ROTTERDAM — Throughout the day and into Thursday night, rain and thunderstorms took a toll on Section II’s postseason sports schedule.
The evening’s Class B girls’ lacrosse title game between Niskayuna and Queensbury at Mohonasen High School was the last foul-weather victim, with Section II officials suspending the contest in the second half due to continuous lightning with the Spartans ahead 13-9.
A severe rain storm ensued about a half hour after the game was called.
“Safety issues,” Section II girls’ lacrosse coordinator Allison Anaya said. “We saw a report that more bad storms were coming in. We didn’t want to stop and start all night.”
By state rule, games are put on hold for a half-hour when lightning can be seen in the area of competition. Anaya called for a stoppage of play around 9 p.m., and soon after she called for the game to be postponed. The teams will resume play Friday at 4 p.m. at Mohonasen, with 14:24 left on the clock.
“You never want to stop when you’ve got it going, but we absolutely understand,” Queensbury lacrosse coach David Huth said. “Safety of the kids. It was a smart decision.”
Heavy rains earlier Thursday forced many postponements on the first day of the Section II baseball and softball tournaments. Nine baseball games were moved to Friday including a Class A test between Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake and Scotia-Glenville, and 10 softball games were pushed to Friday, including a Class A matchup between Catholic Central and Amsterdam that was suspended in the top of the second inning.
Rain last week caused the adjustment of several matches in the Section II boys’ team tennis tournament and rain has also affected the Section II singles and doubles tennis tournaments slated for this week.
Thursday’s Section II Group 4 track and field championships at Stillwater High School were run and completed.
Inclement weather was a major issue throughout this spring season as it forced teams to scramble to complete their schedules — or attempt to — before the Section II tournaments started.
Before the Class B girls’ lacrosse final was suspended, the night’s two championship matchups had previously been delayed an hour because of poor weather. The Class D final that saw Johnstown top Holy Names was moved from starting at 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., while the Niskayuna vs. Queensbury matchup was moved from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Audrey Murphy scored on a fast break to give the Queensbury lacrosse team its 13-9 lead, and action was halted soon after. In the first half, Queensbury dominated time of possession, and had used 5-0 and 3-0 scoring runs to build a 12-8 lead.
Jordan Bentley was leading Queensbury with six goals, and Maddie Montgomery had five. Annabelle Conover and Sydney McPartlon both had three goals for Niskayuna. McPartlon began the second-half scoring before Murphy answered.
Queensbury had beaten Niskayuna in the 2018 Section II championship game after the Silver Warriors knocked off the Spartans in the two previous Class B finals.
Reach Gazette Sportswriter Jim Schiltz at 518-395-3143, [email protected] or @jim_schiltz on Twitter.
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports, Saratoga County
