Schenectady girls want to cut down on mistakes

After losing its first Big 10 game of the year to Bishop Maginn Friday night, the Schenectady girls’ basketball team will be looking to minimize its mistakes against visiting Amsterdam tonight.

The Patriots rolled through their first eight league games before bowing to the Griffins. They are 15-2 overall. Amsterdam, the defending league champion with plenty of offensive firepower, is 4-3 and 7-5.

In the first meeting between the teams at Amsterdam, the Patriots won in a shootout, 93-92, in overtime.

“We’ve got to play good basketball and make less errors than we did the other night. We’ve got to do the things that we do well,” said Schenectady coach Carol Lupo.

“We had a little glitch in our performance the other night. We kind of fell apart a little. I just hope that we play up to our capabilities. Against Maginn, we made some gross errors, and it cost us the game. We lacked composure to handle ourselves correctly in that game. If we do that again, we will lose, but there a lot of teams we could lose to the rest of the season. We’re constantly being sought after, and as soon as we lower our guard, everyone wants to knock you off.

“If someone has a strong game, and we have a weak one, we can be beat,” Lupo said. “We’re not killing everyone by 20 or 30 points. I have a lot of respect for Amsterdam, Albany, which is the next league team we face, and the Suburban Council teams we might face in the sectionals.”

The Patriots are among the top three scoring teams in Section II at 56.6 points per game. Two of the main reasons are Sheila Dixon, a senior who is scoring 13.7 ppg, and Antonia Williams, who produces 13.1 ppg.

“Everyone kind of knew about Sheila, but Antonia has really developed. She has a lot more confidence in herself,” Lupo explained. “She has responded to what we’ve asked of her, but you never know when a kid will respond. You’re as pleased as punch when it does happens, but we weren’t sure at the beginning of the year.”

Lupo also stressed that the Pat­riots aren’t a two-person team.

“People like Samara Butler, Amanda Colafemina and Carissa Cromwell rarely get mentioned, but they’ve been great providing assists, rebounding and setting things up for us. They do a lot of the grunt work. Without them, it would be hard to beat a lot of teams. They don’t get recognized, but there are a lot of people who are contributing to our success,” the coach said. “It’s not just because we have what is looking like two great players right now.”

Lupo didn’t want to give away her game plan against Amsterdam, but she said the key will be playing mistake-free basketball.

“We want to capitalize on any errors they might make,” she said.

“The first time we played them was a freak accident,” she said of the high-scoring matchup. “We don’t expect that kind of game again.”

The Rams, who are also among the top five scoring teams in Section II, are paced by Michela

Ottati’s 13 ppg.

In a key Suburban Council boys’ game tonight, Shenendehowa hosts Saratoga Springs.

The Plainsmen lead the North Division with a 10-1 record, and are 14-1 overall after Friday night’s 57-55 victory over Mohonasen.

The Blue Streaks fell three games behind Shenendehowa in the div­ision Friday night when they were upset by Colonie, 59-57.

In a Western Athletic Conference girls’ game Monday night, Heather Stickler scored 11 points to lead balanced Galway over Sar­atoga Catholic, 46-26.

The Eagles improved to 7-3 and 9-5. Kate Mensler scored 11 points for 4-6, 5-11 Saratoga Catholic.

Allison Paludi scored 13 points as Duanesburg nipped Berne-Knox-Westerlo, 48-46.

Jackie Sorensen poured in 20 points in Waterford-Halfmoon’s

41-28 Central Hudson Valley League win over Loudonville Christian. Chelsea Waner scored 11 for LCS.

In a boys’ non-league game, Kyle Roney scored 21 points, and Charles Crook added 10 as 3-10 Middleburgh defeated Windham, 44-33.

GIRLS

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

GALWAY 46, SARATOGA CATHOLIC 26

GALWAY

Stickler 5-1-11, Nichols 1-0-2, Jones 1-0-2,

Longworth 3-0-8, Schelling 2-0-4, Sittner

3-0-6, Martin 4-0-8, Cowper 1-1-4, Sittner

0-1-1. Totals: 20-3-46.

SPA CATHOLIC

Rizzo 1-0-2, Diggins 2-0-4, Denere 1-0-3, Lenz 1-0-2, Mensler 5-1-11, Kirby 1-0-2,

Cioffi 1-0-2. Totals: 12-1-26.

Galway 17 10 8 11 — 46

Spa Catholic  6  9 7  4 — 26

Three-point goals: Longworth 2, Cowper, Denere.

DUANESBURG 48,

BERNE-KNOX-WESTERLO 46

DUANESBURG

DeGiule 0-3-3, Fields 0-1-1, Me. Kuhl

2-2-6, Mo. Kuhl 2-1-5, McGarry 0-6-6, Paludi 3-4-13, Sanders 2-4-9, Tomeck 2-0-5. Totals: 11-21-48.

B-K-W

Bates 0-3-3, Mann 5-0-12, Pitcher 6-1-14, Springer 1-2-4, VanDyke 2-2-6, Wilson 1-4-7. Totals: 15-12-46.

Duanesburg 10 13  3 22 — 48

B-K-W 13  8 10 15 — 46

Three-point goals: Paludi 3, Sanders,

Tomeck, Mann 2, Pitcher, Wilson.

CHVL

WATERFORD-HALFMOON 41,

LOUDONVILLE CHRISTIAN 28

LOUDONVILLE CHRISTIAN

Anderson 1-2-4, Burgher 3-0-6, Johnson 0-0-0, Parker 2-3-7, Wagner 4-0-11. Totals: 9-5-28.

WATERFORD-HALFMOON

Clow 1-0-2, Heins 5-0-10, Sorensen 7-4-20, Walek 3-1-7, Wright 1-0-2. Totals: 17-5-41.

LCS 5  8 10 5 — 28

Waterford 9 12 15 5 — 41

Three-point goals: Wagner 3, Sorensen 2.

BOYS

MIDDLEBURGH 44, WINDHAM 33

WINDHAM

Bentleyl 0-2-2, Aleso 2-0-5, Maynard 1-0-2,

Doolan 5-0-10, Filippone 1-0-2, Sherman

1-0-2, Goettsche 5-0-10. Totals: 15-2-33.

MIDDLEBURGH

Bartels 1-0-2, Hertz 1-1-3, Whitaker

0-1-1, Costello 1-0-2, Wynia 1-0-3, Roney

7-4-21, Crook 4-2-10, Ostrander 1-0-2.

Totals: 16-8-44.

Windham  8 10 10  4 — 33

Middleburgh 10  7 13 14 — 44

Three-point goals: Aleso, Wynia, Roney 3.

Categories: High School Sports