Local sports this 'n' that

In the course of the last nine months, we've seen a number of droughts come to an end in sports.

It started with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers bringing a championship to the city for the first time in decades. Four months later, the Chicago Cubs ended more than a century of futility winning the World Series in a thriller over the Cleveland Indians.

Since then, local high school teams seem to have cornered the market on breaking droughts.

This trend started at the end of November, when Cambridge & Troy High, which hadn't won state titles in football since near the turn of the century, left the Syracuse Carrier Dome with championships in Classes D & AA, respectively.

On Tuesday, the skating Cadets of LaSalle Institute ended a 17 year title drought, winning the Section II hockey championship in a double-overtime seat-squirmer, 6-5, over Shenendehowa. Unfortunately, four days later, LaSalle's season came to an end with a 2-1 loss in the state regionals to Massena. Just the same, with six seniors graduating, coach Tim Flanigan's club still has a strong core to make a run at repeating at Section II champs next year. The same can be said for the school's basketball team, which saw its post-season run end Tuesday, losing to Bethlehem.

It had been 45 years since Bethlehem last won a sectional basketball title. That drought came to an end Saturday in Glens Falls when the Eagles upset top-seeded Colonie to claim the Class AA title in boys' basketball. Meanwhile, the women's AA title went to----what a shock---Shenendehowa, as they avenged a regular season loss to Suburban Council blue division champ Shaker. I'm not sure how long it's been since Lansingburgh last won a sectional title in any sport, but after being a bridesmaid last year in Glens Falls, losing to Troy, the Knights downed Averill Park to claim the A title on Friday, keeping the title in the Collar City for a 2nd year.

Now, the challenge is for the Troy Flag Day Committee to extend invitations to Troy, Lansingburgh, & LaSalle to properly honor their champions at this year's parade, set to take place June 11---assuming the committee can raise the appropriate funds in the next three months. That's a story for another time.