Saturday, December 13, 2014 by Aidan Joly Photos by Sam Cherubin for Blue Streaks Basketball
With double-digit point performances from two different players, the Blue Streaks were able to stay in the game, but foul trouble kept them out.
The Saratoga Blue Streaks varsity boys basketball team was defeated by the Averill Park Warriors on Friday night at Saratoga Springs High School by a score of 53-66, after expanding what was a two-point deficit after three quarters.
The Streaks started out slow, trailing 10-4 halfway through the first quarter, and slowly trimmed the lead to two points at the end. However, the Streaks were outscored 27-9 in the fourth quarter, leading to a 13 point loss.
“We couldn’t get any stops at the defensive end, we gave up way too many buckets, whether it was layups or open looks,” head coach Matt Usher said after the game. “We need to make sure we play D the whole way.”
Sean Grecco had a season high in points, scoring nine in the first half and eight in the second half, for a grand total of 19 points.
Usher said of Grecco’s performance, “He started to shoot the ball really well tonight, so that was nice… and hopefully we can have all of these guys shoot the ball well all on the same night.”
Many Blue Streak players got into major foul trouble throughout the night, including Jack Herman, with three fouls, and Jordan Buchas and Byno, with four fouls each. Alex Skaine got five fouls, fouling him out with five and a half minutes left in the game.
“We had a few guys that got into foul trouble,” said Usher, “so that hurt us and against their zone, we needed to have some kind of inside presence, and unfortunately Alex wasn’t able to be on the floor as much as we wanted tonight.”
The Streaks had not played in a week after Tuesday’s scheduled game against Shenendehowa was postponed twice during the week. The game will now be played at 7 p.m. on December 22 at Saratoga Springs High School.
The Blue Streaks fall to a 1-2 record after this loss and Averill Park improves to 3-1 with the victory.
The Saratoga JV team was able to take a win over Averill Park before the varsity game by a score of 55-27. The Streaks JV team was lead by Brendan Watson, who had eight points, and Brian Hart, who had seven of his own.
Aidan Joly is a freshman covering sports for The Lightning Rod.
