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OEStJ, Fort Plain meet in first round of Section II basketball playoffs

jon rathbun, herkimer times telegram
·4 min read

FORT PLAIN - Montgomery County neighbors and Western Athletic Conference sporting rivals Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville and Fort Plain met to start the boys' basketball season three months ago. The season will end for one of those teams Friday when they meet again in the first round of Section II's Class C playoffs.Sections II and IV both seeded their postseason basketball tournaments Wednesday with Section III seeds coming Saturday.

Editor's Note: The game between Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville and Fort Plain was postponed Friday and rescheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m.

Boys

The Section II seeds for the first year of the state's new six-class format minimized early travel for its westernmost schools.

Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville Wolf Collin Eakin drives past Fort Plain Hilltopper Nate Benson Nov. 24 on the way to the basket in the first round of the Coach Cutspec Tournament in St. Johnsville. The teams meet for the fourt time this season Friday in Fort Plain.
Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville Wolf Collin Eakin drives past Fort Plain Hilltopper Nate Benson Nov. 24 on the way to the basket in the first round of the Coach Cutspec Tournament in St. Johnsville. The teams meet for the fourt time this season Friday in Fort Plain.

More: Four area teams start basketball season with tournament titles

Fort Plain (8-12) and Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville (3-17) are seeded 13th and 20th among 21 teams in Class C, the largest of the 12 brackets for Section II's boys and girls. Canajoharie (7-13) is seeded 16th in the same bracket and has a home game of its own Friday against No. 17 Cambridge (5-15).

The winner of the 7 p.m. game in Canajoharie advances to play Tuesday at No. 1 Maple Hill (16-4). The winner in the early game tipping off at 5:30 p.m. in Fort Plain next plays Tuesday at No. 4 Hoosic Valley (13-7).

Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville beat Fort Plain 47-36 in the first round of the annual Coach Cutspec Tournament and earned a shot at that tournament's championship the next day against Duanesburg (17-3), the No. 2 seed in the sectional tournament and fifth ranked team in the state; Maple Hill is ranked 12th by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Fort Plain beat Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville 48-34 at home and 69-51 in St. Johnsville in league play in January with the teams' most recently having met Jan. 31.

The three Montgomery County teams would play a Feb. 23 quarterfinal at Hudson Valley Community College, should they advance - the lower bracket quarterfinals will be lays at Siena College - with Feb. 26 semifinals and the March 1 final at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.

Fonda-Fultonville is seeded fifth among the Class B boys and hosts No. 12 Corinth Tuesday with the winner advancing to the Feb. 24 quarterfinals at Hudson Valley Community College. The semifinals are Feb. 27 with the championship game to be played following the Class C game March 1.

In addition to Maple Hill, the No. 1 seeds for the Section II boys are Colonie in Class AAA, Niskayuna in Class AA, Catholic Central of Troy in Class A, Stillwater in Class B, and North Warren in Class D. Catholic Central was the Class B runner-up last year in a five-class state tournament; the six-team version returns to Glens Falls in March but heads back to Binghamton for first of a three-year stay in 2025.

Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young's Justin Wolfe (left) drives against Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville defender Jacob Walrath at Herkimer College Jan. 13. Wolfe and the Eagles open postseason play on the road in Section IV Wednesday afternoon.
Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young's Justin Wolfe (left) drives against Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville defender Jacob Walrath at Herkimer College Jan. 13. Wolfe and the Eagles open postseason play on the road in Section IV Wednesday afternoon.

In Section IV, the top seeds are Class AAA Elmira, Class AA Union-Endicott, Class A Johnson City, Class B Waverly, Class C Candor and Class D South Kortright/Andes.

Candor awaits the winner between No. 9 Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young (12-7) ad No. 8 Newfield (8-9) for its Feb. 24 quarterfinal. Unlike the Section II neighbors meeting Friday, Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young travels across Section IV to play at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Newfield. Tompkins Cortland Community College hosts the Feb. 28 semifinals and the March 2 championship game.

Girls

The top seeds for the Section II girls are Class AAA Shenendehowa, Class AA Averill Park, Class A Catholic Central, Class B Albany Academy, Class C Greenwich and Class D Northville.

Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville's girls are seeded ninth among 14 teams with a 9-11 record and play at No. 8 Hoosick Falls (8-12) Saturday evening with the winner traveling to unbeaten Greenwich (20-0) for a Feb. 22 quarterfinal against the state's top-ranked team. The semifinals will be plays Feb. 26 at Averill Park with a March 2 final at Hudson Valley Community College.

In Section IV, the girls' No. 1 seeds a Class AAA Elmira, Class AA Horseheads, Class A Johnson City, Class B Chenango Forks, Class C Watkins Glen and Class D Edmeston/Morris.

Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young (11-6) are seeded fifth among 12 C teams and plays at No. 4 Schenevus (14-5) for a Feb. 23 quarterfinal; the winner plays at SUNY-Delhi Feb. 27 against the winner of Watkins Glen's game against either Charlotte Valley or Laurens/Milford. The championship game is March 2 at Delhi.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville, Fort Plain meet in sectional hoops