Due to popular request, we have uploaded our radio call of the NYSPHSAA Class C Boys Basketball Championship between the Lake George Warriors and the Waterville Indians.
The game was a close battle between two good teams, making for a great championship game. But the game was best known for the Joel Wincowski shot that came with 1.6 seconds left to go that gave the Lake George Warriors the State Championship.
After the jump is the full broadcast, edited down to exclude the commercial breaks. In addition, the pregame, halftime and postgame report were not archived. During the broadcast, we mention a special "Plays of the Year", which will be made available online in a separate blog entry soon.
GLENS FALLS - Most of the 4,000 that was at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Saturday night will remember Joel Wincowski's 2,613rd, 2,614th and 2,615th career points for a long time.
Those points, coming with 1.6 seconds left on the clock, gave Lake George a 53-50 lead over the Waterville Indians.
And after a lengthy round of timeouts and one inbound pass, a great look from Zach Sawyer bounced off the back of the rim and rolled over the hole as it fell away from the basket, giving the Lake George Warriors the NYSPHSAA Class C Championship for the Waterville Indians.
It was a fitting moment for #4, who propelled himself to the top of Section 2's career scoring list at the start of the playoffs. He finishes his high school career with 2,615 points, 5th all-time in New York State, displacing East Hampton's Ken Wood by two points.
He finished with 30 points as Waterville opted to double-team him most of the game, but was able to use screens and fakes to lighten the coverage on him.
The seesaw game brought several lead changes and ties. Lake George fell behind early, prompting Dave Jones to spend a timeout. But the Warriors came back to tie the game at 11. Waterville came back to take the lead, but Lake George scored their first lead of the game off a Jake English foul that brought Joel Wincowski to the line.
Waterville regained the lead on a Jake English three and a pair of Zach Sawyer free throws. But Lake George would score the final 10 points of the second quarter, and took a 27-21 lead into the half.
No problem for Waterville. They emerged out of the locker room and shot three behind the arch to retake the lead off the hot-shooting hand of Jake English. He had 3 threes in the third quarter, and Will Specht added a three to give the Indians a quick 30-27 lead.
Waterville would outscore the Indians 19-11 in the third quarter.
Joel Wincowski scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Class C Tournament MVP used his power to get inside for buckets.
But the final three was set up perfectly. Waterville tied the game 50-50 on an offensive rebound following a free throw, and put up a three with 30 seconds left to play that rimed out. Lake George drained the clock down to 7 seconds before Dave Jones called a timeout. Off the timeout, Wincowski made a move backwards with the help of a screen to get a double team off him, and launched a 30-footer that went in.
As the Lake George Warriors were celebrating, the officials were conferring as they would eventually put 1.6 seconds left on the clock as Waterville called a timeout right after Wincowski's shot.
After about five minutes, the Lake George faithful at the Glens Falls Civic Center was finally able to celebrate the championship win.
The Lake George Warriors finish the season 26-1, with their lone loss being a one point loss to the Hoosick Falls Panthers on January 24th. Wincowski's 30 was aided with Dylan Hubbard's 9 points. Andrew McGowan scored 7 points.
The Waterville Indians finished their season 25-1, as Jake English used the power of six 3's on his way to 20 points. Zach Sawyer, a returning member of last year's All-Tournament Team finished with 17 points as he was named on the team once again this year.
NYSPHSAA CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIP 2-Lake George Warriors vs. 3-Waterville Indians Saturday, March 21st, 7:15PM at the Glens Falls Civic Center LAKE GEORGE 9 18 11 15 53 WATERVILLE 11 10 19 10 50 LAKE GEORGE 3 KYLE JONES 0 0 2 0 2 4 JOEL WINCOWSKI 4 10 4 12 30 10 CRAIG KEENAN 3 0 0 0 3 21 DYLAN HUBBARD 0 6 0 3 9 31 ZEKE REYNOLDS 0 2 0 0 2 44 ANDREW MCGOWAN 2 0 5 0 7 TOTALS 9 18 11 15 53 THREES: Wincowski (2), Hubbard (3) FREE THROWS: Wincowski (3), McGowan (3) WATERVILLE 10 JAKE ENGLISH 2 6 9 3 20 23 ZACH SAWYER 4 2 7 4 17 25 J.T. MACHOLD 0 2 0 0 4 30 HUNTER WILLIAMS 2 0 0 3 5 41 WILL SPECHT 3 0 3 0 6 TOTALS 11 10 19 10 50 THREES: English (6), Specht (3) FREE THROWS: English (2), Sawyer (5), Williams (1)
At 10AM Friday Morning, the first of 15 basketball games to be played at the Glens Falls Civic Center will tip off, culminating in five state champions being crowned on the hardwood floor.
Many of these teams have seen the insides of the Glens Falls Civic Center before, including the return of Mount Vernon, who has an unprecedented 10 state titles. Bridgehampton makes their first appearance in Glens Falls in well over 15 years, and Section 2 will fill the Glens Falls Civic Center as three teams will play on Friday and Saturday.
Let's take a look at each of the teams, starting with the Class D teams.
The twenty teams with travel plans set for Glens Falls next weekend for the NYS Basketball Championships combine for thirty state championships spread among ten teams. After the jump, the list of the twenty teams, how many titles they have won, and when the last time they hosted the plaque at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
The field of 20 teams making their way to the Glens Falls Civic Center for the NYSPHSAA Boys Basketball Championships is set.
The three-day event begins on Friday morning with the Class D Semifinals, and wraps up on Sunday with the Class A and AA Championships.
The championships for all five classifications will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel, Channel 50 in the Glens Falls/Queensbury area.
For ticket purposes, the event is broken down into five sessions, with general admission giving you access to all games within a single session. Tickets can be purchased online through the Glens Falls Civic Center, or through the NYSPHSAA website.
The list of teams coming to Glens Falls is after the jump.
FOX Sports Radio 1230 announces they will be continuing their partnership with the New York Mets.
The New York Mets and Adirondack Broadcasting, FOX Sports Radio 1230's parent company, have signed a deal allowing 162 regular season games and 2 preseason games to air on FOX Sports Radio 1230 during the 2015 season.
The two preseason games will take place on April 3rd and 4th, as the New York Mets take on the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park.
Then on April 6th, the New York Mets begin their 2015 regular season campaign as they travel to Washington to face the Nationals at 4:05PM.
The broadcasts will feature Ryan Randazzo as the new host of the Mets Extra pre and postgame shows. Randazzo comes from Chicago, where he handled talk and sports anchor duties for CBS Radio's WSCR-AM and WBBM-AM. In addition, he did work for the Chicago White Sox, the Big Ten Network, ESPN and various other sports clubs and networks. Randazzo replaces Seth Everett, who handled the duties for Mets flagship WOR last year.
Howie Rose and Josh Lewin return to describe the action on the field from the booth for the fourth straight year.
Coverage for all regular season Mets games will begin 40 minutes prior to the scheduled first pitch.
About FOX Sports Radio 1230: FOX Sports Radio 1230, WMML-AM, is a 1000-watt radio station licensed to Adirondack Broadcasting to cover the Glens Falls area. The coverage area for WMML expands from Saratoga Springs to the south, Granville to the east, Corinth to the west and Warrensburg to the north, with more areas receiving the station during the course of the daytime. FOX Sports Radio 1230 is home to the Dan Patrick Show, Rich Eisen Show, as well as other sports/talk programs handled by FOX Sports Radio. The station is also home to Buffalo Bills football coverage in the fall, New York Mets baseball in the spring and summer, and high school sports in both fall and winter.
Three of our Section 2 boys teams will be in action on Wednesday as the state tournament kicks into full swing.
Lake George and Scotia will travel north to Plattsburgh, where Northern Adirondack and Peru await them at SUNY Plattsburgh. Meanwhile, Class D's champions, Germantown, will play Section 10's Harrisville at Saratoga High School.
Two games remain on the docket, with the Class AA Championships being held at the Times Union Center on Tuesday, but for us, our sectional season is over.
And what a fun sectional season it has been.
First, I was hoping to be able to write every day about the past day's activities, but other projects and home life prevented some of those blogs from being authored.
In addition, I was hoping to be able to recap my thoughts about the games I was at for broadcasts, but couldn't do that either, for the same reasons.
But I have some time now. First, I'll offer my reflections on the games we were honored to be a part of, and then reflect upon the sectional tournament as a whole.
On Friday, we had the opportunity to talk for a few minutes with Lake George Warrior Joel Wincowski.
We got to talk about the community support he received as his Lake George Warriors won the NYSPHSAA State Championship two years ago, the family support he receives as he continues to grow and excel as a basketball player, and passing Jimmer Fredette as the highest scoring player in Section 2 history and the ceremony at Lake George High School on February 24th.
We ran the interview during the halftime of our Section 2 Class C Championship coverage between the Lake George Warriors and the Waterford Fordians. As there were several at the game at Colonie High and were not able to catch our broadcast, and more who live further away and cannot listen to our station, we've uploaded the interview here.
After the jump, our interview with #4, Joel Wincowski.
The Lake George Warriors won their Class C Championship with a team effort. Dave Jones stressed during our interview conducted on Friday that the players on the court know their roles, even if they're not the one who will be putting up the shot.
In any given play, Andrew McGowan will set up near the paint, ready to battle with one or two bodies to grab the rebound. Joel Wincowski will bring the ball into the front court, and will try to set up a shot. But if he can't find one, he'll try to use McGowan for a block on the pick and roll at the top of the circle.
If that works, Wincowski will get long enough of a look to take an outside shot, or drive the lane for the easy two.
But if that doesn't work, Wincowski has options. He can either try to pass the ball around to set up a better opportunity, or give it to Kyle Jones. If Jones is all alone, he may throw it up for a 3.
If Dylan Hubbard is on the court, he could be the recipient of Wincowski's pass.
On the other end of the court, the five on the floor work together to seize good looks and to force turnovers. One of the players Dave Jones spoke of on Friday was Zeke Reynolds, who has a knack for stepping in the passing lane to either come up with the ball cleanly, or tip it enough to force an inbound pass.
In short, Wincowski has 33 points per game, but the reason why the Lake George Warriors won the Section 2 Class C Championship is not solely because of him.
They won because of the team atmosphere. Like Wincowski has stated, the team has become one happy family.
A family that's heading to Plattsburgh for the State Regional Semifinals.
The Lake George Warriors warm up prior to their Sectional Championship game against Waterford
COLONIE - Joel Wincowski scored a season-low 23 points, but found support inside as Andrew McGowan catapulted to nine fourth quarter points as the Lake George Warriors captured the Section 2 Class C title with their 60-28 win over Waterford-Halfmoon Fordians.
It is the second sectional championship in three years for the Lake George Warriors, now 22-1 this season.
Wincowski scored 11 of his 23 points in the first quarter as the Warriors jumped out to a 16-6 lead, an opposite of what happened Wednesday night in Watervliet when the Lake George Warriors fell 12 points back of the Hoosic Valley Indians before they came back to take command in the third quarter.
Wincowski had help all around the front court. Dylan Hubbard launched 3 threes for nine points, and Kyle Jones scored 8 points. During the fourth quarter, Wincowski on several occasions found an open Andrew McGowan in the paint, which led to McGowan scoring 12 points for the Warriors.
The Lake George Warriors hoist the Section 2 Class C Championship trophy after their 60-28 win.
On the other end of the court, Dave Jones changed up his defense during the game. Starting with a zonal defense, the Warriors changed into a full court press, which led to some Fordian turnovers. The changes in defense also led to some tough looks for Kyle Fairclough. Wednesday's hero against Greenwich with 21 points, Fairclough was held to less than half his average with only 5 points.
Josh Orton was also held to less than his average. The 21 point per game Fordian managed to score 15 points against the Warriors.
The game was never in doubt for the Warriors, who built a 28-10 lead at the half. Waterford came out and scored the first points of the third quarter behind loud crowd support, forcing Dave Jones to take a timeout. But off the timeout, the Warriors used their full-court power to keep Waterford at bay, and then pulled further away with a 23 point fourth quarter.
Armed with the Sectional Championship, the Lake George Warriors will travel north to SUNY Plattsburgh, where they will meet the Section 7 champion, Northern Adirondack, on Wednesday. The Bobcats claimed the Section 7 Class C title with a 59-46 win over Ticonderoga.
#3-WATERFORD FORDIANS vs. #1-LAKE GEORGE WARRIORS Saturday, March 7th, 4PM at Colonie High School, Colonie, NY
As Section 2 continues to work hard to rearrange the Sectional Championships after damage to the Glens Falls Civic Center's exterior forced the move, we now know where all five of the Section 2 Boys Basketball Championships will be held.
The D, C and B will be at Colonie High School, the A will be at Guilderland High, and the AA will remain in its previously set location at the Times Union Center.
The South High Marathon Dance steps off tomorrow evening (March 6th and 7th) as students raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable organizations across our area.
During our broadcast on February 6th at South Glens Falls, I had the opportunity to talk with the principal of South Glens Falls High School, Carla Biviano and one of the chairpersons of the dance, Mackenzie.
After the jump is the part of the interview that aired again during our February 28th broadcast during the Class D Girls Quarterfinals at Warrensburg. There's a few pieces that were edited out, for either time-sensitive information or due to a loud gym while the cheerleaders were performing at the start of the halftime show.
Let's help this South High Marathon Dance exceed $600,000 this year! Go Bulldogs!
WATERVLIET - Joel Wincowski scored 24 points and fetched 12 rebounds as the Lake George Warriors defeated the Hoosic Valley Indians 56-47 to advance to the Section 2 Class C Championship.
The Warriors will face Waterford, who defeated Greenwich 49-32 earlier in the evening.
The Warriors started off quiet, going down early before a Joel Wincowski three put the Warriors up 15-14. The Indians stormed back, scoring the next 12 points as they built a 26-15 lead with the help of John Rooney's nine 2nd quarter points.
Lake George would storm back to close to within two at the half, and then continued the warm streak by outscoring Hoosic Valley 20-11 in the third quarter with the help of Wincowski's 8 points in that pivotal quarter.
He would finish with 24 points as he would pass Robert Phelps for 11th all-time scoring in New York State. His career total now sits at 2,479 points, 7 points behind Felipe Lopez for 10th.
Kyle Jones became the Warriors key contributor behind the arch, scoring 15 points on 5 threes. Dylan Hubbard was also a threat from long range, scoring 9 points.
For John Rooney, he finished his high school basketball career with 15 points, scoring only two during the second half. The 2014 NYS Small School Player of the Year finishes with 624 points during the 2014-15 season. Dan Joslin gave the Indians scored 17 points, and Matt Epsey scored 10 points.
The game was moved to Watervliet after exterior structure damage at the Glens Falls Civic Center forced the move. All games that were scheduled for the Civic Center have been moved, including Saturday's Sectional Championship.
The time and location for the Class C Sectional Championship is not official at this time, and will be announced at a later time.
portion of a wall of the Glens Falls Civic Center just collapsed. I am on scene. Crews here to check on it. pic.twitter.com/2i7jares54
— Lindsay Nielsen (@Lindsayon10) March 4, 2015
That collapse has forced more rearranging of Section 2 Semifinals. Here's tonight's changes:
CLASS D SEMIFINALS:
North Warren vs. Fort Ann - Will now be played at 5PM at Saratoga High School. As a result, tonight's Class D Girls Semifinals will be at 6:30PM & 8PM respectively.
CLASS C SEMIFINALS
Waterford vs. Greenwich / Hoosic Valley vs. Lake George - Will now be at 6:30PM & 8PM at Watervliet High School.
The schedule will also force tomorrow's & Friday's semifinals to be moved, however, the details remain fuzzy about those at this time.
We are planning on making it over to Watervliet High School to cover tonight's Lake George/Hoosic Valley game live on FOX Sports Radio 1230 beginning at 7:50PM.
Due to the pending winter storm that is slated to hit our area, the Section 2 Committee has postponed all the basketball games that were on tonight's docket for the Glens Falls Civic Center.
With these changes, the schedule now reads as follows:
Schedule changes in BOLD.
Class A Semifinals - Thurs 3/5 at Glens Falls Civic Center 1-Scotia vs. 4-Amsterdam - 8PM 2-Troy vs. 3-Averill Park - 7:30pm Class B Semifinals - Fri 3/6 at Glens Falls Civic Center 1-Hoosick Falls vs. 13-Ravena - 7:30PM 7-Voorheesville vs. 3-Schalmont - 6PM Class C Semifinals - Wed 3/4 at Glens Falls Civic Center 4-Hoosic Valley vs. 1-Lake George - 8PM 2-Greenwich vs. 3-Waterford - 6:30PM Class D Semifinals - All games at Glens Falls Civic Center 1-Germantown vs. 5-Argyle - Thurs 3/5 5PM 2-North Warren vs. 3-Fort Ann - Wed 3/4 5PM
