LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – Success has become the norm for the Lowville Red Raiders Boys’ Basketball team, and this year is no different for Coach Zach Shambo’s team who are off to another sizzling start.
The Lowville Red Raider Boys’ Basketball Team is off to a 15-0 start this season and are ranked 11th in the latest New York State Sportswriters Association Poll.
A veteran group that came into the weekndd averaging 68 points per game while holding their opponents to 43 points a contest.
”Yeah, it’s been a good year. Kids are playing hard, practicing hard every day. They come prepared as much as they can be and it’s been a great start. Got a bunch of juniors and seniors and they’re having a great year together,” said Shambo.
What’s more impressive is the Red Raiders are currently riding a 43 game win streak with their last loss coming to Albany Academy in 2019.
”It’s been pretty incredible. We’ve had some really good players over the last few years that have put a lot of time in and come to practice every day and work hard. They genuinely do and they’re good teammates to each other and it’s been a lot of fun,” said Shambo.
The only player on the team that has been a part of every one of those wins is junior Brody Brown who says the team is aware of it, but is more focused on the end goal, which is winning a Frontier League and sectional title.
”We all know it’s there, but we try not to think about it. We just go game by game. Obviously, we’re still trying to win every one, but yeah, we try to put it in the back of our mind. Don’t really think about it until it’s- It’s an accomplishment, but we don’t want to strive for it,” said Brown.
”I think it’s best not to think about it. I think stuff like that can really get in the team’s head and it’s just easier to keep working hard,” said junior Dalton Myers.
Shambo says the win streak and the success the program has had over the past several seasons is a testament to the coaches and players at each level both past and present.
”I think it goes for all of us. Terry Pike and Josh Coffman who do modified with Andy Capone who does JV, then up here at varsity. We’re pretty consistent. I think that works well with the kids. We don’t change much and pretty much they get use to do what we want to do at varsity,” said Shambo.
The Lowville boys’ basketball team, proving hard work pays off both on and off the basketball court.
Staying on the hardwood, another achievement for South Jeff senior guard Jackie Piddock.
Saturday in a loss to Maine Endwell, Piddock scored 17 points and surpassed Breanna Stewart for 2nd on the all time scoring list in Section 3 Girls’ Basketball.
Piddock, who has a chance to catch Utica Notre Dame’s Emily Durr who is at the top of the list, says moving ahead of the 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist and WNBA MVP is something that’s still hard for her to wrap her head around.
”It’s crazy to even think about. I mean obviously with a big name like that, everyone knows her in the basketball world, and just to think that in a small sense I can be up there on the list with her is incredible. Obviously, I wouldn’t be there without my teammates and all the coaches and my parents helping me through everything. Just the little things of practicing with me and stuff like that- all the extra time. It just kind of, like you said, pays off just to see. I mean, I know it’s just a list but it’s kind of really cool,” said Piddock.
For only the 2nd time in 18 games, the St. Lawrence Women’s Basketball Team lost this past weekend, falling to Vassar 74-61 on Friday night.
Saturday, Coach Dan Rioger’s team bounced back to beat Bard 68-49 to improve to 16-2 on the season, 10-2 in Liberty League play.
Canton native Katie Chisholm led the Lady Saints with 19 points in a contest that saw St. Lawrence shorthanded with a number of key players missing due to a combination of injuries and COVID.
For Roiger and the Lady Saints, having a deep bench is a key to their success over the past weekend and throughout the season.
”We’re shorthanded this week. We had 6 players out of uniform yesterday, we had 7 today out of uniform. It was a mix and match, and this year we knew that stuff could happen and we should be back close to full strength next week and even more as time goes on,” said Roiger.
”It definitely just proves that when someone’s out, it’s next man up and that’s kind of been our motto all season. Everyone’s been stepping up when they need to and they’ve been making big plays when we’ve been down or we have someone go down for us and we have each others back,” said Point Guard Dylan Watkiss.
”Yeah, we definitely have many girls that can always just go in and fill the role, but it was definitely hard with 3 of our main post being down. All of our teammates stepped up and were ready to fill the positions,” said sophomore guard Katie Chisholm.
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