The top two teams in Section II advanced to the class AA finals with lopsided semifinal victories over Saratoga County’s finest last Friday in Glens Falls.
Bishop Maginn downed Suburban Council Blue Division champion Saratoga 79-48, and Christian Brothers Academy defeated Shenendehowa 70-39 to get to Monday’s title game in Albany, which Maginn won 48-43.
Saratoga tried to run with Maginn in the opener, but the Blue Streaks’ strategy backfired. The Golden Griffins forced 17 Saratoga turnovers in the first half on their way to a 44-14 halftime lead.
This team wanted to run with us, and that’s how we play. So, we liked our chances, said Bishop Maginn coach Rich Hurley. `It’s something that we practice every day, and that was the tempo tonight.`
Jalaun Taylor got Maginn going by scoring seven of his team’s first nine points. Talor Battle then added a buzzer-beating basket to put the Golden Griffins ahead 19-6.
`We came out right from the jump and were ready to go,` said Battle, who finished with 24 points. `We missed a couple of early baskets, but Jalaun Taylor got us off to a great start.`
Meanwhile, Saratoga’s primary offensive weapons never got on track. Jordan Stevens finished with only 11 points, and Garrett Bishop had to battle to reach 17 points. Vonzel Legall contributed 12 points.
`They definitely brought their top-flight game tonight and played as well as they could,` said Saratoga coach Mitch Snyder, whose team made only 26 percent of its shots from the field. `We made some sloppy and lazy passes, and they feasted on them by turning them into points.`
Maginn increased its lead to as many as 43 points in the second half before Saratoga put together a surge to get the deficit back down to 30 points.
`They were ready to play, and they played a superb game,` said Snyder.
CBA turned in an impressive rout of its own against Shen in the second semifinal game. The Brothers charged out to an early 12-4 advantage on a couple of baskets by senior Greg Holle, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. But the Plainsmen (15-8) stuck around for a little while in the first quarter and battled back to take their only lead of the game at 13-12.
The Brothers poured it on from the second quarter to the end of the game. Holle scored on a jumper in the midst of a 10-2 CBA run, and senior John Cahill capped the spurt with a three-pointer that gave the Brothers a nine-point halftime lead.
`They (Shen) made some pretty deep shots early, and I didn’t think we were that far away from them when they put them up. But they did a good job of executing. (Shen coach) Tony Dzikas and his staff did a great job of preparing them,` CBA coach Dave Doemel said. `I think we just kind of wore them down inside and were able to beat them to the boards.`
Holle and senior DeAndre Kennedy ignited an 18-0 run to start the third quarter with field goals from the lane. Also part of that run was a three-pointer by Joe Zappone and some timely baskets by Cahill.
Kennedy finished with 14 points and 10 boards, while Luke Weaver added eight and Zappone netted six points.
The Plainsmen ` who had trouble getting shots to fall in the second half ` were led by Bob Tudor, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds.“
