CORTLAND, NY — Oswego High School Hockey went on the road last Thursday for the first round of Sectionals for Division II. The Buccaneers were the fifth seed and traveled to Cortland to face off against the fourth seed, Cortland-Homer. The Golden Eagles would take the 8-2 and move on into the semi final round. Oswego’s two goals would come from Brayden Miller and Adam Michalski along with Carson Colucci tallying an assist. Brandon Demling would make 26 saves even though the goaltender would give up eight goals in the contest. The Bucs would be outshoot by the Golden Eagles 34 to 32 as the Cortland-Homer netminder would make 30 saves.
This ends Oswego’s season as the group finished 11-10 overall. The Buccaneers are graduating a total of nine players this year, four defenseman and five forwards. All three goaltenders will stay with the team which is good news moving forward for the group. Cortland-Homer will move on to face Skaneateles as the Golden Eagles will travel there on Wednesday for the second semi final game for Division II.
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Men’s basketball: SUNYAC championship recap and NCAA tournament preview
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball started their playoffs with a SUNYAC championship victory. They were the top seeded team in the tournament because they had the best regular season record in the conference. This saw them host both semi-final matchups and the finals. The first round of the tournament was on Tuesday, the winner’s of those two games would travel to Oswego to take on the Lakers, and the other team with a first round bye, Oneonta.
Excitement was building in the team after it was announced Tuesday night that Oswego would get their rematch with New Paltz, the team that had beat them just a few weeks prior to give them their only SUNYAC loss of the season. It was Jeremiah Sparks’ early seven points that helped the Lakers take an 8-2 lead. After the first ten minutes of play the Lakers still held the lead, 25-17, with Jamal Achille scoring six of his own to help out. The final ten minutes of the half saw the Lakers find their stride, a 23-5 run saw seniors Julien Crittendon, Brendon Mulson, and Christian Simmons combine for eighteen points, and the both teams headed to the locker rooms with the Lakers leading 48-22. The Lakers shot an incredible 66.7% in the first half. Oswego went on another run coming out of the half, and with just under fourteen to play, Oswego led 62-30. Eleven points from Kaleb Cook and seven from Sean Edwards in the final ten minutes helped the Lakers close the game out, and get revenge on the Hawks with a 94-60 victory. Five Lakers reached double digit scoring, Julien Crittendon (15), Jeremiah Sparks (13), Devin Green (12), Jamal Achille (11), and Kaleb Cook (11). Jeremiah Sparks had four steals in the game and Devin Green had three, with Oswego having a total of 15 in the game. With the win they moved on to take on the Oneonta Red Dragons who beat Brockport, 64-54, in the other Semi-final matchup.
Brendon Mulson was the Lakers fast starter in the Championship bout, scoring seven of Oswego’s first nine en route to a 9-0 lead. Half way through the first frame, Oswego was doubling Oneonta’s score 18-9. By the end of the first half Jeremiah Sparks and Julien Crittendon had combined for eighteen points, and the Lakers led 38-19. Oswego reached fifty points and a thirty point advantage on the same play, a Julien Crittendon layup with fourteen minutes to go. With eight minutes to go Oswego’s lead grew to thirty-five. Oneonta showed fight down the stretch making five threes before the end of the game, but the Lakers victory was all but assured and the game ended 81-60. Jeremiah Sparks (18) was Oswego’s scoring leader, with Devin Green (15), Jamal Achille (11) and Julien Crittendon (10) all reaching double digits. Achille and Green had nine and eight rebounds respectively. This championship victory was the Oswego’s fifth in ten seasons. After the game Jeremiah Sparks, Jamal Achille, Julien Crittendon, and Devin Green were all named to the all tournament team, with Sparks being named tournament MVP.
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-men/d3/2022
After the win, the Lakers were guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament. The selection show was Monday afternoon, with the Laker’s waiting to hear their opponent and where they would be playing. It was determined by the selection committee that Oswego would be one of three teams traveling to hosts Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA just outside of Philadelphia. Oswego’s first round matchup will be against Hood College from Frederick, MD, with the winner of that matchup playing the winner of Swarthmore and Keene State from Keene, NH.
Hood College plays in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth. They came in second in their conference, beating the conference winner, Eastern University, 75-71 in the championship game. The Hood Blazers were 20-6 this season, going 14-2 in conference. Hood is led by senior brothers Mason and Evan Wang. Mason Wang led Hood with 22.4 points per game, while also contributing 5.0 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, and 2.3 steals per game. Evan Wang is the second leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, also with 5.0 rebounds per game, and leading the team in assists at 3.8 per game. Christopher Smalls is their third highest scorer with 9.8 points per game. Hood averages 81.9 points per game, with teams averaging 74.1 against them. They shoot 44.5% from the field and 38.1% from three. The two sides have never played each other before.
The game against Hood College is Friday, March 4th. Tip off is set for 3:05 P.M. The winner’s of the two games will play Saturday at 5:35 in Swarthmore.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
BRACKET PROVIDED BY NCAA.COM
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Oswego State softball battles in two doubleheaders
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State softball team has been busy at the start of the 2022 season. Most recently, the Lakers had four games over the course of two days. On Monday, the Lakers traveled down Interstate 90 to Western New York to take on the Blue Devils of SUNY Fredonia in a SUNYAC doubleheader. The Lakers would be swept by the Blue Devils as SUNY Fredonia defeated Oswego State by scores of 1-5 and 3-4. Game 2 featured a closer score line as the Lakers were close in getting over the hump. With one run in the 6th and 7th inning, Oswego State closed in on the Blue Devils but could not find a way to tie before the end of the contest. Fiona Higgins and Maria Lutz split time on the mound as Higgins pitched for a total of 4.1 innings. Zoe Minnig and Tia Smith both had 2 hits and 1 run over the course of the contest.
On Tuesday, the Lakers looked to bounce back in a nonconference doubleheader at Hamilton College. Oswego State would get back in the win column in game 2 as the Lakers took a 3-1 victory. The win came due to a big fourth inning which saw the Lakers snagging three runs. The Continentals got it done in game 1 in a high scoring 9-7 win for the home team.
Oswego State now sits at 5-12 overall on the season with a 1-3 conference record. The Lakers turn the ship towards SUNY Cortland as the Red Dragons will travel up Interstate 81 to take on the Lakers in another conference doubleheader. Oswego State was victorious last time these two teams met in the 2021 season. Game time is set for 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at Laker Softball Field as WNYO will be live with all the action.
Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics (@OswegoAthletics)
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NYSPHSAA Releases Guidelines for Upcoming Season
OSWEGO, NY — On July 16th, The New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced changes to how high school athletics will work in the 2020-21 season. This statement comes as schools across New York State prepare for public schooling to reopen for the new school year. After the cancellation of the Spring 2020 season last year, there has been many questions revolving around high school athletics heading into this coming season.
The decision made by the Officers of the NYSPHSAA included a few changes along with guidelines on how schools/teams should prepare moving forward. The first being the start of the Fall sports season being moved to September 21st, which was supposed to begin on August 24th. The NYSPHSAA President, Paul Harrica, stated that this date would be unrealistic due to the current threats of COVID-19. Another major change is the cancellation of all Fall Regional and State Championship events. This is change was obviously made to decrease traveling between sports teams as teams from different sections around the state would travel to one central location to play the final games of the season. Minor adjustments and recommendations were also stated. For instance, the group has waived the seven-day practice rule, encouraged geographic scheduling for games, and schools have the option to offer off-season conditioning workouts.
These changes of course affect the Oswego Buccaneers teams, as many student-athletes were looking forward to the season beginning in the month of August. WTOP 10 will continue to bring coverage on this matter, as students will hopefully be returning to school by the beginning of September.
