Mechanicville celebrates Senior Day with 66-42 win over Saratoga Catholic
MECHANICVILLE, NY » In a game that started out as a defensive battle, turned into an offensive back-and-forth as the game progressed, though the Red Raiders were never really in any trouble.
“Spa Catholic, they shoot the ball. They have numerous kids who can hit the three and we knew that,” said Mechanicville coach Rian Richardson. “We know they’re going to make three and our guys didn’t put their heads down at all.”
Mechanicville was able to take the win on their senior by by a score of 66-42.
For most of the first quarter, the score was locked at 4-4, then the Red Raiders went on a 6-0 run to take the lead going into the second period. In the second, Mechanicville doubled up Spa Catholic 20-10, to take a 30-14 lead into halftime.
The third quarter is when things started to get interesting. In the period, the Saints knocked down five three pointers, but it didn’t do much to decrease their defi
cit as the Red Raiders kept coming back to score beneath the rim.
“We responded really well today,” Richardson said. “The fans aren’t here, but the cheerleaders are doing a great job and the boys are into it, they have a lot of energy and a lot of excitement.”
Leading the scoring effort was Luciano D’Ambro, who had 19 points. He put in nine field goals and went one-for-two from the free throw line.
He spoke about what it was like having his Senior Day.
“It’s really exciting. After four years with these guys, you really just wanted to have a senior night, it’s a bunch of fun for all of us out there,” D’Ambro said. “These guys are my best friends, we’ve been playing together since like third grade.”
For the Saints, Hayden Day scored 18 points, while Anthony Barile put in 10 and Robbie Bolen III scored 8.
The Red Raiders did something special in the scorebook to help cap
off their day of celebration - all nine players on the roster scored. To go with D’Ambro’s 19 points, Kyle Johnson and Devin Garland scored 9 each, and Nick Salustri and Colin Richardson added 7 each.
“It’s a lot closer to gamelike action than I thought it was going to be. Once that ball is tossed up, we’re competing and getting after it,” Richardson said.
After the back-and-forth battle in the third, the Saint’s threes slowed down
a bit and the Red Raiders were able to increase to lead.
Along with the boy’s basketball players, the Red Raider cheerleaders also celebrated their Senior Day on Saturday afternoon, with their parents in attendance. The Mechanicville girl’s basketball team had their celebration on Friday night.
“The kids have been the number one priority and they made it a point that that wanted a senior recognition
day for these kids, who have been working so hard for years and that their parents could come in and see them today,” Richardson said.
MECHANICVILLE 66, SARATOGA CATHOLIC 42
Mechanicville High School Mechanicville, NY MECHANICVILLE 10-20-18-18 — 66 SARATOGA CATHOLIC 4-10-19-9 — 42 MECHANICVILLE
Luciano D’Ambro 9-0-19, Devin Garland 2-1-9, Kyle Johnson 3-1-9, Jacob McCabe 1-0-2, Nick Amodeo 1-0-3, Nick Salustri 2-1-7, Tyler Eiseman 3-0-6, Fenwick Egan 1-0-4, Colin Richardson 1-1-7 SARATOGA CATHOLIC
Anthony Barile 2-2-10, Hayden Day 3-2-18 (6-6 FT), Robbie Bolen III 1-2-8, Cam Khoury 0-1-3, Aiden Lambert 0-1-3
NASCAR’s youth movement was on display this weekend — at all levels of racing.
Christopher Bell, 26, stole the show on Sunday, running down, catching, and then passing past champion Joey Logano to win his first Cup race in just his 38th start.
With 25-year-old Chase Elliott winning last year’s championship, Bell winning Sunday, and an influx of talent at all three national series levels, it’s clear now that the NASCAR young-guns are here.
Time to make everyone feel old!
First gear Second gear
full
Yes, Bell caught and passed Logano because he was the one on fresh tires. But don’t let that take away from the fact the Joe Gibbs racer had one of the fastest cars in the field on Sunday.
Bell challenged road-course ace Chase Elliott all afternoon, and, like Elliott, pitted late in the race. Both drivers started in the middle of the pack, but it was Bell who maneuvered his way through the field like a savvy veteran, eventually catching Logano.
Bell is only in his second full-time season, and is a 2017 Truck Series champion. He also made it to the championship race in both Xfinity seasons before moving over to Cup last year.
Now that he’s in good equipment, look out.
Bell stole the show on Sunday,
Gibbs was the star of the weekend.
The grandson of NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs, 18-year-old Ty dazzled in Saturday’s Xfinity race, making a daring fourwide pass in the waning laps to win in his first national series start.
“This is a dream come true,” said an emotional Gibbs, who became just the sixth but young Ty driver to win in his Xfinity debut.
Gibbs has eight wins in just 28 ARCA starts, and is set to run a handful of Xfinity races this season along with his full-time ARCA duties.
Third gear
Gibbs outran defending series champion Austin Cindric to win Saturday’s Xfinity race, but don’t get it twisted: Cindric is the class of the Xfinity field.
The 22-year-old began his title defense with a win on Daytona’s tri-oval in the Xfinityopener, and nearly made it two in a row over the weekend before his car got tangled with AJ Allmendinger’s early in the race. Still, Cindric fought back with no rightfront fender and nearly won, ultimately finishing second.
It won’t be long before you see him on Sundays, either.
It’s already been announced that Cindric will replace Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford in 2022.
Fourth gear
With Bell’s win Sunday, and Michael McDowell’s triumph in last week’s Daytona 500, this is the third time in Cup Series history the first two races of the season were won by first-time winners.
Don’t be surprised if the next first-timer is right around the corner.
Chase Briscoe, 26, is coming off a nine win Xfinity campaign last season, and is in Clint Bowyer’s old No. 14 for Stewart Haas Racing. It won’t be long before he’s in Victory Lane.
Same can be said about 25-year-old Tyler Reddick, who had a sneaky good rookie campaign in 2020, along with Ross Chastain — the 28-yearold watermelon farmer who’s running full-time in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Chevy this year.
And then there’s Bubba Wallace, 27, who’s now in supposedly good equipment at the newly formed 23XI Racing. We’ll get to see this weekend at Miami just how good that car can be.