Averill Park holds off Saratoga to pull off upset

In a season where Saratoga has had little trouble scoring, they found themselves in a hole and never recovered, falling to Class A Averill Park on Wednesday evening at Saratoga High School 69-61.

Toga entered the second quarter trailing by only two, but what came next put them down for the count. Averill Park’s defense shut down the Blue Streaks for the entire eight minutes, not allowing Saratoga to score a single point.

Meanwhile, the Warriors of Averill Park posted 13 points in that timeframe, giving them a 15-point advantage at the break, 32-17.

“I think shot selection was part of it. We didn’t go inside enough. We settled for the first outside shot, and obviously, we didn’t hit them,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said.

That, and the strong defense of Averill Park, turned the game in the direction of the Warriors.
“They were contesting deep shots, everything around the rim was tough, rebounded all the misses, and that’s what helped us get on that run,” Averill Park head coach Dave Pugliese added.

In the early parts of the second half, it seemed like Saratoga would come back, being very aggressive on defense and scoring points quickly. They brought the deficit to as little as seven points in the third quarter, and did it again in the fourth. However, the comeback would wind up falling just short, resulting in Saratoga’s first home loss of the season.

Saratoga ended up trailing by 12 at the end of three quarters and lost by nine, outscoring Averill Park by six in the second half.

Averill Park was led by Noah Yearsley, who had 24 points. Ryan Long scored 15, and Zach Price tacked on 12. For Saratoga, they were led by Adam Anderson with 26, Brian Hart scoring 18, and AJ Lawton added on 10.

Wednesday’s game was originally supposed to be played on Tuesday, but was postponed due to severe weather in the Saratoga area.

Averill Park is now 6-7 on the season, all games being in league play. They will play again on Friday at home against Troy at 7 PM.

Saratoga will fall to 8-3 on the season with this first loss on their home floor. They will play again on Friday, in a road game against Bethlehem at 7 PM. They will be home again on Friday, January 27, against Guilderland with another 7 PM tip-off.