Gloversville's Cal Porter (10) is challenged by Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake's John Klopfer (13) as he drives to the hoop during Monday's non-league contest at Gloversville High School.

By James A. Ellis

GLOVERSVILLE — In a non-league sectional tune-up, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake held off a Gloversville fourth-quarter rally to escape with a 53-47 victory Monday night at Gloversville High School.

Gloversville trailed the Spartans by 15 points heading into the final eight minutes of play. However, the Dragons opened the quarter with a 13-0 run to cut the Spartans’ lead to a basket, 45-43.

The teams traded baskets before Grady Osterlitz connected on a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left to play to push Burnt Hill ahead 52-47.

The Dragons pushed to close the gap in the closing seconds but could get no closer as Benjamin Kline added a free throw to put the final score at 53-47.

Gloversville’s Jordan Collar led all scorers with 18 points, while Rocco Insonia finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds and Cal Porter added 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Myles Yannuzzi paced Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake with 15 points and six rebounds, while Kline finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and Osterlitz had 11 points and five rebounds to go with a seven rebound, six-point effort from Tristan Torres.

The Spartans finished with nine 3-pointers in the game.

Non-league

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 53, Gloversville 47

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake      18  18  9  8  —  53

Gloversville    14  12  4  17  —  47

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake: Yannuzzi 5-2-15, Torres 3-0-6, Nuzzi 1-0-3, Osterlitz 3-2-10, Skinner 1-0-3, Klopfer 2-0-5, Kline 4-2-11. Totals: 19-6-53.

Gloversville: Dorman 2-0-4, Halloran 1-1-4, Porter 4-2-10, Collar 8-2-18, Insonia 5-0-11. Totals: 20-5-47.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake's Tristan Torres (1) attempts to block Gloversville's Jordan Collar (22) as he leans into a shot during Monday's non-league contest at Gloversville High School.

JAMES A. ELLIS

Amsterdam's Rocco Natale (1) draws a foul from Mohonasen's Carter Bullinger (3) as he drives to the hoop during Wednesday's Section 2 Class AA opening round game at Amsterdam High School.

By James A. Ellis

AMSTERDAM — When Amsterdam and Mohonasen met in a non-league matchup on Feb. 8, the Rams were able pulled off a fourth-quarter rally to defeat Mohonasen 56-48.

Wednesday, the Rams and Warriors squared off again in the opening round of the Section 2 Class AA tournament.

Seventh-seeded Amsterdam again found itself trailing No. 10 Mohonasen at the half and staged a second-half rally. Only this time the second-half surge fell short as the Warriors held on to defeat Amsterdam 43-33 and advance to face second-seeded Mekeel Christian Academy in Sunday’s quarterfinal round at Siena College.

“It was hard facing them again, but we had time to go back and watch the tape and see what we needed to improve on,” Mohonasen senior Drew Batcher said. “Fortunately we had enough to hold them off this time.”

The Warriors dominated play, especially under the basket where the physical play kept the Rams from getting into a rhythm of play.

The Warriors’ attack also hurt Amsterdam, as key players Aundray Fowler and CJ Miller saw limited time in the opening half due to foul trouble.

Mohonasen took full advantage of the situation to build a solid 28-11 halftime advantage.

“Give them a lot of credit, their physicality I believe was the difference in the game,” Amsterdam coach Tim Jones said. “They were really able to bump and, to their credit, they were able to get away with it and hold us to 11 points. We were flat in a couple of areas but give them credit, they rebounded the ball very well.”

The Rams found the offense it was lacking in the opening half in the third quarter.

With Miller leading the way with eight points and Rocco Natale hitting for six, Amsterdam put up 20 points to trim the Warriors advantage down from 17 to five points, 36-31, heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Defense took over for both squads in the fourth quarter as Amsterdam held the Warriors to two field goals and the Rams managed one field goal in the quarter as Mohonasen closed out the 43-33 victory.

The Warriors’ Jordan Knight led all scorers with 14 points, while Batcher hit for eight and Carter Bullinger chipped in with seven.

“We did a good job in the third quarter,” Jones said. “We did a great job of trying to get back in it and we did but couldn’t finish it.”

Miller paced the Rams’ scoring with 12 points, while Natale had eight points and Jude Flint finished with six.

With the Rams’ starting five consisting of a junior, three sophomores and a freshman, Jones sees a bright future for the Rams.

“That is just it. It was a tough loss, but whenever you lose it is a tough loss,” he said. “We are just going to keep working together and growing as a team.”

Mohonasen    14  14  8  7  —  43

Amsterdam    6  5  20  2  —  33

Mohonasen — J. Paolino 1-2-5, L. Paolino 1-0-3, Bullinger 2-2-7, Shaffeeulah 2-1-5, Knight 6-2-14, Lott 0-1-1, Batcher 3-2-8. Totals: 15-10-43.

Amsterdam — Natale 3-2-8, Fowler 1-0-3, Tirado 0-2-2, Daley 0-2-2, Flint 3-0-6, Miller 6-0-12. Totals: 13-6-33.

JAMES A. ELLIS

Mohonasen's Jacob Paolino (1) and Amsterdam's Hingston Daley (5) hustle after a loose ball during Wednesday's Section 2 Class AA opening round game at Amsterdam High School.

JAMES A. ELLIS

Mohonasen's Jordan Knight (20) is guarded by Amsterdam's Jude Flint (11) as he moves the ball toward the hoop during Wednesday's Section 2 Class AA opening round game at Amsterdam High School.

By Aidan Joly

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Saratoga needed a strong fourth quarter in order to hold off a hard-charging Jamesville-DeWitt squad, but they were able to in the end, grabbing a 64-56 win over the Red Rams on Friday night.

After Jamesville-DeWitt’s John Withers made a clutch three to make it a 56-53 game with less than two minutes to go, the Blue Streaks had to check their guts and keep themselves on top in a game where they had led by as much as 17, a lead that had come much earlier in the game.

However, the Blue Streaks were able to hit some key free throws courtesy of Aidan Holmes and Luke Britton in order to conserve the victory against the non-league opponent, out of Section III.

Despite that, the main story of the game was the Blue Streaks playing hard both inside the paint and giving themselves some help on the perimeter when going inside wasn’t going to work. They did this without the usual strong play of Holmes, but with Britton and Michael Rogan, who both played very well and led Saratoga with 16 and 19 points respectively.

“It was different because it was hard to match up with them with the size, but we just had to work harder than them and I think honestly we just wanted it more than them. We just kept pushing the ball and we gave it our all,” Rogan said.

Holmes did end up finishing the game with 13 points, however nine of them came on free throws in the fourth quarter.

“That’s what we talked about after the game, it’s tough to prep and plan for a team that has four or five guys that can score the ball. If it’s one or two guys you can really key in on them and try to focus your game plan on taking them out,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said.

It was not that close the entire game, though. The Blue Streaks dominated in the first parts of the night, getting a lead as large as 17 at one point late in the second quarter before Jamesville-DeWitt went on an 11-0 run to close the half, making it only a six-point lead for Saratoga at the break. From there, the margin stayed under 10 points, but Jamesville-DeWitt never had the lead, despite their best efforts to get back into the game.

“We were up big in the first half and then we kind of gave it away. From then on, we knew we could (hold them off) and then we let up a possession and they hit a three, they kept trickling back. It was a good win,” Rogan said.

Usher said of the night overall, a game against a non-league opponent and his team’s first game in 15 days, “We were more focused on us improving in several areas and I think we did that tonight.”

The Blue Streaks placed three players in double figure scoring. Michael Rogan led the Blue Streaks with 19 points. Luke Britton added 16 points. Aidan Holmes tallied 13 points. 
The Blue Streaks buried 7 trifectas. 
Michael Rogan made 4 three-pointers. Luke Britton added 3.Saratoga Springs shot outstanding from the free throw line as they made 68.4%, 13 of 19.

Below you'll find league all-star teams selected by the coaches. These lists have been sent to us by the league representative.

 2023-24 Girls Adirondack League All-Star team selected by the coaches.

2023-24 Boys WAC All-Star team selected by the coaches.