wednesday 7PM
10-Salem 70, 7-Heatly 54
2-Germantown - BYE
You have to feel good about the Adirondack League when five teams make it to the Quarterfinals, and with Fort Edward playing tonight, there's a potential for six of the eight teams to come from the league. Northville is the feel-good story of the tournament, making headlines in the local media thanks to Tim Monette, who despite enduring a rare form of cancer, suits up for the team and saw playing time last night against Loudonville Christian.
QUARTERFINALS - All games Saturday 2/22 at Stillwater
9-Northville vs. 1-Argyle - 6PM
5-North Warren vs. 4-Fort Ann - 1PM
11/6 winner vs. 3-Hartford - 2:30PM
10-Salem vs. 2-Germantown - 4:30PM
North Warren is firing on all cylinders and could be an upset watch to look out for should they get past Fort Ann. The Cougars have won six of their last seven, including a crossover game against Hartford yesterday. The early game could become the tightest game of the bunch, and for good reasons.
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