Buie sparks Wildcats
Former Troy guard starts season right
The Northwestern University men’s basketball team got off to a big start this season, and one of the key performers for the Wildcats was sophomore Daniel Richard “Boo” Buie.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard from Albany and graduate of Maine’s Gould Academy led the team to a 6-1 start with a 3-0 record in the Big Ten Conference, the best league mark to start the season for the school since 1967. Buie, who played at Troy High before going to Gould, had a career-high 30 points to lead his team to a 79-65 victory over No. 4 Michigan State on Dec. 20. He was 9-for-15 from the field including 5-for-6 from the 3-point line. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week for his effort.
He followed up that performance by scoring 14 points in a 71-70 triumph over No. 23 Ohio State. His 3-point basket in the final seconds put the Wildcats ahead, and then he pulled down a rebound with 2.8 seconds left to seal the win.
On the season, Buie is averaging 11.4 points and 2.9 rebounds with a teamhigh 49 assists and 16 steals going into Thursday’s game against No. 12 Illinois. He averaged 10.3 points with 63 assists in 11 games as a freshman, starting the last nine games.
The Wildcats, ranked 19th in the country in last week’s Associated Press poll, are 6-3 overall and 3-2 in league play after dropping an 87-72 decision to No. 10 Iowa on Dec. 29 and an 85-66 loss to No. 16 Michigan last Sunday. The losses dropped the team out of the Top 25.
Tess Weiskopf (Clifton Park)
The junior diver opened the season with the Youngstown women’s swim team with two solid performances. The Shenendehowa High graduate captured
the 1-meter (230.55) and the 3-meter (226.87) to help the Penguins top Ohio University 225-65 on Nov. 21 and finished second in the 3-meter (242.80) and fourth in the 1-meter (227.55) at the Miami Invitational on Dec. 3-5 in Oxford, Ohio. The team has seen a number of cancellations since but is scheduled to face Gannon on Jan. 23.
Brandon Barlow (Cohoes)
The Boston College football team finished 6-5 and opted not to play in a bowl game and the Eagles got a solid effort from the 6-4, 255-pound defensive lineman. Barlow, a Shaker High graduate, finished with 34 tackles, including 16 unassisted, and 1½ sacks. The team finished its season with a 43-22 Atlantic Coast Conference loss to Virginia on Dec. 5. Barlow had six tackles in the game. He had 35 tackles with 2½ sacks as a junior.
Hameir Wright (Albany)
The 6-9 senior forward has started all eight games for the Washington men’s basketball team. The Huskies are 1-7 after dropping an 80-53 decision to Arizona in a Pac-12 home contest on Dec. 31 in Seattle. The Albany Academy graduate, in foul trouble most of the night, had four points and four rebounds. On the season, Wright is averaging 5.0 points and 4.4 rebounds with a teamhigh eight blocked shots.
He is second on the team in minutes played (199.02).
Kelsey Chmiel (Saratoga Springs)
The sophomore earned All-atlantic Coast Conference honors after she finished 16th and helped the North Carolina State women’s cross country team capture its fifth straight league title on Oct. 30 in Cary, North Carolina. The Saratoga High graduate was the fourth-best finisher for the Wolfpack with a 6,000-meter (3.73-mile) time of 20 minutes, 37.3 seconds. Chmiel finished fourth to help the team capture the title last year and went on to earn AllAmerican honors when she finished 22nd (20:32.5) at the NCAA Championship.
Olivia Owens (Niskayuna)
The 6-4 redshirt sophomore, a transfer from Maryland, has played in all 10 games with two starts for the eighth-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team. The Wildcats are 9-1 overall and 2-0 in Southeast Conference play after topping No. 12 Mississippi State 92-86 in a league contest last Sunday. The Niskayuna High graduate is averaging 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds a game. She just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds vs. Wofford on Dec. 19.