High School

Albany-area Catholic school won't field boys basketball team for upcoming season

The squad has appeared in every Section 2 championship game since 2021

Kevin L. Smith

SBLive

A Catholic school in the Albany, New York area will not have a boys basketball team ready for the 2025-26 season, according to reports.

According to The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, New York, Catholic Central School notified Section 2 and the Colonial Council on Tuesday that it won’t be able to field any sort of boys’ basketball team due to low numbers within the program.

Reasons for a drop in numbers include players transferring to prep school or other area high schools, or players deciding not to play this season, reported CBS6 Sports in Albany.

According to CBS6 Sports, the Crusaders had 16 boys basketball players between their JV and varsity squads. Less than 10 players were signed up to play for the 2025-26 season.

Section 2 stated that Catholic Central has slightly more than 50 student-athletes for the school year. According to the New York State Sportswriters Association, the high school’s BEDS enrollment figure went from 250 in 2016 to 54 this year.

Since 2021, the Guy Di Bacco-led Crusaders boys’ basketball team has appeared in four-straight Section 2 Class A championship games. Catholic Central was the runner-up in the New York State Class A title game during the 2022-23 season.

Di Bacco has guided the Crusaders to 78 total victories in that four-year span.

Download the SBLive App

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App

Published |Modified
Kevin L. Smith
KEVIN L. SMITH

Kevin L. Smith, a Rochester (NY) native and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, has been covering high school sports for over a decade. He started out as a freelance sportswriter in 2013. Since then, he’s held sportswriter and editor positions for newspapers in Coudersport (PA), Sayre (PA) and Oswego (NY). Smith currently covers high school sports in the Greater Syracuse Area for syracuse.com | Post-Standard, a position he’s held since 2021. You can follow him on social media @KevLSmittie. Story ideas can be sent to KLSFreelancing@outlook.com.

Home/New York