Sports

The Margaretville Blue Devils boys’ varsity basketball team opened the 2008-09 season with a win at home over the visiting Purple Devils from Franklin Monday night.
Junior center Brian Faulkner scored a team-high 32 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead MCS to a 56-34 win. Junior Marcus Moore added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

By Julia Green
After a 6-13 overall record in the 2007-08 season, the Margaretville Blue Devils are looking to a young squad to continue laying the foundation.
“Half our roster has not played a varsity game,” said MCS Head Coach Jeremey Marks. “But by the same token, a lot of those guys have had at least a year on JV, so they’re very capable players. It’s just a matter of defining our style, the kids buying into the system and committing to improve every day, and committing to playing tough defense and rebounding combined with a patient offense.”

By Julia Green
The hoop season is underway, and Margaretville girls’ basketball Head Coach Kyle Holden is optimistic about his Lady Devils’ chances this season.
The girls, who finished last season 9-11 overall and 7-7 in league play, return seven players from last year’s squad, three of them starters. In addition to a strong core of returners, the Lady Blue Devils have a healthy source of senior leadership in the form of five seniors this season, to whom Holden will be looking for leadership.

Junior Josh Bonifacic led the Mountaineers with 12 points and 16 rebounds as the Andes Central School boys’ varsity basketball team opened the 2008-09 season with a 67-38 win at home over Roscoe on Monday.
Returning senior Ethan Berghammer scored eight of a team-high 13 points during the first quarter while sophomore guard Eric Reed, a first-year varsity player, tallied seven points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the host Mountaineers.

The Margaretville Central School Booster Club will hold its 2nd Annual MCS Booster Club Holiday Basketball Tournament at MCS on Dec. 11 through 13. The tournament will again feature boys’ and girls’ brackets and will feature boys’ varsity teams from Andes, Franklin, Gilboa and Margaretville central schools. The girls’ bracket will feature teams from Andes, Franklin, Hancock and Margaretville central schools.

By Julia Green
After a strong run in the 2007-08 season that included division and league titles and a trip to the state tournament, the Roxbury Rockets boys’ varsity basketball team is looking to build on the foundation that it laid last year. The team started practices last Monday.
“I’m optimistic,” said Head Coach Tom Faraci, who has been at the Rockets’ helm for 13 years. “I think our guys are working hard, I think we understand what we need to try to accomplish in order to be competitive. I think we’re going to have a good year. We’ve got a great group of kids, and they mesh pretty well.”

By Julia Green
While first-year head coach Tom Sherwood is no stranger to the game of girls’ basketball, he’s a newcomer to the home court at Roxbury Central School. Sherwood, who coached at Stamford Central School for 18 years, will be at the helm of the Rockets’ girls’ varsity hoop team this winter.
“Right now I’m getting to know the girls and they’re getting to know me and what the expectations are in practice,” Sherwood said. “Everybody’s working hard; we’ve got a lot of competition from the eighth-, ninth- and tenth-graders so far. We’re at the learning stage right now.”

Sign-ups will be held for the Margaretville Central School Youth Basketball on Saturday, Dec. 6 at MCS. MCS  Booster Club Basketball is open to boys and girls who are in grades 3 through 6 at Margaretville Central School.

By Pete Palen
The 2008 high school boys’ soccer season was a special one. It was marked by excellent play by all our area boys’ teams. The Andes Mountaineers fielded one of their strongest teams in years, had a winning season, and were a formidable opponent. The Roxbury Rockets were in the hunt for the Delaware Mountain Championship right up to the final week of the season. Margaretville and South Kortright were crowned Upper Delaware and Delaware Mountain Champs, respectively. The Blue Devils and Rams then played their way to the Section IV, Class D Championship game at The Soccer Hall of Fame complex in Oneonta, where Kortright was crowned champion in a hard-fought match. Likewise, The Delhi Bulldogs culminated a two- season run of 36-2 with their first Section IV, Class C Championship.

The South Kortright boys’ soccer season came to an end Saturday when the Rams dropped a tough 5-1 match to Hamilton Central School in the quarterfinal of the Class D state tournament. Despite a 1-1 score with just under 30 minutes left to play, two goals within 10 minutes robbed the Rams of the momentum.