College roundup: JCC to host women's basketball regionals; Clarkson, St. Lawrence host ECAC quarterfinals

Feb. 26—WATERTOWN — Jefferson Community College will be the top seed when it hosts the NJCAA Region 3 women's basketball championships this weekend at the McVean Center Gymnasium on campus.

Jefferson CC (21-2 overall) is scheduled to face eighth-seeded Cayuga CC (10-14), which lost to JCC in its most-recent game, 69-52, on Friday in the Mid-State Conference semifinals at Onondaga CC in Syracuse.

Onondaga CC (25-2) received the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 North Country CC (9-15) in the opening round at JCC. Onondaga CC defeated JCC in the MSAC championship game Saturday at OCC by a 78-50 score. OCC has won two of the three games it's played against JCC this season.

In the other first-round matches, No. 3 Mohawk Valley CC (16-4) faces No. 6 Hudson Valley CC (13-9) and No. 4 Fulton-Montgomery CC (16-5) plays No. 5 Herkimer College (15-10).

The first-day schedule for Friday features Onondaga vs. North Country at 1 p.m., Mohawk Valley vs. Hudson Valley at 3:15 p.m., Jefferson CC vs. Cayuga at 6 p.m. and Fulton-Montgomery vs. Herkimer at 8:15 p.m.

Semifinals are slated for 1 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Saturday and the championship at 1 p.m. Sunday at JCC. The winner advances to the NJCAA Division III Tournament.

JCC's team features several north country players, including top scorers LaKaiya Butcher, Kori Nichols, Delaney Wiley, Daelynn Alcock and Abby Raven. Local players on other participating teams include Massena graduate Tori Jacobs on Onondaga, Copenhagen graduate Raegan Dalrymple on Mohawk Valley and St. Lawrence Central's Brionna Foster and Indian River's McKenna House on North Country.

Dalrymple leads Mohawk Valley in rebounds per game (10.9) and field-goal percentage (41.8) and is third on the squad in scoring with 13.8 points per game.

Tickets for the tournament are $8 per session or $20 for a weekend pass. High school and college students are admitted for free with school ID.

CLARKSON, SLU HOST OPENERS

Both the Clarkson and St. Lawrence women's hockey teams will host best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinal rounds this weekend.

Clarkson, seeded second, and St. Lawrence, seeded third, open the postseason with 6 p.m. games on Friday. Clarkson (29-3-2, 18-3-1) hosts No. 7 Princeton (14-10-6, 6-10-6) at Cheel Arena in Potsdam and St. Lawrence (25-9, 18-4) hosts No. 6 Yale (16-13-1, 12-9-1) at Appleton Arena in Canton.

Saturday's games are schedule for 3 p.m. Sunday's games, if necessary, are also at 3 p.m.

This weekend's winners will play in the ECAC semifinals, which are a single game, March 8, with the final slated for March 9. The semifinals and finals will take place at the site of the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinals.

SAINTS STACK UP HONORS

Five St. Lawrence University athletes won Liberty League weekly awards for this past week.

Saints men's lacrosse players Judge Murphy and Paddy Condon each were honored. Murphy supplied 10 goals and five assists in St. Lawrence's two victories, 18-5 over SUNY Potsdam and 15-8 over Western New England for Offensive Performer of the Week honors. He added five ground balls and a caused turnover.

Condon won Defensive Performer of the Week after recording 24 ground balls and winning 20 of 25 faceoffs against Western New England.

Norah Niesz claimed Rookie of the Week for the Saints women's basketball team. She recorded eight points, going 4-for-5 from the line, in SLU's first-round Liberty League Tournament loss to Union.

Adam Heilbronner was named the men's tennis Singles Performer of the Week after claiming the No. 1 singles match against Skidmore 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1). He also won in a doubles match as SLU gained its first win against Skidmore in 14 years.

The Saints' Alli Sibold was selected women's track and field Co-Track Performer of the Week after finishing first in the mile with a record 4:55.07 time and recorded a career best in the 800 meters in which she finished second.

POTSDAM SWEEPS AWARDS

The SUNY Potsdam men's volleyball team took both New England Volleyball Conference weekly awards.

Junior Matt Kilinski was named the Player of the Week and freshman Alex Lombardo on Rookie of the Week for the second straight time.

SUNY Potsdam went 4-0 on the week as Kilinski registered a career-high 16 digs for matches against NVU-Johnson and Geneva.

Lombardo totaled 66 assists during the week for the Bears, who have won a program-record seven straight matches.