Sunday, January 10, 2016 by Aidan Joly
In a mid-season contest, Saratoga buckled down in the second and and pulled out with a win.
The Saratoga Blue Streaks varsity boys’ basketball defeated Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Spartans on Friday night at Saratoga Springs High School by a score of 69-56.
The Spartans, who were 1-9 going into the game, held tough with Saratoga, leading after the first quarter, and stayed in the game for most of the first half, trailing by only seven at the break. Saratoga was able to extend their lead to 15 points at one point during the third quarter on a barrage of three-pointers from AJ Lawton and Mike Tillman.
Lawton was a key contributor in the middle stages of the game, as all of his 15 points came in the second and third quarters.
“I thought AJ had a great night tonight, he’s one of our steadiest players, you know what you’re going to get from him,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said of Lawton’s performance.
Adam Anderson had a spectacular game, leading the Streaks with 24 points on the night. Lawton was second with his 15, and Zak Clarke added nine points.
Clarke had a breakout night with his nine.
“Great energy from Zak Clarke tonight. I was impressed with how strong he was, and he played big minutes off the bench,” Usher said.
Alex Wellington led BH-BL with 23 points on the game, including five three pointers. Matthew Delano had 10 for the Spartans and John Clayton, Jacob Carroll and Ben Keppler had six points each, rounding out the high scorers for Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake.
The Spartans got off to a quick start, leading 12-10 after a quarter had been played. Saratoga would take the lead back in the second quarter, and would extend their lead to 32-25 at the break. They pulled out to a 12 point lead at the end of three quarters, leading 56-44, leading them to the 13 point victory.
The Saratoga JV team got a win, also over BH-BL, by a score of 65-39.
The Spartans fall to 1-10 on the season after the loss, and Saratoga improves to 6-4 after the loss to Albany on Tuesday. They will be back in action this coming Tuesday, January 12th, taking on Averill Park on the road. They will play their next home game on Friday, January 15th, against Bethlehem. That game is set for a start time of 7 p.m.