Colonie blows out rival Shaker at home with 71-52 victory

COLONIE — The Colonie Raiders and Shaker Bison matched up in a battle of two of the best teams in Section 2 Suburban Council and the outcome was a bit of a shocker.

Both Colonie (12-3 overall, 9-2 league) and Shaker (9-4 overall, 7-3 league) were feeling good about themselves coming into this game with the Raiders having won four in a row and the Bison winning their last two games. When it was all said and done, Colonie put their foot on the gas pedal early and cruised to an easy win at home.

Early in the first quarter, Jacob Cook of Shaker got the scoring started with his own mini 5-0 run. Then Colonie followed up with eight straight points of their own, including big man Isaiah Mott completing an old-fashioned three-point play. With the help of guards Will and Josh Aybar, Colonie was able to get out in transition and score some easy buckets after Shaker turned the ball over. The Raiders were able to put some separation between them and the Bison leading 23-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Colonie went on a 10-4 run in the second quarter and were up 34-19 at the 4:36 mark. Shaker tried to close the gap somewhat but Colonie led 39-28 at the break.

Once the teams took the court for the Second Half, it was Raiders from that point on. Will Aybar hit a pretty floater in the lane and Isaiah Moll showed his versatility by knocking down a three from downtown. Junior Aaron Satin was able to complete his own three-point play to give Colonie a 52-34 lead. The Raiders defense was able to hold the Bison’s offense to just 8 points in the third quarter and they had a commanding 56-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Despite this dominating effort, Colonie head coach Ken Dagostino didn’t like his team’s defense at some points during the game but said they were able to regain control.

“Our defense was okay tonight. We let a lot of dribble penetration happen that we shouldn’t of but I thought we recovered well. We didn’t break down when we had that dribble penetration,” said Dagostino.

Coach Dagostino has also liked the way his team has been playing offense of late.

“We are becoming more patient. Even when teams try to speed us up, we are more patient,” said Dagostino.

6’7″ Isaiah Moll was a force to be reckoned with for Colonie by keeping possessions alive with his offensive rebounding prowess and the home crowd erupted after he threw down a massive dunk.

Moll said this is nothing new to him.

“I’ve been doing this my whole life I feel like and now just on a bigger stage, everyone can see,” said Moll.

After the game was well in hand during the fourth quarter, a great moment accord as Coach Dagostino put in senior Mike Dunn to get some playing time. Dunn made sure to take full advantage of his opportunity and he made his first career shot with a lay-up to put his name in the scoring books. Once the basketball hit the bottom of the net, the crowd went into a frenzy and the whole gym shook.

Will Aybar gave his take on what that moment was like.

“Mike Dunn is a crowd rattler. Every time Mike Dunn scores, the crowd gets crazy and it’s great ya know. Hearing your community cheer for you, cheer for a player that doesn’t really get that much playing time and scores a basket, it’s great vibes,” said Aybar.

Colonie will head to Troy to take on the Flying Horses on Tuesday, January 30th at 7 p.m. and Shaker will be back home to take on the Ballston Spa Scotties on the same day and time.