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.

The Glens Falls Bowling Team has had a successful season, having won both the Foothills League and the Foothills Tournament with a season record of 60-12 match points. Glens Falls junior Jocelyn Smith will be heading to the State Bowling Tournament in Syracuse, New York, over the weekend of March 10th through the 12th.

New Head Coach Autumn Reichelt is a middle school PE teacher; it is her first year teaching and first year coaching. She found her starting team was welcoming and had a strong team dynamic: “The (coaching) spot opened up and I talked to my athletic director about it. They had their first match the next day. So, the first time I met the team was before we got on the bus to go to the match. It was challenging, especially on the first day figuring out the scoring and figuring out who everyone was and who they should be paired with. For example in our first match one of the players wasn’t there; So I didn’t know who to bring up. I didn’t know the stats or have a rooster, or knowledge of how each individual bowled or how they bowled with each other. That was a big thing” Coach Reichelt said.

She credits Jocelyn Smith’s natural leadership skills as key to helping her learn the scoring and the team roster: “The team dynamic is important in bowling. Teammates match up depending on their style and how they break down a lane” Jocelyn said. 

Jocelyn has been competing on the varsity level since she was in 7th grade, and has been bowling since she was about seven or eight years old. She was introduced to the sport by her dad, and Coach Reichelt credits Jocelyn’s dad – Jamie Smith – with being the unsung hero of the team: “Before I took over, he was the one who really stepped up and really helped with the kids… (He) definitely helped me learn a lot” Coach Reichelt said.

Jocelyn is looking forward to the State Tournament, and also enjoying the success she has had this season; she has earned her second sanctioned 300 game this season, and reached the milestone of her first 800 series as well. 

“What usually happens is when school bowling starts, I start bowling seven days a week and I get better as that goes on. I shot my second sanctioned 300 and my first 800–800 series for 3 games. It was a huge milestone” Jocelyn said. 

After the regular season, Jocelyn competed in the Section II All Girls Composite, where she came in first place… And now, her next milestone is to compete in the State. She will be coached by Coach Bertrand, who coaches for the Cohoes team. There are three practices before the competition in Syracuse.

Jocelyn has qualified for states the last three years: “The first year there wasn’t a tournament because that was the shutdown year, and again in ninth grade there weren’t even sectionals. And last year I went to the State”  Jocelyn said.

 Jocelyn feels that the experience of having been to the State Tournament before will help her this year: “It’s going to be a lot better because I’ve been there. I have experience with travel and the hotel and being on my own… And bowling brings another level of emotion” she said. 

Jocelyn is preparing her strategy on what type of bowling balls to use for the tournament: “I always use the same weight and brand. But, I use different cores and different cover stock” she explained.

As Jocelyn focuses on States, Coach Reichelt is excited to have her team honored in the gym with their first banner: “We will be getting a banner. We have never had a bowling banner in the high school gym before. So this is the first year that Glens Falls has won the league in general for Foothills, and the Foothills tournament. Which is a day tournament. That’s the biggest thing that I’m excited for and I hope to be with the team for a long time to come” Coach Reichelt said.

Jocelyn Smith will be competing in the State Tournament March 10th through 12th, at the AMF Strike-N-Spare lanes in Syracuse, NY.

Queensbury 70, Broadalbin-Perth 35 – in the Foothills Council Showcase at Albany’s Washington Avenue Armory, the Queensbury varsity girls basketball team gave head coach Megan Bethel her 150th victory. 

The Spartans got out to a great start, leading 19-4 over Broadalbin-Perth after the first quarter of play. Kendra Ballard led the Spartans with a career-high 22 points. Shea Canavan contributed 20 points and had eight assists. Marcie Perry led the Broadalbin-Perth Patriots with 10 points, and Camille Calderone added 9 points. 

The Spartans finished the season in first place in Section 2 Foothills, with a league record of 12-1 and  13-7 overall.

The Section 2 postseason tournament brackets will be released on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. 

Saratoga 57, Queensbury 46 – The Blue Streaks snapped the Spartans’ four-game winning streak with a 57-46 victory at Queensbury’s home gym. Saratoga improved to 13-6 on the year. Carly Wise scored 12 of her game high 22 points in the first half, as Natasha Chudy scored 16 points while battling foul trouble. Chudy had an outstanding defensive game for the Blue Streaks, and contributed timely assists. Ella Gennoy scored 10 points for Saratoga Springs. 

For the Spartans, Shea Canavan scored 16 points and Dyllan Ray scored 15 points. Aislynn Dixon had five assists, and Kaitlyn Barton had seven rebounds. The Spartans put up a good fight, trailing 42-34 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter; Queensbury went on an 8-0 run to tie the score at 42. The Blue Streaks responded with an 11-0 streak of their own over four minutes of play. 

The Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks will finish up their regular season this Friday, at Ballston Spa at 6:00 PM. The Queensbury Spartans will attend the Foothills Council Showcase at Albany’s Washington Avenue Armory, and face Broadalbin-Perth at 1:00 PM on Sunday.