Hobbs keeps Queensbury scoreless, Blue Streaks win 5-0

GLENS FALLS - On a day where Queensbury paid tribute to Breast Cancer survivors and victims, Danny Hobbs turned aside all shots he was faced with as the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks shut out the Queensbury Spartans 5-0.

The win kept the Blue Streaks on pace with the Shenendehowa Plainsmen for the top spot in the CDHSHL, with the two teams slated to meet next Wednesday at Weibel Avenue Arena in a game that could determine the winner of the DelVecchio Cup.

Hobbs stopped 24 saves in the shutout, 13 of which came in the 1st period as the Spartans kept the Blue Streaks off the scoreboard in the 1st period.

But Jake Fauler netted his 8th of the season off assists by Josh Dagle and JT Rafferty 2:47 into the second period to give the Blue Streaks the 1-0 lead, and then scored again nearly three minutes later to double their lead.

JT Rafferty deflected a Austin Patterson shot to extend the lead to 3-0, and Josh Dagle earned his third point of the game on the power play to give the Blue Streaks four goals in the period.

Queensbury took chances, but was unable to net a goal in the third period.  Evan Conlin was pushed away by Eric Jess before he was able to get a quality scoring chance on Danny Hobbs.  But Saratoga kept the play in the Queensbury zone for the most part, getting chance after chance at Otto Miller, who was replaced by Teddy Nolan in the middle of the second period.

Towards the end, the game turned a little chippy as a couple Blue Streaks went down on a scramble in front of Teddy Nolan, resulting in Zach Guzi to drop the gloves and get some shoves and punches on Trevor Metcalfe.  Metcalfe refrained from dropping the gloves, then was further restrained by Teddy Nolan.  Zach Guzi earned a game misconduct for fighting with 1:47 left in the third period, and was still animated as he slammed the locker room door open after being told to leave the ice.

The Spartans, whose last goal came in the third period against CBA on January 15th, fall to 4-12 on the season as they travel to Bethlehem to face the Eagles on Friday night.  Saratoga will have a week off as they prepare for their second meeting with the Shenendehowa Plainsmen next Wednesday.  The Plainsmen are undefeated in league play and won the first meeting at Clifton Park Arena 4-2 back in December.

It was Queensbury's annual "Pink in the Rink" event, as they honored those affected by breast cancer by wearing pink jerseys with special names/organizations on the back.  At the end of the game, the Spartans gave their jerseys to those names honored on the jerseys.  The night's 50/50 and "chuck-a-puck" proceeds, as well as basket raffle receipts, would be donated to the Double H Ranch in Lake Luzurne.

Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks at Queensbury Spartans
Saratoga Springs    0   4   1   5
Queensbury          0   0   0   0

1st Period: No Goals

2nd Period: Fauler (8), from Dagle (7) & Rafferty (1) - 2:47; Fauler (9), from Dagle (8) - 5:37; Patterson (1)*, unassisted - 8:18; Dagle (10) - PP, unassisted - 11:53

3rd Period: Paton (7), from Luse (5) & Russel (4) - 6:31

* - Scoresheet indicates Patterson was credited with the goal, however, the shot was deflected in by JT Rafferty on the far post.

Boys Hoops - Our Top 4 for each classification

As sectionals roll closer, we're going to try to make this a weekly feature with our thoughts on who are the Top 4 teams are for each classification in Section 2.

The culmination will be our sectional seeding preview edition coming up in about three weeks.  As Albany Academy doesn't play as a Section 2 team, I will keep them out of the Class A rankings for now.

CLASS AA
1) Green Tech (11-0)
2) Shenendehowa (14-0)
3) Guilderland (11-1)
4) Bethlehem (11-3)

COMMENTS: Green Tech and Shenendehowa facing each other in sectionals would be quite the treat.  The way both teams are playing, the only way that will happen is at the Times Union Center for the Sectional Championship.  Guilderland yields position with their loss to the Plainsmen last week, and Bethlehem is another team to watch out for.

CLASS A
1) Scotia (13-0)
2) Amsterdam (11-3)
3) Averill Park (11-3)
4) Troy (9-5)

COMMENTS: Scotia has yet to stress during the course of their 13 wins this season.  And except for the pending game against Amsterdam, there's no reason to think Scotia won't enter Sectionals undefeated again this year.  Amsterdam showed that they are a top team with their easy win over Queensbury on Friday, causing the Spartans trouble inside the arch.  Averill Park has a tough Suburban Conference schedule and made Monday's game against South Glens Falls look easy.  And Troy's independent schedule this year is mighty tough, and it's going to get harder for the Flying Horses when they play Long Island Lutheran coming up in a couple weeks.

CLASS B
1) Hoosick Falls (13-0)
2) Schalmont (11-2)
3) Mekeel Christian Academy (10-0)
4) Catskill (11-1)

COMMENTS: Let's be serious here -- there's nine different teams that could make this list.  Hoosick Falls has survived a few scares, but the teams that have played them close are teams that could be playing at the Glens Falls Civic Center at the end of February.  Schalmont's second loss was on Saturday against Green Tech, which gave them a strong idea what they need to work on in order to make a deep run.  Mekeel Christian Academy will get a strong test on Wednesday when they host Broadalbin-Perth.  Catskill is a team not many are talking about, beating their opponents by an average of 20 points on their way to a strong 10-0 start in the Patroon Conference.  And if that's not enough, Hudson and Voorheesville are also 10 win teams, Cohoes is a very respectable 9-4 and Broadalbin-Perth and Schuylerville could use the experience they gained from good Foothills Council teams to make runs in February.  It's safe to say the B tournament is going to be wild again this year in Section 2.

CLASS C
1) Lake George (14-1)
2) Greenwich (12-2)
3) Stillwater (9-5)
4) Spa Catholic (9-6)

COMMENTS: Lake George suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday, losing to a good Hoosick Falls team by a single point that could have very well gone the other way if Joel Wincowski's roll-in went down the net.  They can clinch the Adirondack League west title with a win over North Warren on Friday.  Greenwich has been playing decent basketball, losing to two good programs: Schuylerville and Hoosick Falls.  And the loss to Hoosick Falls was only by 4 points, something that could motivate the Witches next month when they play in Rensselaer County.  Stillwater has survived a few scares on their way to nine wins, including a sweep over a Hoosic Valley squad that's not the same this year without Mike Pierre.  Spa Catholic split their season series with both Fort Plain and Canajoharie, but gets the nod over those two thanks to their last two efforts - a double-digit win over Waterford and Monday's win over Corinth

CLASS D
1) Germantown (12-1)
2) Fort Ann (11-2)
3) North Warren (12-2)
4) Northville (10-4)

COMMENTS: Germantown fell to a Class C squad in Berlin on Friday, but could remain a favorite for the top seed if they can get past Loudonville Christian on Friday.  Fort Ann lost to North Warren earlier in the season, but is playing better basketball right now and should have no trouble scoring a top seed, especially with how hard they played Lake George a couple weeks ago.  Speaking of North Warren, their loss to Hadley-Luzurne will be forgiven on this list if they put together a great effort against the Warriors up in Chestertown on Friday.  Northville had a setback last Friday against Spa Catholic, but otherwise has been a team very few are talking about when it comes to teams who could make it to the Civic Center towards the end of February.

Boys Basketball - NYS Career Points

This list, from the New York State Sportswriters Association, shows the list of top career point scorers in New York State.

Glens Falls's Jimmer Fredette tops the list for Section 2 with 2,404 as he helped the Indians make a trip to the hometown Civic Center for the State Championship during his time playing high school ball.  

Joel Wincowski, through 15 regular season games in his senior season, has 2,237 points.

NYS Basketball

Player	School(s)	Years	Points
Lance Stephenson	Abraham Lincoln-PSAL	2004-2009	2,946
Ryan Creighton	Greenport-11	2004-2009	2,799
Sebastian Telfair	Abraham Lincoln-PSAL	2000-2004	2,785
Ken Anderson	Archbishop Molloy-CHSAA	1985-1989	2,621
Ken Wood	East Hampton-11	1985-1989	2,613
Kyle McAlarney	Moore Catholic-CHSAA	2001-2005	2,566
Bobby Hodgson	William Floyd-11	1989-1994	2,532
Desmond Harad	FDR-PSAL, Adelphi Academy-AIS	1994-1998	2,516
Bernard Blunt	Jamesville-DeWitt-3	1985-1990	2,507
Felipe Lopez	Rice-CHSAA	1990-1994	2,486
Robert Phelps	Nazareth-CHSAA	1986-1990	2,477
Neil Weidman	Dansville-5	1988-1993	2,441
Ralph Angelo	Honeoye-5	1987-1991	2,407
Jimmer Fredette	Glens Falls-2	2003-2007	2,404
Greg Paulus	Syracuse CBA-3	2000-2005	2,399
Scott Wilson	Lyme-3	1978-1982	2,391
Chris Ciaccio	Gloversville-2	1986-1990	2,373
Terry Brown	Clyde-Savannah-5	1982-1986	2,360
Rich Campbell	Buffalo Burgard-6	1986-1990	2,355
Duane Ivory	Our Saviour Lutheran-AIS	1982-1986	2,351
Ryan Whelpley	Olean Walsh-MMA	2007-2012	2,347
Eric Siegrist	Spackenkill-9	1995-1999	2,345
Ray Toomer	York Prep-NYC	1989-1993	2,341
Jason Amore	Friendship-5	1989-1993	2,332
Tony Crandall	Baldwin-NYC	1970-1973	2,326
Damien Foster	Buffalo Traditional-6	1992-1996	2,324
Greg Cerillo	Faith Academy-CHS (L.I.)	1998-2003	2,320
Bill Dodson	Trevor Day-AIS	1997-2002	2,315
Jason Rowe	Buffalo Traditional-6	1992-1996	2,286
Marcus Whitfield	Buffalo Burgard-6	1985-1989	2,285
Nate Cannon	Rome School for the Deaf-3	1966-1970	2,262
Maceo Wofford	Jamestown-6	1995-1999	2,258
Jim Ryder	Tioga-4	1984-1988	2,238
Joel Wincowski	Lake George-2	2011-2015	2,237
Mike Heary	Fredonia-6	1990-1994	2,235
Toby Foster	Candor-4	1995-1999	2,231
Tony Traver	Greenwich-2	1976-1980	2,189
Joe Girard	Shenendehowa-2	1986-1990	2,179
Robert Dominiak	Birch-Wathen-Lenox-NYC	2000-2004	2,178
Curtis Aiken	Buffalo Bennett-6	1979-1983	2,162
Talor Battle	Bishop Maginn-2	2003-2007	2,162
Chris Moore	Park School-6	1992-1996	2,161
Nate Dukes	Rochester Freddie Thomas-5	2006-2009	2,155
Sylven Landesberg	Holy Cross-CHSAA	2005-2008	2,149
Joey Lufkin	Argyle-2	2009-2013	2,146
Keith Spellman	Jefferson-PSAL	2005-2009	2,136
Rasheem Jenkins	Wings Academy-PSAL	2003-2006	2,126
Gary Williams	Bay Shore-11	1989-1993	2,125
Will Scott	Collegiate-AIS	1999-2003	2,124
Kevin Morris	Martin Luther King-PSAL	1992-1996	2,120
Tom Stith	St. Francis Prep-CHSAA	1953-1957	2,119
Danya Abrams	Hackley School-1	1988-1993	2,119
Artavius Fisher	Kingston-9	2000-2004	2,119
Al Edwards	Greenport-11	1968-1972	2,117
Will Thomas	Morrisville-Eaton-3	2009-2013	2,108
Jim Stockwell	Belleville-3	1965-1969	2,108
Tobias Harris	L.I. Lutheran-AIS, HH Hills West-11	2006-2010	2,105
Jason Mathias	Galway, Amsterdam-2	1992-1995	2,103
Kevin Yanni	Watervliet-2	1995-1999	2,085
Jim McNamara	St. Agnes-CHSAA	1953-1956	2,080
Stephon Marbury	Abraham Lincoln-PSAL	1991-1995	2,078
David Mascia	Lynbrook-8	1987-1991	2,077
Albert King	Fort Hamilton-PSAL	1973-1977	2,071
Lew Alcindor	Power Memorial-PSAL	1961-1965	2,067
Chris Secky	Maple Grove-6	2006-2010	2,067
Christian Laettner	Buffalo Nichols	1984-1988	2,066
Chris Rooney	Smithtown West-11	1985-1989	2,063
Todd Scott	Peekskill-1	1979-1983	2,055
James Pate	Babylon-11	2003-2009	2,049
Greg "Boo" Harvey	Jackson-PSAL	1981-1985	2,039
Ray Blackburn	Lackawanna-6	2001-2005	2,039
Anthony Hargraves	Our Saviour Lutheraan-AIS	1977-1981	2,038
Jim Manos	Poly Prep-AIS	1974-1977	2,036
Bruce Lefkowitz	Edgemont-1	1979-1983	2,036
Fred Burton	Francis Lewis-PSAL	1979-1983	2,036
Greg French	Buffalo Traditional-6	1997-2001	2,029
Elton Brand	Peekskill-1	1993-1997	2,027
Jermaine Smoake	Van Arsdale-PSAL	1987-1991	2,026
Don Juan Tyson	Buffalo Traditional-6	1999-2003	2,023
Larry Jennings	St. John's Prep-NYC	1994-1998	2,021
Adam Stockwell	Belleville-Henderson-3	1988-1992	2,020
Clyde Vaughan	New Rochelle-1	1976-1980	2,016
Dwayne Johnson	Mater Christi-CHSAA	1977-1981	2,014
Benji Miller	Smithtown Christian-11	1990-1994	2,013
Adonal Foyle	O'Hara (Pa.), Hamilton-3	1991-1994	2,008
Bill Young	Angelica-5	1961-1964	2,006
Will Regan	Buffalo Nichols	2006-2010	2,006
Bret Gray	Livingston Manor-9	1988-1992	1,993
Andy Moore	Cuba-5	1977-1981	1,987
Scott Knapp	Vernon-Verona-Sherrill-3	1993-1997	1,987
Tom Emma	Manhasset-8	1975-1979	1,983
Joe Greco	Whitehall-2	1967-1971	1,983
Lionel Chalmers	Bishop Gibbons, Albany-2	1995-1999	1,980
Greg Wildes	Farmingdale-8	1978-1982	1,974
Connor Caldwell	Watertown IHC-3	2007-2011	1,970
Craig Kowadla	Westhill-3	1987-1991	1,966
John Works	Addison, Jasper-5	1992-1995	1,960

Here is the list for Section 2 players only.

Player	School(s)	Years	Points
Jimmer Fredette	Glens Falls-2	2003-2007	2,404
Chris Ciaccio	Gloversville-2	1986-1990	2,373
Joel Wincowski	Lake George-2	2011-2015	2,237
Tony Traver	Greenwich-2	1976-1980	2,189
Joe Girard	Shenendehowa-2	1986-1990	2,179
Talor Battle	Bishop Maginn-2	2003-2007	2,162
Joey Lufkin	Argyle-2	2009-2013	2,146
Jason Mathias	Galway, Amsterdam-2	1992-1995	2,103
Kevin Yanni	Watervliet-2	1995-1999	2,085
Joe Greco	Whitehall-2	1967-1971	1,983
Lionel Chalmers	Bishop Gibbons, Albany-2	1995-1999	1,980