The first time Guilderland met Christian Brothers Academy, the Brothers made more than 70 percent of their shots in an 83-75 win Jan. 28. It was a different story in the Section 2 Class AA boys basketball quarterfinals Saturday, Feb. 28, at Hudson Valley Community College. Guilderland (18-3) used a three-pronged attack to defeat CBA 65-57. Andrew Platek scored 24 points, while Michael Wine and Andrew Sischo each added 16 points to help the Dutchmen advance to the semifinals against defending Section 2 and state champion Green Tech Tuesday, March 3, at Albany’s Times Union Center. “That was a terrible loss for us. They played a great game that day,” said Platek. “We wanted to get them back.” “The one thing we stressed to them is we weren’t going to outscore them this time. We had to get some (defensive) stops,” said CBA coach Dave Doemel. Sischo got Guilderland going in the first quarter. The 6-foot, 8-inch, 260-pound center scored eight of the Dutchmen’s first 12 points by outworking CBA near the basket. CBA (12-8) stuck with Guilderland through the first quarter and built a 21-18 lead early in the second quarter before Platek and Ralph Simeone heated up from beyond the three-point line. Platek drained four threes, and Simeone added three from behind the arc to stake the Dutchmen to a 38-30 halftime lead. “If you hit one, then you’ve got to hit another,” said Platek, who scored all 15 of his first-half points from three-point range. “He made two (in a row), and I’ve been around him all year. When he makes two, he tries for three, and when he makes three, he tries for four,” said Guilderland coach Mike Parks. CBA refused to be put away that easily. Matt Hamel scored five points to spearhead an 11-3 third-quarter run by the Brothers, which tied the score at 41-41. Rather than get things going behind the three-point line again, Guilderland started driving to the basket. Platek was fouled on a layup, and he converted the three-point play with a free throw to put the Dutchmen ahead 44-41. Then after Andrew Sentz stole CBA’s inbounds pass, Sischo followed his own missed shot with a basket to extend Guilderland’s advantage to five points. Wine went to work after that. The sophomore point guard scored most of his 16 points in the second half by driving to the basket and either hitting shots or making free throws when he was fouled. “Michael has the ability to do that. He’s very good off the dribble,” said Parks.
Mike Wynn paced CBA with 18 points, while Hamel contributed 12 points. Sloan Seymour and Ian Schultz each added nine points.