Doane Stuart picked the wrong night to be in Loudonville Christian School’s gym.
The Eagles jumped out to a 23-4 first quarter lead and cruised to a 64-25 Central Hudson Valley League victory over the Thunder Chickens Friday.
The 39-point win came on the heels of Wednesday’s 70-65 non-league loss to Schenectady Christian, during which Loudonville Christian (12-0 league, 14-3 overall) trailed by more than 15 points before rallying in the fourth quarter.
They weren’t focused on the loss to Schenectady Christian. They were past that, and they were focused on Doane Stuart, said Loudonville Christian coach Wally Hills.
That was unfortunate for Doane Stuart because Loudon-ville Christian was hitting on all cylinders early on. The Eagles’ two-three zone defense forced several Thunder Chicken turnovers, which led to easy layups at the other end. Factor in some jump shots from Kyle Gordon, David VanDenHouten and Matt Smith, and there was little chance for Doane Stuart to stay with the CHVL leaders.
`They came out and really played well,` said Hills. `We just came out strong and really confident.`
Gordon finished with 16 points, while David Suski contributed 12 points to the balanced Loudonville Christian attack. Smith chipped in 11 points, and VanDenHouten added 10 points.
The Eagles wrap up their CHVL season this week with road games against Heatly Tuesday and Berlin Friday.
`We’re just playing for Sectional seeding now and preparing for the playoffs,` said Hills, whose Eagles own a three-game lead over Berlin and Heatly in the loss column. Berlin and Heatly still have two games at hand on Loudonville Christian, but they can’t catch the Eagles.
Battle of Colonie, part II
This week also features the second installment of the Shaker-Colonie rivalry. The scene shifts to Latham Friday, where the girls and boys varsity teams will stage a doubleheader.
The Colonie boys team (6-5, 9-6) is looking to avenge a 54-47 home loss to Shaker (7-4, 8-7) Dec. 19, while the Shaker girls team (4-7, 7-8) will try to upset Colonie (10-1, 14-1), which owns the second-best record in the Suburban Council behind undefeated Shenendehowa.
`It’s a great rivalry, and you hate to see someone come in and win in your place,` said Colonie boys coach Doug Kilmer. `But I do think we’re playing better, and they’re playing better, too.`
The Colonie boys have been on a tear since the beginning of January. Entering Tuesday’s game against Ballston Spa, the Garnet Raiders have won four in a row and five of their last six, including a 55-45 victory over Blue Division-leader Saratoga Friday.
`We played the defense we wanted to up there (in Saratoga),` said Kilmer.
Shaker had its own winning streak going until last weekend, when Shen came into Latham and defeated the Blue Bison 63-52. The win moved the Plainsmen into a second-place tie with Shaker in the Blue Division, two games behind Saratoga. All four Blue Division teams own winning league records.
The doubleheader at Shaker begins with the girls varsity game at 6 p.m., followed by the boys varsity game.“
