As the final Friday of the regular season concluded and sectionals vastly approaching, we sure got a fair share of high drama and competitive thrillers. The marquee matchup of the night was between the Colonie Raiders and Bethlehem Eagles. Both teams scored well and played good defense but Colonie hit some big shots down the stretch winning in a tight one the whole way, 62-59. Isaiah Moll led all scorers with 24 points. Bryce Waterman had 15 points of his own burying 5 threes during the game and on senior night, how fitting that senior Brendan Mulson put up 13 points and had some clutch shots down the stretch. Also for the Raiders Josh Paszkowski had 7 pts and Will Aybar had 3 pts. Bethlehem’s top scorers were Ryan Murray 15 points, Michael Ortale 13 pts, amd Matthew Riker 10 points.
Shenendahowa defeated Niskayuna 61-40. Evan Warner led the Plainsmen with 15 points, while Mike Pizziketti, Jaia Benson and Abbas Merchant all had double figures as well.
Guilderland cruised past Columbia 64-48 and was led by Jamison Moriarty who had 15 points, Cesare Fazzone also helped with 11 points. Columbia’s top scorers were Cooper Zwanka 10 pts,his brother Tucker Zwanka 8 pts, and Liam Danaher 8 pts.
Troy held off Schenectady 74-60 even though Troy’s Daniel Buie and Schenectady’s Tyrone Jenkins were in a shootout, each scoring a whopping 26 points! John Ryals had 15 for Schenectady but it wasn’t enough tonight. Ryan Carmello had 16 points of his own for Troy as they got the much needed W.
Burnt Hills got an indeed impressive win over Ballston Spa 66-59. Hills had four in double figures which included, Benjamin Keppler 23 pts, Joseph Petrovski 14 pts, Jared Slovic 14 pts, and Kyle Fisher 11 pts. Ballston Spa was led by Josh Hipwell who had 18 and Ryan Salerno who had 13 pts.
Averill Park won a low scoring contest 44-37 over Mohonasen. Noah Yearsley led the Warriors with 20 points and Zach Price helped mout with 11.
CBA was victorious over Albany 54-51. Jordan King led the Brothers with 13 pts and Scott Troybridge finished with 10. Both Dylan Jorge and Jacorey Nixon had 12 pts for Albany.
Saratoga bested Shaker in a meeting of two contenders this year 65-57. Brian Hart led the Blue Streaks with 21 points and Adam Anderson had 20. Sloan Seymour led the Bison with 14 pts and Jake Cook and Jack O’Donnell had 11 pts. The sectionals ought to be phenomenal this year as so many teams are good and the field is still wide open!
