Valencia FontenelleValencia Fontenelle won first place in the local Hoop Shoot Contest at the Guilderland Elks Lodge last month, sending her to the District Level Hoop Shoot competition this past weekend.
Fontenelle competed against girls from Albany, Cobleskill, Colonie, Esperence, Rotterdam, and Watervliet.
Fontenelle came in first place at the District Level Hoop Shoot event last weekend. She will compete at the Regional Level competition on Feb. 9 in Clintonville.
Junior B
Guilderland found its stride against Saratoga in a rematch last Saturday.
The Lady Dutch served up some tenacious defense, snatching up 15 total steals, led by Alexa DiCaprio and Margan Kieley with three each. Guilderland stifled Saratoga’s offense, keeping the team to a mere 12 points.
Guilderland’s offensive output started slow, but shots finally began to fall more consistently halfway through the contest. Lauryn Stewart led the charge in the paint with six points, followed by Christine Fish and Caitlin Gagan with four points each.
Chloe Bonavita also contributed two points and grabbed three rebounds.
The Lady Dutch bested Saratoga, 25 to 12, in one of the most well-rounded performances of the season.
Fourth-grade Storm
The Storm entered it’s first weekend game against Saratoga looking to protect its first place ranking in the league. Saratoga scored first and led for the only time in the game.
The Storm quickly got on the board behind Laila Nino’s (eight points) two quick baskets. The defense of Hayley Bonavita (four points), Empress Lee (five points), and Grace McFerran kept Saratoga away from the hoop as the first half ended with Guilderland on top, 23 to 6.
Showing the depth of the Storm, the second half was a scoring feast as Ava Lia (six points), Lauren Thompson, Caroline Burns, Gwen Wronski, Kendall Rafferty, and Savannah Henderson dominated Saratoga on both offense and defense.
Guilderland won, 49 to 9. The Storm remained undefeated in the league.
In the second game of the weekend, Guilderland traveled to Rensselaer to take on the Rensselaer Boys and Girls Club team.
Down three players, the Storm still showed what a strong team it has. Kendall Rafferty and Ava Lia dominated the lane, owning the boards. Lauren Thompson and Caroline Burns ran the offense with ease.
Despite some first half injuries, the Storm led, 11 to 3, at the first buzzer. The second half saw the frustration of the Rensselaer squad taking its toll as fouls slowed the game down.
Laila Nino and Grace McFerran, both playing with hand injuries, continued to put the offense to work, finding teammates Empress Lee and Valencia Fontenelle open on the wings.
When the game ended, Guilderland walked away bruised, but on top, 23 to 11.
Third and fourth grade
The first half of the game against Averill Park was back and forth. Guilderland got off to a fast lead and held it through the first half.
The second half was more defensive as the game was tied most of the half. Isabella Gitto and Savanah Adami led the player-to-player defense up top, and Madison Mortier led the defense in the middle.
Averill Park pulled away in the last few minutes when their lead scorer made two baskets and assisted on another. When the final whistle sounded, Guilderland lost, 14 to 8.
Guilderland will play again on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. in its final home game of the season.
Junior A
A combined Guilderland team opened the weekend at the St. Thomas Tournament Friday night against St. Mary’s.
Dominating from the start, Guilderland won the contest to move on to the championship game last Saturday morning. Taking on St. Thomas, Guilderland worked the lanes to walk away with a victory and the tournament championship.
Playing back-to-back didn’t seem to faze the Junior A team as it followed its morning victory with an afternoon defeat of Saratoga, 39 to 30.
Biddy
The Biddy A team posted a close 19-to-18 win over Saratoga on Saturday. The Biddy B was outsized in its contest, and went down to defeat, 22 to 4.