Meredith Montgomery fired home a career-best, seven off a school-record 33 goals as the Queensbury varsity girls lacrosse squad (2-0 overall, 2-0 Foothills Council), defeated visiting Johnstown at Fort Ann’s Golden Goal Sports Park on Friday. The previous standard of 32 goals was set on May 9th, 2018, at Greenwich.
The Spartans took a commanding 21 to 1 lead into halftime, en route to their 101st consecutive Foothills triumph.
Lilly Trowbridge established new personal-bests with five goals and four assists, while Kendra Ballard, Kaitlyn Barton, Sarah Johnson, and Kendal Kelsey all contributed three goals. Katie Gannon, Ava Roca, and Kayla Zehr each had two goals.
For Johnstown (0-2, 0-2), Molly Sweeney provided all four scores after a five-goal performance on Wednesday versus Greenwich.
Queensbury Union Free School District’s Athletic Director Richard Keys will receive the NYSPHSAA/CASDA Section II Athletic Director of the Year Award. This award will be presented at the CASDA Annual Awards Dinner being held at Franklin Terrace in Troy on April 20th. This award recognizes Athletic Directors who make a significant impact on the lives of students, use athletics as a catalyst for a positive school culture, and contribute to the professional growth of their colleagues.
Keys has integrated the Queensbury athletics program into the fabric of both the school and community: for the past six years, the school district has been recognized as a Scholar Athlete School of Excellence, and additionally, Queensbury has been awarded the NYSPHSAA Award of Excellence for an exemplary display of sportsmanship, ethics and integrity. Keys has made significant contributions to the local community through both community service projects and the broader athletics community, serving in various roles – including vice president of Section 2.
“Mr. Keys is an amazing administrator,” said Queensbury Superintendent of Schools Kyle Gannon. “He always puts students and the school at the forefront of his thinking. He is a tremendous asset to our school district and the greater Capital Region. I feel fortunate to work with him.”
Keys revamped Queensbury’s Athletics Code of Conduct, and is meeting with every middle school student to get them involved in athletics and clubs; and he has also helped run food drives to benefit the school’s Snack Pack program. “He attends every sporting event at the school,” Gannon said. “He is a mentor to other administrators every year.”
Keys and his wife, Rachel, are the parents of three Queensbury graduates — daughters Courtney, Taylor and Mackenna — and a son, Colin, a sixth-grade student at Queensbury. Keys also coaches his son’s baseball team.
Richard Keys has led an athletics program that is a positive force in the school community and a tireless supporter of youth, making him an exemplary recipient of the Section II Athletic Director of the Year Award.
Throughout the 2022 to 2023 school year, the Glens Falls City Schools have been working towards replacing their Indian mascot, in complying with the New York State Education Department mandate. They will have a new mascot by June 30th, 2023. The successful transition from being the Glens Falls Indians to their next moniker includes keeping the community connected, getting input from students, families, the school community and alumni, and having the student cabinet leads make the final recommendations to the board of education.
The goal is to have the Glens Falls “Indians” name, mascot, and icons officially retired on June 30th. The nominees for the new mascots include Knights, Wolves, Black Bears, and Hawks. While in the process of finding a new mascot, the Glens Falls City Schools have also established the community’s shared values – these include unity, support, passion, and grit. The school colors of red and black will remain as will GF Nation. The survey – sent out by Glens Falls City Schools – gives the options of voting for both your first and second choice between Wolves, Knights, Hawks, and Black Bears. This survey is available until March 30th.
“I voted for the Black Bears, but everyone thinks that it’s going to be the Wolves,” one Glens Falls senior said. On April 3rd, 2023, student cabinet members will present the outcome of the voting to the Board of Education, with a motion for approval in the business portion of the meeting.
Glens Falls will officially retire their Indian logo on June 30th, 2023. If school districts fail to comply with the mandate, they could be penalized by having school officials removed, and state aid withheld.
Queensbury 21, Glens Falls 5 – The Queensbury girls lacrosse team began their 20th season with a decisive win over Glens Falls. This was the Spartans’ 16th consecutive road victory, as well as their 100th straight Foothills Council win. Glens Falls was the last team to beat QHS in the Foothills Council; a victory which came on April 23, 2012. The Spartans’ overall record in the Foothills Council is 128-3.
Highlights for Queensbury: Kaitlyn Barton scored four goals with one assist, and Kendra Ballard had three goals and four assists. Lilly Trowbridge scored three goals and had two assists. Kendal Kelsey, Meredith Montgomery, Sarah Johnson and Emerson Lochner-Fehl all netted two goals for the Spartans. Glens Falls was led by Ava Pirozzolo with three goals and two assists.
For their next game, Glens Falls will travel to The Academy of the Holy Name on Wednesday, April 19th, 2023, with the match beginning at 5:00 PM. Queensbury will face Johnstown at home on March 31st, 2023, at 4:30 PM.
The 2023 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Boys Basketball Tournament is returning to Glens Falls! Everything will kick-off Thursday, March 16th, with a press conference at the Cool Insuring Arena beginning at 12:30 PM. Tournament Games start Friday morning.
The schedule for the 2023 NYSPHSAA BOYS Basketball Championships is as follows:
FRIDAY, MARCH 17 – SESSION #1
9:30 AM Class C Semifinals – Canton (Section 10) vs. Haldane (Section 1)
11:15 AM Class C Semifinals – Moravia (Section 4) vs. Randolph (Section 6)
1:00 PM Class AA Semifinals – Liverpool (Section 3) vs. North Rockland (Section 1)
2:45 PM Class AA Semifinals – Brentwood (Section 11) vs. Victor (Section 5)
FRIDAY, MARCH 17 – SESSION #2
6:00 PM Class A Semifinals – New Hartford (3) vs. Tappan Zee (1)
7:45 PM Class A Semifinals – South Side (8) vs. Irondequoit (5)
SATURDAY, 18 – SESSION #3
9:00 AM Class B Semifinals – Catholic Central (2) vs. Southampton (11)
10:45 AM Class B Semifinals – Westhill (3) vs. Newark (5)
12:30 PM Class D Semifinals – North Warren (2) vs. Chapel Field Christian (9)
2:15 PM Class D Semifinals – Hamilton (3) vs. Prattsburgh/Avoca (5)
SATURDAY, MARCH 18 – SESSION #4
5:15 PM Class C Finals
7:00 PM Class AA Finals
8:45 PM Class A Finals
SUNDAY, MARCH 19 – SESSION #5
1:00 PM Class B Finals
3:00 PM Class D Finals
“For many, the basketball court at the Cool Insuring Arena has a certain mystique,” stated Glens Falls Mayor Bill Collins. “In fact, some will say our basketball court is ‘sacred.’ From Mullen to Laettner, from Marbury to Huerter, from Jimmer to JG III.”
“We may be ‘partial’ to a few of our Hometown USA favorites,” continued Collins, “but this list doesn’t even cover some of the legendary coaches or basketball programs that consistently win their Sectional Tournaments and withstand the rigors of the State Tournament to get to this weekend. It’s why we say ‘The Road to Glens Falls. Where Legends are Made’.”
“The Boys Basketball Tournament Committee and all the Volunteers make this weekend so special,” says Collins. “Bill Higgins, Tom Sullivan, and Bill Wetherbee may no longer be with us, but their spirit lives on with how memorable this weekend continues to be. And everyone who comes to Glens Falls for the Tournament can do so knowing they can check out our many restaurants, coffee shops, and attractions in one of the safest cities in the United States.”
For more information regarding this weekend’s Boys Basketball Tournament, please check out the NYSPHSAA website. For more information regarding the press conference or any other issue in the City of Glens Falls, please reach out via email at communicationsdirector@cityofglensfalls.com, or tdrawbridge@cityofglensfalls.com. If your issue is urgent or if you’re looking to speak with Mayor Collins regarding a formal comment, please call (518) 920-4884.
Jacy Good and her husband Steve Johnson have spoken at 1,413 events, in 43 states and three countries. The couple recently spoke at Queensbury High School, where Jacy shared her personal story to implore the audience to “Hang Up And Drive”… Jacy lost the use of the left side of her body in a car crash in 2008 that killed both of her parents. Juniors and seniors at Queensbury High School heard the first-hand account of how distracted driving has forever altered her life.
Jacy showed Queensbury High School students how she puts her hair up in a ponytail with only one hand. “Think about the things that you love to do and then you imagine, can you do it with half of what you’ve got? I can’t run. I can’t ride a bike or throw a baseball around. These are my favorite things that I don’t get anymore, because a phone was more important,” she said. Jacy and her husband share their personal story as well as a message about distracted driving with their “Hang Up And Drive” campaign. The couple travels the country and the world, giving their presentation imploring people to stop using their phones while driving.
Jacy Good’s parents were driving her home from her college graduation in May of 2008 when a high school senior talking hands-free on his cell phone ran a red light. This caused an 18-wheeler to swerve and plow head-on into the Goods’ car. Jacy’s parents both died in the crash. Jacy suffered two broken feet, a broken leg, a shattered pelvis, a broken wrist, a broken collarbone, a lacerated liver, partially collapsed lungs, damaged carotid arteries and a traumatic brain injury. She had a 10% chance of living through the first night. She survived a coma, blood clots, infections, rehabilitation, and physical therapy, and she re-learned to talk and walk. After four months, she was able to go home, but to a home without her parents. Much of the left side of her body still doesn’t work.
She eventually googled the car crash and learned what happened from news articles. Everything she read mentioned the phone. “Anything that’s not driving a car is distracted driving,” Jacy said. “It is a hand off the steering wheel, it is our eyes off the road, it is earbuds in our ears, it is what happened to me, it is our brains off the road. Multitasking is not an option when driving a vehicle. We need our brains to drive thousands of pounds of metal. We need our brains to talk to someone whom we can’t see,” she said. “We try to do them both at once, our brains hop back and forth. We are really good at tricking ourselves. You might not feel it.”
“These days it’s not just texting,” Johnson added, “but according to the surveys, it’s all the other things we’re doing on our smartphones all day long. We’re just doing them while we drive. There’s a lot of social media behind the wheel, people are surfing the web, people are writing emails, we’re changing songs on playlists and choosing podcasts, we’re playing with the GPS, we are taking photos and videos of ourselves and things around us.”
Jacy speaks openly about the loss that she has suffered and the challenges that she faces. Jacy appeared on TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” television show when she picked out her wedding dress. “There is no mom to help me pick out that wedding dress because of a cell phone,” she said. “There is no last dance with my dad like I always thought I would get because of a cell phone. It hurts every bit as much today.”
The Queensbury School Community recently broke ground on their new outdoor athletic complex. These new state-of-the-art turf fields will support athletics and physical education programs, as well as allow for community use. It will feature a multi-purpose turf field that will be lined for football, soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey. There will also be turf fields for both baseball and softball.
This athletic facility has been in the planning stages for three years – it was approved by Queensbury UFSD residents as part of a $19.75 million capital improvement package which was proposed in December of 2021. The new turf fields will provide consistent playing surfaces, and extend the use of the fields in early fall and early spring. The use of the facility will also be extended with the addition of lights for nighttime use. These fields will increase the number of practices that a team can have, and also reduce the need for travel in the post-season.
Queensbury has invested in this improvement as a way to help better prepare student athletes for a higher level of play in sectional, regional, and state competition. The turf fields and facilities are expected to be completed by Fall of 2023.
The Glens Falls Boys Basketball team was up to the challenge of playing against Tamarac at the Cool Insuring Arena! This match up was the Semifinal game of the Section 2 Class B tournament. The talented Glens Falls underclassman showed off their skills to help Glens Falls shift the momentum and beat Tamarac: “For our kids, it was the first time that they were on this court and the first time that they have been in this position… So it was a new experience” Glens Falls coach Rob Girard commented.
Glens Falls – who was down at the half, 35 to 29 – took the lead when Sophomore Oscar Lilac drained two back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter; Lilac finished the game with 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Sophomore Kellen Driscoll led Glens Falls with 26 points: “Kellen has been great all year, but he played great today” Girard said. Driscoll added a pair of free throws at the end of the game to put Glens Falls ahead for good, but Tamarac’s Joey Poulin gave it his all, scoring two 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds of the game… He finished the game as Tamarac’s high-scorer with an impressive 32 points, 15 of which were in the second quarter.
Glens falls offensive effort
Glens Falls will face CCHS in the Championship Game at the Cool Insuring Area Saturday, March 4th at 12:45 PM… CCHS beat Fonda 59 to 45 to advance to this Championship game. You won’t want to miss it!
Due to inclement weather, the Section 2 Class B Semi-final Boys Basketball game between Glens Falls and Tamarac was rescheduled for today, Wednesday, March 1st, at 3:30 PM. The game will take place at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. Tickets can be purchased at the CIA box office.
The line-up of games this evening at the Cooling Arena is:
Class B: Glens Falls vs. Tamarac @ 3:30 PM.
Class A: Troy vs. Hudson Falls @ 5:00 PM.
Class A: Lansingburgh vs.Amsterdam @ 6:30 PM.
Class D: Loudonville Christian vs. Northville @ 8:00 PM.
Glens Falls has a 17-5 overall record, with a 10-4 record (4th Place) in the Section 2 foothills council. Tamarac – who hail from Troy – have a 20- overall record, with a 13-0 record (1st place) in the section 2 Wasaren-A League. During the regular season, Tamarac had an impressive 16 game winning streak; they lost only two non-league games – one to Ballston Spa (79-70) on December 18, 2022, and the second loss came at the hands of Union-Endicott (80-64) on December 28, 2022.
This has been the inaugural season for the Adirondack United section II girls ice hockey team… And what a season it has been!
This team is a merger of five school districts: Glens Falls, Saratoga, South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Corinth. This team – which is made up of 30 total skaters – has a season record of 15-1, and they are now competing for the State Championship. The state semifinals will be held on Friday, February 17, at the Nexus Center in Utica, New York. The United will take on Section 10 team Canton at 6:00 PM.
Adirondack United was born out of a successful youth program – the Adirondack Northstars. The Adirondack Northstars 16u has won two state titles, and the 19u also won a state title last year. “There are about 170 girls in the Northstar program,” said United’s head coach Jeff Willis.
In the first game of the season, the Adirondack United beat the defending State champion Beekmantown team on their home ice 10-1. “Coming out of the youth program we knew we would be good. But to take on the defending state champion and beat them at their own place, in our first game, made a statement right at game one. And our confidence has grown from there and we have continued to develop over the course of the season” Willis said.
Coach Willis sees the future in what he is helping to build: “We are a young team, but we are a mature team. I was polling the girls the other day, and about a dozen of them have been captains of their teams in another sport” he said.
Creating opportunities for the kids is a major factor in the drive of making the team a success: “We didn’t cut any kids. We want kids to develop, we want kids to be excited about playing hockey. We’ve done that. We see the little girls in the stands watching us, and these girls have seen the success we have had on the team. Our girls are role models for younger players and girls in general. It will have a really positive effect on girls in the community“ Coach Willis said.
Coach Willis’s daughter, Lily, is a 10th grader who plays on the team. “This season has been super exciting. I didn’t think it was real until I actually went to tryouts. I couldn’t believe that we were actually having a team. It’s been fun, I have been playing my whole life. My closest friends have been made from hockey” Lily said.
Adirondack United has been a success due to the talent of the players, but also because of the community’s support. The creation of a booster club has been an important factor: “(The booster club) has done a fantastic job with the planning. The president of the booster club, Charles Amodia, provided a blueprint for buses and room blocks. The booster club cooked meals for the team, and raised money. We raised almost $20,000 in seven days, and that allowed us to do a lot of things for the team. It shows how much community support there was for the team” Willis said.
Adirondack United is ready to face Canton again in the semifinals; they last faced Canton on February 3rd, and defeated them 7-1. The other NYS semifinal game will be between Clinton and Kenmore/Grand Island; Adirondack lost their only game of the season to Clinton on January 2nd, but then beat Clinton later in the season 5-0. The United has yet to face Kenmore/Grand Island.
