Seniors

The Guilderland Girls’ Basketball Club’s newly formed Senior League (9th -12th grade) started its season last Saturday with a win against a tough Clifton Park team, 39 to 31.

The Guilderland girls started off strong, racking up a 10-point lead going into the second half. Paige Pizzemento’s first quarter scoring streak put the Dutch on top with the first six points on the board and her strong defense held the opponent at bay.

Michelle Burmistrova (12 points) led the team with her fast lay-ups and jump shots with Meghan Bruni (nine points) following with her strong drives to the hoop. Alex Benjamin added to Guilderland’s lead with her strong defense, quick left and right handed hooks, and numerous assists.

Shooting guards Haley Hoffman and Amanda Conkin fired up the crowd with their quick ball movement, proving to be strong offensive threats. Sarina Cannavo was strong on the post, pulling down rebounds and shutting down scoring from the paint.

Despite getting into a bit of foul trouble near the end of the game, the Guilderland Senior girls finished strong and played together as a unified front.

Biddy C

The fourth grade Storm’s game against Clifton Park saw two undefeated teams sitting atop the league standings square off. The two teams exchanged baskets early on with score tied at 4 to 4.

Green stickers, like this one worn by fourth-grader Savannah Adami, were worn by all the Guilderland Girls Basketball players at Saturday’s games in honor of two Shenendehowa athletes, Chris Stewart and Deanna Rivers, who died in a car crash. The stickers bore Stewart’s football jersey number and Rivers’s softball jersey number and were donated by Brian Corbett, GBC coach and board member. The GBC also collected money throughout the day to be donated to both athletes’ memorial scholarship funds.  A total of $115 was collected and presented to the Clifton Park coaches.But Clifton Park quickly pulled ahead to end the half on top, 10 to 4, with Grace McFerran (eight points) and Haley Bonavita scoring Guilderland’s early points. After adjusting its offense attack and stepping up the defense, the Storm challenged Clifton Park with every possession.

Kendall Rafferty, Ava Lia, Caroline Burns, and Gwen Wronski dominated the boards and kept the taller Clifton Park forwards in check while Lauren Thompson and Empress Lee pressured the guards. Finally putting its game together, Guilderland scored 17 points in the second half behind McFerran, Laila Nino, and Valencia Fontenelle as the Dutch pulled away for the win, 21 to 15.

In the second game of the weekend, Guilderland faced Saratoga.

Showing the depth of the team, the Storm went ahead early and spread the scoring around behind Nino, Savannah Henderson, and Lee (six points) to go on top, 16 to 4. With Rafferty, Bonavita, and Burns dominating the boards, the Storm started to pull away.   

Fontenelle led all scorers with 13 points, while McFerran, Wronski, and Thompson created several turnovers as the Storm dominated Saratoga and went on to win, 41 to 6. 

Guilderland heads into next weeks game in first place in the league with a 5-0 record.

Biddy A

The Guilderland Biddy A Lady “Spunk” logged a big win on Saturday at home, beating the counterparts from Clifton Park, 26 to 18, in an exciting contest at Guilderland Elementary School.

In the first half, the Spunk jumped out to an early lead, playing an aggressive zone defense and not allowing any inside points. Clifton Park made the second half closer, taking the lead, 14 to 13, with about 10 minutes to play.

Guilderland tightened up its defense down the stretch and got hot from the field to close out the game.

In the win, stand out point guard Jennifer Bartlett had 10 points, Jamie Golderman and Alyssa Burg each had four points, and Nicole McGrath, Gracie Seravillo, and Jisella Vasquez each added two points.

The Dutch played, by far, its best team game to date. Collette Cohen had multiple steals and rebounds, Bella Smith and Lauren McCollum kept Clifton park of the glass, each securing several defensive rebounds, and Ava Fiametta created chaos on defense, helping to limit shot attempts by Clifton Park.

Junior B

The Lady Dutch faced Clifton Park last Saturday. Clifton Park pulled ahead early and extended its lead throughout the rest of the game.

Guilderland pushed back slightly in the second half, but still fell short in the end, falling 45 to 16.

The Dutch were led in scoring by Emily Burns with eight points, and Amelia Kedik with six points. Guilderland hopes to learn from the loss and bounce back strong.

Sunday’s game was a battle throughout; Saratoga led for the entirety of the match, and Guilderland cut the deficit to as few as two points in the second half.

Despite that effort, and the full court pressure, the Dutch ended up with the loss, 38 to 28. It was a hard fought game on both sides, with Rachel Mastrianni leading all scorers with 14 points.

On the defensive end, Mastrianni grabbed six steals, while Kedik brought in three rebounds.

Junior A

 GBC’s Junior A team had a weekend filled with games, hosting Clifton Park on Saturday and traveling to Saratoga on Sunday. The Dutch finished the weekend 1-1.

Saturday was a tough game against the very talented Clifton Park team, losing 52 to 15. Junior A hung around in the first half, going into halftime down only by 10 points. Unfortunately, Clifton Park came out to play the second half and GBC just could not keep up.

Skye Lindsay continues to shine and dominated off the boards while Claire Thompson controlled the floor as one of GBC’s point guards and game leading scorer with seven points.

Sunday’s game had a better outcome with Junior A winning, 39 to 30. The girls dominated play, keeping the lead the whole time. 

Guilderland played well as a team, with every girl contributing to the score board. Nicole Fyvie led the team with 10 points and both Kate Johnston and Lindsay added seven points.

Junior A continues to improve from game to game and really rises to the challenge. Next week GBC hosts Scotia as it hopes to test its skills in another competitive game.

Biddy B

The Guilderland Biddy B faced two tough opponents as it dropped both games over the weekend.

Clifton Park dominated the B team as it defeated Guilderland, 46 to 6. On Sunday, Guilderland couldn’t find a way to get past Saratoga as it dropped another game, 25 to 13.