Saturday, December 12, 2015 by Aidan Joly
A late game charge by Colonie was too much for Saratoga to handle at the end.
The Colonie Raiders defeated the Saratoga Blue Streaks varsity boys’ basketball team at Saratoga Springs High School on Friday night by a score of 54-49.
Colonie led at points earlier in the game, but trailing by nine in the third quarter after an 8-0 Saratoga run began the second half, Raiders head coach Ken Dagastino knew something had to be done.
“We knew they were good coming in, we saw them on tape,” Dagastino said. “We knew that was for real, if they had scored another basket, I don’t know if we would have came back.”
The Raiders were led by the late-game heroics of Brenden Molson, who scored nine points in the pivotal fourth quarter.
He scored 14 points overall, second on the team only to Bryce Waterman, who had 15, all on three-pointers.
Isiah Moll was the third highest scorer for Colonie, adding in nine points to the effort.
“We’re counting on those guys to do it,” Dagastino said.
Colonie led 15-12 after the first quarter, but Saratoga came back in the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime with a 25-24 lead. They extended their lead in the third quarter, and led 37-33 going into the final eight minutes of the game.
“They made shots when they needed to, and we gave up some offensive rebounds, and didn’t shoot as well as you need to against a good team,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said of his team.
Saratoga also got into foul trouble late in the game, with Alex Skaine fouling out with just over two minutes remaining and Adam Anderson fouling out with 36 seconds left to play in the game. Brian Hart also had three fouls.
“They’re two good players. Obviously we need them on the floor, we gave up some offensive rebounds once they had to come out,” Usher said.
Brian Hart led all scorers in the game, totaling 17 points. Adam Anderson had 11 points and Alex Skaine added eight points.
Colonie is now 4-0 on the season, remaining undefeated. Saratoga suffered their first loss on the season, and are now 3-1. They will play Columbia in an away game on Tuesday, and will play Shen in another away game Friday. They then will return home on December 22, taking on Troy. That game will be at 7 p.m.
The JV team won their game Friday, defeating Colonie by a score of 62-49.