What was supposed to be a showdown of two Suburban Council powerhouses turned into a one-sided affair.
Four Guilderland players reached double figures in a 67-50 boys basketball victory over Shaker Thursday in Latham.
The final outcome took everybody by surprise.
`Absolutely, I did,` said Guilderland coach Ron Osinski upon being asked if he thought it was going to be a close game. `They’re very good and well coached. The Dare kid (Malik Dare) is a handful. I didn’t have anybody who I could match up with his size. What we did was I think our team did a good job of working together defensively to hold him down.`
`We had been shooting the ball well,` said Shaker coach Jeff Holmes. `We had been shooting nearly 57 percent from the field as a team.`
It wasn’t so much what Guilderland (4-0 league, 5-0 overall) did defensively to stop Shaker (3-1, 3-1) as it was the Blue Bison’s own misfortune at the offensive end. Shaker created good scoring opportunities with solid passing, but shots that had dropped for the Blue Bison in their first three games rimmed out time and again. Dare, alone, had several inside shots bounce out on him.
`We missed all of those shots in the lane … and free throws,` said Holmes. `Andrew (Holmes) missed several free throws. That doesn’t happen.`
Meanwhile, Guilderland’s balanced attack was too much for Shaker to handle. Whether it was Vincent Simeone, Andrew Platek, Matt Cerutti, Billy Floyd or Marc DuMoulin, there was always someone with a hot hand on the floor for the Dutchmen.
`I don’t think there was any one player all game long that did it for us,` said Osinski. `It was different players stepping up and hitting shots at different times.`
Guilderland started the game on a 12-1 run with all five starters contributing at least one point. Dare made a layup off a Guilderland turnover, and Andrew Holmes added two free throws to trim the Dutchmen’s lead to 12-5 entering the second quarter.
Platek was the first Guilderland player to get hot. The sophomore guard scored 11 of his 17 points during a second-quarter spurt that turned a 17-11 lead into a 29-14 advantage.
`I think shooters shoot, and that’s what I did,` said Platek, who drained three three-pointers during the spurt. `I found my touch, and I just kept shooting.`
`They knew to get the ball to Platek when he was hot, and he made his shots,` said coach Holmes.
Shaker tried to battle back in the third quarter. The Blue Bison scored the first three points of the period to climb within nine points of Guilderland, and they cut the deficit to 10 points two more times before a 9-0 Dutchmen run effectively put the game out of reach.
`We just couldn’t get any defensive stops when we needed to,` said Holmes.
Simeone, Cerutti and Floyd took charge for Guilderland in the third quarter. Simeone made a pair of three-pointers on his way to an eight-point period, while Cerutti and Floyd each contributed six points.
`We keep telling Billy Floyd to shoot the ball because he’s probably the only one who hasn’t played as much, and other teams might not focus on him because of that,` said Osinski. `But, he has that (shooter’s) touch.`
Simeone led all scorers with 18 points, while Floyd (12 points) and Cerutti (10 points) joined Platek on Guilderland’s list of scorers in double figures.
`I thought we did a good job of penetrating and then kicking (the ball) out and finding good shots,` said Osinski.
Andrew Holmes netted seven of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter to pace Shaker’s offense. Dare, though, struggled to reach 10 points, and Tyler Hoffman was limited to three points in the second half after scoring six in the first half.
`It’s a game where we have to learn from what we did wrong and grow from there,` said coach Holmes.
The Blue Bison return to action Monday when they play Mohonasen in a make-up game from Tuesday’s snowstorm. They then host the annual Girmindl/Sands Tournament next weekend, where they will face LaSalle while Colonie takes on Green Tech.
Guilderland is off until the new year, and the Dutchmen plan on using the time to work on their game.
`We’re going to use it to stay in shape and get better. We’ll be practicing and scrimmaging here and there,` said Osinski. `To be honest, I like the break. Matt Cerutti just played his first five games after missing the last year-and-a-half (with hip injuries). This will give him a chance to rest up.`