Sunday, February 21, 2016 by Aidan Joly
Saratoga missed many late opportunities, and could not pull off the upset.
The Guilderland Dutchmen defeated the Saratoga Blue Streaks varsity basketball on Saturday night at Hudson Valley Community College by a score of 58-49.
Trailing by eight with mere seconds left in the first quarter, trailing 19-11, Connor Sullivan shot up a prayer for three and it fell at the buzzer at the end of the first frame. Saratoga carried the momentum from the shot into the second quarter, and led by as much as seven in the second quarter, only allowing five points in the second quarter.
“We moved the ball around, we shared it, we spaced the floor, and when we’re good, that’s what we’re doing,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said.
Saratoga led by three at the half, but struggled in the third quarter, and found themselves down by five entering the final quarter.
“I thought we had some good looks, it was just a matter of hitting shots and finishing layups, didn’t do a very good job of that down the stretch,” Usher said.
The Dutchmen were led by the strong second half performance of Andrew Sischo, who had 15 points, all coming in the second half, and 10 of them in the third quarter, and was a key component of making sure the glass slipper didn’t fit for the Blue Streaks.
“The guys were working really hard to get me the ball, but it just wasn’t there, and I think things opened up with the way we were running plays in the second half,” Sischo said.
He was not the high scorer, however. The Dutchmen point leader was George Marinopolus, who had 20 points on the night, and hit four three-pointers, a big part of the Guilderland offense. The Dutchmen hit seven threes in the game.
“I think we got away from giving the ball inside to Andrew (Sischo) a little bit,” Guilderland head coach Mike Parks said. “I think we’re good when we play inside out.”
Michael Henderson added 14 for Guilderland.
Saratoga was led by Alex Skaine, who had 22 points, 16 of them coming in the first half. Connor Sullivan had 12 points, and Zak Clarke added six.
This loss ends Saratoga’s 2015-2016 season, while Guilderland moves on to take on Green Tech in the Class AA semifinals on Thursday, February 25th at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Start time for that game is set at 6 p.m.