Friday April 26, 2024 
By Eric Schuman
This week saw both victories and milestones for AP’s sports teams.
The girls’ basketball team defeated Shaker 59-49 on 1/22. Kelsey Wood registered 23 points, EmmaLee Morgan added 13, and Amelia Wood scored 11 for AP in the victory. On 1/25, AP took on Bethlehem and came out on the winning end of a 67-39 game. Amelia Wood had another big night for the Warriors scoring 20 points. Kelsey Wood added 17, allowing her to reach 1000 career points. Wood is only the third girls’ basketball player in AP history to do so. Up next for the Warriors is a home game against Niskayuna on 2/1.
Boys’ basketball also took on Bethlehem on 1/25 but fell 64-51. Avery Pascucci scored a team high 17 points for AP in the loss. The Warriors will next take on Niskayuna away from home.
AP’s wrestling team took on Columbia on 1/24 and won 37-36. The match featured a thrilling comeback in which AP overcame a 14-point deficit. The Warriors also competed at the Coach Ken Baker Classic tournament on 1/26. Andrew Lee won his 100th career match for AP at the tournament.
On 1/25, the Capital District Jets hockey team fell to Shen 7-0. They will next play Saratoga on 2/1.
I will be back next week with more AP sports updates.
Go Warriors!
This week’s scholar athlete is Stephanie Mangene. Stephanie is a captain on the Varsity Bowling team as well as a Varsity Cheerleader during the Fall. Stephanie has been bowling for
11 years after her family introduced her to the sport. “My whole family has bowled their entire life.” Stephanie loves the team aspect of bowling; rather than competing as an individual, she likes team scoring. Stephanie’s love for bowling is shown in her offseason efforts in the sport. Since she first began to bowl, Stephanie has played at the Hilltop Bowl Junior League.
Stephanie’s hard work has allowed her to earn the spot as number one starter on the Varsity team, with an average of 190 points, (out of a possible 300 points,) and a high score of 267 points. Yet, it is not only Stephanie’s efforts that allow her team to find success. The team’s hard work paid off when they won third place at the Sawyer International Bowling Tournament. This year, Stephanie hopes that the team will reach States, saying “if we work hard, we can get there.”
Stephanie’s efforts are seen not only in her sport, but in the classroom as well. Stephanie has a GPA of 97.3 throughout high school, which helped her get accepted to the certified nursing assistant program at Questar. Along with this program, Stephanie returns to the high school in order to take economics and advanced ceramics. Outside of school, Stephanie spends her time volunteering with the Make a Wish Foundation and practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Stephanie has
now earned two gold medals in the Brazilian martial art.
In her future, Stephanie hopes to attend Siena College in pursuit of a career in nursing. Stephanie was inspired to become a nurse by her grandfather who told her “do what you love no matter what other people think, as long as it makes you happy.” She then discovered her love to help others and strives to become a nurse.
We all wish Stephanie the best as she continues her efforts both in her sport and in nursing.
Big win for Averill Park wrestling in front of big Rensselaer County Crowd!
Yankees vs. Red Sox. Army vs. Navy. There are certain rivalries in sports where you can always count on a back and forth, highly contested, exciting matchup, no matter what the team records say. One such event is Averill Park vs. Columbia Wrestling.
As these two rivals met on a snowy, late January night, how little separated the two teams was exemplified by 3 of the matches going into sudden death overtime and how close the final team score would be. While Columbia took an early lead, Senior captains Andrew Lee and Cameron Groff, along with Abe Ethridge, Sean Malenfant and Mason Lumbra kept the Warriors close with huge victories.
However, things looked bleak for the home squad, as down 14 points with only 3 matches to go, Averill Park would not only have to win all 3 contests but at least 2 of them by pin to win the dual. In the match of the night, senior Xavier Graham came from behind to first tie and then win his bout with a pin in overtime. Nik Koch followed Xavier’s win with a first period pin of his own. Ironically, the final and biggest match of the night was between the lightest wrestlers on both teams. In the end, Nathan Fischer came through with the win, leading Averill Park to a 37-36 victory.
Thanks to both teams for putting on a great show and showing all in attendance what high school wrestling is all about.
~Submitted by the AP Wrestling Coaching Staff
AP Senior Bowler Stephanie Mangene in action on January 24th at Del Lanes in Delmar, N.Y.
Steph helped AP tally a team total of 1737 but fell short to Bethlehem’s 2000 total.