Sports Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, February 16, 2006
Things not falling right for Dutchmen at end of season
By Tim Matteson
GUILDERLAND — The ball rested on the back of the rim after Guilderland basketball player Mark Domaracki’s shot. It never fell through the net.
It was a symbol of how things went for the Dutchmen in a 75-69 loss to Saratoga on Tuesday night.
Now the Dutchmen will have to face Saratoga again in a play-in game to qualify for the Section II Class AA tournament.
"Truthfully, they are a better team than where they finished up," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski. "They shouldn’t be in a play-in game. They should be representing us as a four, five, or six seed in the league. Unfortunately, they had injuries."
The Blue Streaks, however, had healed. Saratoga was missing guard Garret Bishop for most of the season; his recent return has had a huge impact.
"The Bishop kid changes them," Osinski said. "He makes them go. He gets the ball to people. And Stevens as a freshman is unbelievable," Osinski said, referring to Saratoga’s leading scorer. "I don’t know if we can play much harder. They played harder than us."
Ninth-grader Jordan Stevens showed why he is already one of the better players in Section II. He led all scorers with 28 points and had a thunderous one-handed dunk in the fourth quarter.
Bishop added 19 points, including three three-pointers.
The game was tied at halftime, 31-31, after Guilderland senior guard Jimmy Googas made a three-pointer with one second left.
But then in the third quarter, Saratoga — especially Stevens — took over.
The Blue Streaks scored the first six points of the quarter — four of them by Stevens — to take the lead.
Domaracki made a jump shot for Guilderland, but Saratoga went on an 11-2 run over the next few minutes to open up the lead.
Stevens made a jump shot, which was followed by Guilderland’s only points in the run — two free throws by Luke Pagano.
Daniel Harkins made a jump shot and Tim Hoover hit a three-point shot to make the score 44-35 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
Stevens then scored on an inside basket and Hoover made a foul shot to make the lead 12 points with 3:08 left.
Matt Doherty ended the run for Guilderland with a three-pointer with 2:52 left. Teammate Brett Marfurt scored after grabbing a rebound and the Dutch cut the lead to seven points.
Too high
Saratoga, however, outscored the Dutch 10-7 in the final 2:30 of the third quarter to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, 57-47.
The Dutchmen couldn’t catch up in the final stanza despite outscoring the Blue Streaks, 22-18.
The scoring was too high for the Dutchmen.
"For us to stay in the game, we can’t give up 75 points," Osinski said. "Then we have to score 80 and we can’t do that. We were fortunate to score 69."
Marfurt, a sophomore, led the Dutchmen with 22 points. Doherty added 15, Pagano scored 12, and Googas chipped in 11 points.
"Marfurt wasn’t bad," Osinski said. "He came up with 22 points. Though I think most of it was garbage stuff. It might be our first 20-point game all year."
It was Marfurt’s first game back from an injury and he got a lot of points off rebounds and inside. And he made two three-pointers.
Fellow sophomore, Drew Smith, scored seven points for the Dutch.
The loss drops the Dutch’s record to 5-9 in the Suburban Council and 8-12 overall. They are on a four-game slide after winning three in a row — including a win over Saratoga without Bishop — a couple of weeks ago. The Dutchmen also beat Columbia and Ballston Spa.
Guilderland lost both of its games in the Suburban Council Division II tournament. The Dutch lost to Columbia in the first game and then Ballston Spa in the consolation game of the tournament.
Now the Dutch will prepare to face the hot Blue Streaks on Friday at Guilderland High School. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
"We’ll make some changes and get ready to come back on Friday," Osinski said. "If we don’t, we’ll go home early and, if we do, we’ll move on. We have to play harder than them. At this point in time, it’s up to the kids.
"Our defense has to do a better job," Osinski added. "But their shooting percentage must have been phenomenal. We were busting our tail and they’d come down and make a shot."
Hussey, D’Ambrosio pin down title
By Tim Matteson
GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland wrestling team has found a couple of bright spots at the end of the season.
The Dutchmen finished third at the Class A meet in Ballston Spa on Saturday after having a rough regular season.
The Dutchmen also have two sectional champions. John D’Ambrosio and Kyle Hussey won their respective weight classes and were crowned Class A champions.
Guilderland, as a team, finished with 153 points. The Dutch tied with Niskayuna for third but came in far behind Shenendehowa and Ballston Spa, the two best teams in the section all season.
Hussey, a junior, won the 275-pound weight class and was the story of the tournament. He hadn’t wrestled all season because of knee surgery. His lone match of the year he won by forfeit so he had to get a waiver from Section II to be able to compete in the sectionals.
"Section II said that you have to wrestle a certain amount of matches," Hussey said. "I had to get a waiver just so I could compete in Class A’s."
D’Ambrosio, a senior, won the 189-pound weight class after finishing third at 171 pounds last year.
"It was pretty sweet," he said. "I was pretty excited. It was one of my goals and now I’m looking forward to the state qualifier."
The Dutchmen got a runner-up finish from Matt Cubillos in the 103-pound weight class.
They will be in the Section II state qualifier tournament this Friday and Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The top six seeds in each weight division in each class advances to the tournament. Class A and B place finishers will compete for a spot on the Section II large-school state team this weekend.
Also representing the Dutchmen at the qualifier are Ian DeSol, Dan Doynow, Josh Sawyer, Robert Romeo, Bobby Dygert, and Devan VanAuken.
DeSol finished third with a win in the consolation finals. Doynow and Sawyer had fourth-place finishes after losing in the consolation final. VanAuken and Dygert won their fifth-place matches and Romeo lost his final match to finish sixth.
"This year was a lot different," D’Ambrosio said. "We lost a lot of seniors and we had a lot of younger guys. We only have three seniors and one of them has been hurt. Finishing third in the standings is really good. We wrestled really well. It was one of the best couple of days for the team."
Hussey hustles back
Hussey’s story is amazing. He injured his knee during football season and had to have surgery. He had a second surgery that put him out for the entire season and his only match was won by forfeit.
"Conditioning was one thing," Hussey said about what worried him going into the sectional meet. "I had only five days to prepare for the Class A meet. Coming in, I knew it would be a tough tourney. I just wanted to take it one match at a time.
"My coaches helped me prepare. They really got me ready and prepared me. I thank my coaches immensely."
Hussey’s first match of the tournament came against the number-one seed. Hussey won by a 6-1 decision.
"That is one way to start a tournament," Hussey joked.
Hussey won the title by pinning Garrett Moldoff of Columbia in the finals on Saturday night.
When Hussey won his first match, he gained confidence in his skills and that his knee would hold up for the entire tournament.
"I had a knee brace on it in practice for five days," Hussey said. "It’s tough to get confidence with that. I wasn’t sure how much it could take. We came up with a game plan that I would use high-percentage moves and low-risk moves and keep it basic. We would work off that."
Hussey was shocked at the way he was able to wrestle in the tournament.
"I was surprised it went as smoothly as it did," he said. "I was glad that I could get to the level that I wrestled at."
Hussey won most of his matches in impressive fashion. After the first-round decision, Hussey won the rest of his matches by pin.
"Once I got that first match out of the way, it was easier," he said.
And now Hussey has another tournament to compete in.
"I’m looking forward to the Section II tournament," he said. "But I’m taking it one match at a time."
Hussey said it was hard to sit out for the season while his teammates were working hard.
"I’ve mostly been the timer or whistle guy," Hussey said of his tasks in practice for most of the year. "Everybody was working hard and it is frustrating watching them. I wanted to be out there wrestling."
D’Ambrosio dominates
D’Ambrosio wasn’t as much of a surprise as Hussey. He was the top seed in the 189-pound weight class and he followed his form as he won by a 9-1 decision over David Ottaviano of Niskayuna.
"I was the first seed and the guy that was my main competition in my weight class. I beat him twice last year," D’Ambrosio said. "We finished third and fourth in the same tournament last year."
D’Ambrosio came into the tournament familiar with most of his competition.
"I know most of the guys," he said. "I pretty much had beaten or placed higher in previous tournaments."
D’Ambrosio, who played football and might play that sport and not wrestle in college, said that moving up in weight also helped.
"The 189 spot is more natural for me," he said. "I didn’t have to cut weight. Last year, I had to lose 30 pounds. This season, it has been pretty nice."
Although D’Ambrosio is happy about winning a title, he is also happy for his teammate.
"I’m most happy for Kyle," he said. "His first match of the season, he beat the one seed. That got me all excited. I’m happy for him."
On the wall
D’Ambrosio has a goal of getting to states now that he has accomplished another of his goals.
Hussey’s name will join D’Ambrosio’s on the wall in the wrestling room in the east wing of the high school.
Both will be second seeds in their weight classes as they try to advance to the state tournament.
"When I first started, I wanted to get my name on the wall," D’Ambrosio said. "That was my goal and I got that last year. This year, I want to get to states."
"It’s a real honor to get onto the wall," Hussey said. "Everyone knew what I was going through. Everything happened so fast. My coaches never gave up on me.
"It’s real humbling to get your name up there," Hussey said. "It shows the hard work you’ve done."
Lady Dutch on roll
By Tim Matteson
GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland girls’ basketball team is heading into the Class AA sectionals on a high note.
The Lady Dutch captured the Division II Suburban Council tournament with a pair of im-pressive wins. Guilderland beat Ballston Spa, 35-20, in the first round, and Bethlehem in the fi-nal, 49-42, at Hudson Valley Community College.
The Lady Dutch will be the number-three seed from the Suburban Council at the section-als that start next week.
Guilderland wrapped up the regular season with a 47-27 win over Saratgoa on Tuesday.
In Sunday’s championship game, the Lady Dutch held a 26-16 halftime lead, but watched the Lady Eagles fight back in the third quarter to tie the game. Bethlehem outscored Guilderland, 16-6, in the third stanza.
The Lady Dutch responded with a 17-10 fourth quarter to win by seven points.
Mary Kate O’Connell led the Lady Dutch with 16 points. Kristin Pezze scored 15 points and Jessica Tice added seven.
Leah Gillham led Bethlehem with 13 points. Alex McCullough added 11.
Against Ballston Spa, the Lady Dutch won a defensive battle and did not allow the Scotties to score double digits in any quarter.
Guilderland led, 18-10, at half-time and 26-12 at the end of the third quarter.
O’Connell, again, led the Lady Dutch in scoring. She scored 11 points and Pezze added 10. Nikki Branchini chipped in eight points.
Awards
Pezze, a junior, was named to the Suburban Council All-Star team. She, along with Bethlehem’s Gilham, was one of two juniors named a league all-star.
Tice, a senior, was named to play in the Exceptional Seniors game that will be held at the end of the season.
The players were awarded after the championship game of the Division II Suburban Council tournament.
Dutchmen skate hard as season ends
By Tim Matteson
GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland ice hockey team concluded its regular season on a bit of a slide, but the Skating Dutchmen played well in a 3-0, loss to Shenendehowa.
It was the third straight loss for Guilderland, as it headed to sectional competition on Tuesday.
The Dutchmen were seeded seventh and played LaSalle Institute in Troy on Tuesday. Guilderland lost in overtime to the Cadets, 1-0.
But against Shen on Saturday, the Dutchmen’s inexperience showed at times, as they faced a tough experienced Plainsmen squad.
But Guilderland Coach John DeRubertis likes what he has seen from his team during the season. They started the campaign 0-9.
"We are truly playing different," the coach said. "We are playing the game at a higher level than the first weekend.
"Shen is a solid team as they always are," DeRubertis added. They outshot us but it was just 2-0 after two periods and, at the start of the third, we had a couple of opportunities. We put a puck in and it makes it a different game. We played a good game. That is a team we can beat."
Shen scored a goal in each period of the game. The first two were the result of power-play opportunities after Dutchmen penalties.
Ben Giannetti scored with 1:17 left in the first stanza. He was assisted by Bryan Hunter and Phil Moore. There was just one second left on the penalty when the Plainsmen scored.
Jon Tedesco made it 2-0 with 10:34 left in the second period. Andrew Cantiello and E.J. Reutemann assisted on the tally.
"The bottom line, is we need to stay out of the box," DeRubertis said. "We were a little better at that today than in the past. I would like to see us cut it down to one or two a game. I don’t think they were blatant or out of retalliation, which we’ve been known to do. They were the result of being aggressive. One the kid put his stick in to go for the puck and he tripped the kid."
Steve Caruso scored the final goal of the game for Shen. His unassisted tally came with 5:23 left in the third period.
Seniors honored
Guilderland came out aggressively on a day when eight seniors were honored before the game.
Adam Gray, Brian Clother, Brian Tobin, Cory Gillespie, John Moran, Havard Brustad, Steve Marciano, and Tim Montgomery played their final regular season home game for Guilderland.
Gray was his usual spectacular self. He has been great in goal for the Dutchmen all season — despite playing some defense for the Dutch earlier in the season — and showed he is one of the area’s best goalies.
Gray made 36 saves, — many of them difficult — to keep the Dutchmen in the game.
But the Dutch’s inexperience showed at times.
"There is no doubt we’re not the same team experience-wise," DeRubertis said. "Adam was solid in goal. He kept the puck out of the net."
Jon Fogel, Tobin, and Montgomery had good scoring opportunities to open the third period but the puck could not find the back of the net or was stopped by Shen goalie Greg Hitchko.
Hitchko made 16 saves for the Plainsmen in the contest.
Shen outshot the Dutchmen, 39-16, in the game.
"This was a good game going into sectionals," DeRubertis said on Saturday. "The pace of the game was as fast as we’ve played this year. We’ll take some positives as we start sectionals this week. This can end up helping us and we can see if we can come out with a victory."
Three losses
After going on a winning streak that put them near the top of the Capital District High School Hockey League standings, the Dutchmen lost three games in a row. Guilderland lost to Christian Brothers Academy and Glens Falls before Saturday’s loss.
"The CBA game certainly hurt," DeRubertis said. "They had hit their stride and they played terrific hockey. I think fatigue was a factor. We played three games in a row and had one day of rest. We also came into that game feeling a little too good about ourselves and they caught us sleeping and they worked for the win.
"From there, Glens Falls was a 1-0 game until they added an empty net goal," DeRubertis added. "It was just one of those games. We outshot and out-chanced them. We had some breakdowns on the bench and that certainly cost us."
The Dutch did win a non-league game against Bethlehem, 5-3, on Friday. Guilderland built a 5-1 lead before giving up a couple of power-play goals.
John Potts scored for the Dutchmen with assists from Gillespie and Marciano. Marciano scored the second goal of the game for the Dutchmen — assisted by Colin Burg.
John Fogel made the score 3-1 with an assist from Potts. Aaron Cahill scored to make it 4-1. He was assisted by Fogel and Potts.
Nick Stefani rounded out the scoring for Guilderland late in the second period. He was assisted by Potts.
Gray made 32 saves for the Dutchmen.
"This afternoon," DeRubertis said on Saturday, "the pace of the game was two levels above last night. It was a much higher level of hockey."
DeRubertis had a lot of confidence in his team as it headed into sectional play. The Dutchmen were the seventh seed and faced number-two seed, LaSalle.
Jeff Russo scored the only goal in Tuesday’s sectional contest. His tally came with 4:41 left in the extra frame and sent the Dutchmen home for the season.
Gray made 40 saves for Guilderland in the contest.
"Since the five years we’ve been in the league," DeRubertis said. "I’ve not seen a seven seed that is over .500. We have a 6-5-1 league record. I told the guys that having that record as a seven seed has not happened. That is how competitive the league is."