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SPORTS

Friday, December 26, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/TROYRECORD AND TWITTER.COM/TROYRECORD

troyrecord.com

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Hetzke has made major impact

Sienas happy-go-lucky freshman
as talented in classroom as in gym
By Laura Amato
lamato@digitalfirstmedia.com
@LauraAmato on Twitter

Margot Hetzke is
just so happy to be here.
The Siena freshman, who has
had an almost indescribale impact on the womens basketball
team over the past month and a
half, could talk for literal hours,
on how much she loves competing, her hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future and, perhaps most importantly, how generally fond she is of the entire
LOUDONVILLE >>

human race.
For all intents and purposes,
Hetzke is, quite simply, a very
happy person.
But how the Penfield native,
and four-time MAAC Rookie of
the Week, translates that raw happiness into a competitive streak
as wide as her nearly perpetual
smile, is a different story all together.
Ever since I was little, my
mom always says that I really
havent changed much, and I
think pretty much all my energy
HETZKE PAGE 3

BY THE NUMBERS
MARGOT HETZKE

FYI: The 5-foot-11 freshman forward

averages 15 points and eight rebounds per game for the Saints, who
play at home vs. Colgate on Sunday.

Im really bad about

relaxing. When Im
relaxing, Im just like,
well, lets sit here and
talk. Ill chat forever.
- Siena freshman forward Margot Hetzke
SIENA COLLEGE PHOTO

Siena freshman forward Margot Hetzke averages 15

points and eight rebounds per game for he Saints.

THE RECORDS ALL-AREA BOYS SOCCER TEAM

SHAKERS RICCIO
IS AREAS BEST

Online: Siena schedule, stats

and schedule.
WWW.TROYRECORD.COM

NBA

Wall,
Wizards
outclass
Knicks
By Brian Mahoney
The Associated Press

MIKE MCMAHON - MMCMAHON@DIGITALFIRSTMEDIA.COM

Shaker senior David Riccio is The Records Player of the Year.

Senior defender turned in All-America effort for Blue Bison

James Costanzo
jcostanzo@digitalfirstmedia.com
@JamesCostanzo on Twitter

A couple weeks ago,

Shaker head coach Dan Fountain called and woke his star defender up out of a sound sleep to
tell him the good news.
He was like, Youre on the
All-America team. I was like,
Wow, whats that? said Blue
Bison senior David Riccio, who
was still rubbing the sleep from
his eyes and not totally sure
what Fountain was talking
about.
He was like, Its a national
honor, its one of the best things
you can get. Thats when it really kicked in. I was shocked, I
was really happy.
Riccio wrapped up his high
school soccer career as the only
Section II athlete to be named to
the All-America team in 2014, a
very prestigious honor, even for
LATHAM >>

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

DAVID RICCIO

FYI: The Shaker senior defender

was named Suburban Council
MVP, an All-America and The
Records Player of the Year for
2014.
Inside: Coach of the Year, large
and small school capsules, PAGE 3.
someone who was already the
Suburban Councils Most Valuable Player and, now, The Record Player of the Year.
It was a great feeling. Theres
nothing like it, said Riccio. Its
one of the highest honors of high
school soccer.
Their isnt a coach or evaluator out there, who saw Riccio
play this season, that thought
he was anything other than the
best player in the area.
The senior anchored the Blue
Bison back line to a 15-2-1 re-

cord, the Suburban Council

championship and the top seed
in the Class AA tournament. He
ended his senior campaign with
with five goals and four assists
while Shaker defense allowed
only eight goals all season before falling in the sectional
semifinals to Niskayuna.
Fountain, who has been
coaching Riccio at the varsity
level for three years now, said
he knew almost immediately
that he was dealing with a true
talent.
We pulled him up as a sophomore and he started for us
and was our best defender -as a sophomore, he said. For
the Suburban Council, its rare
for a sophomore to start, much
less be anchoring your back line.
Right away, from his sophomore
year, we realized he was a special talent.
That talent crescendoed in
Riccios final season game at

Shaker, on the road and under

the lights, against rival Shenendehowa with the Suburban
Council championship (a goal
they had set at the start of the
season) on the line.
It was his greatest performance -- his Sistine Chapel. David Riccios David.
Shen probably sent 20
crosses into our box and David
Riccio won 20 head balls in our
box and cleared every single one.
Shen was a great team. We were
under duress that whole second
half and David Riccio was really
the defining player for us there
He kept Shen off the scoreboard
and allowed us to win the Suburban Council, said Fountain.
That was the biggest game of
the regular season for us and it
was far and away the best game
David Riccio ever played for
Shaker. He was just phenomenal that game.
RICCIO PAGE 4

NEW YORK >> John Wall is fast

and f lashy, a showman who
practices 360-degree layups and
then pulls them off in games.
And when he gets pushed, he
pushes back.
Wall had 24 points and 11
assists, eluding the Knicks all
day until getting knocked to
the floor by a flagrant foul that
sparked an altercation, and the
Washington Wizards beat New
York 102-91 on Thursday.
Wall toyed with the Knicks
for 3 1/2 quarters, highlighted
by his spinning layup, before
Quincy Acy knocked him down
with a forearm shove with 5:31
to play. Wall got up and pushed
Acy, who responded with what
appeared to be a punch that hit
Wall behind the neck. Acy was
ejected in the Christmas Day
dust-up, and Wall received a
technical foul.
Im just a feisty guy that
likes to compete, Wall said.
And I want to win games.
Washington won this one
easily, leading by as many as
22 and never trailing. Bradley Beal added 17 points for the
Wizards, who had their top five
of Wall, Beal, Paul Pierce, Nene
and Marcin Gortat in the starting lineup for the first time this
season.
We came out with a lot of energy, ready to go from the start,
Beal said, and its just going to
continue to get better and better as the season goes on.
Carmelo Anthony scored 34
points for the Knicks, who fell
to 5-26 and have the most losses
in the NBA. They have dropped
six straight and 16 of 17.
The fans are dying. Were dying. Were out there not producing, Anthony said.
Wall was dazzling in what
could be a warmup for a trip to
Madison Square Garden for the
February All-Star game.

THE SCORE
WIZARDS 102, KNICKS 91

Up next: New York, which has

one victory in its past 10 games,
plays Saturday at the Sacramento
Kings. Tip-off is 10 p.m.

AHL

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER

NBA

NBA

New OT rule
creates a buzz

The Record's Boys

Soccer All-Area Team

Thunder get better

of Spurs in matinee

LeBron James returns

to South Beach

The new overtime rule in the

American Hockey League this
season is generating plenty of
buzz and just may be coming
soon to an NHL rink near you.
It's seven minutes long or
until someone scores.

Shaker coach Dan Fountain

had a banner season and is
coach of the year. Theere's
also players capsules for large
and small schools, photos,
second team and honorable
mention selections.

Russell Westbrook scored 34

points, and the Oklahoma City
Thunder beat the San Antonio
Spurs 114-106 on Thursday
in a fiery rematch of last
season's Western Conference
Finals.

LeBron James was running

the gamut of emotions Thursday when he arrived at the
arena that he called home for
the past four seasons. So did
the fans who were seeing him
as a member of the Cavs.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

FULL STORY ON PAGE 4

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

FULL STORY ONLINE