2008-2009 winter-spring sports review

By Jordan J. Michael

As the exciting soccer season came to a close this past school year, winter came through and brought some crazy weather, as well as some engaging basketball on the local hardwood.

Eventually, spring gave way to some spectacular Guilderland lacrosse. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams won their Class A titles. It was the third championship in a row for the Lady Dutch and the first for the boys since 1998.

The biggest story of the spring season was, once again, the Lady Dutch lacrosse team. Just as they did in 2008, the girls made it all the way to Cortland for the state semi-finals. Unlike last year, they made it to the championship game, but lost to Farmingdale in the final seconds.

Guilderland was led by the senior play of Danielle Tetreault, Bridget Daley, Jen Madsen, Amanda Best, and Courtney Davis. This group of girls helped the Lady Dutch to a 62-5 record over the past three seasons under Head Coach Gary Chatnik. The team finished with a number-six national ranking from LaxPower in 2009.

Tetreault, Daley, and Madsen were all selected as U.S. Lacrosse All-Americans this year. Tetreault had seven goals in Guilderland’s 13-to-9 state semi-final win over Fairport and will bring her talents to Harvard next year.

Daley, who had two goals and two assists in the final game, will be heading to Syracuse and Madsen will move on to college at the University of Vermont. Best will attend Fairfield and Davis will go to St. Lawrence University.

The Lady Dutch have dominated Section II for the past couple years now and its biggest deficit of 2009 was two goals against Fairport in the semi-finals at Cortland. “The road hasn’t been as easy as people think,” Chatnik said during the championships. “I’m very proud of these girls.”

Amanda Santandrea will be back in net for Guilderland next season to provide big saves once again. Jenna Crupi, Kristen Cagino, Erin Mossop, Kelly Camardo, Casey Gerety, Jess Marini, Hannah Scott, and Marissa Page will be back for another run in 2010.

As for the Dutchmen lacrosse team, playing Yorktown in the regional final was the farthest the program had ever gone in its history. Guilderland was no match for the Cornhuskers, losing 16 to 4. However, it was a very successful year for the club.

The offense was led by All-American Rory Nunamacher, who will attend Hartford next year, Anthony Powers, Travis Moore, E.J. Genzano, Bryan Dyer, Paul Jones, and Matt Siracusa. Leading defenders Jake Burns and Kip Stillman will be leaving the team for college.

Guilderland looks in good shape for next season with both Dyer and Jones returning to the lineup. Goalie Christian DePersis is a rising talent and will be in net when lacrosse continues.

Here’s a look at the other sports from winter and spring:

Basketball

It was a fairly interesting year for basketball. There were tough wins, tough losses, and a few records, too. All six teams made it to the post-season.

The basketball story of the year was the amazing turnaround by the Lady Birds. The team went from a 5-16 record in 2008 to a spot in the Class CC final against Hoosic Valley in 2009. Even though they lost the final, they finished at 17-6.

Voorheesville beat Stillwater in the semi-finals, 47-44, to get to the championship game. The Indians won the Class CC title by two points after the Lady Birds couldn’t get a foul in the final seconds.

With a final score of 25 to 23, it was one of the lowest scoring games The Enterprise had ever witnessed. The game was full of turnovers, physical play, and missed shots. It was one of the sloppiest games of the year.

Senior co-captains Casey Becerra, Kelly Glath, and Sarah Goss will be moving on and almost went out on the highest of notes. Brittney Creed, Elizabeth Madden, Emily Norris, and Jane Pritchard, who came alive in the playoffs, will be present next year.

The Warriors of Lake George proved to have Voorheesville’s number this year in sectional play after knocking off the Blackbirds in the Class CC quarterfinals. Voorheesville had a successful season in the Colonial Council, only to have it cut short.

It was a game of epic proportions that came down to one final play. Senior point guard Nick Kinisky put up a desperation three and managed to get his own rebound. Kinisky found fellow senior Mike Snyder in the corner for an open three to tie, but the shot missed.

It was a tough way to go out for seniors Kinisky, Snyder, Nick Blow, and Mike Tesch. All four players had an important part in the team’s success in 2009. However, Voorheesville will retain leading scorer Ethan Mackey, a player who dominates the post.

Both Berne-Knox-Westerlo basketball teams had a record-setter this year. Senior David Sikule of the boys’ team broke the Bulldogs’ all-time single game scoring record by scoring 50 points against St. Johnsville. On the girls’ side, senior Andrea Van Dyke became the fourth player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

Sikule and Van Dyke had similar styles of play and both led their team’s offenses. Both players could score from anywhere and make great passes to open teammates. Sikule and Van Dyke each had multiple games of 20 points or more in their varsity careers.

The most shocking aspect of the BKW girls’ season was the way it ended. The fifth- seeded team was knocked out by 12^th-seeded Hoosick Falls at home and the crowd was stunned. The Bulldogs got pounded by 20 points. It was the most baffling moment of the year.

The BKW boys’ team had a sluggish year and finished 8-12 before bowing out of sectionals in the first round. Ryan LaBelle, Paolo Audino, and Jake Tambasco are just a few players who will return. However, Sikule and his manic scoring will be history.

The Guilderland boys’ basketball team had a promising year until it ran into defending state champion Bishop Maginn in the Class AA quarterfinals, losing 84 to 42.

Seniors Kevin Kost, Jon Terry, Chris Mannarino, and Pat Quinn each spent time as leading scorers for the Dutch. No key players will return for 2010.

The Lady Dutch had an up-and-down season on the hardwood floor. Surprisingly, the team upset Bishop Maginn in the first round of sectionals, before losing to Colonie in the next round. Jen Madsen, Julia Shea, and Alicia Bowman are the only players that graduated.

Wrestling

Each local wrestling team had a bright 2009 and a few athletes reached the state championships.

Seniors Matt Cubillos and Devan Van Auken made the state finals for Guilderland. Cubillos went 4-2 in the tournament and placed fifth overall. Van Auken lost two of three matches for an early exit.

The Dutchmen placed third in Section II this year behind Shenendehowa and Amsterdam. It was the highest Guilderland had finished as a team in years. Kevin Bates, Travis Wolanski, Matt Hart, Greg Reinhart, Eugene Sellie, Cubillos, and Van Auken all placed in the event.

Cubillos will be taking his amazing talents to the University of Virginia in the fall and Hart will be attending Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Van Auken will be wrestling for the State University of New York College at Oswego and Brendan Ruddy and Reinhart will try to compete in college as well.

During the season, Cubillos broke the wins record for the Guilderland program and ended with 168 wins overall. He was 40-3 on the year and captured his third Class A title at 130 pounds. Cubillos won a Section II title just as he had in 2008 and his third trip to the state championships singled him out in Dutchmen history.

The Voorheesville wrestling squad sent sophomore Jerry Clark to the state championships where he won one match after becoming a Class C sectional champion at 152 pounds.

The Blackbirds had a decent year after being revitalized by young first-year coach Matt Robinson. The team found a way to win after being down in the dumps for a few years prior.

Talyor Treadgold went 38-2 on the season for Voorheesville and netted a third-place finish at sectionals. Senior Andrew Clark went 23-7 in matches in 2009 and Jim Sheedy went 29-9. Andrew Clark and Frank Kaus are the only graduates from the team.

BKW wrestling coach Jeff Vogel was named the Class D Coach of the Year for the second year in a row for his work with the team. The Bulldogs have continued to get better since they started wrestling in 2005.

Senior Josh Glick nearly missed a trip to the state championships at 140 pounds after finishing second in sectionals. Seniors Keith Domermuth and Greg Hannay also placed at sectionals.

Hockey

The Skating Dutchmen got one step further in 2009 by defeating LaSalle in the first round of the playoffs. The team finished with an 11-11-1 record after losing to top-seeded Shaker/Colonie in the second round.

Sophomore goalie Mike Alsante played 854 minutes for Guilderland and made 434 saves. Senior Collin Burg was fourth in the league with 44 points and Dan Dickinson led the Dutch with 24 goals. Greg Warnken had 34 points and will bring his talents back next year as a senior.

Track and field

The local track teams were busy this year with top-place finishes and broken records. Guilderland, Voorheesville, and BKW never stopped running.

Josh Glick took the cake by becoming the first individual state champion in Bulldog history. He had a pole-vault jump of 14 feet to claim the Division II title in Syracuse. Glick was getting special training from a coach in Ballston Spa this year and that ultimately led to his victory.

Greg Hannay broke his already existing BKW discus record by completing a throw of 153 feet, 10 inches at the William F. Eddy Meet.

The boys’ team had an outstanding year, winning the Western Athletic Conference Championships by seven points over Fonda-Fultonville. The girls’ team came in second place behind Fonda in the same meet.

The boys and girls were both winners in the 3,200-meter relay. Martha Mackey, Courtney Tedeschi, Alex Luciano, and Abby Swint had a time of 10:47.3, and David Haverly, Jeff Moller, Sean Reynolds, and Connor Devine crossed the line with a time of 8:38.1. Devine earned the boys the victory in the final lap of the race.

Scott Hannay and Bill Dergosits were both first-year coaches for the Bulldogs and they made an immediate impact on the team. Expect BKW to be on top of the track and field world for years to come.

The Voorheesville girls’ and boys’ track teams finished third and fourth respectively at the Colonial Council Championships. Sophomore Caitlin Abelseth placed first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.99. Rolly Lloyd, Ian Powell, Conor Cashin, and Nathan Bub got first place in the 4x400-meter relay and ran all the way to states.

The Blackbirds had more of an impressive year in 2008, but the program remained near the top of the league in 2009. Coach Steve Relyea has plenty of athletes returning for next season.

The Guilderland runners and jumpers had an average year on the track in 2009. The girls’ team finished fourth in the Suburban Council Championships and the boys placed seventh. There were only a few standout athletes.

Sophomore Ernestine Skipper claimed second in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash at the championships and Senior Briana DelBene had a discus throw of 117 feet, 8 inches for a second-place finish. Skipper made it to the state meet but didn’t place.

On top of all of that, the BKW boys and the Voorheesville girls both won a Class CC title in Greenwich.

Baseball

It was a quiet year for the local baseball teams in the area. Each team lost in the first round of sectionals.

The Dutchmen faced pitcher Michael Hughes of Albany at Bleecker Stadium and he held Guilderland to three hits to end their season. The Dutch had won a handful of games at the end of the regular season just to make it into post-season play.

Head Coach Doug LaValley was very proud of his team and called them “one of the best teams I ever coached.” The Dutchmen looked to be a very impressive group when they outscored Colonie, Averill Park, and Niskayuna 46-3 over three games in mid-May.

Senior captains Steve Anderson, Jason Sherwood, and Matt Roth will move on, as well as Pat Quinn, a speedy offensive threat. Guilderland’s best pitcher of 2009, Jeremy Affinito, leaves with the likes of Kyle LaValley, C.J. Lozano, and Ethan Slupski.

Mike Drislane, Sean Geisel, Jimmy Quinn, Luke Stark, and Matt Zanotta will be back next year after establishing themselves an important part to the Dutch roster.

Voorheesville won nine of its last 12 games to earn a first-round Class CC matchup with Maple Hill, but the team was probably wishing for another opponent. The Wildcats had Jaime Schultz on the mound, one of the most electrifying pitchers in Section II. Schultz threw a no-hitter against the Blackbirds. It was an awful way to end the season.

It was an up-and-down year for Voorheesville, finishing 12-12, and 8-8 in the Colonial Council. Seniors Landon Church and Joe Berschwinger were awarded first-team honors and senior Nick Blow earned second-team honors.

Church was sharp on the mound for the entire season and The Enterprise was there when he threw 70 of his 98 pitches for strikes in a home win against Watervliet. The pitching power of Church will be missed, but his younger brother, Nico, is on the rise after joining the team as only an eighth-grader.

The Bulldogs finished the year at 10-13 and dropped its first round Class CC playoff game to Cambridge.

However, sophomore Brandon Galgay was named to the First-Team All-Western Athletic Conference team for his efforts. The Bulldogs are a young team and most of their top players are sticking around for 2010.

Softball

Even though the local softball teams didn’t thrive in 2009, they provided some exciting moments on the diamond.

BKW made it to the Class CC sectionals with a winning record and looked to be in good shape. Unfortunately, the team lost its first post-season game to Lake George.

Senior captain Tomi-Lee Springer was named team MVP for having the highest batting average, fielding percentage, and slugging average. Lacey Yakel and Alicia Van Auken joined Springer as graduates.

Junior Kivea Reynolds threw a no-hitter against Northville on April 20 at home. She struck out 20 batters and walked five. Reynolds will be back next year with up and coming pitcher Danielle Krueger by her side.

The Lady Dutch team had to win two of its final three games to make sectionals but came up short. Lauren Napoli, Debra Schildt, and Marissa Valletta will no longer be wearing the red and black.

Guilderland was involved in one of the most exciting games of the season when it beat Hoosic Valley in the final inning. The speedy Napoli scored the winning run all the way from second base and secured a much-needed win.

The Voorheesville softball team didn’t reach its goal of making the playoffs. The team is quite young and has much room for growth. Kate Chiseri and Kendra Campana are the only players leaving.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, it was a successful year for local sports. Almost every team had something to cheer about. A majority of teams saw the post-season.

Guilderland had three sectional title teams for boys’ soccer, girls’ lacrosse, and boys’ lacrosse.

The most productive athlete of 2008-09 had to have been senior Pat Quinn of Guilderland. He was a standout player in soccer, basketball, and baseball. The Enterprise wonders which sport he would choose if he could only pick one.

It was fun to follow Guilderland lacrosse this spring. The Lady Dutch were inches away from a state title and that might have been their best shot at one. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Remember, football is right around the corner.