As the long, cold winter continued until March, things heated up on the basketball court and, in the spring, another championship team bloomed.

The Guilderland girls’ lacrosse team defended its Section II title and this year made it to the state semifinals.

In the winter, the Guilderland boys’ basketball team finished unbeaten against Suburban Council foes and made it the Times Union Center for the Class AA semifinals.

The Voorheesville boys’ team had another superb run to Glens Falls, playing its way to the Class CC championship game.

The Voorheesville girls advanced to the Class CC semifinals after beating local rival Berne-Knox-Westerlo in the quarterfinals, and the BKW boys’ lost to Voorheesville in the sectional quarterfinals.

Here is a review of these teams and more.

Winter sports

Baketball

It was another successful winter for the local basketball teams.

Guilderland, led by Suburban Council Player of the Year Brett Marfurt, destroyed all of its league opponents as it finished the league campaign with an unblemished record. The Dutchmen’s only two losses came against Big 10 foes Bishop Maginn, the state champions, and Christian Brothers Academy.

In the playoffs, the Dutchmen dismantled Albany and held on against Shaker in the quarterfinals.

Guilderland faced off against CBA for the second time this season but dropped a one-point, 56-55, decision in a hard-fought contest at the TU Center.

Leading the Dutchmen were seniors Marfurt, Andrew Smith, Dan Gejay, and Paul Booker. Juniors Kevin Kost, Jon Terry, and Steve Anderson were big contributors for the Dutchmen this past winter.

Ron Osinski was named the Suburban Council Coach of the Year.

Voorheesville had a slow start to its season but picked up steam in January and February.

The Blackbirds finished third in the Colonial Council and made a run in the Class CC playoffs. The Birds beat local rival Berne-Knox-Westerlo and then upset the number-one seeded, defending champion Schenectady Christian Falcons.

Voorheesville lost, 42-37, in the sectional final to eventual state runner-up Mechanicville, at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Senior Evan Christner led the Blackbirds with scoring and rebounding. He will play at Springfield College next winter.

Seniors Mackey Lloyd and Kevin Klembczyk, juniors Mike Tesch and Nick Kinisky, and sophomore Ethan Mackey were also major contributors for the Blackbirds.

The BKW boys’ basketball team lost to Voorheesville in the quarterfinals but had a very good season under coach Andy Wright.

The Bulldogs’ returned to the top spot in the Western Athletic Conference’s South Division. They earned a share of the title with a win over Schenectady Christian. The Bulldogs only league loss came to the Falcons early in the season.

The Bulldogs were led by seniors Matt Lounsbury, Joe Conklin, Ben Burton, Josh Skinner, and Greg Mulson. Junior David Sikule was also a big contributor at point guard this season for BKW.

The Voorheesville girls’ basketball team took another step to getting back to being one of the top small-school teams in the state as it advanced to the Class CC sectional semifinals. The Blackbirds won their first-round playoff game for the first time in several years then beat BKW in the quarterfinal round.

The Lady Blackbirds lost to Colonial Council rival Watervliet in the semifinals.

Making big contributions for the Blackbirds this past winter were seniors Heather Bates, Mary Prendergast, and Brittany Vogel. Elizabeth Madden, Casey Beccera, and Kelly Glath are three of the many returning players who will lead the Birds next winter.

The BKW girls’ basketball team continued to be one of the good small-school teams in the area.

The Lady Bulldogs finished second in the WAC’s South Division but ran into a good Voorheesville team in the sectional quarterfinals.

The Bulldogs were led this season by seniors Anna Kusler and Lauren Ford. Junior Andrea Van Dyke and Amber Pitcher were also major contributors for BKW this past winter.

The Guilderland girls’ basketball team had one of its worst seasons ever. After several seniors who had led the Lady Dutch to the Class AA championship game the year before graduated, this year’s squad struggled at times and was eliminated by Albany in the first round of the playoffs.

The Dutch were led by senior Danielle Burns and juniors Jen Madsen and Alicia Bowman.

Hockey

The Guilderland ice hockey team was strong all season, finishing second in the Capital District High School Hockey League Division I standings behind Shenendehowa.

The Dutchmen, however, were upset in the quarterfinals of the sectional playoffs by seventh-seed Saratgoa. The loss capped a brutal week of games that the Dutchmen had to play to clinch second place.

Guilderland was led by seniors Aaron Cahill, Jeff Geisendorfer, Jon Fogel, Max Gooknight, Nick Koss, and goalie Brendon Glennon.

The Skating Dutchmen have a lot of young players returning, including Dan Dickenson, Colin Burg, and Greg Warnken.

Wrestling

The Guilderland wreslting team had a tremendous season under first year varsity coach Korey Rogotzke.

Junior Matt Cubillos was the lone Dutchmen to reach the state tournament in Rochester; classmate Devan Van Auken was close.

Van Auken, Cubillos, and senior Robert Romeo won Class A sectional titles.

The Dutchmen as a team won 10 dual matches and won the Canandaigua Tournament during the season.

Senior Josh Sawyer and Cubillos earned their 100^th win during the season as well.

Other sports

The Guilderland gymnastics team finished second at the Class A meet for the second year in a row. The Dutch won the Suburban Council the year before and finished second in the league this past winter.

The youthful Lady Dutch had two state qualifiers — ninth-grader Alexa Patnaude and eighth-grader Kat Diamente.

The Guilderland nordic ski teams had its best season ever as it finished near the top of each meet. For years, the Dutch teams finished near the bottom at each meet they competed in.

The boys’ team was led by senior John Raffensperger, Cody Lassonde, and Justin Freese-Bogart. The girls’ team was led by state qualifier Courtney Davis and foreign-exchange student Elin Molnass of Norway.

Spring sports

The Guilderland girls’ lacrosse team was the big story this spring.

The Lady Dutch defended their Class A Section II title and advanced to the state semifinals in Cortland.

Guilderland beat Shaker for the second year in a row and then avenged a loss in the regionals by beating Lakeland-Panas at the University at Albany.

The Lady Dutch beat Kingston to claim the regional title but faced a tough Farmingdale Dalers squad from Long Island.

The Lady Dutch lost, 16-10, for their first defeat of the season.

The Dutch were led by seniors Abbey Fashouer and Lauren Cagino. The Dutch have a load of talented players returning in junior Danielle Tetreault, Jen Madsen, Amanda Best, Courtney Davis, Bridget Daley, Chelsey Newman, and goalie Amanda Santandrea.

The Guilderland boys’ lacrosse team had high expectations heading into the season, but struggled against an old nemesis and were upset in the playoffs.

The Dutch’s only two losses in the regular season were to rival Niskayuna. The Dutchmen lost two close games to the eventual Class A champions and were looking forward to a third match-up in the sectional final.

That never happened as the second-seeded Dutchmen were defeated by 10^th-seeded Shaker in overtime.

The Dutchmen were led by a talented group of seniors: Aaron Cahill, goalie Nick Koss, Brian Linehan, and Quinn Connell. The Dutch are returning several talented players in Kip Stillman, Rory Nunamacher, Paul Jones, and Travis Moore.

Baseball and softball

The Guilderland baseball team had high expectations to defend its Section II title this spring. But the Dutchmen struggled to find consistency during the season and were eliminated in the Class AA quarterfinals to eventual champion LaSalle.

The Dutch lost some tough games during the year, but their best games came in the Clarkstown South Tournament. Guilderland beat Tottenville of Staten Island, then upset New York City power George Washington of Manhattan.

Senior Jason Westervelt pitched his best game of the year against a team ranked in the top 15 in the country.

Joining Westervelt, who will play at West Virginia next spring, on the mound was classmates C.J. Sohl and Kyle LeClair. Sohl will play at Siena College.

Andrew Simpson (College of Saint Rose) Jake Colavito (Stetson), and Nick Ranalli (Union College) are the other seniors who will play college baseball next year. Ivan Plata, Pat Gareau, and Chris Murray also had good final seasons for the Dutch.

The Lady Dutch softball team qualified for the sectional playoffs and won their first playoff game this decade for coach Jen Ficarra.

Guilderland lost a tough quarterfinal contest against Queensbury, 10-5.

The Lady Dutch were led by seniors Sara Heller, Nikki Marcucci, and Michelle Giwerc. A large group of talented young players will return for the Lady Dutch.

The Voorheesville baseball team had a surprise season. A young Blackbirds squad reached the Class CC semifinals where it lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Lake George.

After a first-inning injury, senior Jay Conde fought through the pain in his knee and pitched an excellent game. He was just outdone by Lake George’s Mike Tirri, who threw a no-hitter.

Conde along with Tommy Pasqualli, Kevin Klembczyk, and Chris Massaroni were the senior leaders of the team.

The Voorheesville and BKW softball teams struggled throughout the season. But with young squads, both should have strong futures.

The BKW baseball team struggled to find some consistency this spring and missed the playoffs though they had high expectations going into the season.

Track

The local track-and-field teams had moderate success this season. The Voorheesville boys’ shone as they won the sectional title this spring. The Voorheesville girls’ team finished second at its sectional competition.

BKW continued to have success as the boys’ team won the WAC meet and finished second — to Voorheesville — at the sectional meet. The BKW girls’ team also did well, finishing second at the league meet.

BKW’s Ada Lauterbach along with the Voorheesville 4x800 meter relay team of Mackey Lloyd, Ryan Allison, Nathan Bub, and Ian Powell qualified for the state meet. The Blackbird team finished second in the small-school race and Lauterbach was third in the steeplechase.

Tennis

The Guilderland boys’ tennis team finished in a tie for first place in the Suburban Council. The Dutch advanced to the Class AA Section II finals but lost to Niskayuna.

Senior Joey Milstein and Alex Bush formed a doubles team that qualified for the state meet at Flushing Meadow in Queens.