High school this 'n' that

The differences between Troy High's basketball teams are like night & day. It's unfortunate that it happens to be the truth.

In his first year as head coach, Greg Davis has the boys within striking distance of CBA for first place in the Suburban Council's Grey division. The Flying Horses are 8-3 in league play, 8-5 overall after losing on the road to Kingston, 78-70, on Saturday night. Troy has six league games left, four of them at home, plus a non-league game on the road at Middletown on February 3. Davis has remolded his team such that it's not dependent on one star player anymore. If an opposing defense decides to key on, for example, Latyce Faison, and shut him down, someone like Lateef Johnson will come along and have a career night, as Johnson did last night at Kingston, with a season high 19 points. It's this kind of diversity that will make Troy a tough out the rest of the way.

Contrast this with Paul Bearup and his women's squad. In his 13th season at Troy, Bearup has no seniors on his team, and it has hurt the Lady Horses more often than not this season. Troy snapped a six game Suburban Council losing streak in beating Burnt Hills on Friday. Problem is, they only have five games left, and only one at home (Colonie, January 30). At 4-11 overall (4-9 league), Troy figures to be one and done come the sectionals next month. Depth has been a problem, too. Teams are focusing their defenses on Jenalyse Alarcon, the Lady Horses' lone star. While others, such as Alaina Holmes and Nadia Brown, have picked up the scoring slack, there hasn't been any consistency. Consider the Lady Horses, then, a work in progress as they are rebuilding.

Of course, we thought they would take a first round exit last year, too, but they beat Colonie, then were blown away by Shaker in the second round.

Prospects: Troy has two winnable games left (Colonie, Schenectady), and would need to get one big monkey off their collective backs (Albany, February 6) to gain some semblance of respectability. As for the boys, if they can hold course and remain one game in back of CBA going into their February 9 rematch, a win would give Troy a leg up on their second division title in three years, since they would hold the tie-breaker.

Projected finishes: The boys, I think, can run the table in the league and claim the division, finishing 14-3. Upsetting Middletown is not out of the question, so they'll be either 15-5 or 14-6 come sectionals. The women, I figure, will finish 6-14, their worst record in recent memory.
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Meanwhile, on the ice, LaSalle finds itself five points behind Bethlehem with seven games left, four of them on the road, including at Bethlehem on January 26. This week is crucial, with CBA coming in Wednesday. The Brothers lost in overtime to Queensbury last night, and can't afford another loss as they, too, are chasing the Eagles. However, the Cadets, winners of five in a row after defeating Shaker-Colonie last night, look like they could run the table to capture their second straight regular season title. They are assured of a high seed when sectionals begin next month if they can keep winning.

Tim Flanigan's winning formula has essentially been the same as Greg Davis' at Troy. There is no one star that an opposing defense can key on. Let's say for example Bethlehem decides to shut down LaSalle's leading scorer, Thomas Ryan. Jack O'Bryan or Ryan Murray or Taylor Nitz can still hurt the Eagles. That's how teams win, by functioning as one cohesive unit.

We know that everyone goes through lean periods in high school sports. LaSalle has come out of theirs in basketball & hockey the last couple of years. Troy is experiencing a down period for women's basketball now, but the Lady Horses, you figure, will be back. Consider the jam-packed Conway Arena last night for LaSalle. Two years ago, you wouldn't have dreamed that would happen. The press couldn't ignore the game if they wanted to, due to Cadets For Vets. Having seen just one Troy women's home game, they could use a little help in the promotion department themselves. Just sayin'.