A light winter and a rainy spring were the themes of the last two thirds of the high-school sport season. But there were plenty of success in those seasons.

Here is a recap of those two seasons at Guilderland, Voorheesville, and Berne-Knox-Westerlo high schools, starting with winter sports.

Winter sports

Basketball

The basketball season continued to be a success for the local schools. Though there were not any Section II champions — no team reached the finals for the first time in six years — they continued to be strong.

The expectations were high for the Voorheesville boys’ team. They returned three starters from a team that went all the way to the state semifinals the previous year. And, though Andy Catellier, Nick Duncan, and Greg Klopfer did an excellent job of leading the Blackbirds, they were victimized by a buzzer-beating shot in the Class B sectional semifinals at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The Blackbirds did finish the regular season as Colonial Council champions and received help all season from seniors Mike Hopper, Rob Bareis, Jake Norris, and sophomore Evan Christner.

The Guilderland girls’ team also came into the season with some high expectations. The Dutch played in the Class AA sectional championship game the previous year and were returning some key players from that team, too.

The Lady Dutch put together another strong effort in the Suburban Council and finished near the top of the league standings. However, Guilderland ran into a tough Amsterdam team in the sectional quarterfinals at Shenendehowa High School and was eliminated earlier than expected.

The Lady Dutch were led by senior Jessica Tice, Rachel Rabbin, and juniors Kristin Pezze, Mary Kate O’Connell, and Nikki Branchini.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo girls’ basketball team made a run at the end of the season into the Class CC quarterfinals and pushed the eventual champions, Hoosic Valley, to the brink in that game.

A young squad, the Bulldogs were led by junior C.J. Vincent and ninth-grader Andrea Van Dyke. Senior Christine Sikule, junior Brittany Krimsky, and junior Cara Swain also contributed to the team.

The Guilderland boys’ basketball team lost in the first round of the Class AA sectionals after winning a play-in game against Saratoga. The Dutchmen, though, went down fighting, losing to the top Big 10 seed Christian Brothers Academy, 59-49.

The Dutch struggled during the regular season but came on strong at the end of the year. Guilderland was led by seniors Matt Doherty and Jimmy Googas. The future looks good for the Dutch as junior Mark Domaracki and sophomores Brett Marfurt and Drew Smith were major contributors. Seniors Luke Pagano, Nick Zarrelli, and Barry Kinlan had good season for the Dutch.

The Voorheesville girls’ and BKW boys’ team struggled with young players this season and were eliminated from the post-season in the first round.

The Lady Blackbirds were led by seniors Brigit Feeney and Amanda Markert. But injuries also plagued the Birds, though juniors Jenna Massaroni, Alyssa Schultz, and ninth-grader Casey Becerra, who was brought up from the junior varsity late in the season, were contributors to the team.

The BKW boys also relied on some young players during the season. Sophomores Matt Lounsbury and Josh Skinner were major contributors along with seniors Andrew Elderd, Rick Ragone, and Tom Houck. Junior Rich Geist also played some big minutes at point guard.

Hockey

The Guilderland hockey team made an early exit from the Section II playoffs after an up-and-down season. The season started slowly for the Skating Dutchmen as they did not win until its 12th game. Then the Dutch then went on a winning streak, and then a three-game skid, and, finally lost to LaSalle Institute, 1-0.

The Dutchmen were led by senior goaltender Adam Gray and senior captain Tim Montgomery. The other seniors on the team were Steve Marciano, Havard Brustad, John Moran, Cory Gillespie, Brian Tobin, and Brian Clother.

The Dutch have a good future as a number of underclassmen contributed to the squad.

Wrestling

The Guilderland wrestling team had a tough regular season but pulled together at the end to finish third at the Class A meet and had two sectional champions.

Junior Kyle Hussey, at 275 pounds, and senior John D’Ambrosio, at 189 pounds, won their weight classes. D’Ambrosio then advanced to the state meet with a victory at the Section II state qualifier.

Sophomore Matt Cubillos finished second in the 103-pound weight class. Junior Ian DeSol had a third-place finish, and Dan Doynow and Josh Sawyer had fourth-place finishes.

The Voorheesville wrestling team had a group of young wrestlers this season. The Blackbirds had just two seniors — Justin Pincheon and Matt O’Brien. Junior Charlie McGrail and Alex Zvinovsky led the Birds this season.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo wrestling team continued to work its way up the ranks from a junior-varsity to full-fledged varsity team. This past winte,r the Bulldogs were a quasi-varsity team, competing in varsity invitationals and some junior-varsity dual meets.

BKW beat Galway for its first varsity team win as a program.

Keith Domermuth led the Bulldogs and was their best finisher at sectionals. Tom Bushnell, Josh Glick, Tom DellaRocca, and Greg Hannay were other key members of the team.

Volleyball

The most successful team this past winter was the Voorheesville volleyball team. The Blackbirds defended their New York State Regional title; this year, they beat Living Word of Syracuse for the title.

Voorheesville beat Chatham for its second consecutive Section II Class C title.

The Blackbirds were led by the Michalski triplets — Adrian, Austin, and Ian. Matt Belgiovine, Tom Cavanaugh, Josh O’Brien, Kevin Goss, Mason Junco, John McNally, and Austin Saddlemire joined the triplets as the seniors on the team. Michael Thamsen, Nathan Bub, Garrett Simpson, and Garrett Wineinger were the underclassmen on the team.

Spring sports

Lacrosse

Lacrosse proved to be the king of spring again this past season. With constant rains, baseball and softball teams had to struggle to get games in while lacrosse teams played a full schedule.

The Guilderland boys’ team made its second consecutive run to the sectional championship game, but again the Dutch ran out of gas as they faced Niskayuna. The Silver Warriors proved to be a thorn in the side of the Dutchmen as three of their four losses were to Nisky.

The Dutchmen were led by All-American Mike Camardo and Academic All-American Bob McIver along with goalie Judd Robinson. Sean Davis also was big on attack as was junior Uriah Myrie.

Senior midfielders Kelly Young and Stas Petkevichus were contributors. Senior defenders, Colin Brunk and Matt Rimmer led the defense along with junior Scott Raffensperger and freshman Kip Stillman.

The Guilderland girls’ team had a disappointing end to its season as the team fell short of reaching the title game. The Lady Dutch lost in the semifinals to Shenendehowa after playing in the title game the year before.

But Guilderland beat Bethlehem — the first Section II team to beat the Eagles in a long time — and have built a solid foundation for the future.

The Lady Dutch were led by senior All-American Kayla Best, and classmates Val Feldman, Jen Mihok, Kaitlyn Vennard, Laura Driessen, Molly Daley, and Samantha Ruppenthal. The Dutch also got big contributions from junior goalie Jen Kaye, Lynn Tran, Devon Rosenberry, and ninth-graders Amanda Best and Danielle Tetreault.

Baseball

The Voorheesville baseball team claimed the Colonial Council title this season with a small number of players who had to overcome injuries. The Blackbirds clinched the title with a win over Cohoes.

However, the Blackbirds were defeated in the Class B Section II quarterfinals by Johnstown.

The Blackbirds were led this spring by seniors Andy Catellier, Pete Lindner, Nick Duncan, and Jake Norris. Juniors Steve Cardinal and Justin Ario along with sophomores Chris Massaroni and Jay Conde were big contributors for the Birds.

The Guilderland baseball team made a name for itself this spring with its bats. The Dutchmen pounded the baseball all season and continued to even in a sectional quarterfinal loss to Colonie, the eventual champions. The Dutch had beaten the Garnet Raiders earlier in the season.

The Dutchmen were led by seniors Bill Rafferty, Reid Moreland, Kevin Doherty, Drew Zanotta, and Nick Stark.

But Guilderland also had a strong nucleus of younger players in juniors Ben Henderson, Nick Polsinelli, Mike Goldstein, and Joe Lima. Sophomores Jake Colavito, C.J. Sohl, and Andrew Simpson also made major contributions.

The BKW baseball team was made up of young players who will provide a bright future. Jeremy Mann and Rick Ragone were the senior standouts while junior Bobby Patrick and sophomores Ben Burton, Josh Skinner, and Greg Mulson also contributed to the team.

Softball

The Guilderland softball team continued to make strides in the Suburban Council as they qualified for the Section II playoffs for the first time in a few years. The Lady Dutch, though, lost to Columbia in the first round of the tournament.

The Lady Dutch were led by senior Brigit Schultz in the outfield. Senior pitcher Ashley Wyland and her sophomore counterpart, Jen McCutcheon, were solid.

The Voorheesville softball team struggled through an up-and-down season.

The Blackbirds failed to qualify for the sectionals for the first time in a number of years.

Voorheesville was led by seniors Amanda DeZalia, Claire Gravelin, and Brittany Winneingar. Underclassmen were Jenna Massaroni, Brittney Vogel, Britney Holcomb, and Sarah LaFave, and Jillian Blair.

The BKW softball team struggled through a difficult year.

The Bulldogs had inexperienced players but were led by seniors Christine Sikule and Ashley Hamel. The Bulldogs will have a strong future with the continued growth of pitcher Kieva Reynolds, who will be a ninth-grader next year.

Track-and-field

The Guilderland track team had record numbers participate this season and that led to the Dutchmen sharing the title in the Blue Division of the Suburban Council with Shenendehowa.

The Dutch also had three athletes qualify for the state meet. Brian Rhodes-Devey won the Section II title in 1,600 meters and Mark Domaracki won the title in the 400. Seth Dubois finished third in the 3,200 but advanced to the state meet when the winner decided to run the 1,600 at the state meet.

Voorheesville had an athlete qualify for the state meet for the first time. Kyle Jacobs qualified in the 400-meter hurdles and competed at the state meet.

The boys’ team also finished second at the Class B meet. The girls team was also competitive with a number of young athletes.

The BKW track teams had some good performances out of individual competitors. Seniors Travis DeRusso and Peter Primiano led the Bulldogs while Sarah Furman had a great season for the Lady Bulldogs.

Tennis

The Guilderland tennis team had another spectacular season though it failed to repeat as Section II champions. The Dutchmen lost in the finals to Bethlehem.

Guilderland was led by seniors Alex Kolomeits, Kevin Gioia, and Joe Shawky.

Kolomeits and Gioia advanced to the semifinals in the sectional singles tournament but did not advance to the states.

The other players in the line-up were Jon Ellenbogen, Mike Griggs, Pat Ryan, and the doubles teams of Dan Bakst and Joey Millstein, Chad Caplan and Joey Malerba, and Scott Purga and Ben Ellenbogen.