Albany Academy v Scotia FOR REAL

Congrats to the Hoosic Valley, Scotia and Green Tech boys for winning the State Championships this weekend.  Section 2 enjoyed another good year at the State level (two in a row).  I hope you're all enjoying it because it's rare.  Mr. Sinkoff told us on the broadcast yesterday that Section 2 won only 6 State titles from 2002 to 2013, four of which were in 2013.  

For HV the season ends on a win and though they are losing some parts, including Mike Pierre, whose performance on a twisted ankle in both the final four games was impressive, John Rooney will be back and I've heard their JV team was pretty good this year.  We'll see if it's enough to compete with a Wincowski who ended the previous season with a loss, not to mention several other quality teams.

Green Tech and Scotia's seasons continue with the Federation tournament this weekend.  This will include the much anticipated matchup of Scotia and Albany Academy on Friday night.  I had to go back and reread my own article on the subject as many of you have as well.  At the time, Albany Academy had proven to me they were better than Scotia.  While that still may be the case you can never predict how taking a month off will play on Albany Academy's legs (although it didn't seem to matter much last year).  I wish I could tell you who was going to win, but there are more variables now than there were then.  

For the record, the model had Scotia ahead of Albany Academy at the end of the season.  Not that it matters much at this point.  Scotia has proven themselves worthy of the task and it's interesting to note that their closest game in the post season was against Troy in the Section 2 final.  Just as Academy was peaking when I wrote my original article, it appears Scotia is now.  

As for Green Tech, they played and lost to Long Island Lutheran already this year by 16.  However, just as Scotia peaked during the postseason, Green Tech did as well.  It almost feels as if they coasted a bit during the regular season which might be easier than you might think when you're not playing in a league.  

Regardless of how this weekend turns out, it's sure to be fun to watch and I'm enjoying the fact that we still have something to pay attention to.  Good luck to all the teams representing Section 2 this weekend and to Albany Academy if they make the final (when you don't really care who wins, root for Section 2).