Girls varsity volleyball

The girls’ varsity volleyball team took part in the annual Dolgeville Volleyball Tournament this past Saturday, Dec. 3. It was the opening competition for most of the schools that took part in the tournament including for Old Forge.

As usual, the always powerful Dolgeville team won its own tournament by going 9-1 in pool play. In pool play, you play every other team competing that day. There were six teams competing and you played every team a total of two games each. At the end of the day, tally up the wins and losses and see who won. Old Forge came in fifth place with a 3-7 mark highlighted by two victories over Ilion. The tournament is a great tuneup for the upcoming season. They will probably not see any teams that match up to Dolgeville this year and the experience of playing such a good team can prove invaluable.  

At the end of the day, an all-tourney team was chosen. Jessica Menges was selected to this team from the Town of Webb School.

Modified girls volleyball

The girls’ modified volleyball team played only one match this past week and that was a home match against New York Mills this past Tuesday, Nov. 29.  

In the first game, the B team had no problem with the Mills as they won the first two games, 25-12 and 25-19. In modified play, it is the best two of three that wins, but if the winning team wins the first two, they often play a third for practice with the idea of playing those girls who did not play or played little to get extra playing experience.  The third game was won by the Mills, 25-22. All of the girls on the team played well and as a team, they served very well. Often the good serve was all they needed as the Mills had a lot of trouble with returning the ball.  

It was more of the same in the A game as Old Forge also won that match. All told, both teams played good defensive ball and served very well. Sydney Payne and Chloe Barkauskas both had excellent serving games with Barkauskas scoring 11 straight points on one of her serving times. Chelby Simpson, Allie Evans, Laura Rubyor and Barkauskas all served aces in the match.

It was a nice victory for the girls and a good win for their coach, Caitlyn Goodwin.

League realignment for boys and girls

The large CSC league has been undergoing a change in its league for the last five years and this year is no different as the league had to make room for Clinton who came in from a larger school league.  

The mega league now has 25 schools as members and six other schools are associate members in at least one sport.  

Since basketball is the major sport of the league, all 25 schools play boys basketball and they are divided into four divisions. The league will have six schools in each division with the exception of division IV that now has seven schools. Old Forge plays in Division IV.  Oriskany and Rome Catholic will now be added to Division IV. Both schools had been playing in Division III and are now moved. For Rome Catholic, it is where they belong, however, for Oriskany, hovering around the Class C enrollment level, it is a step down.  As I understand, Oriskany has been placed back down to Class D and will be on the top of the class in terms of enrollment. The movement will make our division even tougher than it has been.  

New York Mills, last years league, Section III and State Champion, will be the favored team again this year as they will be led by 6’ 10” Matt Welch, a division I college prospect. They should be loaded again and be very deep. Many of their members on the second team would start on most of the other schools in the division. Oriskany should be a contender and are favored to place second . The other places will be competed for by Old Forge, Poland, Remsen, Rome Catholic and Owen D. Young, with no clear cut favorites.  

As tough as the boys’ league will be, the girls’ league may be even more difficult. The league will be divided into five divisions with four associate members forming Division V. Old Forge will be placed in Division IV with five other class D and C schools and not one weak team. Oriskany will be the favored team to win the league and they are expected to be pushed by Poland and New York Mills. Westmoreland is a Class C school and Rome Catholic round out the division. Old Forge who has not played varsity ball for the last four years, is the new kid on the block and they will be a mystery to the others as to how good they will be. One thing is for sure, they have a very difficult schedule and with two larger schools, Little Falls and Adirondack on their non-league schedule, they will have their hands full.  

Boys varsity wins Remsen tourney

The boys’ varsity basketball team got off to a great start as they won the Remsen Tip-Off Tournament held this past Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3 and 4.

Saturday, Brookfield was their opening opponent and they jumped all over them in the first period, 17-6, and rode that lead to a 57-43 victory. The team played surprisingly well for an opening game and got some fine play from unexpected sources. Sam Waterbury led the team with 14 points, Greg Hunkins had 12 points, Calvin Risley had 11 points, Ethan Kress had nine, Parker Clemans had seven and Kenny Pastore had 4.

That victory propelled the team to the championship game against Oppenheim-Ephratah, a big winner over Remsen. Again, the team took command early building up a 13 point lead going into the last period of play and coasted to a 50-43 victory.  Waterbury had 15 points to lead his team with Risley right behind with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Hunkins continued his fine play and showed that he can be a strong addition to the team as he scored 11 points. Clemans and Kress each had four points, Matt Kratzenberg had two points and Pastore had one point.

For their strong efforts in both games in leading their team to victories, Waterbury was named the MVP of the tournament and Risley was named to the All-Tourney team.  

Junior varsity basketball

The junior varsity basketball team placed third in the Remsen Tip-Off Tournament held this past weekend. The team lost its opening game to Brookfield, the eventual winner of the tournament but they came back with a better outing as they outscored Oppenheim, 49-32, to capture third place. In that game, Dane Daiker led his team with 20 points and Will Johnson chipped in 13. Daiker was named to the All-Tourney team for his strong play in both games.