GLENS FALLS – The Bethlehem Eagles will take on the Raiders from Colonie for the Section II, Class AA championship.
Ryan Murray led the 19-3 Eagles with 23 points to beat the LaSalle Cadets 64-58 on Tuesday, Feb. 28. He went 8 for 12 from the field and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the line.
Hayden Thompson went 6 for 9 from the field for 19 points and seven rebounds while Mathew Riker, the scrappy point guard, chipped in 13 points and six rebounds for The No. 3 seed Bethlehem.
The 16-6 Cadets, the No. 7 seed, had three in double figures: Ian Duncan with 13, Raymond Evans with 11 and Joe Delollo with 10.
Rounding out the scoring for Bethlehem were Michael Ortale with six, Branden LaClair with a basket and Sean Flynn added a point.
The Bethlehem defense forced 16 turnovers while committing only seven.
Bethlehem ran a fast-paced offense and took the ball hard to the basket. The team made 21 of 26 free throw attempts, or 81 percent. Conversely, LaSalle went to the line just nine times.
The Cadets led by three after one, but the Eagles had a huge second quarter, relatively speaking, outscoring LaSalle by 10. Bethlehem built a 10-point lead with four left in the third quarter but LaSalle stuck around, coming within three with five minutes left in the game. The Eagles then went on a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach.
The Eagles will take on the No. 1 seed Colonie Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. in at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
The two teams split during the regular season with each winning by a three-point margin on their respective home courts.
