The Preview: February 27

Playoff basketball - where everyone in the Northeast plays on the same days! Decent amount of games on the slate today, just in preparation for a wild weekend. Let's check what's on the schedule for tonight.

In Section 2, the home base of Takeover, Bs and Cs run the boys' games. All 4 B quarterfinals are taking place, along with a pair of Cs, split between Hudson Valley CC and Shenendehowa HS. Those include:

- Schalmont (led by standout 6'4" junior Zac O'Dell) taking on a senior-heavy Cohoes team, led by KoK alum Brandon LaForest, who's been on a tear since returning from a leg injury suffered during football.

- Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville (regardless of what some of the peanut gallery likes to think, led far and away by standout junior and KoK alum Dylan Klock), taking the court against Lake George. Klock has over 1,100 points for his varsity career thus far - Lake George's leader, senior Joel Wincowski (UMBC commit), just became Section 2's all-time leading scorer with over 2,400 points.

- Voorheesville takes on Broadalbin-Perth in a rematch of last year's Class B final in Section 2. B-P has been the better team this season - both teams are balanced with mainly seniors running the show, but one underclassman on each side can play. B-P has a heady starting point guard in sophomore Preston Taylor, and Voorheesville has been getting big numbers from a sophomore I haven't seen yet in Sean Nolan.

- After picking up an upset win, #13 seed Ravena gets another underdog setting against Mekeel Christian Academy. Ravena has a couple interesting underclassmen in junior Michael Babcock and sophomore Sky Rebeor behind senior David Warnken. Mekeel is loaded with non-senior talent, led by this season's WAC Most Valuable Player, junior Scott Voelker and 6'5" junior Damonte White (may be looking into prep next year). Keeping an eye out for the future, they have two freshmen in Deonte Holder and Carter Stewart that would be starting on many varsity teams this year.

- Upset-minded Schuylerville takes on top-seeded Hoosick Falls in a Class B quarter. Schuylerville's a one-man wrecking crew in senior Dante Langley, who I missed out on watching last year. HF is a balanced crew, led by KoK alum senior Andrew Hoag, one of the better true point guards in the area. Their leading scorer and rebounder is a junior, though. Though undersized, Connor McCart makes up for it in strength, desire, and athleticism.

- The nightcap at Shen is Middleburgh/Hoosic Valley. Both teams led by seniors, namely John Rooney for HV. No underclassmen of interest.

On the girls end, we've got 8 games. Both Class A and C quarterfinals will be handled by the end of the night. Two games each in Troy, Averill Park, Hoosic Valley, and Greenwich.

- Scotia takes on Amsterdam to start off the night in Troy - game 3 for them, with both going ever-so-slightly in Amsterdam's favor in the regular season. Amsterdam is led by standout sophomore Nina Fedullo, who put up a ridiculous stat line in the 2nd game against the Tartans.. 35 points, 18 boards sounds about right. There's hoops in her bloodline, and the 5'11" tweener is the next in line. Scotia has their own little dynamic duo - senior Nicole Conley in the paint, and the perimeter is run by junior standout Caitlin Estes, who is one of the most consistent players in the section.

- In the nightcap, Holy Names (led by 6'0" junior standout De'ja Deas and aided in the blocks by 6'3" freshman Olivia Owens, who will be a stud) takes on the top-seeded Troy Flying Horses. Senior Kiana Patterson, a CCSU commit, runs the show for them, but they have a couple solid sophomores I've yet to talk to in Sabrina Wolfe and Shalie Frierson.

- You'll catch me at Averill Park tonight for at least the first game, but probably both. Another Foothills Council battle starts it off, with Hudson Falls taking on Glens Falls. Hudson Falls is an unknown for me - haven't watched them yet. I know they're a balanced group, but I also don't know grade levels of any of the girls. Glens Falls is no mystery, though. Bad Boy might have preferred Benjamin, but out here, it's all about the Tougases, baby. Their leading scorer is 5'11" 8th grader Sophie Tougas - at last check, she was averaging around 15 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks per game, and she's more of a guard. Her older sister, sophomore Lucy Tougas, is right behind her in scoring. The 5'9" point guard is impressive, more specifically because she can score 20-30 on you, but is more of a pass-first player.

- The nightcap at AP: Mohonasen taking on 2nd seeded Averill Park. Mohon is led by sophomore standout Saeeda Abdul-Aziz, who averages around 50% of her team's points. I've already watched Mohon enough, but I'm drawn to stick around this one to watch and perhaps finally talk to Averill Park junior Samantha Laranjo. She has flashes of really strong play on a balanced squad.

- Another great one to watch for my purposes would be the opener at Greenwich, where Lake George girls take on Maple Hill. I haven't been able to catch LG yet, but I'm fully aware of what I've been meaning to catch, and that's the Bennett sisters. Junior Mackenzie Bennett has been on the radar for a while, and her younger sister, 6' 8th grader Graceann, has jumped on the scene as well. Maple Hill's led by a senior in Lindsey Mannion, but they have bodies in the post that can do damage as well. Last time I watched them, I think it was Courtney Unser that stood out to me. Although an underclassman, I passed at the moment because the opponent was awful. Would love to get a look against better competition.

- Canajoharie, led by senior twins Ariannah and Jordyn Logan, try their hand at Greenwich in that nightcap, led far and away by senior Alexis Case. She only dropped 54 last game, so have fun there! Greenwich also has a sophomore in Sabrina Whitehouse that I've heard good things about, so hopefully I'll be able to catch them. Maybe I can get lucky and have a Lake George/Greenwich final?

- Finally, Hoosic Valley's doubleheader. Mekeel and Greenville take the court to start, and both teams are led by senior guards, but have solid underclassman talent. Mekeel's got 1,000+ point scorer Macie Holmes running the show, but freshman Rebekkah Dean is impressive. At 5'9", she was their starting point guard last season while Holmes was out with a torn ACL. This year, they had to throw her in the blocks because of their lack of size. No matter where you put her, she's effective and looks like she belongs at that spot. She's a natural. Greenville's led by standout senior Carly Johnson, but they have a freshman as well that impresses in Ava Fitzmaurice. She's more of a shooter right now than anything, but the rest will come along fine, and she can shoot the cheddar. Averages double digits, went 4/5 from deep in the game I watched with a couple coming from 23-25 feet. They're led down low by junior Kaitlyn Krasney, a strong 5'10" that is great positioning herself and is a double-double danger.

- The nightcap there is Middleburgh/Hoosic Valley. HV is the top seed, led by senior Alyssa Paul and their defense, but not anything on their team I'm looking at as far as underclassmen go. Middleburgh has a trio of guards to look out for - 2 seniors in Kiera Morgan and Carley Ryan, and a sophomore southpaw in Lyndsey McCoy that has skills that translate directly to success against better competition.


Lighter night in Central NY's Section 3, but they're already at semifinals. The Class B and C girls semis take place at Onondaga CC tonight.

- Westhill girls, fresh off upsetting Bishop Grimes who was arguably the best team in the state in Class B all season, get Skaneateles next. It's been underclassmen all the way for the Warriors - they're led in scoring by junior Delaney Martin, and followed up by fellow junior Mary Kate Washburn. Look out for the future, too. My buddy that used to be on the Westhill coaching staff was telling me about Delaney's little sister last year.. that little sister, 8th grader Mackenzie, is 3rd on the team in scoring. Skaneateles is led by senior Elizabeth Lane, a 1,000+ point scorer, but a couple underclassmen follow her up. Olivia Dobrovosky, an 8th grader, and junior Shannon Foehl both average double digits. Basketball's in the bloodline for Olivia - her sister's a freshman at LeMoyne.

- In the other B semi, Hannibal battles perennial power South Jefferson. Hannibal's led by a sophomore in Sydney Alton and freshman McKenzie Mattison, both averaging double digits. I remember watching Sydney last year when I wasn't doing a girls league and thinking 'yeah, she'll end up being good'. South Jeff doesn't seem to be as strong as usual - that being said, they're 18-2 and winning on the defensive end as usual. Junior Quincey Zimmerman gives them contributions, along with seniors Clarissa Perry and Marisa Clark.

- We've got a juicy C semi starting us off! Pulaski takes on Cooperstown, led by exactly what I love to see on the court - standout non-seniors. I've even talked to Cooperstown's already, in Division I caliber point guard Liz Millea. Her game has elevated drastically each year since a freshman, where she was an animal defensively with an offensive game that was a definite work in progress. Her weakness then (jump shot) has become a clear strength (50 threes this year), and she surpassed 1,000 points this season while also breaking the school record with 46 points in a single game (against St. Bonaventure commit Danielle Migliore and Frankfort-Schuyler). Pulaski's got their own standout junior in Morgan Jordal. Unlike Millea, she controls the blocks. The 6 footer, if the Post-Standard career stats are correct, will probably score her 1,000th point in this game. At this rate, there's an outside chance that she'll finish her varsity career approaching 1,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 300 blocks. Jeez.

- The other C semi pits top-seeded Weedsport (led by way over 1,000 point scoring senior Abby Marsden) and West Canada Valley (balanced squad led by senior Carissa Tasovac). Not much doing her for underclassmen, as far as I'm concerned.


Section 4 (NY's Southern Tier) has some action going on tonight too. Why not run through that quickly?

- AA semifinals will be a girls/boys home doubleheader for Horseheads. Their girls take on Corning - not sure what they have out there besides Horseheads having a senior that's a Canisius commit. On the boys' end, KoK alum Jelani Fontanez and Ithaca's Little Red come to town vs. Horseheads boys, led far & away by fellow KoK alum, senior Foster Clark.

- All of the Class C & D girls quarterfinals are tonight, I'll skip the small talk though and mention the only team out of those 16 I've seen so far. South Kortright girls have a home game against area foe Schenevus - SK, a D, would beat the vast majority of C schools in the state, along with plenty of Bs and the occasional AA or A. They're good. Most impressive when I watched was junior standout Tori Rockefeller, along with tough sophomores Lexi DuBois and Breanna Laing.


Even the northeastern edge of NY (Section 7) has some semifinals going off tonight. Only a couple teams I've seen - Ticonderoga boys take on Seton Catholic of Plattsburgh, who's led by a senior KoK alum, heady 6'1" point guard Kaden Baugh. On the girls' end, Beekmantown (boasting a very intriguing prospect in 6'2" sophomore Brooke Bjelko) takes on Northeastern Clinton.


I'll do the same thing in western Massachusetts, where there are 16 girls games going on - quickly mentioning the ones I've seen.

- Westfield girls take the trip into central MA to play Shepherd Hill in quarterfinals. Westfield is a balanced team with no real standouts, but they have a solid prospect in 6'1"-6'2" junior Alexa Morin. Alexa is a true post player, doing her work 12 feet and in, and she runs the floor very well for a big. Add good rebounding/shot blocking ability and a couple refined post moves, and you see why she's an intriguing watch.

- Chicopee Comp heads up 91 a short ways to take on Northampton. Also caught Chicopee Comp recently, a very guard-heavy group. Perhaps their best player is junior Alyssa Stefanelli, whose contributions may not always stand out in the scorebook, but it becomes clear in the stat line. The point guard is a stat stuffer, with quick hands on defense, great rebounding ability for a guard, being able to score when necessary but playing more of a pass-first point guard role. Their leading scorer is sophomore Ashley Rouleau, a shooter first whose game seems to be rounding out nicely.

- Pittsfield hosts central MA's North Middlesex in Division II quarterfinals, and everyone knows what the home team throws at you - Peyton Steinman. The standout sophomore does it all for the Generals, scoring around 20 points per game while getting everyone involved. She's one of the top guards in the area and perhaps the best in Berkshire County that doesn't go to prep, and she shows why time and time again.

- The reason I say arguably is because of another standout sophomore. Hoosac Valley, currently ranked as the top team in western MA, takes a home game against a Wahconah team that gave them a hell of a battle recently. HV is led by 1,000 point scoring senior Emily Rosse, but sophomore guard Fallon Field has staked her claim as one of the best players in the area, as well. Unlike many girls' basketball players, she seems to thrive off contact and loves to get to the line, but has a smooth jumper from distance as well and plays tough D. Speaking of a smooth jumper, that's what Hoosac Valley junior Madi Ryan brings you every night out. She's really come on more as the season progressed - also averaging double digits, she's proven to be one of the most lethal 3-point shooters in the area. There's a lot of underclassmen on the other side, as well. A couple of them are borderline as to whether I'd want to talk to them or not, such as Lily Pudlo, but the one that impressed me enough was sophomore Ashley Zink. At 5'2", she's probably in the bottom 5 of everyone I talked to so far in the height game, but she makes up for that with a knockdown jumper, crafty floater and runner game, and overall intelligence on the court.

- Another tough Division III game tonight as well, with Hampshire hosting South Hadley. Haven't got to talk to South Hadley sophomore standout Sophie Gatzounas yet - hopefully soon. She's one of the leading scorers in western MA. Hampshire has a couple underclassmen, along with senior Lauren Aldrich, running the show. Junior point guard Chelsea Moussette may be the shortest of them all (maybe 5'0"?) but was the best player on the floor for long stretches when I watched them. Very fast, but uses change of speed/change of direction very well. She can shoot, handle the ball, and is a great passer while being pesky on the ball defensively. They also have a sophomore standout in the blocks in Katie O'Connor. Out of everyone I've seen this season, I don't think there's been one person that's wanted rebounds as much as her... so she gets them. Even with her consistently scoring double digits, rebounding in and out of her area was her most impressive asset. She had 24 boards in the game I watched, against post players that were 6'0" and 6'3".

- Another solid post player (and young) over in Great Barrington, and her (also young) Monument Mountain squad hits the road in Division III quarters to take on Granby. 6'0" freshman Sarah Sullivan is impressive. She's averaging double digits scoring along with 8-9 rebounds, a couple steals, and a couple blocks per game, and she has the look of a basketball player. Their other leading scorer is freshman Anika Helmke, so there's a bright future for MM.

Time for some action! Good luck to everyone!