Colonie pulled off a stunning upset, and Shaker cruised to a lop-sided victory in the Section II Class AA girls’ basketball seminfinals at Hudson Valley Community College Wednesday night.
The crosstown rivals will meet in the championship game Saturday at 3:30 back at HVCC.
Call it revenge, payback or simple well played fundamental basketball that fueled the Garnet Raiders to a 56-46 victory over top-seeded Shenendehowa in the opener.
The Plainsmen, ranked 4th in the state, entered the contest unbeaten in 19 games and knocked off Colonie by 23 points earlier in the season.
Colonie just played great, Shen coach Ken Strube said. `We had a lot of good looks. Shots that we made all year just weren’t going in. It was not the night to have our shots not drop.`
The Plainsmen led 18-13 after the opening quarter, only to go cold in the second period. Colonie went on an 11-0 run, outscored Shen 18-4 in the quarter and took a 31-22 lead at the half.
Tehresa Coles and Sydnie Rosales combined for 22 of Colonie’s first-half points. Credit 5-foot-7 junior Laura Kipper for containing Shenendehowa’s potent offense.
`We were really prepared for this game,` said Coles who finished with a team-high 23 points. `When it came to game-time it all paid off.`
Shen wouldn’t go down easy however and opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run to trim the lead 33-31. Colonie sophomore Jaclyn Welch drilled a three-point shot to keep Shen from taking the lead midway through the third quarter. Shen trailed 39-34 entring the final period.
A three-pointer by Alyx Gleason trimmed the Colonie lead 43-40, but that was as close as the Plainsmen would get.
Rosales finished with 17 points for Colonie. Shen was led by Emily Weber’s 14 points, while Meg Rogers chipped in with 11.
In the nightcap, Shaker had little difficulty in knocking off Albany High 79-37.
The Bison ran off 21 straight points before the Falcons could get on the board. Jenise Torres’ three-pointer with :08 left to play in the first quarter was all the Falcon’s could manage in the opening eight minutes of play. Shaker didn’t let up on its offensive onslaught and led 46-14 at the half.
Sisters Madison and Mackenzie Rowland combined for 39 points.
`I was surprised we got out to that big lead so quick,` Mackenzie Rowland said. `They came out hard, but we came out harder. We were pumped. We worked hard in practice and now we will see what we have Saturday.`
Shaker defeated Colonie 61-37 in their Suburban Council meeting on Jan. 7.“